Turkey and Smoked Sausage Skillet Potatoes
Wild turkey breast, smoked sausage, and potatoes browned in one pan at camp.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Wild turkey breast | 1 lb | cubed at home, kept cold |
|---|---|---|
| Smoked sausage | 12 oz | alligator-pork blend if you can get it, otherwise any smoked link |
| Red potatoes | 1.5 lb | cut to half-inch cubes |
| Duck fat or bacon fat | 2 tbsp | travels fine in a small screw-top jar |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | minced, or 1 tsp granulated |
| Roasted hatch green chiles | 1/2 cup | canned or a jalapeño chopped fine |
| Cheddar cheese | 4 oz | shredded |
| Salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning blend | 2 tsp |
Method
- Set a large skillet over medium coals or a burner at medium. Slice the sausage into coins and brown it until it gives up fat, about 6 minutes.
- Add the turkey cubes and the seasoning blend. Cook until the outside is browned and the pieces are firm, another 6 to 8 minutes. Pull the meat out to a plate or the pan lid.
- Add the fat to the pan, then the potatoes in one layer. Leave them alone for 5 minutes before stirring so a crust forms. Cook 15 to 18 minutes total, stirring a few times, until a fork goes through cleanly.
- Stir in the garlic and chiles and cook one more minute.
- Return the meat, stir it through, scatter the cheese over the top, and cover for two minutes off direct heat until it melts.
This is a cooler meal, not a pack meal. Cubed potatoes and raw poultry need cold storage, so it belongs at a truck camp or a hunt camp with a fire ring, not in a bear canister.
The order matters more than anything else here. Sausage first because its fat is what the turkey browns in, and wild turkey breast is lean enough that it will go dry if you leave it in while the potatoes finish. Pulling the meat out and returning it at the end is the difference between tender and chalky. The potatoes need the pan to themselves and need to be left alone long enough to crust, which is the one part of this that takes patience.
Packing
Cube the potatoes and turkey at home and pack them in separate zip bags in the cooler. Shred the cheese at home too. Fat, garlic, and seasoning go in a small kit so the pan work is just opening bags.
Variations
- No wild turkey means store chicken thighs, cut the same size.
- Skip the cheese and it stays a solid one-pan dinner, just less rich.
- A can of drained corn stirred in at the end stretches it to six.
https://realtree.com/recipe/timber-2-table/wild-turkey-and-alligator-sausage-potato-skillet