When can babies eat turkey?

From around 6 months, once your baby is ready for solids, served in a safe shape and texture for their age.

Turkey

Not just for holidays. Mild, easy to shred, and great in soft meatballs.

Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review

Quick answer

Babies can eat turkey from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.

From 6 monthsMedium choking risk as servedNot a common allergen

How to serve turkey by age

6 months+

Soft patties, tender strips or shredded

Shape ground turkey into soft finger-shaped patties cooked to 165°F (74°C), or pull very tender, moist thigh meat into finger-length strips along the grain. You can also stir finely shredded turkey into mashed potato or sweet potato.

Size: Patties or strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), or finely shredded and mixed into mash.
Check before serving: Squash a piece between your thumb and finger. It should fall apart easily. If it's springy or dry, moisten it, shred it or cook the next batch longer and slower.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare turkey

1
Don't rinse raw turkey: washing meat splashes bacteria onto your sink and counters. Wash your hands, board and knife after handling it.
2
For strips or shreds, simmer boneless, skinless turkey thighs in water or braise them covered until very tender. For patties, mix ground turkey with a little mashed potato or sweet potato to keep it moist, and shape into fingers. Don't add salt or stock cubes.
3
Cook until it reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part or center. Use a food thermometer: color isn't a reliable sign.
4
Let it cool, then remove any skin, bone and gristle. Pull thigh meat into finger-length strips along the grain, or shred it finely. Do the squash test before serving.

How much to offer

Start with a patty or two, or a spoonful of shredded turkey mixed into mash. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Lots of sucking and chewing with little swallowed is normal at first.

Common mistakes

Serving dry chunks of turkey breast

Tough or large chunks of meat are a choking hazard. Use moist thigh meat or ground turkey, and serve fine shreds, finger-length strips that fall apart, or soft patties.

Using deli turkey

Sliced turkey luncheon meat counts as processed meat, which is often high in salt. Cook plain turkey for your baby instead.

Adding gravy or stock

Babies shouldn't have added salt, and gravy and stock cubes are often high in salt. Take your baby's portion out before you add them.

Washing raw turkey

Rinsing doesn't make it safer; it spreads bacteria. Only cooking to 165°F (74°C) kills them.

Where US and UK guidance differ on turkey

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

Cook all turkey, including ground turkey, to 165°F (74°C), checked with a food thermometer. The USDA says safely cooked turkey can still look pink, so color isn't a reliable sign.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS doesn't give a temperature. It says to cook turkey all the way through, until the juices run clear and there's no pink or red meat left. Turkey cooked moist and tender for babies meets both.

We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.

Questions parents ask

Can turkey be a choking hazard for babies?

Tough or large chunks of meat and bones are choking hazards for young children. Cook turkey until moist and tender, remove every bone and the skin, and serve it as fine shreds, finger-length strips that fall apart, or soft patties. Stay with your baby during meals.

Can babies be allergic to turkey?

Turkey is not one of the common food allergens. It is a known trigger of FPIES, a rare, delayed type of food allergy: see when to call the doctor.

Is turkey healthy for babies?

A source of protein, zinc, niacin and vitamins B6 and B12, with some iron. The iron in turkey includes heme iron, which the body absorbs more easily than iron from plant foods.

Can babies eat ground turkey?

Yes. Ground turkey makes soft patties and meatballs that are easy for babies to hold and chew. Cook it to 165°F (74°C), shape patties like fingers for young babies, and cut meatballs into small pieces from 9 months.

Can my baby have turkey from our holiday dinner?

Yes, if you take some moist, plain meat before adding gravy, and remove bones and skin. Gravy is often high in salt. Check the label when you buy the bird: turkeys labeled 'basted' or 'self-basted' are injected with a solution that can contain salt, butter or broth, so a plain, unbasted turkey is the better choice. For safety, cook stuffing outside the bird.

Is turkey a good source of iron?

It gives some: about 1.5 mg per 100 g of cooked ground turkey. Its heme iron is well absorbed, and eating meat or poultry with beans, lentils or iron-fortified cereal helps the body absorb the iron in those foods too.

If your baby refuses turkey

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try another form: a soft patty, shredded into mash, or small meatball pieces in sauce.
Moisten dry turkey with a little of its cooking water, breast milk or formula.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing turkey

Keep raw turkey on the bottom shelf of the fridge in a sealed container, and cook or freeze it within 1 to 2 days.
Cooked turkey keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Rice dishes are the exception: cool them within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once.
Cooked turkey can be frozen for up to 4 months, and turkey patties or meatballs for up to 3 months. Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let them cool before serving.
Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).

When to talk to your doctor

Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:

Your baby vomits a few hours after eating turkey. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that turkey can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Offered turkey?

Add it to your first 100 foods.