Valentina Ablaev
It isn’t Thanksgiving dinner without a grand turkey at the center of the table. This recipe takes you through every step of how to cook a turkey perfectly, every time!
Thanksgiving classics are a classic for a reason! A beautiful turkey alongside creamy classic mashed potatoesand other thanksgiving side dishes like a rich chicken gravy and one our favorites, a cheesy green bean casserole. Nothing can beat that!
A turkey is a classic thanksgiving dish, and let’s be honest, we’ve all had a dry turkey before that just didn’t leave you wanting seconds. This foolproof recipe is a guide to getting the perfect turkey. One that is juicy, flavorful, and moist in every bite!
Take Your Roasted Turkey to the Next Level:
Though we love a traditional turkey, you can butterfly a turkey for crispier skin and faster cooking time! See our spatchcock chicken recipe for more details.
Why This Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe?
With thousands of turkey recipes online, every family has its own version! However, we’ve fallen in love with this exact turkey recipe and urge you to try it! Why? Simply because it tastes good, but it’s also simple. So many recipes overcomplicate the process and make it rather intimidating. Our goal is to make a turkey that is easy for anyone to make but lacks no flavor.
What Goes in Our Roast Turkey Recipe?
The ingredients can be split into three major categories:
- Compound butter – butter adds so much richness and taste, but we pack that in by creating our compound butter. Loaded with fresh garlic and seasoning to ensure every skin bite is crisp and tasty.
- Seasoning – everyone has their preferences, but our classic dry rub consists of salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder. However, you can easily make this your own by adding italian herbs or even a homemade cajun rub!
- Stuffing – we add onion, lemon, lime, garlic, and fresh herbs or aromatics to give the bird a great flavor.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
How Big Should Your Turkey Be?
The first step of this recipe is picking the right turkey. A good rule of thumb is to have a lb for every dinner guest. So if you have 12 guests, a 12 lb bird would be perfect. However, I would always recommend sizing up because leftover turkey can be used to make the perfect turkey bacon sandwich.
What Equipment Do You Need?
The key to a juicy roast turkey lies in the roasting pan. Our roasting rack has a wire rack that fills the pan’s bottom with chicken broth, fresh herbs, and lemons. While roasting, the turkey is infused with an incredible aroma and kept moist. The skin gets crispy as the turkey sits on the wire rack.
How to Make A Turkey
A roasted turkey can be split into two major parts: prep and the cooking process.
- Clean turkey. Rinse the turkey off and pat dry with paper towels.
Butter and season the turkey. Lift the skin gently off the turkey and add half of the butter.
2. Spread the remaining butter on the outside and season the skin generously. Tuck the wings under the bird.
Stuff turkey. To the inside of the cavity, add an onion, sliced lemon and lime, garlic, and fresh herbs.
3. Prep the pan. Add foil to the bottom of the pan and add chicken broth, herbs, and lemon.
4. Roast the turkey. Add the wire rack back and place the turkey on top.
5. Roast. Roast for 30 minutes at 400°F and then baste. Turn the heat down and roast for an additional 3-4 hours.
6. Cover the breasts with aluminum foil Once the turkey is mostly cooked.
Once the turkey is cooked, rest for 20 minutes before carving into it.
Pro Tip for Cooking a Turkey:
Our 12-14 lbs turkey generally takes about 3-4 hours. Once it hits the 3 hours mark we just keep an eye on the meat thermometer until the internal temperature hits 165°F! A good rule of thumb is to estimate about 15 minutes of cook time per pound of turkey!
How to Plate a Turkey
The turkey presentation is about half of the work! Add the turkey to a serving platter and decorate! Add fresh herbs like thyme, dill, sage, and even fruit! Sliced pomegranates, oranges, and even apples make for a stunning presentation.
Expert Tips for Roasting a Turkey:
- Season generously. Don’t be shy with the seasoning and butter compound.
- Cover the bird in foil. After basting the turkey, cover just the breasts in aluminum foil. This will prevent them from drying out while the rest of the turkey cooks.
- Don’t discard the juices. All those turkey drippings at the bottom of the pan are packed with flavor. Serve alongside the turkey or turn it into a rich turkey gravy.
How to Use Leftover Turkey
With so many delicious thanksgiving sides, it’s pretty standard to have leftover turkey. Here are some delicious ways we like to use it:
- Sandwiches: Slices of turkey breast can be used instead of deli meat to make an incredible turkey sandwich!
- Canapes: We love a creamy baked chicken canape, and it can be made just as delicious with shredded turkey.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Keep leftover turkey stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Eat the turkey cold or reheat on a pan until warmed throughout.
- Freeze. Store turkey leftovers in a freezer-safe bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat: Thaw the turkey in the fridge overnight before reheating in a pan.
Recipe FAQs
Use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that the turkey is fully cooked. The thickest part of the turkey should read at 165°F.
We recommend a roasting pan with a wire rack to ensure crispy skin and a juicy interior. We really recommend it for this recipe. If you don’t have one, you can place the turkey in a regular roasting pan, but don’t add chicken broth to the pan.
For this recipe, we add butter under the skin and baste the turkey while cooking, and we find it perfectly juicy without needing to inject the turkey.
More Holiday Recipes
If you enjoyed this turkey recipe, be sure to try our other popular thanksgiving holiday recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this turkey recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!?
How to Cook a Turkey
Ingredients
turkey-
- 12 lbs turkey (between 12-14 lbs)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 large lemon, sliced
butter-
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened (1½ sticks)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
seasoning-
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp ground paprika
- ¾ tsp onion powder
stuffing-
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large lemon, quartered
- 1 large lime, quartered
- 1 garlic head, halved
- small bunch of cilantro or parsley
Instructions
Prep Turkey-
- Adjust the oven rack to low. Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a small bowl, combine all the seasonings. Combine butter, oil, and minced garlic. Add half the seasoning to the butter and mix.
- Remove the bird from the packaging and discard the giblets and neck from inside the turkey. Rinse the turkey and thoroughly pat dry the bird.
- Loosen and lift the skin on top of the turkey and rub some butter mixture underneath the skin (about half).
- Rub the rest of the butter mixture over the entire bird. Season the turkey with the seasoning mixture and tuck the bird’s wings underneath the neck.
- Stuff the turkey with the onion, garlic, lemon, lime (and a small bunch of fresh herbs if you have them). Tie the turkey legs with kitchen twine.
How to Cook a Turkey-
- Place foil on the bottom of an 11×15 roasting pan. Add chicken broth, oil, parsley, and lemon slices into the roasting pan.
- Add the rack to the pan. Place the turkey onto the rack. Roast turkey for 30 minutes at 400°F.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and baste the turkey. Fold some foil in half and cover the breasts of the turkey.
- Reduce oven to 325°F, and cook the turkey an additional 3-4 hours until the thickest part of the bird has an internal reading of 165°F. For extra crispy skin, broil the turkey for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the bird from the oven and rest for 20 minutes before plating and carving.
Notes
- Season generously. Don’t be shy with the seasoning and butter compound.
- Cover the bird in foil. After basting the turkey, cover just the breasts in foil. This will prevent them from drying out while the rest of the turkey cooks.
- Don’t discard the juices. All those drippings at the bottom of the pan are packed with flavor. Serve alongside the turkey or turn it into a rich gravy.
- Storage. Keep leftover turkey stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Eat the turkey cold or reheat on a pan until warmed throughout.
