Grilled Butterflied Turkey Legs
Grilled butterflied turkey legs with lemon butter sauce – crispy, buttery, handheld meat on a stick. Who doesn't love that?
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time35 minutes mins
Total Time50 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 2
- 2 turkey legs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- cooking spray
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 1/2 lemon juice and zest
- 1 tsp garlic minced
Butterfly Legs: Place the leg flat on the cutting board with the knuckle facing up. Run a boning knife along each side of the bone and press the meat down. Don't cut all the way through.
Remove Tendons: Feel around the meat looking for the hard tendons. Pull them out with your fingers and the knife. There will be several in each leg. Discard the tendons.
Season: Sprinkle the salt, lemon pepper and smoked paprika on both sides of the legs. Let them rest at room temperature while you heat the grill.
Heat the Grill: Whether you're using a gas, pellet or charcoal grill, heat it to 400F degrees with a direct heat zone.
Grill: Spray the turkey legs with cooking spray and place them on the grill skin side down. Flip them every 5 minutes for 35 minutes.
Make Sauce: While the legs are cooking, place a saucepot on the grill. Add the butter, juice and zest from half a lemon and the garlic. Let that melt together.
Baste: After the legs have been cooking for 20 minutes, baste them with the lemon butter and continue cooking for 15 minutes, basting every 5 minutes as you flip them.
Rest: Once the turkey legs reach an internal temperature of 170-175F degrees, remove them from the grill and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Removing the tendons is an important step to ensure the meat bites right through.
Feel free to mix up the seasonings. You can use 3 teaspoons of any type of rub.
Instead of lemon butter, you can also baste the turkey legs with barbecue sauce or a Korean Sticky BBQ glaze.
Calories: 1191kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 133g | Fat: 68g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 541mg | Sodium: 1846mg | Potassium: 1935mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1224IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 139mg | Iron: 12mg