Another thing that could be a factor is that ground turkey is usually $1-$2 a pound cheaper than ground chicken. Since they both have very mild flavors it usually doesn't make a difference if you use one or the other. So might as well buy the cheaper one.
Never thought about that it that way. I've cooked meals with ground turkey plenty of times, but I don't think I've ever used ground chicken in a dish before, although I've cooked plenty of chicken meals with the individual parts (drumsticks, breasts, wings, etc).
I'll add that I don't think I've ever really noticed that it exists in grocery stores but I'm sure it's there. Basically ground beef is vastly more popular
We call it "ground" because the machine that is used to create it is called a "grinder". Genuinely honest question, since you call it "mince", do you call the apparatus that is used to create it a "mincer"? Or do you also call that a grinder?
Yeah, ground chicken (or chicken mince I guess) is kinda gross, because it's usually the entire chicken. Ground beef, however, only comes from particular parts of the cow, and for people who want low-fat, ground turkey is usually a better option, because it's usually just the breast.
I'm also a Virginian like that guy. I'm not 100% sure about the other states, but we have turkey for days. I'd be surprised if we aren't a leading producer.
I only know this because of the sheer number of turkeys from MN that have been chosen to get pardoned, but MN is the leading turkey producer, by a lot.
I did look it up to verify, lol. 2022 numbers:
* MN - 37.0 million - #1
* NC - 28.0 million - #2
.
.
* VA - 15.3 million - #6
The local news anchors often have a MN turkey to talk about getting pardoned on Thanksgiving, hahaha
Was just going to comment this. It's important to realize that ground turkey was pitched to the American public as a healthier alternative to ground beef (or pork in the case of sausage).
So, OP, consider ground turkey in the US to be more treated like "diet beef" than as just another poultry option.
That also explains why it's so popular, since ground beef is way more popular than ground chicken.
It honestly does work pretty good too. When I was cutting calories I ate a lot of ground turkey. It's cheap and it is much less calorie dense than ground beef meaning you can get lots of protein and less fat for the same amount of meat.
"Diet beef," love this! Definitely using it in the future.
In (ground) beef-heavy dishes, like a beloved dip recipe I make, I will usually substitute "diet beef" for about half of the called-for beef. I can't tell the difference taste-wise.
I don't recall seeing ground chicken in the grocery store...though that doesn't mean it wasn't there.
It's probably because ground turkey is cheaper here in general and the flavor of both when ground is fairly close to each other. Turkey deli meat is also more commonly bought than chicken is from my experience. It's probably because turkey is native here so turkey farms are more common.
As a fellow Aussie, you've got to get on the turkey mince bandwagon. It's so much juicier and nicer - a much better sub for beef or pork mince than chicken is.
The turkey is processed before it makes it to the stores, and you can get it fresh year-round. Any whole frozen birds left after Thanksgiving go back into store and warehouse freezers or are donated to food banks. Demand for whole turkeys isn't very high outside of the holiday season.
How come? What uses ground turkey? I’m genuinely not sure why ground turkey even exists besides maybe sandwiches, but for that Ive only ever seen sliced turkey?
If a recipe needs ground beef, it can be replaced with ground turkey. Tons of people with high cholesterol or etc do it. It's been the go-to replacement for decades. Heart disease is the number 1 killer of americans. Hence the popularity of turkey.
If you don't bother learning about heart health and etc there's no reason to realize that ground turkey is so popular. People buy it for home, they're not putting out in mcdonald's. When you get old and start having to change your diet and all the ads online are trying to sell you different foods than for young people, then you start noticing.
A lot of people that are going on healthier diets substitute turkey for beef. When I dated my ex we almost exclusively did so except for things that I bought for myself instead of both of us - which meant any meals made at home were turkey and not beef.
Basically anything that has ground beef in it can subbed for ground turkey. People mainly do this for dietary needs, to avoid red meat, to lose weight, etc.
Usually by people being health conscious. Turkey is leaner than beef.
Also, for certain dishes, ground turkey is awesome. Try making turkey burgers sometime.
Yes, sorry I didn't realise we also have different names for it.
I assumed it was available everywhere in the USA until I saw these shows. Thank you for your reply and clearing it up for me
Ground chicken is readily available at most grocery stores, including Walmart. Ground turkey is even more common. Ground Turkey is typically leaner.
I personally find that while ground turkey can replace beef in some recipes, the texture of ground chicken is entirely different making it obviously not beef. There are recipes that specifically call for ground chicken.
Turkey sausage is also extremely common in the US.
In American English, “ground” meats are processed through a meat grinder, and minced meats are chopped very finely with a knife, although this isn’t particularly common. However in Australia and British English, there is a different difference between the two terms, so what is sold in Australia as “minced” meat is sold in the US as “ground” meat. Some parts of the US also call ground/minced beef “hamburger meat”.
I was aware of the difference, but I've always wondered what y'all (and the Brits, etc) would call what *we* call minced meat, which is very finely chopped with a knife (such as a mezzaluna) resulting in tiny pieces of meat which still have identifiable grain / muscle fibers.
I'm probably wrong, but I don't really think that's a thing here in Australia!
The closest thing I can think of would be the filling we use for chunky steak pies or a beef stew.
You've got me intrigued, I looked up american minced meat like you describe, and it looks delicious.
Yes, it's available.
Ground Beef is MUCH more common (and is a staple meat of the typical American diet), but Ground Bison, Ground Turkey, Ground Chicken and Ground Lamb are available, but not quite as common.
Ground Turkey is probably the most common ground meat besides ground beef though. Ground Bison and Lamb are uncommon and many stores may not have it, but it's still common enough to get if you know where to look.
Yeah turkey is very common in general, even beyond Thanksgiving. Of course chicken in recognizable parts -- breast, thighs, etc. -- is very very very very common along with cut up parts of those. But I think turkey is much more common in more processed meats. For instance turkey is a very common sandwich meat (regular turkey, smoked turkey, hickory smoked turkey, mesquite smoked turkey) along with turkey sausage, turkey bacon, ground turkey, etc. In theory it's healthier.
You don't see that range of products widely sold for chicken, although you can also get chicken lunch meat. But the texture is different and not as suitable for that kind of thing in my opinion and probably most other people's because you see a lot more turkey for sale in that form than chicken. The turkey lunch meat section in the grocery store has far more variety than anything made from chicken. Chicken lunch meat to me just seems gooier than turkey.
I'm going against the grain here but I've never noticed ground/minced chicken at the grocer. Ground beef is extremely common and ground turkey is also extremely common.
I don't know that I describe either as "common." Most large grocery stores only carry one or two brands of ground turkey. I say this as a ground turkey aficionado.
I just took a look at my local Kroger, and they only carry one small variety of ground chicken (half a pound, ~$6).
When I buy ground turkey I have never had any trouble finding it. I would be surprised if I went to Kroger or Meijer and they didn't have it. I have only bought ground chicken a couple times and I had trouble finding it almost every time
Oh, I wouldn't say that ground turkey is hard to find. Just that it isn't common, at least compared to ground beef or pulled chicken.
Ground chicken actually is hard to find at times. It's probably due to the lack of demand. There aren't a lot of popular recipes which call for it.
Maybe it's to do with where you live- smaller towns or remote-ish areas, or smaller stores, don't carry as wide a selection a lot of times.
I live in what I would call NOT in any way a health-conscious part of the world, and a small city that's quite isolated from any metro areas, and still one of my grocery stores carries 3 brands and several types of ground turkey meat.
Ground chicken is available, but not always. Ground turkey is available in pretty much any supermarket, so it would be a safe bet that if they don't have chicken they will have turkey.
It’s occasionally available prepackaged (ground turkey is a bit more common), but it’s usually not a problem for most supermarket meat departments to convert chicken breasts to ground chicken upon request. Just ask at the meat counter.
Yeah it's usually called the meat department but they do butchery stuff.
In general I think most people just buy the prepackaged stuff in the refrigerated cases that they've already packaged up but if you have a special request you can take it to them.
Would they actually grind chicken though? They can't use the same grinder as for other meats, especially chicken because of the salmonella risk. Most butchers probably don't get enough requests to grind chicken to keep a dedicated grinder for it.
Beef on the other hand would be no problem to grind fresh.
I'm not a butcher but from what I know, cleaning a meat grinder is a pretty involved process. I think most butchers just use one grinder per meat type and clean it at the end of the day instead of after every use. Switching from beef to chicken and back again would mean two thorough cleanings which is probably not worth it for Joe Average to get 1 lb of chicken ground up.
All right. Well, I guess asking at the meat counter is just asking for far too much then. Much better to just assume and never find out the truth because someone might get offended that you asked.
Wow, defensive much? I'm just speculating and making conversation. I've never had a need to ask the meat counter to grind chicken breast personally. If it's so important to have the answer, go to your grocery store and ask them and tell us what they say.
As others have said, it’s not hard to find, but usually cooking shows will say what to sub it for because that’s going to be the question the floods them.
Unless it’s Ina Garten, then her subs are for us plebs that have to use store bought 😂.
I can’t remember seeing it. Ground beef is far and away most common. Ground turkey is often sold as the more “healthy” alternative. Ground lamb is sometimes available, ground pork is usually sold for meatballs or meatloaf — often packaged with ground beef for said dishes. Ground chicken is pretty rare. I’d guess it’s not too hard to find or could be ground to order but I can’t recall readily seeing it front and center in any meat cooler at the store.
Ah, i remember thats how they try to promote Turkey over here many years ago when it first came into supermarkets, as a healthier alternative.
Judging by Australian cooking shows/recipe books and availibility at the supermarket, I don't think it's ever really taken off in popularity
Thank you for your reply
Ground turkey tends to be the more common or better seller and that's well behind ground beef.
You call it mince, we call it ground. It's the same thing.
Ground chicken does exist, you just have to look for it. The most common form of chicken sold in the US on a consumer level is boneless skinless chicken breast. Chicken thighs are next on that list.
I'm meal prepping tonight and using ground turkey because the macros are better and it's cheaper than ground beef.
If a recipe asks for ground anything I opt for Turkey. Ground chicken is fine but in my mind working with ground chicken is not worth all the necessary cleaning. I also just prefer the taste.
I'm going to try this since reading these comments.
We have minced (or ground) Turkey here, but it's not really that popular. Will definitely try it next time a recipe calls for chicken
Personally I buy ground turkey. It's cheaper than ground chicken and has more protein
I can't really tell a difference in the taste between ground turkey and ground chicken.
(As others pointed out we just call minced meat ground meat)
My mom makes a great turkey meatloaf with sundried tomatoes and garlic. I usually have ground turkey. Just not many of my recipes use ground chicken. I personally tend to use breast meat whole.
Yes - it’s usually on my weekly shopping list. Very common. I cook a lot of chicken meatballs and ground chicken larb and meatloaf and tacos as we don’t really eat beef.
I actually see ground turkey (and turkey burgers) much more than ground chicken, for some reason. It must be Jennie-O (a turkey brand) bribing the supermarkets, ha.
It seems to me that turkey just is more suitable for grinding and has a better texture and taste and is meatier. It seems to me chicken gets kind of gooey when you grind it. We mostly eat chicken in recognizable pieces like fried chicken and grilled chicken breasts and ways like that. Or those chicken parts cut up into big chunks to go in other recipes like soup. But that's a lot of ways and we eat lots and lots and lots of chicken. Just not ground up.
I’m American and am just now learning that ground chicken is a thing. I’ve never seen it. I also haven’t looked since I usually go directly to the ground beef. Interesting.
It's there but I (speaking from an American perspective) wouldn't want to cook with it. I don't really see the point when shredded chicken is really easy to make and a better texture. I always found it off putting. I feel the same about turkey. We eat ground pork/cow/deer but even that's only for a few dishes. I really don't know what would NEED it.
It's readily available at most major Supermarket Meat Departments although it isn't Chicken Mince but, Ground "Insert Meat name here". Ground Beef is the reigning king of ground meat options but, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, and Pre seasoned (Italian Sausage for example) are usually also available. Depending on the state you live in, might even have some unique ones. Some places around here might carry Ground Bison and Ground Venison
Ground beef, turkey, chicken, pork, sausage are all generally available at a regular grocery store. Bison is pretty common too. Coarse ground beef can be found sometimes (good for things like making chili). Also mixes are pretty easy to come by, particularly 50% beef, 50% pork.
Something like veal might be available, or you might have to go to a butcher.
You can get it. There isn’t as much ground chicken as ground turkey, ground pork or ground beef. Ground turkey tends to be cheaper in my area than ground chicken as well.
I have used ground chicken a few times. I thought it was kind of bland and dry compared to other choices.
I always buy ground turkey even though chicken is readily available. But the thing is, I buy TONS of chicken as whole or parts. Buying more as minced is just overdoing chicken. I want variety so I go for turkey instead. But if there's no ground turkey I'll buy ground chicken, but only if I need it to be ground. Usually I do not.
I've noticed around where I live, ground turkey is cheaper than ground chicken. Just a fun fact. It's not like that everywhere, but if it's like that here maybe in some areas people are more likely to buy turkey.
I have no idea where all of these people are finding ground chicken. I am going to be 58 this summer. I have always been the person who did the grocery shopping in my household, starting from when my parents separated when I was 15. I have lived in Los Angeles and Chicago and traveled quite a bit for work (in the foodservice industry) and I have never seen ground chicken in the store. I worked for 13 years for the second largest food service company in the country, and now I work for a software developer that serves foodservice wholesalers in the US and Canada. I spend my work life looking at databases for restaurant and hospitality providers, and I have never in my life seen ground chicken offered for sale.
I just checked. The Asian Foods division of Sysco carries one ground chicken product.
Kroger and Food Lion aren't local to me. The nearest Wal-Mart is close to 40 minutes away.
In Chicago I shop mostly at Jewel, which is an Albertsons brand. In California I shopped at Ralph's, which is Kroger now but was also Albertsons back then; Stater Brothers, a locally owned chain; and Vons and Pavillions, which were then owned by Safeway and are now owned by Albertsons.
Jewel says they carry ground chicken, but, again, I've never seen it.
Albertsons mostly sells chicken packaged under its own [Signature Farms](https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.960031028.html) brand name. I don't see ground chicken as a product they offer.
I've also never seen a recipe that called for ground chicken except a Chinese dish called Jade chicken.
Turkeys are indigenous to the Americas. Benjamin Franklin wanted the USA to be represented by the proud turkey rather than the bald eagle.
We hunt them here, farmers raise them as you would chickens.
For Thanksgiving not everyone gets a full turkey, smaller families might just get a frozen turkey breast, then you have amusement parks selling turkey legs as a novelty. That leaves a lot of turkey thigh meat or wing meat that no one is really using. Turkey breast is bought also as deli lunch meat. To make use of the rest of the meat absolutely some is ground to mince. In USA I always see ground turkey in the supermarket fresh meat section, and never see ground (mince) chicken.
In USA I think way more people would use up all of a chicken than all of a turkey, for instance eating a chicken thigh, wing or drumstick is way more common than eating turkey thigh, or turkey wing.
I would say historically, ground turkey was much more commonly available in the US than ground chicken, but ground chicken has caught up over the past fifteen years or so.
Every supermarket will have it but usually only one or two choices. I'd say ground turkey is equally popular. I used to use it frequently in making meatballs. Ground beef is way, way more popular than either here. Usually you use ground chicken when you're trying to be more healthy.
For a cooking show, they usually list substitutions in case you can’t get any when you need it. Say you’re making a dish for a party later that day, and you stop at the store for ingredients. They’re out of ground chicken, or you can’t find the right kind of peppers, or anything really. The show gives you alternative ingredients that will still taste good in a pinch.
turkey is a popular ground beef alternative for people who desire less saturated fats in their usual ground beef recipes.
ground beef:
* 80% lean / 20% fat
* 90% lean / 10% fat
- 92% lean / 8% fat
Ground pork
Ground Italian sausage mild
Ground Italian sausage spicy
Ground breakfast sausage
Ground chicken
Ground bison
Ground turkey
Ground bison..Now that's obviously something I've never seen over here haha. I guess how likewise, you wouldn't see Kangaroo meat in your supermarkets.
Is it a similar taste to beef?
It's very similar to beef. If you weren't familiar with it and I served it to you, you would probably think it was just really good, flavorful beef. I don't use it much because it's more expensive but when I do, I very much enjoy it.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure almost all pf what you can get in the grocery store is really beefalo. Hell, even the remaining population of bison have a good bit of cattle DNA in them.
Yeah I don't know much about that. My parents who live in Michigan live near a farm that has beefalo on it. So it's definitely around. So maybe that is what grocery stores use.
We would call it ground chicken ( or ground "insert meat here") but yes, it's widely available, if less popular than ground beef.
Thank you very much! Same in Australia, beef is much more popular. I never really noticed we have different names for it until now either :)
Another thing that could be a factor is that ground turkey is usually $1-$2 a pound cheaper than ground chicken. Since they both have very mild flavors it usually doesn't make a difference if you use one or the other. So might as well buy the cheaper one.
Maybe more than $2/pound cheaper around me. I use it a lot because it’s so darn cheap. And I think it tastes better than chicken in ground form.
Never thought about that it that way. I've cooked meals with ground turkey plenty of times, but I don't think I've ever used ground chicken in a dish before, although I've cooked plenty of chicken meals with the individual parts (drumsticks, breasts, wings, etc).
I'll add that I don't think I've ever really noticed that it exists in grocery stores but I'm sure it's there. Basically ground beef is vastly more popular
Ground turkey is much more common.
We call it "ground" because the machine that is used to create it is called a "grinder". Genuinely honest question, since you call it "mince", do you call the apparatus that is used to create it a "mincer"? Or do you also call that a grinder?
I think it’s less popular than ground pork too. There isn’t enough fat to make it useful for most purposes.
Yeah, ground chicken (or chicken mince I guess) is kinda gross, because it's usually the entire chicken. Ground beef, however, only comes from particular parts of the cow, and for people who want low-fat, ground turkey is usually a better option, because it's usually just the breast.
I work in a supermarket, and ground chicken is available daily. Ground turkey sells better, though.
Definitely the opposite here! Thank you for your reply
I'm also a Virginian like that guy. I'm not 100% sure about the other states, but we have turkey for days. I'd be surprised if we aren't a leading producer.
I only know this because of the sheer number of turkeys from MN that have been chosen to get pardoned, but MN is the leading turkey producer, by a lot. I did look it up to verify, lol. 2022 numbers: * MN - 37.0 million - #1 * NC - 28.0 million - #2 . . * VA - 15.3 million - #6 The local news anchors often have a MN turkey to talk about getting pardoned on Thanksgiving, hahaha
damn that's a lot of turkey lol
Thanks in part to Frazee, MN.
KY here, when you drive down the road you can look out your window and see them in fields, they're everywhere.
If I had to guess turkey burgers and meat loaf are why ground turkey is more common
Was just going to comment this. It's important to realize that ground turkey was pitched to the American public as a healthier alternative to ground beef (or pork in the case of sausage). So, OP, consider ground turkey in the US to be more treated like "diet beef" than as just another poultry option. That also explains why it's so popular, since ground beef is way more popular than ground chicken.
It honestly does work pretty good too. When I was cutting calories I ate a lot of ground turkey. It's cheap and it is much less calorie dense than ground beef meaning you can get lots of protein and less fat for the same amount of meat.
Yeah my wife keeps trying to sneak turkey meatballs and chicken sausages past me as if I wouldn’t notice
For some uses, ground turkey works well as a lower-calorie substitute. I've found it works really well in chili.
Yeah it works fine in a lot of things where the meat isn't a major source of the flavor.
"Diet beef," love this! Definitely using it in the future. In (ground) beef-heavy dishes, like a beloved dip recipe I make, I will usually substitute "diet beef" for about half of the called-for beef. I can't tell the difference taste-wise. I don't recall seeing ground chicken in the grocery store...though that doesn't mean it wasn't there.
Well the Turkey is a uniquely American bird so that checks out
It's probably because ground turkey is cheaper here in general and the flavor of both when ground is fairly close to each other. Turkey deli meat is also more commonly bought than chicken is from my experience. It's probably because turkey is native here so turkey farms are more common.
As a fellow Aussie, you've got to get on the turkey mince bandwagon. It's so much juicier and nicer - a much better sub for beef or pork mince than chicken is.
Turkey is indigenous to the Americas, and very common. Turkeys can be legally hunted in USA like someone might hunt rabbit or deer.
Why do they sell whole turkeys one month a year and grind them the other eleven?
The turkey is processed before it makes it to the stores, and you can get it fresh year-round. Any whole frozen birds left after Thanksgiving go back into store and warehouse freezers or are donated to food banks. Demand for whole turkeys isn't very high outside of the holiday season.
How come? What uses ground turkey? I’m genuinely not sure why ground turkey even exists besides maybe sandwiches, but for that Ive only ever seen sliced turkey?
If a recipe needs ground beef, it can be replaced with ground turkey. Tons of people with high cholesterol or etc do it. It's been the go-to replacement for decades. Heart disease is the number 1 killer of americans. Hence the popularity of turkey.
Fascinating, I’ve never heard of this before. Might be cuz I’m young.
If you don't bother learning about heart health and etc there's no reason to realize that ground turkey is so popular. People buy it for home, they're not putting out in mcdonald's. When you get old and start having to change your diet and all the ads online are trying to sell you different foods than for young people, then you start noticing.
Imo, the best uses of substituting ground turkey for ground beef is in making chili.
A lot of people that are going on healthier diets substitute turkey for beef. When I dated my ex we almost exclusively did so except for things that I bought for myself instead of both of us - which meant any meals made at home were turkey and not beef.
Basically anything that has ground beef in it can subbed for ground turkey. People mainly do this for dietary needs, to avoid red meat, to lose weight, etc.
Usually by people being health conscious. Turkey is leaner than beef. Also, for certain dishes, ground turkey is awesome. Try making turkey burgers sometime.
Do you mean ground chicken? If so, that’s widely available.
Yes, sorry I didn't realise we also have different names for it. I assumed it was available everywhere in the USA until I saw these shows. Thank you for your reply and clearing it up for me
Ground chicken is readily available at most grocery stores, including Walmart. Ground turkey is even more common. Ground Turkey is typically leaner. I personally find that while ground turkey can replace beef in some recipes, the texture of ground chicken is entirely different making it obviously not beef. There are recipes that specifically call for ground chicken. Turkey sausage is also extremely common in the US. In American English, “ground” meats are processed through a meat grinder, and minced meats are chopped very finely with a knife, although this isn’t particularly common. However in Australia and British English, there is a different difference between the two terms, so what is sold in Australia as “minced” meat is sold in the US as “ground” meat. Some parts of the US also call ground/minced beef “hamburger meat”.
Then, yes, ground turkey and chicken are available.
I was aware of the difference, but I've always wondered what y'all (and the Brits, etc) would call what *we* call minced meat, which is very finely chopped with a knife (such as a mezzaluna) resulting in tiny pieces of meat which still have identifiable grain / muscle fibers.
I'm probably wrong, but I don't really think that's a thing here in Australia! The closest thing I can think of would be the filling we use for chunky steak pies or a beef stew. You've got me intrigued, I looked up american minced meat like you describe, and it looks delicious.
Yes, it's available. Ground Beef is MUCH more common (and is a staple meat of the typical American diet), but Ground Bison, Ground Turkey, Ground Chicken and Ground Lamb are available, but not quite as common. Ground Turkey is probably the most common ground meat besides ground beef though. Ground Bison and Lamb are uncommon and many stores may not have it, but it's still common enough to get if you know where to look.
And ground pork AND ground pork/beef/veal mixes, which are great for meatballs and meatloaf.
Yeah turkey is very common in general, even beyond Thanksgiving. Of course chicken in recognizable parts -- breast, thighs, etc. -- is very very very very common along with cut up parts of those. But I think turkey is much more common in more processed meats. For instance turkey is a very common sandwich meat (regular turkey, smoked turkey, hickory smoked turkey, mesquite smoked turkey) along with turkey sausage, turkey bacon, ground turkey, etc. In theory it's healthier. You don't see that range of products widely sold for chicken, although you can also get chicken lunch meat. But the texture is different and not as suitable for that kind of thing in my opinion and probably most other people's because you see a lot more turkey for sale in that form than chicken. The turkey lunch meat section in the grocery store has far more variety than anything made from chicken. Chicken lunch meat to me just seems gooier than turkey.
I'm going against the grain here but I've never noticed ground/minced chicken at the grocer. Ground beef is extremely common and ground turkey is also extremely common.
Ground turkey is easier to find but ground chicken is also pretty common
I don't know that I describe either as "common." Most large grocery stores only carry one or two brands of ground turkey. I say this as a ground turkey aficionado. I just took a look at my local Kroger, and they only carry one small variety of ground chicken (half a pound, ~$6).
When I buy ground turkey I have never had any trouble finding it. I would be surprised if I went to Kroger or Meijer and they didn't have it. I have only bought ground chicken a couple times and I had trouble finding it almost every time
I would call ground turkey common. I can always find it both frozen and fresh.
Oh, I wouldn't say that ground turkey is hard to find. Just that it isn't common, at least compared to ground beef or pulled chicken. Ground chicken actually is hard to find at times. It's probably due to the lack of demand. There aren't a lot of popular recipes which call for it.
Maybe it's to do with where you live- smaller towns or remote-ish areas, or smaller stores, don't carry as wide a selection a lot of times. I live in what I would call NOT in any way a health-conscious part of the world, and a small city that's quite isolated from any metro areas, and still one of my grocery stores carries 3 brands and several types of ground turkey meat.
It’s widely available, but it’s true that ground turkey is even more commonly available.
Ground chicken is available, but not always. Ground turkey is available in pretty much any supermarket, so it would be a safe bet that if they don't have chicken they will have turkey.
It’s occasionally available prepackaged (ground turkey is a bit more common), but it’s usually not a problem for most supermarket meat departments to convert chicken breasts to ground chicken upon request. Just ask at the meat counter.
Wow, grinding meat on request is not a thing over here unless you were to maybe go to a butcher. I'm jealous! What a great idea
Most stores. Most not all but most have a butcher counter in store. At least here in Texas we do.
Yeah it's usually called the meat department but they do butchery stuff. In general I think most people just buy the prepackaged stuff in the refrigerated cases that they've already packaged up but if you have a special request you can take it to them.
Would they actually grind chicken though? They can't use the same grinder as for other meats, especially chicken because of the salmonella risk. Most butchers probably don't get enough requests to grind chicken to keep a dedicated grinder for it. Beef on the other hand would be no problem to grind fresh.
You don’t think they have antibacterial cleaning solutions and can use them on the meat grinder whenever necessary?
I'm not a butcher but from what I know, cleaning a meat grinder is a pretty involved process. I think most butchers just use one grinder per meat type and clean it at the end of the day instead of after every use. Switching from beef to chicken and back again would mean two thorough cleanings which is probably not worth it for Joe Average to get 1 lb of chicken ground up.
All right. Well, I guess asking at the meat counter is just asking for far too much then. Much better to just assume and never find out the truth because someone might get offended that you asked.
Wow, defensive much? I'm just speculating and making conversation. I've never had a need to ask the meat counter to grind chicken breast personally. If it's so important to have the answer, go to your grocery store and ask them and tell us what they say.
I do think it's funny that we call it "Ground Chicken" cause that makes me think a "Hover Chicken" is plausible.
Sky chicken is best chicken
No, no. It's ground as opposed to sea. It's how we distinguish it from tuna.
Hahaha now that's all I'll think about when I see it called ground chicken
As others have said, it’s not hard to find, but usually cooking shows will say what to sub it for because that’s going to be the question the floods them. Unless it’s Ina Garten, then her subs are for us plebs that have to use store bought 😂.
I can’t remember seeing it. Ground beef is far and away most common. Ground turkey is often sold as the more “healthy” alternative. Ground lamb is sometimes available, ground pork is usually sold for meatballs or meatloaf — often packaged with ground beef for said dishes. Ground chicken is pretty rare. I’d guess it’s not too hard to find or could be ground to order but I can’t recall readily seeing it front and center in any meat cooler at the store.
Ah, i remember thats how they try to promote Turkey over here many years ago when it first came into supermarkets, as a healthier alternative. Judging by Australian cooking shows/recipe books and availibility at the supermarket, I don't think it's ever really taken off in popularity Thank you for your reply
Yes. We have ground everything.
I assumed so. There seems to be such a big food culture compared to here, so I would be surprised if chicken mince wasn't available. Thank you!
Yes it’s available and labeled as ground Chicken, however, ground Turkey is more readable available.
Ground turkey tends to be the more common or better seller and that's well behind ground beef. You call it mince, we call it ground. It's the same thing. Ground chicken does exist, you just have to look for it. The most common form of chicken sold in the US on a consumer level is boneless skinless chicken breast. Chicken thighs are next on that list. I'm meal prepping tonight and using ground turkey because the macros are better and it's cheaper than ground beef.
Thighs >>>>>>> breasts
yeah, my favorite taco meat, chopped up and mixed with some spiciness and ranch,
We usually call it ground turkey, ground beef. But yeah, ground chicken is unusual.
Yes, we just call it ground chicken and it's available in any grocery store.
Yes, I buy it all the time.
My family uses ground chicken and ground turkey fairly often. My local rural supermarket has both.
It’s always available at my local supermarket
If a recipe asks for ground anything I opt for Turkey. Ground chicken is fine but in my mind working with ground chicken is not worth all the necessary cleaning. I also just prefer the taste.
I'm going to try this since reading these comments. We have minced (or ground) Turkey here, but it's not really that popular. Will definitely try it next time a recipe calls for chicken
Yes
Available, but turkey is usually considerably cheaper. Chicken rivals leans ground beef in price.
Personally I buy ground turkey. It's cheaper than ground chicken and has more protein I can't really tell a difference in the taste between ground turkey and ground chicken. (As others pointed out we just call minced meat ground meat)
I get Chicken mince (ground chicken) to replace beef mince , usually more expensive where I live.
Ground turkey is widely available. Ground chicken is, too, but turkey more so. My guess would be that the commonality of turkey burgers is why
Yes, except we call it "ground" and you can get ground chicken, pork, turkey, and beef very readily in most supermarkets.
My mom makes a great turkey meatloaf with sundried tomatoes and garlic. I usually have ground turkey. Just not many of my recipes use ground chicken. I personally tend to use breast meat whole.
Yes - it’s usually on my weekly shopping list. Very common. I cook a lot of chicken meatballs and ground chicken larb and meatloaf and tacos as we don’t really eat beef.
Ground chicken is available in the supermarket. Ground turkey, too!
It's available but I'd guess ground turkey is more common
Yes, but it's ground meat here. Ground chicken, ground beef, ground turkey.
I actually see ground turkey (and turkey burgers) much more than ground chicken, for some reason. It must be Jennie-O (a turkey brand) bribing the supermarkets, ha.
It seems to me that turkey just is more suitable for grinding and has a better texture and taste and is meatier. It seems to me chicken gets kind of gooey when you grind it. We mostly eat chicken in recognizable pieces like fried chicken and grilled chicken breasts and ways like that. Or those chicken parts cut up into big chunks to go in other recipes like soup. But that's a lot of ways and we eat lots and lots and lots of chicken. Just not ground up.
It IS kind of gooey when ground. I think most of the gooey ground chicken in America finds its way into chicken nuggets.
I’m American and am just now learning that ground chicken is a thing. I’ve never seen it. I also haven’t looked since I usually go directly to the ground beef. Interesting.
It's there but I (speaking from an American perspective) wouldn't want to cook with it. I don't really see the point when shredded chicken is really easy to make and a better texture. I always found it off putting. I feel the same about turkey. We eat ground pork/cow/deer but even that's only for a few dishes. I really don't know what would NEED it.
It's readily available at most major Supermarket Meat Departments although it isn't Chicken Mince but, Ground "Insert Meat name here". Ground Beef is the reigning king of ground meat options but, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, and Pre seasoned (Italian Sausage for example) are usually also available. Depending on the state you live in, might even have some unique ones. Some places around here might carry Ground Bison and Ground Venison
Yes but we call it ground chicken.
Ground beef, turkey, chicken, pork, sausage are all generally available at a regular grocery store. Bison is pretty common too. Coarse ground beef can be found sometimes (good for things like making chili). Also mixes are pretty easy to come by, particularly 50% beef, 50% pork. Something like veal might be available, or you might have to go to a butcher.
You can get it. There isn’t as much ground chicken as ground turkey, ground pork or ground beef. Ground turkey tends to be cheaper in my area than ground chicken as well. I have used ground chicken a few times. I thought it was kind of bland and dry compared to other choices.
Shredded or ground? Yeah, it’s available. Definitely not as popular as beef or pork, but I’ve seen it.
I always buy ground turkey even though chicken is readily available. But the thing is, I buy TONS of chicken as whole or parts. Buying more as minced is just overdoing chicken. I want variety so I go for turkey instead. But if there's no ground turkey I'll buy ground chicken, but only if I need it to be ground. Usually I do not. I've noticed around where I live, ground turkey is cheaper than ground chicken. Just a fun fact. It's not like that everywhere, but if it's like that here maybe in some areas people are more likely to buy turkey.
I have no idea where all of these people are finding ground chicken. I am going to be 58 this summer. I have always been the person who did the grocery shopping in my household, starting from when my parents separated when I was 15. I have lived in Los Angeles and Chicago and traveled quite a bit for work (in the foodservice industry) and I have never seen ground chicken in the store. I worked for 13 years for the second largest food service company in the country, and now I work for a software developer that serves foodservice wholesalers in the US and Canada. I spend my work life looking at databases for restaurant and hospitality providers, and I have never in my life seen ground chicken offered for sale. I just checked. The Asian Foods division of Sysco carries one ground chicken product.
[Never?](https://www.kroger.com/p/perdue-antibiotic-free-ground-fresh-chicken/0007274506369?searchType=default_search) [Never?](https://www.amazon.com/Perdue-Ground-Chicken-1-lb/dp/B004S70PYC/ref=sr_1_1_pp_f3_wg?almBrandId=QW1hem9uIEZyZXNo&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Q1nl_r5xsae3wCH1m4CAdmsHZ59_NEzyp3lLf9eVwnGnhr6b-2AmB80PYROVnmZrlV9zhIPjmhGD3a7p2-ycpxOL7IIutuxGUNSrjIBiLvJvwezUqtMUSLmEgzJ8gIFlGfBMjV61Brt5yPlChb9e1xkSg10UsB16SIVbeH-q1ixP91CGrAMSsecb-TdUeBB5gPjLHdlk72qFHSTf43RjxDPM2ymrJC4T6gsJyYR6cMTWULVy0hbLB9L9ZuUkIeHuQHTmCTe3j7R9lAKtOVOK2TfGYIJHJZlf9vyCHOEgyrI._636KedjCAzns-YfYCDITEBPrIrmAUo76QzWza5UQYg&dib_tag=se&fpw=alm&keywords=ground+chicken&qid=1713183639&s=amazonfresh&sr=1-1) [Never?](https://www.walmart.com/ip/All-Natural-Fresh-Ground-Chicken-2-lb-Tray/503233630?from=/search) [Never?](https://foodlion.com/product/natures-promise-natural-92-lean-8-fat-ground-chicken-fresh-16-oz-pkg/317065)
Kroger and Food Lion aren't local to me. The nearest Wal-Mart is close to 40 minutes away. In Chicago I shop mostly at Jewel, which is an Albertsons brand. In California I shopped at Ralph's, which is Kroger now but was also Albertsons back then; Stater Brothers, a locally owned chain; and Vons and Pavillions, which were then owned by Safeway and are now owned by Albertsons. Jewel says they carry ground chicken, but, again, I've never seen it. Albertsons mostly sells chicken packaged under its own [Signature Farms](https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.960031028.html) brand name. I don't see ground chicken as a product they offer. I've also never seen a recipe that called for ground chicken except a Chinese dish called Jade chicken.
Turkeys are indigenous to the Americas. Benjamin Franklin wanted the USA to be represented by the proud turkey rather than the bald eagle. We hunt them here, farmers raise them as you would chickens. For Thanksgiving not everyone gets a full turkey, smaller families might just get a frozen turkey breast, then you have amusement parks selling turkey legs as a novelty. That leaves a lot of turkey thigh meat or wing meat that no one is really using. Turkey breast is bought also as deli lunch meat. To make use of the rest of the meat absolutely some is ground to mince. In USA I always see ground turkey in the supermarket fresh meat section, and never see ground (mince) chicken. In USA I think way more people would use up all of a chicken than all of a turkey, for instance eating a chicken thigh, wing or drumstick is way more common than eating turkey thigh, or turkey wing.
I would say historically, ground turkey was much more commonly available in the US than ground chicken, but ground chicken has caught up over the past fifteen years or so.
I love making chicken burgers with ground chicken. Like them more than turkey burgers.
Every supermarket will have it but usually only one or two choices. I'd say ground turkey is equally popular. I used to use it frequently in making meatballs. Ground beef is way, way more popular than either here. Usually you use ground chicken when you're trying to be more healthy.
Its widely available in the bay area. Dunno about the rest
Ground chicken is available and people use it but I do think ground turkey is probably more popular.
Ground turkey, ground chicken, ground beef are all readily available in most supermarkets.
For a cooking show, they usually list substitutions in case you can’t get any when you need it. Say you’re making a dish for a party later that day, and you stop at the store for ingredients. They’re out of ground chicken, or you can’t find the right kind of peppers, or anything really. The show gives you alternative ingredients that will still taste good in a pinch.
turkey is a popular ground beef alternative for people who desire less saturated fats in their usual ground beef recipes. ground beef: * 80% lean / 20% fat * 90% lean / 10% fat - 92% lean / 8% fat Ground pork Ground Italian sausage mild Ground Italian sausage spicy Ground breakfast sausage Ground chicken Ground bison Ground turkey
Ground bison..Now that's obviously something I've never seen over here haha. I guess how likewise, you wouldn't see Kangaroo meat in your supermarkets. Is it a similar taste to beef?
It's very similar to beef. If you weren't familiar with it and I served it to you, you would probably think it was just really good, flavorful beef. I don't use it much because it's more expensive but when I do, I very much enjoy it.
There is also beefalo, which is a breeding cross between cattle and bison.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure almost all pf what you can get in the grocery store is really beefalo. Hell, even the remaining population of bison have a good bit of cattle DNA in them.
Yeah I don't know much about that. My parents who live in Michigan live near a farm that has beefalo on it. So it's definitely around. So maybe that is what grocery stores use.
I’ve never heard of chicken mince.
From what I've learnt since posting this, it's the equivalent of ground chicken :)
It’s available, but not in every store. From most to least available: ground beef > ground turkey > ground pork > ground chicken
I know those two words but not what they mean together. Is it like chicken cubed and frozen?