How to Jazz Up Your Louisiana Thanksgiving Meal by Cooking a Turducken

Louisiana is home to some of the greatest food in the world, and if you are looking to do something a little bit different Turducken is for you.

Turducken is first said to have been made by famous chef Paul Prudhomme. The chef even trademarked the name in 1986. Others say that this amazing creation began in 1984 at Hebert's Speciality Meats.

The story from Hebert's is that Sammy and Junior created the delish concoction in 1984 when "a farmer requested to have a chicken, duck, and turkey stuffed inside of each other."

The incredible spectacular of a hen stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey is not only beautiful but scrumptious. Do you have to buy this item? Nope. You can make it from home.

A turkey, a hen, and a duck........ it sounds like the beginning of a great Cajun joke. But this amazing blend of meat is delicious once you have put everything together. It does take 8 hours to cook, so plenty of people actually make it a family event or they make it a group activity among friends.

Preparing this scrumptious Turducken is not for the faint of heart. It takes time. Now, if you don't want to prepare your own, Hebert's Speciality Meats, the Maurice location on Johnston Street, and the Broussard location on Ambassador extension have them available for purchase.

According to the Magic Seasonings Blende (Prudhomme's mixes) website,

We get letters every year from "Turducken Teams" - friends and relatives who gather together to make (and eat!) their Turduckens as a group activity!

It's a great way to do it, as this could almost be classified as a team sport! This is the official list of ingredients from the website:

• 1 chicken (3-4 pounds)
• 1 duckling (5-6 pounds)
• 1 turkey (15-20 pounds)
• 2 pounds duck or chicken giblets
• 2½ pounds Chef Paul Prudhomme's Andouille Smoked Sausage
• 1½ pounds shrimp, peeled
• 9 cups celery, chopped (total)
• 7 tablespoons garlic, minced (total)
• 8 cups green bell peppers, chopped
• 12 cups onions, chopped (total)
• 2 garlic heads, whole
• 4½ pounds medium onions, whole (about 6)
• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, whole (about 4)
• 2 pounds whole eggplants (about 2)
• 3 whole eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 5 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7½ teaspoons baking powder
• 7 bay leaves
• ¾ cup corn flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 cups very fine dry breadcrumbs, unseasoned (preferably French bread)
• 21 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic®
• 4 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic®
• 7 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic®
• 1 teaspoon Chef Paul Prudhomme's Vegetable Magic®
• 11 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Pepper Sauce®
• 1 (15x11inch) baking pan, at least 2 1/4 inches deep
• 1 pan larger than the 15x11 inch pan
• 3 metal or bamboo skewers
• 6 sheet pans
• vegetable oil
• aluminum foil
• 1 small hammer

Any recipe that calls for a hammer has to be great!!!

We will give you the preparation of the things you need to do the day before and the instructions on how to make a turducken below, but let's look at Paul Prudhomme talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN about how it all works:

Now, plenty of other folks also have their own recipes. We found one on AllRecipes.com:

We found a video from Jan Charles where she shows how to make Turducken from scratch as well:

Scott Rea claims this is the most detailed video on how to make a Turducken:

The next chef we see on video really took things to another level; he not only made the turducken, but he deep-fried it as well:

Then there is Louisiana Crawfish Company supplying their expertise in making the dish:

Now, if you want to go with the original, it's Paul Prudhomme. His list of how to make this happen is listed here.

You will definitely need to give the entire instruction list a few reads to make sure you know what to do. Either way, we wish you much success in your endeavors on this project. Please send us some pictures!