Skip to main content
Main

Crunchy Turkey Fingers with Oven Fries

A dish of breaded turkey strips served with seasoned sweet potato and parsnip fries.

By Health Canada · From Canada's Food Guide · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Turkey and parmesan cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 21 recipes mention both. Both carry hexyl acetate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 6
Oven220 °C (425 °F)
Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: breadcrumbs

Directions

Prepare the turkey

  1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C (425 °F).

  2. Cut turkey breast into finger-size strips, place in a bowl, add mustard and oil, and coat turkey fingers evenly with your hands.

  3. Place bran flakes into a large resealable bag and crush to look like breadcrumbs. Add cheese and seasoning.

  4. Add turkey fingers to the bag, one at a time, and shake to coat.

  5. Place coated turkey onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with all the turkey fingers; set aside.

Prepare the fries

  1. In a large bowl, combine sweet potato and parsnip strips. Add oil and chili powder and toss to coat evenly.

  2. On a second parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread fries in a single layer.

Bake and serve

  1. Place fries in the bottom third of the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

  2. Move fries to the top third of the oven and place turkey fingers on the bottom third for 15 minutes.

  3. Use a digital food thermometer to check that turkey has reached an internal temperature of 74 °C (165 °F).

By Health Canada. Recipe from Canada's Food Guide.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Turkey + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together21 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).

  2. Sweet potato + parsniptop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together95 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Mustard + parsniptop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together89 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Oregano + parsniptop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Mustard + sweet potatotop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together108 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turkey breast
Provides the lean protein base that becomes tender and firm when cooked through.
Bran flakes
Crushed into a crisp, crumb-like coating that browns and adds crunch in the oven.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury flavour and helps the coating brown and crisp as it bakes.
Mustard
Adds sharp flavour and helps the coating adhere to the turkey strips.
Sweet potato
Its natural sugars caramelise at high oven heat, giving the fries browned edges and sweetness.
Parsnips
Their starch and sugars brown and soften in the oven, adding sweetness to the fries.

The step that matters

Check the turkey's internal temperature. Turkey must reach 74 °C (165 °F) inside to be safe, and thin strips can look done before they are. Checking with a thermometer is more reliable than judging by colour.

Flavor stand-ins for the oregano

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, mustard, parmesan cheese, sweet potato, parsnip):

  1. Celerybetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Sagebetter flavor fit
  4. Oreganothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, mustard, parmesan cheese, sweet potato, parsnip. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Illustration of Sweet Potato CroquettesIllustrationSweet Potato Croquettes53 recipesIllustration of Potato CroquettesIllustrationPotato Croquettes255 recipesIllustration of Macaroni and CheeseIllustrationMacaroni and Cheese102 recipesIllustration of Potato RollsIllustrationPotato Rolls78 recipes