A Cuban flavor has been added to Thanksgiving turkey! We prepare a turkey marinated in Cuban flavors to commemorate this American holiday. The turkey is the greatest you’ll ever eat, and the recipe is perfect!
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 13 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 1 turkey |
Ingredients
- 3 heads garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons salt (or to taste)
- 2 cups fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1 (16 pound) turkey
Instructions
- Crush the peeled garlic cloves, and place into a large bowl. Season with pepper, cumin, oregano, and salt. Pour in lemon juice, wine, and orange juice concentrate; whisk together until well mixed.
- Using a sharp paring knife, pierce the turkey breast, thighs, and legs; creating holes for the marinade to penetrate. Pour the marinade over turkey, and into the holes. Finally, stuff garlic pieces into the holes. Cover the turkey well, and refrigerate overnight to marinate.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Roast turkey in the preheated oven until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh measures 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 5 hours. Baste the turkey every 30 to 45 minutes. Once the breast has browned, cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent it from becoming burnt.
- Learn more about how to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving in our How to Cook a Turkey article!
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 589 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 215 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 75 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 879 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m not usually a fan of turkey, but this recipe was really good. First time making a turkey and first time I really enjoyed the turkey itself without having to put tons of gravy on it. I’m thankful for this recipe this year.
I’ve made this recipe for my pork and chicken too. be creative with the flavors to meet your desires. Just remember, this ain’t your momma’s old fashioned turkey. This is bold, in your face flavor that you’ll love playing with in other dishes. We reduce the juices and use it all over everything else; black beans and rice, stuffing, etc. Cooking the turkey; use a roasting bag, pour it all in there over the bird, tie it and let it sit in the fridge for a day or more, turn it whenever you think about it. then toss it in a roasting pan and leave it alone. We may brown it a bit more in the oven.
Made it according to recipe, turned out excellent!! Used a slightly smaller Turkey and modified the recipe a tiny bit to fit the size of the turkey. However, next time I may not modify the recipe at all for a smaller turkey so it is more flavorful.Overall it turned out really well!
Everyone loved this! I only did a turkey breast to try it out & also made a 12# traditonal tuKrey. This one was such a hit, next year I’ll switch & do my whole turkey this way.
I wouldn’t cook again. If you are thinking about a holiday turkey, think again. I agree with one of the other reviews, it kind of ruined Thanksgiving. I was expecting a holiday flavor and got lemonade instead.
An easy, flavorful way to cook turkey! I didn’t use a whole bird, just a Butterball turkey breast roast… taking it from 16 lbs down to about 1 1/2 lbs. I prepared it as close as possible to the original recipe. The marinade is simple. I did embellish just a little by adding Mexican oregano, cilantro and dried ancho pepper powder, to taste. I didn’t adjust the marinade for the smaller turkey, which worked out fine, when I put it in a gallon freezer bag to sit overnight. I cut down the salt… because I don’t like it… which was a mistake. The recipe says to baste the turkey but I didn’t know with what, so I used butter and did it 3 times during the 1 1/2 hour cooking time. (180 degrees on the thermometer) It browned nicely and was very moist with a citrusy Latino flair!!
I made this recipe at the last minute last year for Thanksgiving and I’m back to use it again. It was by far the best turkey I have ever had. I do not usually eat much turkey at Thanksgiving and the flavor and juiciness were amazing.
I was very excited to make this based on the reviews. There was one bad 1 star review. We made rhe turkey per the instructions. It cooked perfectly. Golden and crispy on the outside. The wings just fell off when pulled and the meat was tender and juicy. The turkey turned out to have too much of an acidic taste. No one liked this recipe. The amount of acidity from the wine and OJ concentrate, with the excess of garlic, made for a pungent and overly acidic taste. To give you an idea, the kids were daring each other by the end of the night Fear Factor style to see who was man enough to put down a spoonful of the gravy made from the drippings. No one ate more than a few peices, the few they did have was in an effort to like it. The left overs got tossed a week later as no one wanted them.
I made this on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving since my brothers couldn’t make the actual holiday or the Saturday Friendsgiving, so for most attendees it was their 3rd turkey, yet this recipe was voted the best! I used lemon pepper rather than black pepper, and I used the Cupcake Chardonnay but added 1/4 cup on top of the 1 cup the recipe prescribes and it came out fantastic! Definitely going to revisit this recipe (probably before next Thanksgiving, I don’t think we can wait that long haha)
I roast my chicken this wsy but never thought of buying the garlic.. I do that in my oven roast!
This recipe made a fabulous and out of this world turkey… and the most horrible gravy I have ever tasted. The spices and citrus were just too strong. No matter much we diluted it or tried to counter the flavor other ways, it just couldn’t be salvaged. this recipe is great if you want just the turkey, but don’t count on a good gravy. I’m so glad we didn’t make this for Thanksgiving!
I have been making this recipe for over 12 years since I saw it on Allrecipes. My adult daughter has now adopted this for her thanks giving Turkey… It always goes over so well and it tastes so amazing!
This turkey is delicious! My wife was scared because of the large amount of garlic, but was pleasantly surprised. There were lots of umms and yums. I will make this again next year and may try it on chicken before then. ***Even the leftovers were amazing. When I think about how tasty this was, my mouth starts to water. Thank you for the recipe.
loved this recipe wont use any other ive used this recipe for the past 4 years every one loves it i make a turkey for thaksgiving and xmas
I have made this turkey every year for five years 4 or 5 years, and it is amazing. I am not allowed to make any other turkey for Thanksgiving. I follow the recipe exactly. We love the garlic and citrus flavor, and I cannot get enough of the gravy made from the drippings. If you are set in your traditional thanksgiving ways and do not typically like food that is not traditional american with the standard seasonings of salt and pepper, I would stay away from this recipe. Otherwise, enjoy! It is perfect!
I did not care for the garlic/lemon taste of the turkey.
best turkey ever! I make this every thanksgiving.
This has to be the best turkey I have ever tasted!!! I marinated it overnight in it’s cooking bag, then just poked holes in the bag and slid it into the oven. The smells were tantalizing, but the taste was out of this world!! This is definitely our family’s new all-time favorite!
I was nervous about this recipe because this was the first time I have EVER cooked a turkey, and I must say this recipe turned out awesome! I am so proud of myself! Everyone raved about the flavor and the moistness. I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone, both novice and expert cooks. Thank you for giving me the confidence to do this again next year! If I could give 6 stars, I would!!! Thanks!!! 🙂
I’ve made this turkey almost every Thanksgiving since I heard about it a few years ago. The only thing I change is to use just two heads of garlic and only stuff one head in the holes. I tried it with three the first time, and although I enjoyed the roasted garlic flavor, some of my guests didn’t. For those who don’t care for the citrusy gravy it produces, you can do what I do and make a plain turkey gravy to serve on the side using the reserved neck and giblets.
This is the best turkey recepie ! Now let me add a few things this is nothing traditional to boring paprika salt butter etc that doesn’t give the turkey flavor. This recepie is intended to make a savory turkey and yes it may be a. It citric but make sure you get orange juice that natural vs the canned one it makes a difference to add a sweetness to it. All the ingredients come along very nice and your house will also smell delicious ! So I repeat if you like the traditional American bird taste then this is not for you! Other than that I’ve been making it for 4 years and everyone in the family always goes for a second Round!!!