The roast turkey recipe gets rubbed all over with a herb compound butter, placed atop a bed of vegetables, and then roasted until golden brown.
After a decade of blogging, I figured this would be the year I finally shared a turkey recipe with you. This herb-butter roasted turkey recipe is (more or less) the one that I’ve made for my family the past few years since I’ve taken over doing the majority of the holiday cooking from my mom. The turkey gets rubbed all over with a herb compound butter, placed atop a bed of vegetables, and then roasted until golden brown.
How to Thaw a Frozen Turkey? How Long Does it Take?
It is recommended to thaw frozen turkey—or any meat, actually—in the bottom of your refrigerator, which can easily take a few days for large birds. With that in mind, I suggest you put a frozen turkey in the fridge by Sunday if you want it to be ready to go by the Thursday of Thanksgiving. If it’s the day before and you forgot to take the turkey out of the freezer, you can speed up the process by putting the frozen turkey in the sink or another large container with cold water until thawed. If you go with this method, it’s best to change out the water every 30 minutes or so to prevent the growth of bacteria.
As a last resort, if it’s the morning of Turkey Day and your bird is still not thawed, just roast it anyway. Yes, you can roast a turkey that’s still partially frozen, but it will take longer to fully cook and there’s a higher chance that some of the meat might dry out before that happens.
How to Roast a Turkey Without a Roasting Rack?
Most of us only roast turkeys once a year, so particularly for those of us with limited kitchen storage space, it’s highly unlikely to own a large roasting pan with a roasting rack. But have no fear—I have a solution. For reasonably sized turkeys, I line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper (for easy cleanup later), fill it with vegetables (such as carrots, onion, and celery), and roast my turkey on top. The vegetables helps to lift the turkey and provide airflow similar to what a roasting rack would do. Plus, it helps flavor the juices that are collected in the bottom of the pan that you should use for gravy.
How to Make Compound Butter
Simply put, compound butter is regular butter that you mix with a bunch of herbs, spices, and other ingredients to flavor meat, fish, vegetables, and, as in today’s case, turkey. To make compound butter, you should start with room temperature butter and then combine it however you like. In this recipe, I use a mix of fresh herbs (though dried would work well, too), garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. And as with any of my recipes, I encourage you to make changes as you see fit. Don’t like rosemary? Leave it out. Want more garlic? Double or triple the number of cloves I suggest. (In fact, the amount of garlic I list is more like the minimum recommended amount.) Want to add some honey or maple syrup for a hint of sweetness? You know I won’t stop you. It’s your kitchen—do what you want.
What do I do with the Turkey Neck and Giblets?
Don’t throw away the turkey neck and gizzard inside of your turkey! While the turkey is roasting, I throw them in a pot on the stove with chicken or turkey stock (or water if you don’t have either of those) to fortify it with extra flavor. I then use that liquid to make either gravy or in my cornbread dressing, and then dice the gizzard and shred the neck meat to add to it.
What Temperature Is Best to Cook a Turkey?
It’s up to you. A higher temperature will make the turkey cook faster, but might result in it drying out. On the other hand, a lower temperature means a longer cooking time. I like to combine the two to get the best of both worlds. I preheat the oven really high to 450˚F to help the skin to brown, but then reduce the temperature to 350˚F for the remainder of the time for a more gentle cook and moister bird.
How Long do I Cook a Turkey?
The short answer? Until it’s done! The best way to tell that a turkey is done is to take its temperature with an instant read thermometer. The recommended temperature according to the USDA is 165˚F. However, it’s important to remember that the turkey will continue to cook once you take it out of the oven (thanks carryover cooking), so it’s okay to take the turkey out of the oven when the breast reaches 155°F to 160°F and the thighs are between 160°F and 165°F at their thickest parts. Depending on the size of your turkey and the temperature you roast it at, this can take from under2 hours to closer to 4 or more for really large birds.
What to Serve with Turkey?
Gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing or stuffing, cranberry sauce, and collard greensare all great ideas.
P.S. You might have noticed that these photos are slightly different from my usual style, well that’s because I had the pleasure of partnering up with photographer Andrew Bui to capture this recipe. Be sure to reach out to him if you are in need of a photographer and like his work.
Yield: Serves 8 to 12 people
Herb-Butter Roasted Turkey Recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
The turkey gets rubbed all over with a herb compound butter, placed atop a bed of vegetables, and then roasted until golden brown.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound carrots, cut into large pieces
- 4 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
- 2 large onions, cut into large pieces
- One 12-pound turkey, thawed and patted dry with paper towels
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 (or more) cloves garlic, grated on a microplane or minced
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and fill with the carrots, celery, and onions.
- Take your thawed turkey and dry the skin as much as possible with paper towels. (If you have time and refrigerator space, you can also air dry the turkey in your refrigerator for a couple of days prior to cooking to skip the need for paper towels.) Lift the skin on the turkey breasts by gently running your fingers in between, being careful not to tear the skin. (If you want, you can also remove the wishbone at this point, which will help with carving after the turkey is cooked.)
- Make the compound butter by mixing together the butter, sage, thyme, rosemary, salt, black pepper, garlic, and lemon zest. Rub the butter all over the turkey, including underneath and on top of the skin of the breast. Generously sprinkle with salt (and whatever other seasonings you like) all over and inside the cavity of the turkey.
- Set the turkey on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Pour 1 cup water or chicken stock in the bottom of the pan.
- Place the turkey in the oven, decrease the temperature to 350˚F, and roast, basting with its own juices every 30 minutes, until the breast reaches 155°F–160°F and the thighs 160°F–165°F at their thickest parts, about 2 hours or so. (If the breasts are up to temperature much sooner than the thighs, flip the turkey over so that it's breast-side down to try to help keep it moist and juicy.) Remove from the oven and lest rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Reserve the liquid in the bottom of the pan for gravy. Serve.
