Watch for sales on turkey tenderloins at the supermarket – then make these easy, delicious Grilled BBQ Turkey Tips.
Grilled Turkey Tips Slathered in Delicious Barbecue Sauce
Change things up a bit this summer with our delicious Grilled BBQ Turkey Tips!
These tips are made from turkey tenderloins. You’ll often find tenderloins on special at the supermarket during non-Thanksgiving times of the year.
We cut the tenderloin into four equal pieces, marinated them overnight, then grilled and slathered the tips in a fantastic homemade barbecue sauce.
You can serve these grilled turkey tips as an entree, or slice them up to add to salads or to make sandwiches.
What is a good Turkey Tips marinade?
We mix some Italian dressing or vinaigrette and freshly-squeezed lemon juice together to make a simple and delicious marinade for the turkey tips.
You can make our homemade Italian dressing or vinaigrette, or use your favorite bottled dressing – whichever you prefer.
Marinate the turkey tips overnight. Then, the next day – when you are ready to grill – remove the tips from the marinade and pat each piece of turkey with paper towels to remove any excess marinade.
Grilling tips for tender, juicy turkey tips!
- You can grill turkey tips on the grill when it’s warm enough outside, or cook them on a ribbed grill pan when it’s too chilly to grill outside.
- Since turkey tips are so lean, be sure to oil your grill grates or ribbed grill pan before cooking. We fold up a paper towel into a small square and grab the square with some long-handled tongs. Then dip the paper towel square into a small bowl of oil (such as grape seed or vegetable oil) and brush the hot grill before laying down the meat.
- To achieve those nice charred lines on the turkey tips, let them cook without moving the meat around for approximately seven to ten minutes, then flip and grill for another seven to ten minutes.
- Test the internal temperate of your turkey tips with a instant-read probe thermometer – at this point, it should be around 145 degrees F. Note that the tips will not be cooked through yet – they will cook some more after you’ve slathered the meat with the sauce.
- Remove your grilled turkey tips to a bowl, then slather on your favorite BBQ sauce making sure to fully coat each piece of poultry. (See a list of homemade barbecue sauces below.)
- Place the turkey tips back on the hot grill and cook for another five to ten minutes, turning occasionally and brushing on more BBQ sauce as needed.
- Once the tips reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F, remove to a platter and cover with a sheet of foil to rest. The residual heat will continue to cook the turkey tips to a safe internal temp of 165 degrees F.
- Serve with more BBQ sauce on the side if you wish.
What kind of BBQ Sauce should I use on Turkey Tips?
For a shortcut, you can use your favorite store-bought variety. Or,
Make an easy homemade BBQ Sauce:
Grilled BBQ Turkey Tips
Watch for sales on turkey tenderloins at the supermarket – then make these easy, delicious Grilled BBQ Turkey Tips.
- Prep Time: 12 hours 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 12 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: entree
- Method: grilled
- Cuisine: barbecue
Ingredients
6 turkey tenderloins (about 4 1/2 pounds)
2 cups of your favorite Italian dressing or vinaigrette (see a delicious homemade recipe here, or use your favorite store-bought dressing)
Juice from one lemon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3–4 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce, (see a delicious homemade BBQ sauce recipe here, or use your favorite store-bought dressing)
Instructions
- Cut each tenderloin into four equal pieces and place in a gallon zipper seal bag. Add Italian dressing and lemon juice, seal and refrigerate for at least six hours or overnight.
- When ready to grill, drain and discard marinade and pat each piece dry with paper towels.
- Heat grill to medium high so that when the cover is closed, the internal temperature is between 350- and 400-degrees F. Or heat ribbed grill pan to medium high.
- Oil grill grates or ribbed grill pan with the vegetable oil and a bunched-up piece of paper towel. Use long handled tongs.
- Place dried turkey pieces on the oiled grill and close the cover. Grill for about 7-10 minutes or until slightly charred then turn and repeat until the internal temperature when poked with a probe thermometer reaches 145 degrees F, about another 7-10 minutes once flipped.
- If using a ribbed grill pan, cook over medium high heat.
- As each piece reaches that temperature, remove to a large bowl. Once the bowl is full, pour on 2-3 cups of BBQ sauce and place each piece back on the grill.
- Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes turning occasionally and brushing with a little more BBQ sauce until the internal temperature of each piece reaches 160 degrees F. Immediately remove the finished pieces to a tray or platter and slather on more sauce, or serve the sauce on the side.
- Try not to let the internal temperature exceed 160 degrees F. We kept checking each piece with a probe thermometer and removed them one by one as they reached 160 degrees F. The smaller pieces came off first and the thicker pieces took longer. Total cooking time was just under 30 minutes.
