Turducken: A New Orleans Thanksgiving Tradition

In New Orleans, Thanksgiving is a time to be with family, reflect on all the positive things and people in our lives, and eat—a lot.

While the rest of the country may be dining on turkey, the Cajun cuisine of Louisiana continues to show itself on the New Orleans Thanksgiving table.

Enter the turducken.

What is a turkducken? Well, we’re glad you asked. It may look like a turkey on the outside, but there is definitely more than meets the eye.

A turducken is a chicken cooked inside a duck cooked inside a fifteen-to-sixteen pound turkey. The three kinds of meats are layered with three kinds of stuffing.

There is quite the debate about the origin of the turducken. One theory dates the three-bird meal to an eighteenth century French blend of a de-boned bird stuffed with a mixture of finely ground veal, poultry, fish, vegetables, or fruit with bread crumbs and seasonings. Since Cajun people originated from French Canada, it is plausible that the recipe could have migrated with them and morphed into today’s turducken.

If you ask Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme, however, he invented the turducken recipe. In fact, Prudhomme secured the turducken trademark from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1986.

If you are preparing to cook a turducken for your family this Thanksgiving, give yourself ample time. The poultry trio takes approximately eight to nine hours to bake, according to What’s Cooking America.

As proud New Orleans residents and business owners, we at Harmon, Smith & Vourvoulias, LLC would enjoy hearing your turducken stories. We hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving—turducken-filled or not!