Here is everything you need to know for how to roast a turkey! Making the Thanksgiving turkey recipe feels like abig deal if you’ve never made one (or if you’ve tried and failed), but roasting a turkey is like roasting a giant chicken.It’s totally doable with the right recipe and instructions. This turkey recipe is well loved by my readers (read the glowing reviews below).
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The flavored butter is incredible and inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Turkey. This Thanksgiving turkey recipeissimple, thoroughly written, doesn’t require lengthy marinatingand it can even be completely prepped and refrigerated up to 3 days in advance so all you have to do Thanksgiving day is roast the bird!
To make sure you succeed, I have a video tutorial below onhow to make a juicy and flavorful turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Watch How to Make the Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe:
Turkeys are not terribly expensive – this 12 pounder set me back $23 or so and that was before it went on sale pre-Thanksgiving, which they always do! Somegrocery stores even throw in a free turkey with $X-amount spent ongroceries. It’s an economical and beautiful way to feed a crowd for the holidays. Watch the video before you begin and you’ll be well on your way to impressing everyone at your table!
Tools You WillNeed for Thanksgiving Turkey:
2 Feet ofKitchen String
Heavy duty foil
A heavy roasting pan that accommodates your bird, but isn’t over-sized
An oven-safe thermometer (to ensure a fully-cooked turkey)
Turkey baster (or a large spoon)
Keep the drippings in the pan to make this incredibly flavorful and EASY Turkey Gravy.
Here’s a super handy video for how to carve a turkey from the NY Times. Also, you’ll be amazed at how much turkey meat you can recover from a turkey carcass after everyone has picked it over. You’ll be glad you saved that leftover meat when you see theseleftover turkey recipes.
⬇️Print the Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Below ⬇️
Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe (VIDEO)
4.99 from 110 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Learn how to roast a juicy turkey with this step-by-step video tutorial. Please read required prep in notes section before you begin.
Prep Time: 45 minutes mins
Cook Time: 2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins
Total Time: 3 hours hrs 35 minutes mins
Ingredients
Servings: 8 -12
Roast Turkey Recipe Ingredients:
- 12 lb turkey, Anything from 11-15 lbs will work, but bake time will vary – see below
- Salt & Pepper for the inside and outside of the bird
- 1 large onion, quartered (no peeling)
- 4 garlic cloves, halved (no peeling)
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- 1 lemon, quartered
For the Flavored Butter:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, not extra virgin, plus more to drizzle the top
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon, plus 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 3 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1/2 Tbsp salt, I used sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
What you’ll need:
- Kitchen String
- Heavy duty foil
- A heavy roasting pan that accommodates your bird, but isn’t over-sized
- A temperature probe, to ensure a fully-cooked turkey
Instructions
Seasoning, Stuffing and Tying up a Turkey:
Season inside turkey cavity generously with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
In a mixing bowl, combine: 2 sticks softened butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, 4 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 pressed garlic cloves, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/2 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Mash/stir with fork until combined (lemon juice doesn’t easily blend into butter, but keep mixing a few minutes and it will happen).
Separate skin from the turkey breast by carefully pushing your fingers under skin from the front and the back of the turkey. Do not tear the skin.
Stuff 2/3 of the butter mix under skin then massage over the top of the skin to spread the butter around.
Quickly pat dry the outside of turkey and rub with remaining 1/3 butter mixture. Drizzle turkey with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper for a crisp, salty skin.
Stuff turkey with quartered lemon, 1/2 bunch parsley, quartered onion, and 4 halved garlic cloves, Tie turkey base and legs together with kitchen string; crossing the legs to better close up the turkey cavity.
How to Roast a Turkey:
Prep: Pre-heat the oven to 430˚F with rack in the lower part of your oven.
Fold a square sheet of foil into a triangle. Rub one side of triangle with olive oil and place it (oil-side-down) over the turkey breast to shape it into a shield. Remove foil and set aside (you'll put it back on in step 3).
Place oven-safe meat thermometer into turkey beneath the drumstick and deep into the dark meat. Start roasting at 430˚F for 20 min.
Remove from oven; quickly baste with liquid from bottom of pan using a baster or large spoon. Re-apply prepared foil triangle to turkey breast area.
Reduce oven to 350˚F and bake for another 2 hours 30 min for a 12 lb bird. (Once you have reduced the oven to 350˚F, you will bake about 13 min for every pound of turkey). The turkey thigh should register at 170˚F on the temperature probe and the breast at 160˚F to make sure it's fully cooked through then remove from the oven (keep in mind the turkey temp continues to rise slightly after it's out of the oven).
Transfer to serving platter and cover fully but loosely with foil. Let turkey rest at least 1 hour for it to tenderize. Keep the drippings for a most amazing gravy!
Notes
!Required Prep for Roast Turkey Recipe:
*If using frozen turkey, defrost it in its original bag in refrigerator 3 days.
*Let turkey sit at room temp 30 minutes before you begin (it will bake more evenly). *Remove the neck and bag of giblets from the turkey.
*Rinse turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Let turkey sit in on paper towels to soak up excess water.
*Fold wings behind/under the turkey or they will be the quickest to dry out.
*Cooking temps based on the USDA which now says the safe poultry temp is 165˚F but the deeper thigh parts really should be at 170˚ to be fully cooked through.
- Full Nutrition Label
- Nutrition Disclosure
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Thanksgiving Turkey
Skill Level: Medium
Cost to Make: $$$
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Yum yum!!All we need now is some cranberry sauce to go with that Thanksgiving turkey. If you have a great cranberry sauce recipe you could share, I’d love to hear about it in a comment below! 🙂
P.S. Turkey in gravy is my absolute favoriteleftover turkey recipe– and it’s also well loved by my children, and parents and relatives. In other words, it’s a BIG WIN in our family :).