The centerpiece of your holiday table, this Roast Turkey Recipe is moist and flavorful, with a delicious herb butter that gives the turkey the best crispy skin. If you want a traditional Thanksgiving turkey with lots of flavor, this is the recipe you need.
Don’t need to feed as many people? Try this Roast Turkey Breast with Herbed Butter.
I’ve made the Thanksgiving the last 4 years in a row, now, and every year, I have made this roast turkey.
So I thought it was about time I posted it here!
I used to be intimidated by roasting a turkey. But the truth is, it’s really, really easy. And while it does take time to roast, the hands on time isn’t even a lot.
This is your basic roast turkey recipe – and you can’t go wrong with it on your Thanksgiving table. It is juicy and flavorful and the skin gets nice and crispy. It is the perfect holiday centerpiece!
Ingredients
- Turkey: You will need a turkey, anywhere between 12 and 20 pounds. I like to plan about 1 1/4 pounds per person. This is pre-cooked weight. So a 15 pound turkey should feed about 12 people. If you have a lot of sides, this gives enough for leftovers, as well.
- Butter: I like to use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt.
- Garlic: My herb butter is garlic heavy, so you can cut back on the amount of garlic if you don’t want it to be as strong.
- Herbs: I like to use the same herbs that I am stuffing the turkey with to make the butter – rosemary, thyme, and sage. You’ll need some fresh sprigs of each for stuffing the turkey, as well.
- Lemons: I will zest a lemon to add the zest to the butter. And then quarter the lemons, one for inserting in the turkey and the other for the roasting pan.
- Salt and Pepper: Make sure to add salt and pepper for seasoning.
- Onions: The onions will also get quartered. Half will go in the turkey and half in the roasting pan.
- Celery: This will just go into the roasting pan – I don’t add the celery to the turkey.
- Apple: You just need a small apple for stuffing the turkey.
How to Make This Roast Turkey Recipe
STEP 1: Your very first step will be to remove the turkey from its packaging and remove the neck and the giblets. You can save these to make the gravy, but I usually discard them. Then dry the turkey well with paper towels. Make the butter by mixing the butter with the garlic, chopped herbs, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Set this aside.
STEP 2: Take one onion, one lemon, the apple, and the sprigs of herbs and stuff them into the cavity of the turkey. This will just add flavor to the turkey as it cooks – you won’t eat these once the turkey is done.
STEP 3: Place the remaining onion, lemon, and the celery in the bottom of your roasting pan. This will flavor the drippings that you will baste the turkey with, as well as the drippings for gravy, if you use them to make gravy after.
STEP 4: Use your hands to gently separate the skin from the meat. Once you get it started, it’s pretty easy.
STEP 5: Place about 2 tablespoons of the herbed butter over each breast piece. It is sometimes hard to spread evenly with your hands, so I will press it in as far as possible, then massage it down from the outside.
STEP 6: Take the rest of the butter mixture and cover the outside of the bird with it. I don’t cover the underside of the turkey, but I do make sure and get the legs and wings.
STEP 7: Roast the turkey for 13-15 minutes per pound. A few times during the roasting time, take a pastry brush and brush the drippings over the turkey. If it starts to get too brown, take a piece of foil and tent it over the turkey.
STEP 8: Once the turkey has reached 165ºF in the breast portion, remove it from the oven. Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes before carving.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure you give your turkey enough time to defrost in the refrigerator. Plan for at least 24 hours for each 5 pounds of turkey.
- I will sometimes pull the turkey out when it is around 160ºF, because the carryover cooking will bring the temperature up to 165ºF.
- If you are testing the turkey in the leg, the temperature will need to be higher – around 175ºF to 180ºF.
- If you don’t have a roasting pan, you can use a disposable pan. Just put a layer of vegetables on the bottom – you may need to double what I’ve included in this recipe, and place your turkey on top of the vegetables. You just want to make sure you aren’t placing the turkey on the bottom of the pan.
- I love turkey leftovers (maybe even more than at the Thanksgiving meal!) so I always make sure I make enough for everyone to take some home.
- Make sure you save the drippings to make Turkey Gravy!
More Thanksgiving Recipes
The BEST Sweet Potato Casserole
Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Salad
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Roast Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
- 12-20 pound turkey thawed
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 lemons quartered
- 2 onions quartered
- 2-3 stalks celery cut into 4 inch pieces
- 1 apple quartered
- 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2-3 sprigs fresh sage
Instructions
- Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before prepping.12-20 pound turkey
- Adjust the oven rack so that the turkey will sit centered in your oven. Preheat 325ºF.
- Remove the turkey from its packaging. Remove the giblets and the neck. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- In a bowl, combine the butter, garlic, chopped herbs, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.1 cup unsalted butter, 6 cloves garlic, 3 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs, Zest from 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Stuff the inside of the turkey with 1 of the lemons, 1 one of the onions, and the apple, as well as the fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage sprigs.2 lemons, 2 onions, 1 apple, 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, 2-3 sprigs fresh sage
- Place the remaining lemon and onion, as well as the celery in the bottom of your roasting pan.2-3 stalks celery
- Use your hands and go under the skin, making a pocket between the skin and the breast meat. Place about 2 tablespoons of the butter on each breast. I like to press the butter under the skin, then massage the butter to spread it evenly.
- Truss the turkey with twine. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but I like to start with tying up the legs, then take the twine along and under the legs. Then I’ll tie the twine in a knot on the backside of the turkey, tucking the wings into that tied string. (I would suggest watching a video on YouTube. It’s super easy to do, but complicated to describe in words.) Place the turkey in the roasting pan, breast side up.
- Take the rest of the butter and rub it all over the outside of the turkey, making sure to cover all of the exposed skin.
- Roast the turkey at 325ºF for about 13-15 minutes per pound, basting with a pastry brush 3-4 times during the roasting time. If the turkey starts to get too brown, cover it loosely with foil.
- Remove the turkey when it reaches 165ºF in the center of the breast. (The best, most foolproof way to do this is with an instant read thermometer. It’s hard to judge when the turkey is done without one!)
- Let the turkey rest for at least 30 minutes before carving and serving.
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