This delicious, protein-packed Nigerian turkey stew is made with ground peppers, tomatoes, turkey parts, and spices. It will have you licking your lips and drooling!
❤️ Why you'll love it
One popular delicacy for turkey lovers in Nigeria is the Nigerian turkey stew. Just like other Nigerian stews, this dish is so versatile and can be enjoyed with a host of other foods.
This hearty turkey stew is easy to prepare and is a favorite for the whole family. It is great for meal prep and can be frozen easily.
It is also an amazing recipe to use up your leftover turkey meat from your Thanksgiving holiday!
🥘 Equipment Used
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To make this delicious Nigerian turkey stew recipe, you'll need a baking dish or air fryer to cook the turkey, then a cutting board, knives, Dutch oven or soup pot, and a large spoon for stirring.
🧾 Ingredients Used
- Turkey meat: Use any part of turkey you like. You can also use leftover turkey parts after baking a whole turkey.
- Spices: Bouillon powder, black pepper, thyme, curry, and salt.
- Vegetables: Tomatoes, habanero pepper, red bell pepper, and onions.
- Olive oil and chicken broth. You can use any broth you have on hand. You can also substitute olive oil for palm oil for more of a traditional flavor.
🔪 How To Make Nigerian Turkey Stew
Prepare the turkey
- First of all, set your oven to 400F.
- Next, wash and drain the turkey, then rub it all over with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
- Bake the turkey in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping it halfway.
- Alternatively, you can also air fry the turkey for 30 minutes, flipping it halfway. This is my preferred way because it's so much faster.
Make the stew
- Chop the onions and set them aside. Blend the tomatoes and peppers with very little water.
- Sauté the chopped onions in olive oil on medium heat.
- Add the blended pepper and spices, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the turkey and chicken stock, and stir together. Depending on how thick it is, add a little more broth till it reaches a stew-like consistency.
- Taste for salt and add more if you need. Cover and let simmer for 10 more minutes on medium-low heat.
🥫 Storing and Reheating
The turkey stew will remain fresh if refrigerated for up to 5 days. To store it for longer, however, you can freeze it in an air-tight container. This way, the turkey stew would still be fresh even after a month or two.
To reheat, simply warm it in a pot over medium heat, stirring it intermittently so that it does not burn. You can add a little water so it doesn't dry out.
Let it thaw out entirely if frozen. Then heat it in a pot over medium heat. No need to add extra water since there would be some already from it being frozen.
💭 Tips and Variations
- You can bake the turkey in advance to reduce your cook time if you're in a hurry.
- If you don't like your meals too spicy, you can use half habanero peppers.
- To prevent the stew from being too watery, blend with very little water. If you use a lot of water, pour the blended mix into a pot and simmer on medium heat till it thickens a bit.
- If using leftover turkey, you don't need to wash or fry it since it's already roasted. Just add it to the stew as is.
- For an infusion of flavor, try making this turkey stew with fire-roasted tomatoes!
🍽️ What can I eat this recipe with?
Nigerian turkey stew is so versatile, and can be paired with almost any dish that calls for a stew.
For a low-carb option, enjoy this stew with konjac rice, cauliflower rice, shirataki noodles, or cabbage rice.
👩🍳 Frequently asked questions
For this recipe, you can use almost any part of the turkey. However, I prefer to use turkey breasts and thighs as a personal preference. I like how meaty those parts are, and they really soak up the flavors from the stew.
You can easily get turkey meat in a grocery store near the chicken section. You can also get them from a meat market near you. If you have a choice, buy turkey parts that have already been pre-cut to shorten your prep time.
Yes, freezing is a fantastic way to preserve your leftovers. Be sure to let the soup cool completely in the fridge first, then store it in freezer-safe bags or containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating on the stove or in the microwave.
Traditionally, Nigerian stews contain spicy peppers. This keto version has habaneros, which are one of the spiciest peppers, but they do become milder as they cook. If you like spicy food, you can add an extra habanero or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. If you're not a fan of spicy flavors, feel free to replace the habaneros with extra bell peppers.
📚 Related Recipes
Check out these other African stew recipes!
📖 Recipe
Nigerian Turkey Stew
Ingredients
- 2 lbs turkey meat
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 1 habanero pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- ½ onion
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder
- ½ teaspoon curry
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup chicken stock
- salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare the turkey
- First of all, set your oven to 400F.
- Next, wash and drain the turkey meat, then rub it all over with salt, black pepper, and olive oil.2 lbs turkey meat, ½ teaspoon black pepper, salt to taste
- Bake the turkey in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping it halfway.
- Alternatively, you can also air fry the turkey for 20-30 minutes, flipping it halfway. This is my preferred way because it's so much faster.
Make the stew
- Chop the onions and set them aside. Blend the tomatoes and peppers with very little water.3 plum tomatoes, 1 habanero pepper, 1 red bell pepper
- Sauté the chopped onions in olive oil on medium heat.½ onion, ¼ cup olive oil
- Add the blended pepper and spices, and simmer for 10 minutes.1 teaspoon bouillon powder, ½ teaspoon curry, ½ teaspoon thyme
- Add the turkey, chicken stock, and then stir it together.½ cup chicken stock
- Depending on how thick it is, add a little more broth till it reaches a stew-like consistency.
- Taste for salt and add more if you need.
- Cover and let simmer for 10 more minutes on medium-low heat.
Notes
- You can bake the turkey way in advance to reduce your cook time if you're in a hurry.
- If you don't like your meals too spicy, you can use half habanero peppers.
- To prevent the stew from being too watery, blend with very little water. If you use a lot of water, pour the blended mix into a pot and simmer on medium heat till it thickens a bit.
- If using leftover turkey, you don't need to wash or fry it since it's already roasted. Just add it to the stew as is.
- For an infusion of flavor, try making this turkey stew with fire-roasted tomatoes!
Nutrition
Tayo Oredola is the founder of Low Carb Africa, where she shares healthy, low carb dishes with global flavors. She is passionate about teaching people how to cook drool-worthy dishes while losing weight and living their best lives. Tayo’s recipes have been featured on MSN, Women’s Health, Parade, Yahoo News, Pure Wow, Essence, and other online publications.
you mention plum tomatoes. what do you consider to be plum tomatoes? are they cherry tomatoes or Roma tomatoes. It's asking because I considered cherry tomatoes to be plum but the picture of the ingredients looked larger than cherry tomatoes.
Hi David, plum tomatoes and roma tomatoes are the same.
Thank you!! I cant wait to try this but I don't have a blender to make the sauce which is traditional . Im going to use a chunky tomato sauce and tomato paste with loads of roasted peppers. Im using turkey necks and using instapot so the meat can be super tender. My Dads Nigeria, but he would make our sauces non spicy because we cant take super spicy food. Im serving it with Long grain white rice.I love you channel!!!
Thank you, Anna! Tomato sauce or paste will work just fine as well.
Does the tomatoes and pepper need to be put in a blender?
Yes, you can use a blender or food processor.
Can I serve this stew with jollof rice?
Yes, it will be perfect with jollof rice!