Remember that totally awesome scene from I-CaveMan? You know, the one where that dude hits the elk with his atlatl and saves the village. Epic. Well, I don’t know about you but that meat looked pretty darn tasty to me. I’ve also been lucky enough to have enjoyed some elk in my day… In fact, the night before I won the Wyoming Marathon I dined on a couple elk burgers. Yep, I can see it now – “Elk – Dinner of Champions” – and let me tell you, Wheaties have nothing on this stuff. Okay, enough about elk – let’s talk wild and exotic meat in general. There is more to be had than the standard beef, pork, chicken, turkey and salmon. Seriously, it is a jungle out there – ostrich, bear, wild boar, kangaroo, turtle… And from a nutrition standpoint – if you aren’t walking on the wild side you are missing out! Now, I know some of these options might be hard (next to impossible) to come by, but if you have access to or an opportunity to explore the wide world of exotic meats throw caution to the wind and get wild!
Here’s a look at how some ‘crazy critters’ stack up nutritionally compared to the usual suspects…
Meat – raw wt (100 grams) |
Calories |
Protein (grams) |
Fat (grams) |
Sat. Fat (grams) |
Iron (mg) |
B-12(µg) |
Niacin (mg) |
Zinc (mg) |
Selenium (µg) |
The Usual Suspects: | |||||||||
Beef (ground 85/15) | 215 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 15.8 |
Beef (ground, grassfed) | 192 | 19 | 13 | 5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 14.2 |
Beef steak (flank) | 165 | 21 | 8 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 23.3 |
Beef steak (grassfed, strip) | 117 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 21.0 |
Chicken (breast/skinless) | 114 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 10.4 | 0.6 | 32.0 |
Chicken (thigh/skinless) | 119 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 22.6 |
Pork (loin/lean only) | 143 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 36.1 |
Pork (shoulder) | 148 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 29.5 |
Turkey (breast/skinless) | 111 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 6.3 | 1.2 | 24.4 |
Turkey (leg/thigh/skinless) | 119 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 22.6 |
The Wild and Crazy | |||||||||
Alligator | 232 | 46 | 4 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Antelope | 114 | 23 | 2 | 0.75 | 3.2 | NA | NA | 1.3 | 9.7 |
Bison (grassfed, ground) | 146 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 20.0 |
Black Bear | 155 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 7.2 | NA | 3.2 | NA | NA |
Caribou | 127 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 10.2 |
Duck (domesticated) | 135 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 13.9 |
Elk | 111 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 2.4 | 9.8 |
Emu | 134 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 4.0 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 30.5 |
Frog Legs | 73 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 14.1 |
Goose | 161 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 16.8 |
Kangaroo | 100 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Ostrich (ground) | 165 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 33.0 |
Pheasant | 133 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 16.2 |
Quail | 134 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 8.2 | 2.7 | 17.4 |
Rabbit | 114 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3.2 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 9.4 |
Turtle | 89 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 16.8 |
Wild Boar | 122 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 9.8 |
Now that you have the facts you might be wondering if all these crazy critters really ‘taste like chicken’. Well check out this handy, “What Exotic Meats Taste Like” summary and wonder no more! And, as an FYI ‘the hunt’ has just begun. Stay tuned for posts on the nutritional merits of organ meats, an OMG (Omega Meat Guide) – omega fatty acid breakdown, AND a ‘Yes, Sir(loin) breakdown of different meat cuts of. So, lurking vegans and vegetarians beware; you won’t being seein’ any seitan here.
Until we ‘meat’ again!
Sources:
USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference version 24
Fl-Seafood.com: American Alligator
Matt says
Here is Australia you can buy Kangaroo steaks in the supermarket. It’s quite a rich meat, very tasty but can be tough if it’s not cooked correctly. A friend of mine managed a hotel in an Aboriginal community and tried many of the foods that Aboriginals traditionally hunt and gather. He tells me Dugong is hands down the best meat he’s ever tasted.
Amanda/Outback Australia says
Hi there,
I can confirm this. I’m an anthropologist who’s been living and working in remote Aboriginal communities in outback Australia for 11 years. In Central Australia, kangaroo is found in every supermarket, and in Aboriginal communities, kangaroo tails are a highly sort-after treat. It seems to be eaten by the general population much more in places like Alice Springs than in Australian cities.
Kangaroo is quite gamey (I’m not a huge fan), but if you marinate, the taste improves.
However, there’s a lot of other meats that Aboriginal people also LOVE out here: goanna (a very large lizard, tastes like oily chicken with a flaky consistency), Echidna (Australian monotreme that’s a bit like a porcupine, quite gamey to eat) and the most sort after delicacy of all, Bush Turkey – which is a bird about the size of a Road Runner.
Many of us living here also eat camel. Feral camels are a massive pest introduced (that’s right they are NOT native to Australia) to the outback, and they’re causing the extinction of many native mammal species.
Camel tastes very much like beef, with the only caveat being that you must eat it rare or medium-rare, unless you’re into eating old boot leather!
Indy says
Amy,
This past weekend we attended the Melbourne, Florida Rotary Club’s annual “Wild Game BBQ”, and did we ever have lots of wild game. I’m convinced that the wild game is indeed the best for overall taste and pure Paleo satisfaction. It was an all you could eat outdoor affair that included airboat rides in the swamp nearby. Pure Florida – the part that most tourists never see here. Anyway . . .
The meats we were given included: Venison, Red Stag, Elk, Catfish (not so exotic), Aligator Tail, and my annual favorite, Black Bear. Black Bear in incredibly tasty and tender. I do consider Bear to be exotic and not really something that could become a staple. However, if only the other meets weren’t considered exotic, were more available, and could become a standard part of our diets, we could be a hell of a lot healthier I think.
Thanks for the article.
PaleoDruid says
Wild Boar is one of the best meats ever conceived. Love.
Amy Kubal says
I’ve only had it once – but I totally agree with you!!
Dana says
I also totally agree! Wild boar is the best meat I have ever had (and I have tried lots of wild game meats). I think it is interesting that the meat is dark, like beef, and not light like pork.
james says
I Agree. I had it in Maui, they said it was taken from the macadamia nut farms. it was delicious.
Dr. Mike Tremba says
Living here in Alabama, I’m a little offended that you didn’t include ‘possum or racoon meat with a hint of blacktop flavoring. (Just kidding 🙂
Seriously though, thanks for providing this–although my exotic meats are fairly limited, I love bison, and look forward to trying a couple of the others on the list 🙂
Ang says
Nice! Would love to see the breakdowns on Moose included. It’s a staple in our diet.
Amy Kubal says
Moose:
Calories:102
Fat:1 gram
Sat Fat:0
Protein:22 grams
Iron: 3.21 mg
Zinc: 2.8 mg
B-12: 6.31 mcg
Niacin: 5 mg
Selenium: 9.6 mcg
Ang says
Thanks!
GiGi Eats Celebrities says
Always wondered what moose tasted like! Where do you get yours?
Mike T says
I’ve eaten black bear before and it is nasty. Wouldn’t recommend it to anyone… ever. 🙂
Amy Kubal says
What did it taste like?
Dana says
Black bear can be tricky. I have had good and bad Black bear. Bear fat goes rancid quickly and is nasty tasting stuff, so getting all the fat off during processing is important. Leaving too much fat on can spoil the meat. If you had bad tasting black bear it was probably because they didn’t get all of the fat off.
Max@flavortogofast says
no venison?
Amy Kubal says
Very, very similar to elk!
Topline Foods says
Hahaha! The blog and cartoon has got me curious about our famous Arizona tourist dish; rattlesnake meat. Candy coated scorpions, too.
John says
No lamb on the tame list? We just bought a whole one and it’s delicious. The fat is fantastic!
Amy Kubal says
That’ll make an appearance soon!
Neka says
While I do love me some Elk, the taste does differ with where it came from due to the local vegetation they consume. I would much rather have some that were east of the Mississippi then west. They eat eat a lot of sage out west, & while you think that would add to the natural flavoring (Come on!! You buy sage at the grocery!!) I find it rather over-powering. My opinion at least
chuck says
i love that bison is now part of our “usual subjects”!
Dr.Michel says
I have eaten and shot Moose it is very good , I was actually raised on it . It has it own distinct taste we call it gamey. Black bear is also good it all depends where and what the bear has been eating. Here is a list of some other wild meats I have eaten deer, elk, partridge, all kinds of duck, geese, bison,rabbit and quail. I have also eaten all kinds of wild fish. I guess living in Northern Ontario Canada does offer that opportunity.
seafood says
You know what they say, buy a man some moose and he eats good. Buy a man a rifle and he eats good forever!
OogieM says
How could you miss the best meat there is? Sheep! As a shepherd raising them I’m saddened to see you don’t include it at all! Grass finished sheep meat is absolutely wonderful and so good for you too. The 2 of us eat about a sheep a month.
Amy Kubal says
It’ll be coming soon!! I promise!!
Ben says
Hey, what about goat? It is one of the most delicious meats if cooked properly. Does anyone know the breakdown of that? Also seems like a real exotic food in the west.
Amy Kubal says
There ya’ go!
Calories: 109
Fat: 2 grams
Sat Fat:1 gram
Protein: 21 grams
Iron: 2.8 mg
Selenium: 8.8 mcg
Zinc: 4.0 mg
B-12: 1.13 mcg
Niacin: 3.8 mg
Isaac Warbrick says
I’m pretty lucky to live in New Zealand where wild boar really is the food of champions (It would be hard to find a rugby player that doesn’t train by carrying the odd boar out of a gully).
I also have a freezer stocked with wild goat that my friend happened to stumble across while walking his dog (though I still wonder why he had a knife with him while walking the dog). Either way, that goat makes for one heck of a coconut/goat curry.
Patrick says
Hey,
Thanks for this interesting list/comparison.
I do have trouble eating gamey meat. I can really eat to “sheepy” lamb either.
I’m always trying these things like rabbit/hare/venison/wild boar, but sometimes I already choke after the first bite.
Is this because I haven’t acquired the taste as a kid and are there ways to get around this?
Same goes for liver by the way…
Thanks!
Caeliean says
When I lived in Japan, aside from (scientific researchally harvested) whale, jellyfish and myriad other ‘fruits de mer’, one of the best surprises I came upon was ‘basashi’ described in English as horse sashimi. REally, really tasty… feel a little guilty about that, considering all the personality they seem to have… bit like eating dog or cat (China/Korea), which don’t really merit much of a mention… I feel they’re both nondescript and not worth the imagery… *wuff* mmm… yeah, no.
GiGi Eats Celebrities says
I’m totally saving this chart as I eat a bulk of these meats… The only calorie count I question, not that it really matter since I eat foods regardless of their calories, is the ostrich because I have seen other places that it’s far lower than the 165 listed…
Helgi says
If you get the chance (visiting Norway, Iceland or Japan) you should really try whale.
Barbequed thinly sliced mink whale is the best steak you’ll ever have, as long as you dont overcook it.
Seal is also very good, though it suits best, in my opinion, as stew meat.
These species are very far from any danger of even the danger of extinction in the N-Atlantic, so they can be enjoyed without guilt. Ocean pollution is the only spoiler.
BG CHISHOLM says
I have to say one of my faves is huckleberry black bear…
Ryan says
And alligator has about twice the protein content of all the other meats?
Mr.H says
I got different numbers for bison. http://www.bisoncentral.com/cooking-bison/nutrition-information