This easy Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey is covered in homemade garlic and herb butter, then slowly roasted to perfection. It’s a simple, straightforward recipe that makes the most juicy and delicious whole roasted turkey.
Below, you will find our complete guide on how to roast a turkey in the oven that includes info on how to prepare your turkey, how to make gravy, and more! And if you are looking for more turkey recipes, you can try this Smoked Turkey, Crock Pot Turkey Breast, or Oven Roasted Turkey Breast.
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The Best Oven Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned cook looking for a new Thanksgiving turkey recipe, this complete guide includes everything you need to know about how to roast a turkey! Serving oven roasted turkey for Thanksgiving is a classic, but sometimes it just doesn't come out the way you wanted.
Never fear! This recipe is super simple, packed full of flavor, and and makes the most juicy turkey every single time. In addition to the complete recipe, we've included your frequently asked questions in one spot so that you won’t need to scour the internet for all of the most common turkey-related questions.
And if you're hosting a big group for the holidays, we've got plenty more great Thanksgiving recipes, including other delicious main courses like Prime Rib Roast, Spiral Ham, or this perfect Pot Roast.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Turkey - you can use a fresh or frozen whole turkey for this recipe. We’ve given you thawing guidelines below that is based on the size of your turkey.
- Butter - you’ll want your butter to be at room temperature so it will be easier to mix with the herbs and seasoning.
- Salt - sea salt or kosher salt will work.
- Garlic Powder and Onion Powder - these add a nice sweet garlic and onion flavor.
- Fresh Herbs - we recommend using fresh herbs if possible as they have a much more powerful flavor. Our favorite combo is thyme, rosemary and sage.
- Black Pepper
- Carrots - any large bulk carrots will work.
- Onions - we use yellow onions, but you could also use white.
- Apple - we like Granny Smith for this recipe, but really any apple variety will work.
- Lemon
- Chicken Broth - you can use store bought or homemade. You will need a little extra for your gravy, too.
How to Roast a Turkey in the Oven
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and adjust the oven tack to the bottom position in your oven.
- Prep the turkey. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator about a half-hour before roasting and remove the packaging and anything inside the neck and body cavity. Pat the outside of the turkey dry with paper towels and place inside a large roasting pan.
- Make the herb butter. In a small bowl, combine the room temperature butter, salt, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, sage, onion powder, and pepper; mix and combine all ingredients using the back of a spoon. Use your hands to loosen the turkey's skin, then spread the butter(about ½ cup) under the skin of the turkey and the rest all over the outside.
- Stuff and truss the turkey. Stuff the carrots, onions, apple and lemon inside the turkey and then truss the turkey legs, if desired, with about 12" of baking string. Tuck the wings under the turkey to keep them from browning too quickly. Add any remaining vegetables around the roasting pan and about 2 cups of chicken broth or turkey broth.
- Roast. Cover the turkey and roasting pan with aluminum foil, place the turkey in the oven, and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Roast the turkey for about 13 minutes per pound, or until a digital thermometer reads 160 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast. This is a good time to check the doneness of the skin. If your skin is light colored, remove the alluminum foil. If your turkey is golden already, keep the foil on until the internal tempreture of the turkey reaches 165 degrees F. If specific parts of your turkey are getting too dark, shield them with aluminum foil.
- Rest. Remove from the oven and use the turkey baster to remove the drippings. (or pour the drippings off the turkey into a strainer) Reserve in a separate container to make the gravy. Tent the turkey with aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 minutes while you make the gravy. Carve as desired, and enjoy!
How to Make Turkey Gravy
You can make your gravy while you let the turkey rest and cool. Since you need turkey drippings. You can’t start making the turkey gravy until the turkey has cooked completely and is out of the oven.
- Blend gravy base. Pour the reserved turkey drippings through a strainer, removing chunks of veggies or fat, if desired. Add enough chicken broth to reach 3 cups of drippings and broth total.
- Season. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add ¼ cup butter. Melt. Add ¼ cup flour and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and then add about 1 cup of drippings. Whisk until smooth again. Add the remaining drippins and then taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder as needed.
- Thicken. In a small bowl, add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to about ¼ cups of cold water, stirring until combined and smooth. Slowly whisk the cornstarch slurry into the gravy while heating and constantly whisking until the gravy thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Be sure to boil the gravy for 1 minute to see how thick this makes your gravy. If the gravy is too thick, add broth to thin to desired consistency.
- Serve. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with your roasted turkey. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Plan ahead: If your turkey is frozen, make sure to plan ahead and allow ample time for it to thaw. Thawing it in the refrigerator is the safest method, allowing approximately 24 hours of thawing time for every 4-5 pounds of turkey.
- Remember to have your turkey thawed a couple days before you need it. It's better to have a turkey in your fridge and ready to go rather than needing to speed up the thawing process.
- Preheat the oven: Always preheat the oven to the recommended temperature before placing the turkey inside. This ensures even cooking and a crispier skin.
- Season generously: Liberally season the turkey both inside and out with your desired blend of herbs, spices, and salt. This will infuse the meat with delicious flavors and aromas.
- Truss the turkey: To promote even cooking and maintain the turkey's shape, truss the bird by tying its legs together and securing the wings against the body. (This is optional. A lot of times you can tuck the legs into the skin of the turkey. This ensures a more beautiful presentation and helps the turkey cook evenly.
- Baste: If you do the herb compound butter mixture, you don't need to baste your turkey.
- Rest before carving: Once the turkey is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 20-30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to be redistributed, resulting in a more succulent and flavorful turkey.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best and safest way to thaw a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator. Do not remove any outer packaging - just place the frozen turkey into a pan and put in the fridge until completely thawed.
You can use the following chart to estimate how long it will take for your frozen turkey to thaw. It’s a good idea to always leave yourself an extra day more than you think you will need just in case!
Up to 4 pounds: 1 day
5-8 pounds: 2 days
9-12 pounds: 3 days
13-16 pounds: 4 days
17-20 pounds: 5 days
For an in-bone turkey, a whole turkey, we recommend estimating about 1 ¼ pounds of turkey per person. Some people will eat more or less than that, but this seems to be a good average.
Your turkey has cooked through once it reaches 165 degrees ?. In the thickest spots of the thighs and breasts. Be sure and avoid any bones because they will skew your thermometer reading. Also make sure that your thermometer is accurate, which you can do by inserting it into a cut of ice water. It should read 0 degrees Celcius or 32 degrees ?.
Our general rule of thumb is that you will need to cook your turkey for about 13 minutes per pound of thawed turkey. So, if you have a 12-pound turkey, you can estimate that at 350 degrees F, it will take around 2 ½ hours to cook.
The cooking time, of course, will vary slightly depending on your oven, how large it is and if you are trying to cook anything else in there simultaneously (we don’t recommend that by the way!).
How to keep turkey warm
- You can cook your turkey and then store it in a warm slow cooker for about an hour while you are cooking rolls, making gravy or whatever. Simply add the cooked turkey to the slow cooker and then add some chicken broth (just enough so you don't have broth standing in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Place your turkey on an oven prook baking dish and cover with foil to keep it from drying out. Again, add a little chicken broth of keep the turkey moist.
- Keep cooked turkey warm in a roasting oven.
Storing Instructions
- Refrigerator: To store leftover turkey, place in an airtight, covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: To freeze turkey, place in a zipper freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Store in the freezer for up to one month.
Oven Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
- 12-15 lb Turkey thawed
- 1 cup Butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Sea Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme minced
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary minced
- ½ Tablespoon Dried Sage or 1 teaspoon fresh minced
- 1 Tablespoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper ground
- 5 whole Carrots peeled and cut into 2" pieces
- 2 medium Yellow Onions peeled and quartered
- 1 large Apple cut in half
- 1 large Lemon cut in half
- 2 cups Chicken Broth to add to the roasting pan before baking
Turkey Gravy
- 3 cups Turkey Drippings and Chicken Broth
- ½ teaspoon Salt or as needed
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper or as needed
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder or as needed
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder or as needed
Cornstarch Slurry-to Thicken the Gravy
- 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 4 Tablespoons Cold Water
Instructions
Preparing the Turkey
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and adjust the oven tack to the bottom position in your oven.
- Take the turkey out of the refrigerator about an hour before roasting and remove the packaging and anything inside the neck and body cavity. Pat the outside of the turkey dry with paper towels and place the turkey inside a roasting pan.
Compound Herb Butter
- In a small bowl, combine the room temperature butter, salt, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, sage, onion powder and pepper, mix and combine all of the ingredients using the back of a spoon. Use your hands to loosen the skin of the turkey, then spread the butter under the skin of the turkey and all over the outside.
- Stuff the carrots, onions, apple and lemon inside the turkey. Tuck the wings under the turkey and tuck the drumsticks inside the skin fold or truss if needed. Add any remaining vegetables around the roasting pan along with about 2 cups of chicken broth.
- Place a digital thermometer throught the thickest part of the turkey breast.
Roasting the Turkey
- Cover the turkey and roasting pan with aluminum foil, then place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Roast for about 13 minutes per pound, or until a digital thermometer reads 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast.
- When the turkey has reached 160 degrees F. Check the skin of the turkey. If it's light in color, keep the foil off the turkey for the final 15-20 minutes of cooking. If the turkey is already golden brown, keep the foil on the turkey until it reaches 165 degrees F internally.
- Once the turkey has reached 165 degrees F in the thickest spots, remove it from the oven and use the turkey baster to remove the drippings. (Or you can simply pour the drippings off the turkey. Reserve in a separate container to make the gravy.
- Tent the turkey with aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 minutes while you make the gravy. Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter on a bed of fresh kale, lemons, tangerines, or any fruits and vegetables that you want. Carve as desired, and enjoy!
Turkey Gravy
- Pour the reserved turkey drippings through a strainer, removing chunks of veggies or fat, if desired. Add enough chicken broth to reach 3 cups of drippings and broth total.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, add ¼ cup butter. Melt. Add ¼ cup flour and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and then add about 1 cup of drippings. Whisk until smooth again. Add the remaining drippins and then taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder as needed.
- In a small bowl, add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to about ¼ cups of cold water, stirring until combined and smooth. Slowly whisk the cornstarch slurry into the gravy while heating and constantly whisking until the gravy thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Be sure to boil the gravy for 1 minute to see how thick this makes your gravy. If the gravy is too thick, add broth to thin to desired consistency.
- Remove from the heat and serve warm with your roasted turkey. Enjoy!
Notes
How to keep turkey warm
- You can cook your turkey and then store it in a warm slow cooker for about an hour while you are cooking rolls, making gravy or whatever. Simply add the cooked turkey to the slow cooker and then add some chicken broth (just enough so you don't have broth standing in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Place your turkey on an oven prook baking dish and cover with foil to keep it from drying out. Again, add a little chicken broth of keep the turkey moist.
- Keep cooked turkey warm in a roasting oven.
Nutrition
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- Oven-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
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- No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake
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This herb roasted Thanksgiving turkey recipe is super simple, packed full of flavor and incredibly juicy even without brining. It's perfect for beginners or seasoned cooks alike!
Gina
Love all the fresh herbs in this recipe, I use it for roasted chicken during the year and then of course the turkey during the holidays, comes out great both ways!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
Oh wow, this looks so delicious. My family is going to devour it!