This Roasted Turkey Recipe is bursting with flavor from the vegetables and herbs and is so juicy. You’ll be wowing your guests with this turkey for your holiday gatherings.
With the holidays right around the corner, you’re going to want to save this juicy, tender Roasted Turkey Recipe, trust me guys it’s amazing.
You don’t have to spend all day tending to the Turkey in the oven and it allows you to have time to get everything else in the kitchen done so your holiday meal is ready when you want it to be.
Ever since I started making my turkey this way, there has been no turning back, I became the one to make turkeys for all the fall and winter holidays and everyone is always ranting and raving about them.
This recipe is so easy to follow too. Nothing crazy and it’s all customizable to what you and your family enjoy, exactly what they love with a turkey.
Turkey is the perfect main dish centerpiece for a holiday table that can be surrounded by some delicious side dishes.
Some of our other favorite side recipes we have on our site include: Smothered Potatoes, Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes, and Southern Style Green Beans.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Perfect for the holidays or just a weeknight meal.
- Juicy and tender turkey every time!
- Provides a large amount of meat for a gathering, or to have plenty of leftovers
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Onions
Heads of garlic
Celery
Carrots
Bay leaves
Whole turkey
Unsalted butter
Garlic cloves
Fresh Italian parsley
Lemon juice
Fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme
Fresh sage
Kosher salt
Poultry seasoning
Black pepper
Lemon
Navel orange
Drippings
All-purpose flour
HOW TO MAKE ROASTED TURKEY, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large roasting dish, add the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and bay leaves, and set aside.
- Place the turkey on a sheet tray and tuck the wings under. Pat dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl add the butter, minced garlic, parsley, lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper.
- Stir together until combined.
- Use your hands to carefully separate the skin from the meat. You need to place your hand under the skin at the neck and start separating the skin from the breast meat. Work your hand all the way down and around the turkey breast, even going into the leg and thigh area. You need to make sure you do not puncture the skin.
- Next, add the compound butter under the skin, leaving about 2 tablespoons of it behind. I take a small spoon with butter on it, work it under the skin and use my hand on top to smush the butter around all over the meat.
- Make sure the breast area is completely covered with the butter and go down to the leg area as well, where you separated the skin.
- Take the remaining butter and smear it all over the outside of the skin.
- Place the turkey on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan.
- Next, fill the cavity with the sliced lemon, sliced orange, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, and sage.
- Take some kitchen twine and tie the legs together. The legs should criss-cross when tightly tied.
- Place in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes per pound. The turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the thickest meat of the thigh, not touching the bone, reaches 165°F. If it looks like the skin is browning too fast, add a large piece of foil tented over the roasting dish. I had to do this about 1 hour before the turkey was cooked through.
- Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
- To make the gravy, place the vegetables from the roasting dish into a colander over a large bowl to let any excess drippings, drip off into the bowl and discard. Pour the remaining drippings through the colander to catch any solids.
- Let the drippings sit so the fat will rise to the top. Skim off the fat or use a gravy separator to help. What’s left should be the pure drippings/liquid.
- We want 4 cups of drippings, so measure it and if there is not enough, add a little chicken stock to it until you get 4 cups.
- In a large skillet, add the butter and let it melt. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute.
- Very slowly, stream in the drippings while constantly whisking to avoid lumps. Season with pepper. Let simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste, and add salt or more pepper if needed.
- Cut the twine and take it off of the legs, slice the turkey and serve with the gravy.
WHY TIE THE LEGS TOGETHER?
The turkey will cook more evenly if you the it the legs together. This also helps to cook the turkey faster, helping lock in all the juices.
HOW LONG DOES THIS NEED TO COOK?
There is a general rule of thumb to follow when cooking a turkey. In general, you should cook your turkey for 13-15 minutes for every one pound of meat at 325°F.
In my experience, it is on the lower end of the spectrum. The turkey I used in these photos was just at 18 pounds and it took about 3 hours and 30 minutes until it was done.
WHAT OTHER SPICES CAN I ADD?
This Roasted Turkey recipe is a great base recipe to work off of. Feel free to adjust the herbs and spices to your liking, other ones to add are oregano, basil, tarragon or marjoram.
HOW TO STORE:
Place leftover turkey meat in an airtight container and place it in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 5 days.
When you want to reheat leftovers, there are a few ways to do so. No matter what you choose, always add a splash of water or stock to help it stay moist.
You can freeze a turkey for up to 5 months. If just freezing broken down meat, place it in a freezer safe container to freeze for up to 3 months.
Alternatively, you can add your sliced turkey and some leftover gravy so the meat is thoroughly covered, into a skillet and heat it up on the stovetop.
Ideally, you’ll have enough leftover gravy to do this, or your can cover with a splash of chicken stock if needed.
Thaw your frozen turkey by removing it from the freezer and placing it in the refrigerator overnight. Depending on the size of the turkey, you may need to thaw in the sink to finish thawing it out completely.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Instead of using butter in the gravy, you can just use a 1/2 cup of fat from the drippings.
- This Roasted Turkey can be frozen, see my tips above.
- The vegetables that we use in the roasting pan aren’t absolutely crucial to have in there but it really pulls out some delicious flavors. If needed, you can skip the vegetables.
- You can change up the herbs and spices to customize the flavor of your Roasted Turkey. Speaking of herbs, you can use dried ones if you need to – but only use 1 teaspoon of the dried herbs.
- When reheating leftovers you can use aluminum foil to create a little package to place your turkey in before adding your water or stock and sealing it up and placing it in the oven to warm it up. You can also use the alternative method shared above.
- When roasting a turkey, always start on the lower end of your cook time and check the turkey before adding more time if needed. You don’t want to dry out your turkey or overbake your turkey.
- Save the little cloves of garlic at the bottom of your baking dish that become soft and spreadable so you can use it in other recipes or smear on your fresh baked Dinner Rolls.
Want to wow your guests with a delicious, juicy turkey without being glued to the kitchen all day, then you must try this Roasted Turkey Recipe ASAP!
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Roasted Turkey
Ingredients
For the baking dish:
- 4 onions quartered
- 4 heads of garlic cut in half to expose the cloves
- 1 whole celery large chop
- 1 pound carrost large chop
- 4 fresh or dried bay leaves
For the turkey:
- 15 - 20 pound thawed whole turkey innards removed and discarded
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter very soft
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh squeezed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
For the cavity:
- 1 small lemon thinly sliced
- ½ navel orange thinly sliced
- 1 head garlic cut in half to expose the cloves
- 1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 5 fresh thyme sprigs
- 4 fresh or dried bay leaves
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 sprig sage
For the gravy:
- 4 cups drippings
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large roasting dish, add the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and bay leaves, and set aside.
- Place the turkey on a sheet tray and tuck the wings under. Pat dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl add the butter, minced garlic, parsley, lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper.
- Stir together until combined.
- Use your hands to carefully separate the skin from the meat. You need to place your hand under the skin at the neck and start separating the skin from the breast meat. Work your hand all the way down and around the turkey breast, even going into the leg and thigh area. You need to make sure you do not puncture the skin.
- Next, add the compound butter under the skin, leaving about 2 tablespoons of it behind. I take a small spoon with butter on it, work it under the skin and use my hand on top to smush the butter around all over the meat.
- Make sure the breast area is completely covered with the butter and go down to the leg area as well, where you separated the skin.
- Take the remaining butter and smear it all over the outside of the skin.
- Place the turkey on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan.
- Next, fill the cavity with the sliced lemon, sliced orange, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, and sage.
- Take some kitchen twine and tie the legs together. The legs should criss-cross when tightly tied.
- Place in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes per pound. The turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the thickest meat of the thigh, not touching the bone, reaches 165°F. If it looks like the skin is browning too fast, add a large piece of foil tented over the roasting dish. I had to do this about 1 hour before the turkey was cooked through.
- Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
- To make the gravy, place the vegetables from the roasting dish into a colander over a large bowl to let any excess drippings, drip off into the bowl and discard. Pour the remaining drippings through the colander to catch any solids.
- Let the drippings sit so the fat will rise to the top. Skim off the fat or use a gravy separator to help. What’s left should be the pure drippings/liquid.
- We want 4 cups of drippings, so measure it and if there is not enough, add a little chicken stock to it until you get 4 cups.
- In a large skillet, add the butter and let it melt. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute.
- Very slowly, stream in the drippings while constantly whisking to avoid lumps. Season with pepper. Let simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste, and add salt or more pepper if needed.
- Cut the twine and take it off of the legs, slice the turkey and serve with the gravy.
Notes
- Instead of using butter in the gravy, you can just use a 1/2 cup of fat from the drippings.
- This Roasted Turkey can be frozen, see my tips above.
- The vegetables that we use in the roasting pan aren't absolutely crucial to have in there but it really pulls out some delicious flavors. If needed, you can skip the vegetables though.
- You can change up the herbs and spices to customize the flavor of your Roasted Turkey. Speaking of herbs, you can use dried ones if you need to- but only use 1 teaspoon of the dried herbs.
- When reheating leftovers you can use aluminum foil to create a little package to place your turkey in before adding your water or stock and sealing it up and placing it in the oven to warm it up. You can also use the alternative method shared above.
- When roasting a turkey, always start on the lower end of your cook time and check the turkey before adding more time if needed. You don't want to dry out your turkey or overbake your turkey.
- Save the little cloves of garlic at the bottom of your baking dish that become soft and spreadable so you can use it in other recipes or smear on your fresh baked Dinner Rolls.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Cathy J
This is nearly the exact recipe that I use every year and it always comes out perfect.
a hint: After I blend the compound butter, I wrap it in plastic wrap and roll it jelly roll style, chill it overnight in the refrigerator, then in the morning slice it into “coins” and that’s what I slip under the turkey skin. It’s so easy and less messy !
Thank you !