Before they admitted it was my recipe for glazed turkey, I was unable to understand why so many people wanted to visit. The turkey is not stuffed by me. Instead, I prepare my own stuffing separately and present it to guests in a beautiful dish. It’s turkey time because it’s the holiday season. Gobble, gobble!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 roasted turkey |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon ground thyme
- 1½ teaspoons ground black pepper, divided
- 1 cup honey
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Rinse turkey, then pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Brush turkey with extra-virgin olive oil, inside and out.
- Mix together 1 teaspoon salt, thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle all over turkey. Place turkey on a rack set in a roasting pan.
- Roast turkey in the preheated oven for 2 hours.
- While turkey is roasting, stir together honey, melted butter, parsley, sage, basil, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl until glaze is smooth and well blended.
- Brush some of the glaze over turkey. Continue roasting turkey, basting frequently with remaining glaze, until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 2 more hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Remove turkey from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area before slicing, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Use really good honey, or you can use maple syrup.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1003 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 509 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 130 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 778 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 43 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My family loved this! I used a roasting bag that was also helpful. I would recommend getting the drippings before you use the glaze. The glaze will make the drippings too sweet.
This recipe was FANTASTIC! I didn’t change a thing. Our Thanksgiving turkey was the best ever. Thank you!
So if your a purist who thinks too many changes to a recipe bastardizes it, keep scrolling. If you like improvising with what you got, read on. So, I had many of the spices, but in combos, such as poultry & Italian seasoning. Also thought I had dried parsley, but it was cilantro. Also reduced honey by half. Despite these substitutions, it turned out great. There are literally no leftovers. Everyone took a plate!
Still a favorite year after year!
Not sure how it will taste yet…still in oven, but looks beautiful!
Excellent
Fantastic!!!! Best roast turkey recipe ever. The family loved it.
Christmas 2018
I decided to try something different and it paid off! After reading all these great reviews, I decided on this one, the only thing I got from another recipe was to put butter under the skin on each side of the Turkey, between the skin and breast. It came out absolutely perfect! Plus all the ingredients were ingredients that most everyone already has! Thank you!
Will most definitely make this again. I was very moist and tasty. Everyone at my Thanksgiving table loved it. I used a Butterball Turkey
made this 2 yrs in a row. same guests. absolutely love it. funny enough, 1st time.i made the turkey upside down. yeah. new to this. anyway, the turkey came out so moist and tender.. where the white meat can be dry, i had none. actually requested i do that again!! but i made this yrs proper side up, and still was.just as good!
EXCELLENT!!! It came out perfect, I added pats of butter with whole fresh sage leaves tucked under the breast skin…
This makes for a very pretty glazed skin, nice presentation. Flavor was really good, and everyone enjoyed it. My turkey was done much sooner than I expected (13 lb bird), but I was watching carefully, so didn’t overdo it. I’ll do this again. Thanks for posting.
Made it a few times
I made this for Christmas dinner and received so many compliments! It has a nicely subtle sweetness that adds a wonderful flavor to the turkey. The spices are perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. Also, I took my chances and made gravy with the juices and pan drippings. Delicious! It added a sweetness to the stuffing that everyone loved. This will definitely be part of our holiday tradition.
Am I the only person to notice she’s listed salt and pepper TWICE in the article?I actually added it twice cos I thought you were supposed to and had to start again! Chris.
I followed the recipe and it was delicious. My husband, who is not very fond of turkey had seconds
This recipe came out excellent!!! Everyone loved it, even the non-turkey lovers. Perfect balance of sweet and savory.
Halved the recipe and made (plenty) for 2 boneless 3 lb turkey breast roasts. Was the hit of the table at Thanksgiving…compliment after compliment! Will use again.
Absolutely perfect! The best ever!
I made this turkey just as instructed though we had a 14lb. bird instead of 16lb. The only thing I did that wasn’t in the instructions, was to put foil over the turkey while it cooked the first two hours. Then I took it out and brushed the seasoning mixture on every 15 minutes. The turkey looked beautiful, smelled amazing, and tasted really good. It was very juicy and fell apart as it was cut. I would definitely make this again! It was so easy!