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Popper-Style Whole Wild Turkey Breast

By Michael Pendley author of Timber 2 Table Wild Game RecipesApril 7, 2021
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Prep Time

30M

Cook Time

3H

Serves

5-7

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 yellow onion diced

1 to 2 seeded and diced jalapenos or 1/2 cup jarred jalapeno slices chopped

1 side of a wild turkey breast

2 tablespoons Traeger Chicken Rub

Salt and black pepper to taste

One 8-ounce block of cream cheese room temperature

1/2 cup Traeger Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce

1 pound sliced bacon

Cooking Instructions

Start by adding the oil to a skillet and sautéing the onions and peppers over medium heat until the onions are soft and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Starting about halfway up one side, slice mostly through the turkey breast, cutting parallel to the board. Don’t slice all the way through. Fold the turkey breast open like a book. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the Traeger Chicken Rub over the meat. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.

Split the turkey breast and fold open, then season with Traeger Chicken Rub.

In a bowl, mix the cooled onion and jalapeno with the softened cream cheese.

Blend the sautéed onion and peppers into the softened cream cheese.

Spread the mixture down the center of the turkey. Fold the breast closed over the cream cheese filling.

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the seasoned turkey breast.

Brush the surface of the turkey with the BBQ sauce, then sprinkle on the remaining chicken rub.

Roll the turkey breast around the cream cheese mixture, then brush with BBQ sauce.

Weave the bacon into a mat: Lay half of the slices side by side vertically on a cutting board. Weave the remaining slices horizontally in and out of the vertical slices to form a woven mat. Set the turkey breast along one side of the bacon and stretch the woven mat over the turkey, tucking it in at the bottom so that the turkey is fully enclosed in bacon.

Wrap the turkey breast with a bacon weave.

Place the turkey on your preheated Traeger Grill at 225 degrees with the Supersmoke function (if equipped) turned on. Smoke for 2 hours. Increase the temperature to 275 degrees for 1 more hour or until the thickest part of the turkey reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit on a digital thermometer.

Allow the turkey to rest, lightly tented with foil, for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.