5 Places Where You Can Buy Alligator Meat
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If you’ve never been to the bayou or many areas in Florida, you might have missed out on alligator meat. This unique gourmet blend has become very popular in many areas and can provide a fascinating alternative to your favorite steak or fish meals. If you’re interested in this culinary creation, you need to not only find great places to buy this meat online but understand this meat’s taste and health benefits.
What Kind of Taste Do You Get With Gator Meat?
The best way to describe gator meat’s taste is with two words: fishy chicken. You’ll notice the obvious comparison to chicken right away, no matter how you prepare this meat. However, it also has that lingering fishy aftertaste that so many fish fans love. The intensity of these two contrasting flavors typically depends on what part of the body you get the meat from on the gator.
What are the Best Parts of the Gator?
Alligator meat comes from three different parts. The alligator tail is the most common source because it is very light and tender. It almost has a veal texture and aftertaste, with a mild flavor and minor punch. The texture is quite juicy, particularly when paired with a fantastic marinade.
Next, you can get meat from a gator’s body and leg. These sections make up the dark meat options and typically produce a tougher and gamier option. Ribs may be the best part of many gators and have the same kind of rich juiciness you get from beef ribs but without the fat.
How Should I Prepare Alligator Meat?
Gator meat is very adaptable and can be prepared just about any way you want. People who fry gator claims it has the firmness of pork combined with a rubbery texture that requires quite a bit of chewing. Baking is another fine option, as this helps to get some of that rubbery texture out of the meat.
Likewise, boiled gator ribs are very popular in many parts of the southern US. We’ve even found some amazing stuffed gator recipes that fill a whole gator (usually a smaller one) with a variety of delicious ingredients. Potent options like radishes and peppers go very well with most gator meat.
Is Gator Meat Healthy?
Expect about 232 calories per 3.5-ounce serving, with 46 grams of protein: a much higher protein-to-calorie count than steak (291 calories, 23 grams of protein). Likewise, the same cut of alligator meat will possess four grams of fat and zero saturated fat compared to a steak’s 14 grams of fat and six grams of saturated fat. This low-fat content makes alligator a great option for those looking to diet.
The Best Places to Buy Alligator Meat Online
LA Crawfish
LA Crawfish (Louisiana, not Los Angeles) is a fine online vendor that sells alligator meat and alligator meat products. Their most popular option is either the one-pound bag of gator meat (about $19.50) or the five-pound bag. This raw meat lets you produce whatever meals you want at a reasonable price.
However, they also sell one-pound bags of alligator nuggets, two-pound alligator tenderloins, two-pound bags of alligator legs, and even whole, skinned, alligator by the pound. The alligator sampler may be the best option for those who are a bit overwhelmed by the available options.
Big Pops LA Gator
This online shop is another Louisiana business that produces fine gator meat for the discerning eater. They sell their meat by the pound and don’t have the same kind of product diversity as the previous entry. However, they allow for unique add-ons that you can link to each of your purchases.
For example, they also sell five-pound gator shrimps (check out that beauty on the purchase page to get an idea of its scale), as well as crawfish, and even gator meat sausages. You truly get the full Louisiana experience when you shop here! Note: each add-on is not available without a purchase of at least five-pounds of gator meat.
Cajun Grocer
Cajun Grocer is another fun Louisiana gator vendor who sells a broad array of different products. They claim that gator meat is rich in items like niacin, fatty acids, phosphorus, potassium, and protein. And they try to provide family-friend meat options beyond bulk purchases.
For example, they sell tenderized alligator fillets, alligator boudin, breaded alligator nuggets, unique alligator balls, tenderloins, sausage, and even whole alligators. Note: the alligator sausage mixes pork in with the gator, so keep that in mind if you have a pork allergy or prefer eating kosher.
Steaks and Game
Steaks and Game is an exotic meat store with a fairly simple setup. You select the kind of meat that you want and they list the available options. Typically, they sell by the pound but may also sell in five-pound packs. The prices here are simple, competitive, and reasonable.
We trust this vendor and have worked with them when buying other types of exotic meat throughout the market. They’re a good option if you want no-frills gator that you can cook in whatever way you want. No gator nuggets here, unless you hand-cook them yourself.
Amazon
If, for any reason, these vendors don’t appeal to you, you can always search Amazon to find a variety of different options. As the largest online store in the world, Amazon has several different gator meat options, some of which may be available for Prime shipping and other benefits.
The quality of the meat will vary based on the vendor and delivery times. For example, a slow delivery during a busy day might spoil your meat. We strongly suggest working with meat-specific vendors before trying Amazon. That said, we’d feel remiss if we didn’t let you know this option is available.
Healthy Gator Meat is Available for You
If gator meat sounds surprisingly tasty and worth your time, make sure that you consider one of these sources to get cooking. We suggest treating gator not like an everyday meal (the average person can’t afford that!) but more like a delicacy. Treat it with the respect it deserves and season and prepare it properly to get the best results. And don’t forget to let everyone know you’re eating gator like a cajun!
