For a newbie, this roast turkey recipe is simple enough. The largest culinary misconception in America is that a rookie cook cannot produce a juicy, perfectly cooked turkey. Butter under the skin is one of the keys to a gorgeous, delicious, and moist turkey. The butter can be seasoned whichever you choose. There are countless options.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 whole roast turkey with gravy |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
- 1 (12 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets reserved
- 2 onions, coarsely chopped
- 3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
- ½ bunch fresh sage
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 8 tablespoons butter, softened
- 6 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Mix together kosher salt, black pepper, and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. Tuck turkey wings under bird and season the cavity with about 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning mixture. Reserve remaining poultry seasoning mixture.
- Toss together onions, celery, and carrots in a large bowl. Stuff about 1/2 cup vegetable mixture, sage, and rosemary sprigs into the turkey cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Use your fingers or a small spatula to loosen skin over turkey breast. Place about 2 tablespoons butter under skin and spread evenly. Spread remaining 6 tablespoons butter all over the outside of skin. Sprinkle turkey with remaining poultry seasoning mix.
- Spread remaining vegetable mixture into a large roasting pan. Place turkey on top of vegetables. Fill the pan with about 1/2 inch of water. Shape a sheet of aluminum foil over breast of turkey.
- Roast turkey in the preheated oven until no longer pink near the bone and the juices run clear, about 3 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (75 degrees C). Remove the foil during the last hour of cooking and baste turkey with pan juices.
- While turkey is roasting, make stock: Place neck and giblets in a medium saucepan with water and bay leaf. Simmer over medium heat for 2 hours. Strain stock and discard neck and giblets. There should be at least 4 cups of stock. Set stock aside.
- Remove turkey from the oven. Carefully pour pan juices, about 3 cups, into a shallow bowl. Skim off turkey fat from pan juices, reserving about 2 tablespoons fat. Set aside pan juices. Cover turkey with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
- While turkey is resting, make gravy: Heat 2 tablespoons reserved turkey fat and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer onion from the roasting pan into the skillet. Cook and stir until onion is browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; cook and stir for about 5 minutes more. Whisk in 4 cups stock and reserved pan juices until smooth; skim off any foam. Stir in balsamic vinegar. Simmer, whisking constantly, until gravy is thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in sage; season with salt and black pepper.
- For a thicker gravy, reserve twice the amount of turkey fat and double the butter and flour in the gravy ingredients.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 942 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 256 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 69 g |
| Saturated Fat | 23 g |
| Sodium | 950 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 70 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Super easy. Spectacular results every time. This recipe makes the perfectly seasoned turkey of your dreams. Your family will think you’re a master chef when they eat this turkey. Sometimes I make it the day before, carve it and refrigerate it overnight. Reheating it for the big meal makes it easier for me to manage things during the chaos of holiday meals. And it’s ALWAYS juicy. Thanks for the recipe, Chef John. Ever since I found this, it’s the only way I do turkey.
Moist turkey and the best gravy I ever had.
Followed it to the letter. Best turkey I ever cooked, will never use another recipe.
This came out well – as good as the better roast turkey recipes I’ve made. BUT…I did not watch the video and only followed the printed instructions and those do not match. The printed says nothing about an herb butter and although it calls for 1/2 c butter, it only has instructions for 1/4 c. And in the video, CJ does not explain how to make the herb butter. Would love to see both of these instructions match. Also, I wonder if the oven heat should be increased after the foil comes off as some other recipes call for. Our turkey took a _very_ long time to come to temp following 315F for the full time.
Followed the recipe exactly. Loved it. The herb butter was hard to spread, it kept sliding around. So I patted dry under the skin and then again un the out side and the herb butter went on easier. Also I couldn’t find the butter recipe so I just used the left over rosemary and sage, I also had some fresh thyme so I added that and some minced garlic.
Moist and flavorful turkey. I didn’t make the gravy. Cutting up the veggies took time but I added them to the turkey soup I made with the meat left from the turkey carcass. No waste!
I’ve been making this recipe since I hosted my first Thanksgiving, which is a decade ago. I absolutely love it and so does my family. I do brine my turkey though, but that’s just because I like it extra, extra, extra juicy. We only eat turkey once a year for Thanksgiving and we all look forward to my Turkey when it’s my turn to host.
I used this the very first time I made a turkey and it was perfect and easy. I have since realized that making a turkey is not that difficult and wonder why people use so many different styles like deep frying and injections. This was simple and easy and I have done it this way at least 3 times every time perfect.
Perfect! Moist, tender turkey. The trick is to follow Chef John’s recipe to the letter. I’ll be using this recipe again for Easter and I know it will turn out wonderfully. Thank you, Chef John!
Wonderful flavorful and juicy Turkey! Awesome gravy too! Thank you for the perfect recipe!
I followed the recipe as written. It was truly easy and tasted so good. I will admit my gravy wasn’t the best but it was still good. This was me though, not the recipe. I plan on using this again.
First time ever to make the Thanksgiving Turkey & I was petrified. I followed the recipe EXACTLY and it was PERFECT. So moist and tender. Family that don’t like white meat ate the breast and loved it! I used TWO foil turkey pans(with the handles for easier lifting) nested one inside the other to cook it in – two pans instead of one make it more like a heavy roasting pan. Pay attention to instructions on covering/tenting the BREAST only with the foil. One of the keys to this recipe is covering only the breast because it cooks faster than the dark meat, so the foil serves to keep the breast from overcooking and drying out since the breast takes less time to cook than the dark meat. I was so leary about doing the foil like this thinking the rest of the turkey would be overdone/burnt…but not so. The other key to making this recipe is lifting the skin to smother the turkey with butter. The butter is placed underneath the skin and on top of the skin. The fresh herbs used flavor the turkey just right. I suggest following the recipe to a “T” the first time then making any desired variations the next go round. However don’t change the method of placing the foil only on the breast and spreading the butter UNDERNEATH the skin as well as on top of the skin. This is my go to recipe now for the holidays two years in a row and will be a family tradition I’m sure. You won’t be disappointed I promise!
There is no part 2! I make this recipe every year, but I keep forgetting no part two, so I have to figure out the gravey LOL
TURNED OUT AMAZING!! I followed this exactly except I didn’t have the sage, bay leaf, or Rosemary. I put butter under the skin, and took the foil off and hour before it was done. The skin was crisp and the meat was juicy! Best turkey we’ve ever had. Thank you!
It was a good easy recipe to follow and turned out delicious! Thanks chef John-! Darn it! I should have taken some pics. The bird came out juicy and well seasoned
I only used the “turkey” part of this recipe as I use Chef John’s Make-Ahead Gravy instead of this gravy. The turkey turned out delicious and moist. I had 11 lbs and it cooked in 3 hours; thermometer read 170 degrees at that time so a little higher than the recipe. Two changes I made are to add fresh thyme into the cavity and to add fresh herbs to the butter. I have to give my sister props for these changes!
11/27/17: Still making this recipe and it’s works every time. Watch the video and see the this link for the compound butter, though whatever herb based butter you choose to use will work great. https://www.thespruce.com/perfect-turkey-compound-butter-recipe-101448 12/22/15: Followed the recipe as is and it was the most flavorful and moist turkey we have ever made. The gravy tasted rather basic, but was a good turkey gravy. We will continue to make this recipe for turkey and gravy for now on! MAKE AHEAD: We make the turkey the day/night before Thanksgiving, carve up the birds, and put the slices in two separate aluminum trays (white meat vs. dark meat). I usually make extra turkey broth to add to the trays to reheat the next day in the oven (@325 or 350 F depending on what other dishes are being made/warmed). We just add a little broth to the trays and cover them tightly with aluminum foil. This will prevent the turkey from drying out when reheated. I reheated the gravy in a saucepan over low heat to continue filling the gravy bowl as needed.
Absolutely wonderful!!! Used vegetable stock instead of water in the pan !! Highly recommend !!!
I have never made a turkey before and this recipe (and video) made it so easy! Gotta say it is one of the best turkeys that I’ve tasted. Thanks Chef John for making me look good this Thanksgiving!
Best turkey I had made so far.
Great recipe. Make it every year. Here is the Butter recipe from the blog. 1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature) 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper 2 tablespoons fresh thyme (minced) 1/4 cup fresh sage (minced) 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice 1 clove garlic (finely crushed)