Cajun Turkey Club Recipe

When I think of a club sandwich, I think of layers of meat – triple stacked on good, toasted bread with a great sauce to tie it all together. Of course, you you have to have a little vegetables in there (lettuce and tomato do the trick); but it’s really all about the meat. For this sandwich I’m smoking a boneless turkey breast and some spicy brown sugar bacon plus I kick up some mayo to create what I call the Cajun Turkey Club. First you’ll need a turkey breast. I bought a Butterball boneless turkey breast roast from the grocery store. These are typically sold frozen and the breast is surrounded by netting to hold its shape while cooking. Let it slow thaw in the refrigerator for a couple days before you plan to smoke it.

To get the Cajun flavor going I first made a butter injection using chicken broth, melted butter, hot sauce, and my King Craw Cajun seasoning. Combine these ingredients and shoot it into the breast. Spray the outside with cooking spray and season with a good dose of the King Craw (or your favorite Cajun seasoning).

To cook the breast I fired up my Memphis Wood Fire Grill running on a blend of Hickory, Maple, and Cherry pellets for smoke flavor. You can use any grill or combination of wood for cooking this recipe just keep your cooking temperature at 325 degrees.

Place the turkey breast on the pit and let it roll until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I placed my Thermoworks DOT internal thermometer into the breast to keep an eye on the internal temperature as it cooked. For the bacon element of this sandwich I created a spicy brown sugar seasoning to coat the outside of each slice of bacon. Take 1 cup of light brown sugar and mix with 1 tablespoon of King Craw. Coat the outside of each piece of bacon with the sugar mixture.

To cook the bacon I first sprayed a couple of my Chicken Racks with PAM vegetable cooking spray. Then I placed each piece of bacon on the rack and into the Memphis Pellet Grill along side the turkey breast. After 7 minutes I flipped each piece for even cooking and in 15 minutes it’s done. The sugar caramelizes giving the bacon a beautiful color on the outside and it’s sweet and spicy at the same time. (Really this bacon would be good on anything!)

I also whipped up a Cajun Mayo to slather on the bread. I combined 1 cup of Blue Plate mayo with a little Dijon mustard, horseradish, hot sauce, and King Craw. To give it a little texture I finely chopped some of my Sweet Fire Pickles and stirred it all together. Taste for seasoning and add just a pinch of salt and black pepper and you have a tasty Cajun Mayo.

When the turkey is done let it rest on the counter for 15 minutes then slice. Toast up some bread and get ready to build the sandwich. You’ll need 6 slices of toast for 2 club sandwiches.

Slather Cajun Mayo on one side of a piece of toast. Layer on a couple slices of the turkey followed by lettuce and a couple thin slices of tomato. Add 2 strips of spicy brown sugar bacon and another slice of toast (slather that with Cajun Mayo too). Repeat this process one more time because it has to be a Triple-Decker! Top it all off with a couple skewered dill pickles and slice in half to serve.

This is an easy recipe – and with all the Turkey Breasts in the grocery stores right now, you don’t have any excuse not to give it a try. Or you can use your leftover Thanksgiving Turkey, make some spicy candy bacon and creole mayo and get down on a leftover Cajun Turkey Club. Print