Best Roasted Turkey

I get so excited to pull this recipe out to make a juicy turkey for Thanksgiving! I have been using this for several years and it has never let me down!

I use a variety of things to stuff my turkey, never dressing though. This year I used 2 each of lemons and oranges quartered, 1 onion peeled and quartered, 3 garlic cloves unpeeled and halved and a bunch of fresh herbs. My favorite is thyme, sage and rosemary. I have also mixed in apples if I had some laying around.

Ingredients:

• 15 lb turkey (11-15 lbs will work, but bake time will vary – see below)

• Salt & Pepper for the inside and outside of the bird

• Flavored Butter (see next)

• Fresh citrus, apples and or herbs to stuff in the turkey.

Flavored Butter (a must have):

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

• Juice from 1 large lemon plus 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest

• 3 Tbsp minced garlic cloves

• 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

• 1/2 Tbsp salt (I used sea salt)

• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

• About 3 sprigs of rosemary, roughly chopped

• Olive oil to drizzle the top

Mix all together until fully incorporated and set aside. It will take awhile for the lemon juice to mix in, don't give up!

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 430˚F on the bake mode. Place oven rack in the lower part of your oven.

• Prepare and stuff your turkey, then use cooking twine to tie the bird up. Make sure to tuck the wings under and put on the rack in the roaster.

• Gently push your hand under the skin, separating it away from the meat. Be careful not to tear the skin.

• Stuff 2/3 of the butter mixture under skin then spread the butter around by massaging over the top of the skin. This butter keeps the turkey breast tender, juicy and provides rich flavor. Rub rest of the butter over the outside of the turkey (breast, legs, wings). Drizzle olive oil all over the top of the turkey and season with salt and pepper to create a crisp, salty skin.
  

• Start roasting uncovered at 430˚F for 20 min.

• Remove from oven; quickly baste with liquid from the bottom of the roaster. Apply an oiled foil triangle to turkey breast area to prevent it from burning.

• Reduce oven to 350˚F and you will bake about 13 min for every pound of turkey (I ended up cooking mine for 3.5 hours since I had a 15 pound bird). 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.

• Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes, then move to a platter. Cover with foil and finish resting up to an hour before cutting to serve.

• Use your drippings for gravy, if you like. We don't eat gravy but the puppies love drippings on their dry food for their Thanksgiving meal.

I am also adding a link to another site that gives more tips and has great photos for the foil triangle that I use for reference all the time. Be sure to check out her juicy roast turkey recipe at Natasha's Kitchen.

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