Chicken eggs are the most popular form of bird egg consumed around the world, but that isn’t to say that eggs from other bird species aren’t edible at all.
Ducks, like chickens, lay eggs too, and their eggs are even more nutritious compared to chicken eggs. And the good part is that they’re completely safe to eat and can serve as a reliable source of daily essential vitamins.
But duck eggs aren’t the main point of this article, it’s turkey eggs. Are they edible, and if so, how nutritious are they?
Here’s the fact of the matter.
Turkeys eggs are perfectly fine to consume without fear of any side effects. Nutritionists and home cooks infer that turkey eggs taste just like chicken eggs, only that they bear a little bit of creaminess. Turkey eggs can be poached, fried, boiled into different consistencies, baked, or even made into tasty omelets to accompany fresh salad.
Turkey eggs are generally more expensive and less available than chicken eggs as a result of a combination of several factors tied with production and marketing. All this is another way of saying cost!
In the rest of the article, we’ll take a good look at the nutritional profile of turkey eggs (in comparison to chicken eggs), how they taste, what they look like, where you can get them, and most importantly, how you can begin using them at home.
What do turkey eggs taste like?
Turkey eggs, like duck eggs, taste mostly like chicken eggs, except that they’re a bit more creamier which is partly as a result of the richer yolks in them.
Turkey eggs come in various shades of colors like chicken and duck eggs, although they’re not as varied “color-wise” as duck eggs.
Turkey eggs can be brown, speckled, and commonly white, and the shells are typically more sturdier (a protective adaptation) than chicken eggs. So more force is required to break them open.
Duck eggs on the other hand, can come in additional colors such as various shades of grey, sometimes in colors resembling black, in brown, pale blue and even blue green.
The nutrition in turkey eggs (vs chicken eggs)
Turkey eggs are highly nutritious, even more so compared to chicken eggs, — when you compare them on the basis of “single egg”, and even on equal weight basis. This is partly attributed to the size of turkey eggs in contrast to chicken eggs.
One average sized turkey egg is nearly half times larger than the average sized chicken egg. Turkey eggs weigh mostly around 85 to 90 g, whereas chicken eggs weigh between 45 to 55g.
For the actual breakdown of the nutritional composition, here’s what you get in a single turkey egg vs what you get in a chicken egg.
One average sized turkey egg (79g) contains
- 135 kcal
- 10g protein
- 78.2mg of calcium
- 10.3mg magnesium
- 134mg phosphorus
- 112mg potassium
- 119mg sodium
- 166 Vitamin A — RAE
- 1.34 µg Vitamin B12
- 56.1 µg Folate.
- Cholesterol 933 mg
In comparison, one average sized chicken egg (50g) contains
- 71.5 kcal
- 6.3g protein
- 28 mg of calcium
- 6 mg magnesium
- 99 mg phosphorus
- 69 mg potassium
- 71 mg sodium
- 80 µg Vitamin A — RAE
- 0.445 µg Vitamin B12
- 23.5 µg Folate.
- Cholesterol 372 mg
These are just a few of the nutrients we’ve compared. And you can already see how the gap is already building up.
In terms of the real world benefits that you can reap from eating turkey eggs, it’s pretty much the same with what you get from chicken or duck eggs, same thing applies with the risks — cholesterol.
So ensure to eat turkey eggs in moderation, especially when you’re diabetic or have a family history of heart disease. This will ensure you’re checking the amount of cholesterol that goes inside of your body.
Even though there is no general consensus regarding whether the cholesterol in turkey eggs makes them, in their entirety, healthy or unhealthy to consume, it’s better to err in the side of caution and limit your intake.
Another reason why you should adhere to the advice of eating eggs in moderation is so you don’t end up consuming too much heavy metals from the eggs (when they’re present) which can end up causing problems for you in the long run.
Why are turkey eggs difficult to find?
The reason why turkey eggs are expensive and difficult to find is a combination of several factors— which are all buried under the canopy of cost. Let’s go through the reason quickly.
As statters, it takes turkeys a heck lot of time to begin laying eggs, and when they do they don’t lay that much.
Turkeys generally take upto 7 months to begin laying an egg, and when they lay, it’s typically around two to three per week for farm-raised turkeys, unlike in broilers where they begin laying around the 20th week and consistently turn out 6 to 7 eggs a week or more.
Any farm raising turkeys would be familiar with the difficulty and cost of keeping them alive, healthy and in shape, even for a single week.
It’s easy to now see why most farms would prefer to market their turkeys at the prime age of slaughter, which is 14 to 20 weeks depending on the sex, than to keep them for a longer periods, translating to more cost of feeding, and getting only a few eggs in return which very few people will be willing to fork out money and buy, because the cost of feeding will certainly translate on them. And not just that, but because they can find the same nutrition in the much affordable chicken egg.
Turkey eggs, because of the above constraint, typically don’t have a vibrant market, and whenever you’re able to find them, typically in high-end supermarkets, market at around 3 dollars per egg.
How to eat turkey eggs
You can eat turkey eggs exactly the way you eat chicken eggs. This means you can bake them, boil them soft, medium or hard, make them into omelets, scrambled eggs, fried eggs and even poach them and serve with bread.
When baking with them, expect to have richer and more colorful articles, and don’t forget to scale down appropriately, especially when you’re using them as a substitute for chicken eggs, to avoid ruining whatever you’re making, especially if it’s a cake.
Can you eat duck eggs?
Duck eggs are safe to consume and their taste is described as a more advanced flavor of chicken or turkey eggs.
Duck eggs have nearly the same nutritional composition as turkey eggs which means they’re bigger and nutritionally superior to chicken eggs.
Duck eggs can be consumed the exact same way as turkey or chicken eggs.
What’s more? Their shells are a perfect source of calcium for your body, and also useful ingredients you can purpose for mamy uses around the house!
Final Thoughts
It’s kind of hard to find turkey eggs marketed on grocery shelves or supermarkets, but that isn’t to say they are not edible.
Turkey eggs are safe to consume and they taste great. Make them into poached eggs, use them in recipes like you would chicken eggs and feel free to also bake with them!
For baking though, make sure to scale down appropriately to ensure your articles come out tasty and in shape!
