Review: Popeyes - Cajun Turkey

Popeyes' Cajun Turkey is only available around the holiday season. Each Thanksgiving bird is a 9-to-13 pound turkey that's marinated with the Popeyes' signature blend of Louisiana seasonings, slow-roasted, and then flash-fried for a crispy coating.

I pre-ordered one for $39.99 and picked up what I would guess to be a 12-pound turkey (Update 10/11/2023: The Cajun Turkey now goes for $50 to $60, depending on location. You can also now have it delivered directly to your door by ordering online from Popeyes for $99.00, including shipping.)

While Popeyes' Cajun Turkeys are fully cooked, they're frozen and must be thawed (it takes about 3 days to thaw in the fridge). It looks like they come from a distribution center because they're packaged much like frozen turkeys: in a sealed bag with netting.

This is how the turkey looks out of the bag prior to going into the oven:

They included a plastic thingamabob instead of twine to truss the legs together.

I was told by the Popeyes employee who took my order that it would take 30 minutes to heat up but a quick read of the instructions revealed that the heating time was more like 1.5 to 1.75 hours at 350 degrees.

The instructions also tell you to cover the bird in foil. However, after its done heating, you're going to want to broil it for at least 10 minutes or so to get some browning going on for both taste and texture.

This is how my Popeyes Cajun Turkey looked out of the oven:

As you can see, it's a good-sized turkey and enough for 8 to 12 people (I probably could have browned it a little more but people were hungry!).

So how was Popeyes Cajun Turkey? It turned out really well. The turkey wasn't completely juicy, but it was juicy-to-moist and, however they seasoned it, the flavor permeated the meat throughout the whole turkey. I bought some of Popeyes' Cajun gravy for dipping and the two got along famously.

The skin formed a nice crispy layer that exhibited the peppery heat and seasoned taste of Popeyes' signature blend of Cajun spices. I'm not sure if the flash-frying added anything to it, but it was good!

Overall, Popeyes' Cajun Turkey was thoroughly enjoyable and packed with flavor. It is a little bit pricey (and spicy!) but saves a lot of time and tasted better than most of the turkeys I've eaten through the years.

If you're wondering how the rest of my Thanksgiving's spread looked, it looked like this:

Nutritional Info - Popeyes Cajun Turkey
Serving Size - 3 oz (84g)
Calories - 140 (from Fat - 60)
Fat - 6g (Saturated Fat - 2g)
Sodium - 500mg
Carbs - 1g (Sugar - 1g)
Protein - 19g