Dry turkey is the fear of many when cooking a whole turkey. Have no fear! I am here to show you how to make a turkey that is juicy and flavorful!
How do you make a turkey?
- Prep: Remove packaging, neck, and giblets. Rinse well with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Season: Add salt and pepper to the cavity. Slather herbed butter under and on top of the skin.
- Stuff: Put garlic, onion, herbs and lemon inside of the turkey.
- Bake and baste: Bake uncovered for 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees. Then bake an additional 15 minutes per pound covered, at 350 degrees. Baste with drippings every 30 minutes.
I have been hosting thanksgiving for the past several years. It is my favorite holiday of the year. There is something about gathering with your family over a delicious meal giving thanks to all of your life’s blessings. Of course, a turkey is the main dish of the meal. Making it juicy and flavorful is a must. Some people are quite intimidated when cooking a whole bird of this size, and rightly so! But with this recipe, you have nothing to worry about. Your turkey will turn out wonderfully.
The herbed butter in this recipe is key. It makes for very flavorful meat and a crispy skin. Letting the bird rest for at least an hour is the most important thing for keeping the meat juicy. If you cut the turkey too soon, your meat will dry out. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. Maybe you will use year after year like we do!
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Tips for making a turkey
- Fold the wings under and cover that bird! The wings are the first to be cooked and will end up burning if you don’t tuck them under. Also, using an oiled tinfoil tent to cover the bird after the initial 15 minutes of cooking, will prevent the skin from burning and the meat from becoming too dry.
- Baste, Baste and Baste again! A delicious crispy and salty skin comes from proper basting. Use a baster or tip the pan and scoop the drippings to pour over the breasts. Do this every 30 minutes.
- Let the bird rest! DO NOT SKIMP ON THE RESTING TIME. Let it rest for an hour, at MINIMUM 30 minutes, before carving. If your cutting board is covered in juices, you carved too soon. By letting it rest, all this juice remains in the meat.
- Be creative in the herbs you use! I really like the flavors rosemary and thyme bring to turkey meat but some people prefer parsley. Sage is even an option. But whatever you do, use fresh herbs.
Recipe adapted from one I found through Natasha’s Kitchen years ago.
Ingredients you need
10-15 pound turkey
salt
Herbed Butter:
1 cup softened butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp minced garlic
1/8 cup freshly chopped rosemary
1/8 cup freshly chopped thyme
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Stuffing:
1 large onion cut into 4ths
6 garlic cloves
1 lemon cut into 4ths
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
Tools:
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Roasting pan that fits your bird
Instructions for prepping
*Be sure to thaw your turkey for up to 5 days in the refrigerator depending on the size.
- Unwrap your turkey from the plastic. Take all packaging off. Remove neck and bag of giblets from the cavity.
- Rinse your bird with cold water until the water runs clear. Be sure to rinse inside the cavity as well.
- Pat dry the entire turkey with paper towel, inside and out. Make sure the turkey is dry.
- Generously salt the inside cavity.
- Prep your herbed butter by combining all ingredients. Mash with a fork until it is well combined.
- Separated the skin from the meat by moving your fingers along the meat under the skin. Push from the front and the back. Be careful as to not rip the skin.
- Spread the herbed butter under the skin all over the meat. With the remaining butter spread it all over the skin.
- Stuff the turkey with lemon, onion, garlic and herbs.
- Fold a large square of tin foil to make a triangle. Rub olive oil on one side. Place the foil oil side down onto the turkey and press to form. Then remove, you’ll need this later.
Instructions for roasting
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Move the rack to the bottom of the oven.
- Once prepped, place in the oven uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and quickly baste the turkey with the melted butter from the bottom of the pan. You can use a baster or tilt the pan and collect the drippings with a spoon.
- Apply the tinfoil triangle to the turkey.
- Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes per pound or about 2 1/2 hours.
- Every 30 minutes remove the turkey and quickly baste the breast area with the drippings.
- Once the turkey is fully cooked (meat registered at 165 degrees if using a thermometer)
- When finished roasting, transfer to a platter and cover with tin foil. Let the turkey rest for AT LEAST an hour! (Keep those drippings to make amazing turkey gravy)
Let me know in the comments what your favorite thanksgiving side dish is! And be sure to tag me on Instagram if you try my recipe.
PrintHow To Make A Turkey {Juicy and Flavorful!} no brining time required
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Ingredients
10–15 pound turkey
salt
Herbed Butter:
1 cup softened butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp minced garlic
1/8 cup freshly chopped rosemary
1/8 cup freshly chopped thyme
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Stuffing:
1 large onion cut into 4ths
6 garlic cloves
1 lemon cut into 4ths
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
Tools:
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Roasting pan that fits your bird
Instructions
Instructions for prepping turkey
*Be sure to thaw your turkey for up to 5 days in the refrigerator depending on the size.
- Unwrap your turkey from the plastic. Take all packaging off. Remove neck and bag of giblets from the cavity.
- Rinse your bird with cold water until the water runs clear. Be sure to rinse inside the cavity as well.
- Pat dry the entire turkey with paper towel, inside and out. Make sure the turkey is dry.
- Generously salt the inside cavity.
- Prep your herbed butter by combining all ingredients. Mash with a fork until it is well combined.
- Separated the skin from the meat by moving your fingers along the meat under the skin. Push from the front and the back. Be careful as to not rip the skin.
- Spread the herbed butter under the skin all over the meat. With the remaining butter spread it all over the skin.
- Stuff the turkey with lemon, onion, garlic and herbs.
- Fold a large square of tin foil to make a triangle. Rub olive oil on one side. Place the foil oil side down onto the turkey and press to form. Then remove, you’ll need this later.
Instructions for roasting turkey
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Move the rack to the bottom of the oven.
- Once prepped, place the turkey in the oven uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and quickly baste the turkey with the melted butter from the bottom of the pan. You can use a baster or tilt the pan and collect the drippings with a spoon.
- Apply the tinfoil triangle to the turkey.
- Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes per pound or about 2 1/2 hours.
- Every 30 minutes remove the turkey and quickly baste the breast area with the drippings.
- Once the turkey is fully cooked (meat registered at 165 degrees if using a thermometer)
- When finished roasting, transfer the turkey to a platter and cover with tin foil. Let the turkey rest for AT LEAST an hour! (Keep those drippings to make amazing turkey gravy)
Keywords: turkey, roast turkey, whole turkey, thanksgiving turkey
I’m so nervous to make a turkey myself this year. Yours looks amazing!
Definitely going to try this!
Seriously sounds so yummy! I can smell it now. I will be using this recipe on Thursday! Thanks Tabitha! 💛
I really don’t like turkey very much but I can’t wait to try this. I’m so hungry just looking at the pictures
Definitely going with this method for cooking my turkey this year! I’m bound and determined to not have a dry Turkey this year! Thanks tab!
Hi my name is Carlotta, I’m Italian and we don’t eat turkey but after this recipe I will try it! Thank you!
This is my first year making Thanksgiving dinner by myself! I’m so nervous about the turkey, thank you! 🙏
Tabitha I’m going to half the recipe and try to find a small turkey breast in bone and make this!
this looks so yummy! definitely sending this to my mother for this year!!
This is my first year cooking a 🦃 . I’ve never cooked one pray for me and my family LOL . My mother in law is having us over we live in a apartment soooo we can’t fit everyone so we will take the Turkey . I’m going to try this. Wish me luck !
Wow that looks great! I am definitely gonna try this recipe..Love your YouTube channel so exciting to see your blogs…Thanks!
This looks amazing! 😋 I can’t wait to try it!
I’ve never made a turkey, this looks like a good recipe!
This recipe came in handy just in time! It looks delicious and I cant wait to try it on Thanksgiving day! Thank you for sharing!
Oh and fave side dish is green bean casserole 😋😋.
Yum! That Turkey looks delicious!! I will be trying this recipe for sure!
Thank you so much for this post!! I’m totally trying it as my turkeys are ALWAYS bone dry.
Looks delicious! Excited to try this out 🙂
This looks delicious!!
The herbed butter looks so good!! My favorite side dish is the stuffing with the gravy from the mashed potatoes 😊
Omgosh! This will be the first year I will be cooking a turkey! I will try this out, thanks girl! It wouldn’t let me give you 5 stars but I totally would!
This seems, a soulful recipe 😆
This is actually very helpful! I’ve never made a turkey before and I have to make one this year! Thanks! ❤️
I will definitely be trying this! Thanksgiving is the only day my husband will be home this week (he is a Drill sergeant for the US Army) so I am making the meal myself so we can sit around in our sweats and enjoy the day as a family! Thank you for sharing!
Wow!!!! Looks amazing! We do the butter trick too!
Looks and sounds absolutely amazing! Definitely need to try this recipe out. Thank you for taking your time out to do this.
This looks delicious!! I’ve made the mistake of almost leaving the giblet bag inside!! I check 5 times then have my husband check 😂😂
I bet that butter would be good on duck too!
Yum this sounds delicious Tab can’t wait to give this a try this year it’s my first year hosting in our new home 🙂
I love using lemon and herbs with my turkey. I will have to try adding the garlic and onion.
The butter under and over the skin is so key. I’m literally hungry for turkey now! 😂 Sounds so yummy. It’s so hard to wait to carve when it smells so good. 😁
What plugin do you use to make this recipe printable?
Love how simple this recipe is! We aren’t really doing a thanksgiving meal this year due to hubby being deployed, but definitely saving to try out next year!
Needed this recipe! Yes! 🙌 Also, here for that Amazon gift card 😅
Looks so good! This is similar to how we do our turkey but I’m definitely interested in trying it with herbed butter.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I have never made a turkey myself before but this one seems very beginner friendly so I’ll give it a try.
I can’t wait to try this!!!
Cant wait to use this recipe!!!
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipes. It looks delicious 😋
Hi Tabitha, the turkey looks delicious & the recipe will be easy to follow. I pray you & your family have a blessed & happy thanksgiving
Love this post! Your turkey looks amazing 😍 a trick my dad has always done with our thanksgiving turkeys is coat it with a layer of peanut butter before cooking. It sounds so weird but it makes it so juicy and you can’t even taste the peanut butter once it’s done
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! 😊
I’ve never tried butter under the skin so I’m definately going to try it at Christmas! It looks super yummy 😋
Sounds great! Can’t wait to try it out. Happy Thanksgiving!
This looks delicious! I am always so intimidated when it comes to Thanksgiving Dinner.
I’ve never made a whole turkey and this year is my year. Thanks for the recipe!
This sounds amazing I’m totally using this recipe this year I’m also excited to use the herb butter happy wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!
Sounds delicious Tabitha! Thank you for this detailed recipe and instructions 🙏🍗
Tried to give 5 stars but it wouldn’t work…
Sounds like a great recipe! Your turkey looks amazing. I love following you on instagram. Happy Thanksgiving!
That looks like an amazing turkey method!!! I can’t wait to try it next year- our kitchen is under renovation this year so we will be going out!
Love this recipe! It’s really similar to how I make turkey! My favorite side dish is definitely mashed potatoes. 🥔
We cook our Turkey this way every year and the butter and herbs are key you are exactly right.
Wonderful! I hate dry turkey! The only
Hear mine didn’t come out dry was when I put a lot of butter on it! This recipe sounds wonderful and can’t wait to try it out! Never heard of lemon inside and that’s a wonderful Idea!!
4 stars!
This looks so yummy! I can’t wait to try it out.
Looks wonderful n
Looks super easy, thanks for the recipe and tips!
This looks amazing!!!! I’m going to smoke our bird on the Traeger, but I bet I can use the herbed butter to add some additional flavor! Thanks for the idea!!
Thanks so much for the great tips! I am cooking my first Turkey this year and could use all the help I can get! Looking forward to trying out this recipe
Oooooh this looks so good! Easy to follow, too!
This sound so good can’t wait to try it 😋
Looks good we do creole butter in ours
Thank you so much for this post! I’m making my first turkey tomorrow &
these tips will help! ❤️
This looks amazing! I don’t host Thanksgiving but if I did, I would be using this recipe. Yum!
This recipe looks delicious! Cant wait to make it for my family this Thanksgiving ❤
Cooking a turkey had always intimidated me, but you make it sound so easy, and the pics look delicious! Definitely going to be giving this a try :-). Thanks!
I’m not the biggest fan of hosting. Mostly because I feel like I’m terrible at it. I think this is a very good and easy-enough recipe for a turkey. And it looks delicious. Thanks for sharing, Tabs!
Great recipe!
Yum! Going to try some of these tips!
Excited to try this and have a juicy turkey this year🤩
This is a keeper! Def going to print for when you look at the turkey and think – how do I cook this thing? Which is us every season. I also like the herb butter secret. Thanks for posting and keep it coming
This recipe looks amazing. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Yum! Sounds amazing!
You explained it very well. It almost seems simple. My favorite side dish is the candied yams but I also love the Mac and cheese
Looks delicious!
Never made a turkey before & this was extremely helpful!
This sounds so delicious and not complicated! Two things I love when cooking. Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you! Lots of crazy this year, but the Turkey is still a staple!
This recipe looks awesome, can’t wait to try!
Thanks so much for this recipe!😊
Saving this!!! Thank you for sharing!!! 😍🙏🏼
This looks like a good turkey! I’m gonna try this recipe for dinner on thanksgiving 🙂
(Lil_pineappletrash on insta)
Seems like such an easy recipe to follow! Can’t wait to try it out!
I’m ordering Thanksgiving from Cracker Barrel this year (because this year has kicked my booty, let’s be honest), but I’m definitely saving this recipe to try next year! It looks so good!
This is nikki schumacher- just here to show Tabitha some love. This recipe is almost exactly what we have done for 13 years of marriage and it is delicious and easy!
Tabitha, this looks fantastic! It is very obvious that you put a lot of dedication and hard work into all you do. Thank you, it doesn’t go unnoticed and, is very much appreciated!
I love the idea of incorporating the spices to the softened butter. Normally I just do the softened butter, but I am excited to add seasoning to the butter before I slather it on the bird!
This looks delicious Tabitha! So inspired to see your beautiful, happy home.
This sounds amazing! I am going to archive this and actually try it next year by myself.
I’m not hosting this year, but saving this recipe for later because that looks amazing 😍
Yumm so glad you started a blog. Happy Thanksgiving. God bless your beautiful family.
I’ve never made turkey before but have made two turkeys this way since Thanksgiving. Both of them turned out absolutely fantastic! People can’t believe I’ve never made one before and it’s turned out this good. Thank you, Tabitha!
Yay! I’m so excited it turned out for you! Thank you so much for using my recipe