Briana Milner The perfect blend of herbs gives the turkey a wonderfully roasted flavor and the turkey is so tender, moist and juicy with a golden brown skin.
As a child I remember waking up to the smell of the turkey baking. It seemed so magical at the time – until I heard how my grandmothers used to rise at 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving and Christmas to begin preparing their holiday turkeys. I am so glad those days are over! Even if you have been intimidated by thinking how difficult cooking a turkey might be, or you’ve never had the opportunity to roast a turkey before, this recipe is very easy to follow and the results will bring many compliments to those seated around your holiday table.
How to thaw your frozen:
Turkeys take longer to thaw than other meats, so make sure you plan ample time for your turkey to thaw.
Is my turkey cooked completely?
It is best to use an internal meat thermometer to check if your turkey is done. The meat thermometer should register 165-170 degrees.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer, use a knife to pierce the breast meat. The juices should be clear, no pink showing, when the turkey is completely cooked.
What is “resting”?
It is important to let the turkey “rest” 30 minutes after it is done cooking to ensure it will be moist.
What dishes go well with turkey?
Traditionally, many families have mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, cranberry sauce and homemade rolls to eat with their turkey, but feel free to enjoy whatever sides your family and friends might like.
What can I do with my leftovers?
My family loves turkey leftovers as much as the turkey dinner! Turkey sandwiches on your favorite bread (rolls, croissants, etc), turkey pot pie, turkey noodle soup – the ideas are endless!
How do I store my leftovers?
After the turkey has cooled, it can be stored for up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
The turkey can be frozen for up to 2 months if stored in a proper freezer bag.
Ingredients:
Turkey – We used a 15 pound turkey for this recipe; plan 1 to 1-1/2 pounds per person that you plan to serve (more if you really like turkey and plan on preparing meals with leftovers). See the recipe for instructions on how to cook various sizes of turkey!
Dry parsley – you can absolutely use fresh parsley if that is what you prefer. Otherwise, here is what I used!
Garlic powder – you can also use fresh or jarred minced garlic in oil or water.
Celery seed – I love the flavor of celery seed. It has a wonderful earthy flavor that is perfect on any type of poultry!
Cardamon – Cardamom adds a wonderful warm seasoning to this turkey, especially when mixed together with the other spices.
Dry thyme – A fresh sprig of thyme would be great in this dish as well! To use a fresh sprig, it would be best to remove the leaves and discard the stem, and then mix the leaves with the seasonings. Use the same amount of thyme leaves as you would the dry thyme.
Onion powder – Powder is better to use in this recipe instead of fresh onions since you are mixing together the seasonings, and rubbing it on the turkey.
Olive oil – Olive oil is a much better, and higher quality oil compared to vegetable oil. So for this recipe, it would be best to stick to olive oil, or substitute with avocado oil. If you have neither on hand, use can use butter. Just switch it out with a 1:1 ratio.
Salt – Regular table will do just fine! You can also use a thicker, coarser salt such as kosher salt, or himalayan which provides more nutrititional value as it includes potassium, iron and calcium!
Pepper
Allow turkey to thaw before preparation and cooking. To thaw a frozen turkey, place it in a refrigerator two days before cooking. Remove turkey from packaging, remove giblet pouch and neck. In a bowl, mix the spices minus the salt and pepper. I like to mix and then grind the spices into a rub with a pestle and mortar. Separate the skin on the breast meat using your hands. Go slow and gentle to not rip the skin. Pull the skin back and rub the breast meat with the spice rub. Fold the skin back over the meat and then spread the oil across the whole top of the bird. Rub the remaining spice rub over the whole bird including the legs.
Place some parchment paper in the roasting dish to cover the bird. Place the bird on the parchment and then cover the bird with the parchment. Seal the parchment by crumbling it together. This seals in moisture that evaporates during cooking.
Cook at 350°f for 3 hours. Make sure the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 165°f in all the meat portions. Leave turkey covered by parchment for 30 minutes to rest once fully cooked. You can use juices in the roasting dish for gravy. Carve turkey and enjoy!
Supplies I used for this recipe!
I love my roasting dish! It is beautiful, and aesthetic! I didn’t buy mine from amazon, but here is a very similar one!
Here are also some other great roasting pans! You can’t go wrong with one that comes with a lid so that if you do have leftovers, you can store them well!
For my seasonings, I love storing them in these cute, and labeled glass spice jars!
If you like this recipe, you should try this one out – it would make a great side dish!
Roasted Turkey
Equipment
- Roasting dish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon dry parsley
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons celery seed
- 2 teaspoons cardamom
- 1 tablespoon dry thyme
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 15 lb turkey
Instructions
- Allow turkey to thaw before preparation and cooking. To thaw a frozen turkey, place it in a refrigerator two days before cooking.
- Remove turkey from packaging, remove giblet pouch and neck.
- In a bowl, mix the spices minus the salt and pepper. I like to mix and then grind the spices into a rub with a pestle and mortar.
- Separate the skin on the breast meat using your hands. Go slow and gentle to not rip the skin. Pull the skin back and rub the breast meat with the spice rub. Fold the skin back over the meat and then spread the oil across the whole top of the bird.
- Rub the remaining spice rub over the whole bird including the legs.
- Salt and pepper the bird.
- Place some parchment paper in the roasting dish to cover the bird. Place the bird on the parchment and then cover the bird with the parchment. Seal the parchment by crumbling it together. This seals in moisture that evaporates during cooking.
- Cook at 350°f for 3 hours. Make sure the turkeyreaches an internal temperature of 165°f in all the meat portions.
- Leave turkey covered by parchment for 30 minutes to rest once fully cooked. You can use juices in the roasting dish for gravy.
- Carve turkey and enjoy!
Cook times:
- 4 to 8 pounds (breast only): 1 1/2 to 3 1/4 hours.
- 8 to 12 pounds: 2 3/4 to 3 hours.
- 12 to 14 pounds: 3 to 3 3/4 hours.
- 14 to 18 pounds: 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours.
- 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours.
- 20 to 24 pounds: 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
[…] Turkey – leftover cooked turkey. Best to have it shredded. Here is a link to my recipe for the best Roasted Turkey! […]