This recipe is as classic and as simple as it gets. If you focus on the method, only a small list of ingredients is needed for a tender, juicy turkey that makes a statement when it hits the table.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 day 6 hr |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- One 12-pound turkey
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 head garlic, halved
- 4 to 5 sprigs fresh sage
- 3 large carrots, chopped, optional
- 2 white onion, cut into quarters, optional
- 3 stalks celery, cut into large pieces, optional
- 1 apple, roughly chopped, optional
- 1 to 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 2 teaspoons chardonnay vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- For the turkey: The morning before cooking your turkey, liberally sprinkle the inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper. Allow to sit in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours, to dry the skin.
- At least 2 hours before roasting your turkey, remove it from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. (You can remove it from the fridge up to 3 hours before roasting.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the turkey on a work surface. Spread the softened butter all over the turkey, under the skin, around the legs and breasts, as evenly as possible. Sprinkle again with plenty of salt and pepper. Place the lemon, garlic and 2 to 3 sprigs sage in the cavity.
- Place the turkey on a rack or a bed of carrot, onion, celery and apple with a cup of water or stock and the remaining sage at the bottom of the pan. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and continue roasting, adding up to 1 more cup liquid halfway through to prevent burning, until the breast temperature reaches 155 degrees F, 12 to 15 minutes per pound (2 hours 24 minutes to 3 hours for a 12-pound turkey). Remove from the oven and remove the legs from the bird. Return the legs to the oven on a separate sheet tray and cook until they register 175 degrees F, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Allow the bird to rest for at least 1 hour or up to 1 hour 30 minutes before serving.
- For the gravy: Meanwhile, strain the drippings and juices from the roasting pan into a bowl. Discard the vegetables if using. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until the raw flavor is cooked off, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the tamari and vinegar. Slowly whisk the strained drippings into the flour to avoid clumps. Simmer until the gravy just coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. (The gravy will not be a heavy thick gravy, but rather a light gravy.) Season to taste. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 735 |
| Total Fat | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 87 g |
| Cholesterol | 309 mg |
| Sodium | 1622 mg |
Reviews
Thank you Geoffrey Zacharian for this perfect Thanksgiving turkey recipe!! I have experimented for years trying to get an easy and delicious method of roasting a turkey. This one worked! We are still enjoying our 14 lb. G. Z. inspired turkey. I will always use this exact recipe.
This was the easiest and best turkey I’ve ever made. My entire family loved the favor and how juicy it was…even the next day…cold!! This is definitely a keeper!! Thank you G.Z. and The Kitchen!!
This is the best turkey we have ever made for Thanksgiving. I did add poultry seasoning to the salt and pepper dry brine and I did add fresh chopped herbs to the butter that went on the turkey before it went in the oven. I thought I had overcooked the bird, so I did not remove the legs to re-roast. Turns out, the whole turkey was absolutely perfect. It looked good and tasted even better. This is how I will cook a turkey from now on. Thank you!
My husband said this was the best Turkey in 20 years of marriage! I followed the recipe, salting the bird from Tuesday night. I was generous with the amount of veggies and herbs in the bottom of the pan as well as chicken stock and white wine so that the gravy made from it was incredibly flavorful. The recipe is correct in that I had to put the legs/things back in the oven for about 30 minutes to finish cooking. We’ll definitely be making this again!
We used this technique for our Thanksgiving turkey. I haven’t made turkey in years, and other than a couple of times on my old Weber, I’ve never made one particularly well. However, these methods turned out an awesome bird. I neglected to adjust times and temp for using a convection oven, so it was done a little sooner than expected and was a little more done than desired. Fortunately, I checked the internal temperature earlier enough to keep the breasts from being too dry. This was the first turkey I’ve ever carved while actually knowing how to carve one. It turned out great. The downside was very little leftover turkey. I will be making broth, though.
This made an absolutely awesome 22lb turkey. The only modifications I made were based on the episode the recipe came from. In that one Geoffrey put a couple of apples in with the bed of veggies. He also clearly stated that he does NOT put butter under the skin, believing it does not make a difference. I just buttered the outside of the skin. The turkey still remained super moist throughout.
I used this turkey cooking method. The 24 pound turkey came out better than any Thanksgiving ever. It was delicious and moist and everyone complimented me. Thank you GZ for teaching me this method. I will use this recipe forever.
This is a super easy and tasty way to make a turkey. I used the liquid to make my family’s gravy and it was excellent. Beautiful color, not dry, perfect. You can always count on the Iron Chefs!
Wasn’t it white wine and chicken broth or water to be added with the sage leaves at the bottom of the pan?