To make room in the oven, grill your Thanksgiving turkey. Almost any size fowl can be utilized with this recipe. We rarely have any leftovers because it’s so excellent.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 1 (15 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup chicken soup base
- 5 medium apples, cored and cut into wedges
- 3 sweet onions, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1 cup butter, cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic, or to taste
- 1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry white wine
Instructions
- Preheat a gas grill for low heat.
- Rub turkey all over with softened butter, inside and out, Repeat with chicken base.
- Toss apples, onions, butter cubes, and garlic together in a large bowl. Stuff turkey with apple mixture and place into a disposable aluminum roasting pan. Fold turkey skin around the neck area to cover the hole. Turn turkey over and pour wine into the opening at the other end until turkey is full or the bottle is empty.
- Turn turkey so the breast is facing up. Insert a pop-up timer or heat-safe meat thermometer into the breast. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.
- Place the roasting pan on the preheated grill and close the lid. Roast until the temperature in the breast reads 170 degrees F (75 degrees C) and the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reads 180 degrees C (80 degrees C), about 4 hours depending on the temperature of your grill.
- Just before turkey reaches the correct temperature, remove the aluminum foil so it can brown during the final minutes of cooking. If it starts to brown too much, replace the foil.
- Remove from the grill and let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1294 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 16 g |
| Cholesterol | 468 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 118 g |
| Saturated Fat | 32 g |
| Sodium | 1310 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 77 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was the best turkey I think I’ve ever had. We actually ended up making it in the oven instead of on the BBQ, but it was fabulous.
It was the most tender and juicy turkey. I only put about 1.5 cups of white wine but it was still super juicy…
This was terrific!!! I got good use out of the carcass (for soup) but also scraped out the onions and apples which I puréed with my immersion blender. Then I added ground pork, an egg, quick cooking oats, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and put the mixture into a loaf pan. It sat in the fridge overnight, and the next day I baked it at 350 for an hour and a half. Very tasty!
I first tried this when my wife said our ovens weren’t working and we would not be having a turkey for thanksgiving. I found this recipe and gave it a try. During the meal, much to my wife’s chagrin, EVERYONE said that it was the best turkey that they had ever had. That was 3 years ago. Since then, this is the only way that we cook our turkeys.
Increased the heat (cause I got started late) so a 13lb turkey only took 2 hrs. Be sure to check the internal temp before removing. Very moist and flavorful!
So good and super easy! We live in California and it’s was poring rain but we made it work and it was worth it. It did cook about an hour faster than the recipe said it would be.
I loved this recipe! Was outstanding, and my guest could nothing but good things. Took a little less time than the recipe said and a lot less of the apple onion mixture. The flavor was beautiful and the turkey was so tender and moist and juicy. Will definitely make again and again and would recommend it to my friends!
I used this recipe for Thanksgiving this year…it was so good!! Really moist and the gravy!! omg the best gravy you’ll ever taste. I reduced the amount of apples and onions in the cavity,the recipe called for more than I could fit in it, and they didn’t actually taste all that great alone but I blended them into the gravy and again, so good!!! Helps to use a good bottle of wine ??
WOW!!! Moist, moist, moist! Hubby was skeptical all the way up to the first bite. I followed the recipe exactly except for the garlic. (I forgot it ??) What I most loved about BBQing the bird was that it freed up my oven for all side dishes! What I least liked, was the absence of turkey scent wafting through the house ??.
After I made a turkey with this recipe, I’ve never made it any other way! I’ve used it at church picnics and never any left! As a matter of fact, this will be the recipe I use for the office Thanksgiving potluck!
This is now our new way of making our Thanksgiving Turkey! It was so easy and tasty. Our 13 pound bird was finished in just under 4 hours. But the best part of this recipe was that it freed up our oven for all the other baking that needed to be done for Thanksgiving which produced a much less stressful cooking experience.
People were tripping over themselves to tell me how delicious this turkey was. Literally. I tied all of their shoelaces together while they ate. I used only 1 cup of butter as 2 seemed excessive to us. Other than that, followed this recipe almost exactly other than varying cooking temps and times slightly to fit my grill. Also used apple wood chips and uncovered the bird for the last 30-45 minutes of grilling. Perfect meat temps, perfect browning, perfectly juicy, perfect recipe. Highly recommend. Giggity.
We made this for Easter last year. We liked it so much were making it for thanksgiving.
I’m sorry to spoil the excellent rating on this recipe. In all fairness I did not use the wine but used all other ingredients. One problem I had was that the turkey was unevenly cooked. I would HIGHLY recommend that the turkey be turned around every 30 – 40 minutes to avoid uneven cooking. The turkey TASTED WONDERFUL. I will repeat this recipe with the wine and turning the turkey around during cooking. Laurie W – Winnipeg, Canada
I’ve tried this recipe on a gas grill and in the oven and it was a hit with the family both ways! It is now the requested cooking method for a Thanksgiving (or any other occasion)turkey. I use the drippings to make gravy and the white wine takes it to the next level in terms of flavor. It’s absolutely yummy!
The whole family gave this one a thumbs up. Great flavor. Would try low sodium soup base next time for a little less salt. Cooked on a large gas grill and thought it was cooking too fast on the lowest setting, so I turned off two of the burners and moved the turkey on top of those while leaving the other two burners on low – continued cooking with top closed.
I tried this last year and loved it! Doing it again this year. My turkey was done alot earlier than what the instructions said.
i tried this recipe this thanksgiving and followed it to the letter. it was fabulous! we had 2 turkeys at the house cooking for 24 people. one was a traditional butterball cook from frozen stuffed which is always good, but, this turkey on the BBQ was amazing. not only that we put it on the BBQ at 11:00 and it was done at 3:00! No early morning for that bird!!! only way to go if you only need one turkey. Thanks for the recipe
I LOVE barbequed turkey! It is so moist and tasty! I think it is much better then oven baked.
I’m only giving this recipe 4 out of 5 because the only thing I actually used this recipe for was for cooking directions. I have never BBQ’d a bird before and wanted to know the basics. The BBQ instructions worked beautifully and my turkey looked marvelous (and tasted marvelous too thanks to the brining treatment I gave it). Next year I will probably try the recipe in total and be able to give it a more comprehensive rating.
Delicious, moist and fall-off-the-bone good. Followed the recipe exactly, but used a charcoal grill.