Southern Smothered Smoked Turkey Necks made easy in the pressure cooker. These delicious turkey necks are smothered with onions, celery, garlic, and brown gravy!
Well I just had to do it folks! I had to share a turkey necks recipe, because so many of my luvs have been requesting it. Ever since I posted my soul food style smothered pork neck bones, people have been asking me to do a southern smothered turkey necks recipe. I know what you’re going to ask… “so what the heck took so long Rosie?!”… Y’all, for whatever reason, my stores have been out of turkey necks! Recently, I visited a new (new to me) store, and they had some fresh turkey necks there! So now that I have explained myself, let’s get to cooking these turkey necks!
Use a Pressure Cooker or InstaPot for these Tender Smoked Turkey Necks
I made sure to make this recipe as simple as possible y’all. Every time that I make something with homemade gravy, someone always ask me if they can some store-bought gravy. USUALLY, I say NO!!! However, I can’t keep doing that to my babies, so for this recipe, I’m going to actually use some gravy packs. If you are not a fan of gravy packs, feel free to make some homemade gravy. The gravy that I made for my smothered turkey wings, will work for this recipe!
So I mentioned that we will be using gravy packs, to make this recipe easier (and quicker) right? Well I also am using my pressure cooker as well, because I’ve been getting a lot of requests for more pressure cooker recipes. I guess you can say this is pretty much a 2 for one deal.
Whenever I make southern smothered turkey necks, I like to serve it with over rice or mashed potatoes. My favorite side dish would probably be collard greens, and then I like to finish off this soulful meal with a nice slice of my soul food sweet potato pie! Let me know in the comments, what you would serve with these delicious southern smothered turkey necks!
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Watch me make these delicious smothered turkey necks! Don’t miss out on a single recipe – subscribe to I Heart Recipes on YouTube.
Southern Smothered Turkey Necks
Ingredients
- 4 lbs turkey necks regular, not smoked
- 2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp coarse black pepper
- 2 large onions chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- (3) 0.87 packages of brown gravy mix I used McCormicks
- 3 cups chicken or turkey broth
Instructions
- Make sure that the turkey necks are nice and clean, then place them into a large bowl.
- Combine the seasoning salt, kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried thyme together in a large bowl. Then sprinkle all over the turkey necks. Set the turkey necks to the side.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp of vegetable into a large pan, then place over medium heat.
- Once the oil is nice and hot, add in the onions and celery, and cook until they have a little color to them. Now toss in the garlic, and cook for 1 minutes. Turn the heat off.
- Place all of the turkey necks into to the instant pot ( or whatever pressure cooker that you are using). Then add in the onions, celery, and garlic.
- Now sprinkle in the packages of gravy mix, and pour in the broth.
- Put the lid top on the instant pot, make sure it is sealed, and set it on high for 55 minutes.
- Once done, carefully remove the steam ( as directed), then stir the southern smothered turkey necks.
- Dish out the turkey necks, and serve over rice or potatoes.
- Serve & Enjoy!
Thank you so much for a delicious recipe.
Anytime Larry!
This is how I cook my Turkey Necks, drumsticks abd Wings. I use my Slow Cooker. Use Wild Rice or Yellow Rice. Always include a green veggie.
Great recipe. I love necks for as long as I can remember. my grand father would get a bag full of chicken necks and cook ’em on the rotisserie back in the ’60’s, cheap eats! I still love ’em, what I also really like and added is smoked turkey tails YUMM! Served with Black-eyed peas greens! and of corse cornbread!
Yummmm!! I love smoked turkey tails too!
Hi Rosie,
Thank you for the video. I don’t have a pressure cooker. Can this recipe be done with a crockpot or an alternative?
Yes! In the crockpot on high for 5 hours .
Thanks, Rosie! Nice idea for Sunday dinner!
Anytime Bryon!
Omg them bones were delicious. I made a second batch to use in ravioli. Thank you so much for the recipe
I just tried this today for Sunday dinner and omg I love it! I was nervous about the brown gravy packets but it was perfect! Thank you for the recipe
Love IT! Rosie Great recipe! I used my Power Pressure Cooker it came out Delish!!!!
Thank You!
Okay! another recipe down and BAM!! I did it. and you handled the turnkey necks…. All my testers that’s what I call them, because I try out different recipes on family/friends/coworker.. aka TESTERS… I nailed it w/ your help of course… Yes.. PINNED..
Hi Rosie, I made them twice, second time I added the livers, hearts n gizzards, the flavors were unbelievable, I also added a pinch of sage. Ty for the recipe, much love.
I gotta try that!
I made this the other day and it was delicious. The meat was very tender. I couldn’t find the Thyme at the store that I went to,so I used dried basil instead. I also followed what you told someone about cooking this in the crockpot if you don’t have a pressure cooker. I had lots of gravy leftover. So I seasoned some pork steaks up like this recipe says and used the leftover gravy for that. Thanks for another great recipe.
Looks so yummy..I pretty much love all the food you cook..can I cook this in my crock pot and if so, for how long??
Hey , rosie. dont have a pressure cooker can I put it in a regular pot ? Will it be the same as in the pressure cooker
Yes, you can cook them in a regular pot 🙂
Hi Rosie,
I only have smoked turkeys necks. Can I use those instead?
No, I do not recommend smoked neck bones.
I have cooked a few renditions of Turkey necks over the years and (ox tail too $$ these days). I too was highly skeptical of the McCormick brand powdered gravy trick, but I followed the recipe. The only change was extra pepper/cayenne/salt.
I cooked on stove top for 4 ours covered for the first 3 and it was awesome! Thick gravy, savory, fall off the bone tender. I almost would want to add potatoes the last 45 minutes very very good!!
Thanks so much for trying my recipe!
Hi Rosie can I use chicken for this recipe?
You can, however I have a smothered chicken recipe available.
Hi Rosie I need a recipe for smoked turkey necks please❤️
Nice! Had some skinless turkey thighs that I needed to use. Added green peppers and smoked paprika. Not a fan of celery so I used celery seed instead and didn’t have sea salt so used smoked salt instead. Sauteed in the instapot to keep it a one pot meal.
Would it be ok to brown them up before putting in the slow cooker? Thank you!
Yes indeed 🙂
I absolutely loved this recipe. So simple and easy to make.
We were making this for our German Shepherd, Mitzi. For her to eat this, we left out the hot pepper. Wish I could have run a video: that girl would not stop eating until her bowl was empty. Thank God, this time of the year turkey necks are plenty. We are buying a ton and just put them into the freezer. Actually, the opossum would probably like a cooked turkey neck as well? And so would the feral pair of cats we are feeding? As a special treat, of course.
But your dish is not just for critters. My husband kept returning to the kitchen to pick at the cooked turkey necks. So, I will make this dish, this time with hot pepper flakes for my husband.
A wonderful recipe for man and man’s best friend alike!
I’ve been making this recipe for a couple of years now, it is excellent. Sometimes I’ll add chicken gizzards to the dish and substitute the seasonings for a Cajun mix. This is the best turkey neck recipe I’ve ever tasted.
IM wondering why you can’t use smoked turkey necks..that all available in Ca. is it because they are pre-cooked? i would like the smoky flavor to the recipe..
If you would like to use smoked give it a go. It will alter this recipe, but feel free to play around with the recipe if you’d like.
Hey Rosie, this might sound dumb but whats the difference between a crockpot,pressure cooker and a slow cooker?
Hi Deborah! Certainly!
A Crock-Pot is a brand name often used to refer to slow cookers, which are appliances that cook food at low temperatures over long periods, perfect for dishes like stews or soups. On the other hand, pressure cookers are sealed devices that use steam pressure to cook food quickly, making them great for meals like beans that traditionally take a long time to prepare. So, while slow cookers (including Crock-Pots) focus on extended, low-heat cooking, pressure cookers achieve faster results with high pressure.
I really want to try this recipe I’m from Colorado and we don’t have many southern restaurants worth eating at so most of the time I cook my own southern food
I really want to try this recipe I’m from Colorado and we don’t to many southern restaurants that are really worth going to
I halved the recipe and instead of the fresh veggies I used dried ones because I did not have the fresh ones. The taste was wonderful. I have made turkey necks before and they have been good but the use of the pressure cooker and the brown gravy made all the different. Thank you for the great recipe. Served with rice, collard greens, purple hull peas, and cornbread.
Sister girl!!!! I loved this recipe.!!!! I used the slow cooker on high for 5 hours and cooked as you instructed in another comment, and the meat was seasoned just right and fallen off the bone. Thank you for the delicious recipe and keep up the superior work Rosie!!!!
Glad that you liked the recipe! XOXO
I have used this recipe over a dizen times and the inky thing i did once was add a onion soup mix because i only had 2 packs of brown gravy but it was still amazing. I love all if Roses recipes honestly. Thank you.
Thanks so much for trying my recipes Monike!XOXO
Hi Rosie! Can you help me understand why mine started to burn/dry up shortly after putting it on More, High in my pressure cooker? I ended up switching it to Slow Cooker as a result. Also, is this a spicy dish, and if so, can I cut back/cut out some of the pepper and/or cayenne?
Hi Tiffany. I need more information. Did you follow the recipe from start to finish?
I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve made this recipe. It’s flavorful and easy to make. I like to pair this with green peas and rice or with macaroni & cheese. The gravy with the rice or macaroni is delicious on its own. If you don’t know what to make for dinner, try this one. Your family will love it!
Thanks so much for the review Erin! XOXO
Looks Delicious. Must try. Thanks for sharing this and have a blessed day