I typically have a really herby chestnut-filled stuffing, so I wanted a basic, conventional honey roast turkey. I discovered this dish in England and like it to pieces. The pan drippings are turned into a wonderful gravy.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 1 10-pound turkey |
Ingredients
- 1 (10 pound) whole turkey – thawed, neck and giblets removed
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 small apple, peeled
- 1 small onion, peeled
- 1 small potato, peeled
- 6 ounces honey
- 3 ounces butter
- 1 cup chicken stock (Optional)
Instructions
- Pat turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Rub lemon halves lightly over skin of turkey. Season skin and cavity with salt and pepper. Place lemon halves, apple, onion, and potato into cavity. Place turkey into a close-fitting roasting pan.
- Stir together honey and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter has melted and mixture is evenly blended. Spoon over turkey, coating entire outer surface. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, reapplying honey mixture several times.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Bake turkey in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, basting two or three times with pan drippings. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and cook for 30 minutes more, basting frequently. Add chicken stock to keep pan juices from drying out, if needed.
- Cover turkey with aluminum foil and continue roasting until no longer pink near the bone and the juices run clear, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. 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 the foil during the last 15 minutes of roasting and baste with pan juices one last time.
- Remove turkey from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 15 minutes before slicing.
- This recipe is for a small turkey, but it can be doubled or tripled easily for a larger bird by adjusting the roasting time (15 to 20 minutes per pound).
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1052 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 37 g |
| Cholesterol | 512 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 131 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 644 mg |
| Sugars | 25 g |
| Fat | 41 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe was fantastic. None of us are turkey people but with the juices, it was fantastic. The turkey was juicy already but didn’t have a lot of pizazz. After adding the juice over it I was sold! Will definitely make this way again if I ever have to make a turkey. Thanks!! We used a roasting pan with a lid the whole time. 16 pound turkey took about 3 hours. It was much sooner than expected.
Easy instructions
Absolutely fantastic!!! We started breast down, then flipped to breast up for the lower temp, and broiled for a tiny bit at end for crispy skin, otherwise followed recipe. Sweet succulent incredibly moist turkey!!! Used the top of pan drippings (no chunks) and simmered down for a salty/sweet au jus. This is a must try!!! Thanks for posting!!!
I have made this recipe many times. The turkey is very moist at the end and delicious. The drippings are a little wierd to make gravy from since they are sweet, not savory, but as long as your potatoes aren’t flavored it should be fine.
Awesome receipe
For a first time making a turkey, this recipe is perfect! It turned out juicy and in general I was super worried that making turkeys was complicated but this proved to be easy and fun. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made this recipe for my first ever roasted turkey on Thanksgiving. It was very easy to make and delicious!
This recipe was soooo easy and the turkey was just so delicious. This will probably be how we make the turkey from now on. I kind of altered the cooking time though. The turkey starts browning really quickly, so I added some foil to the wings to keep them from burning to a crisp. I let the breasts brown until they looked just right to me, and then went ahead and covered the breasts (just the breasts, not the whole turkey) with a little piece of foil. I only let the turkey cook, uncovered for a little less than an hour until the whole turkey was looking pretty and roasted, then cooked it for the remainder of time covered. I only basted the turkey while it was uncovered as well, about every 20 minutes or so. The result was this just delightfully flavored turkey that was perfectly moist and tender! Love it!
Made this for Christmas dinner 2014 and it was fantastic!! Coming from someone who doesn’t cook, it came out very juicy and flavorful! This is a very good beginners turkey. I followed the instructions and it was very easy.
I made this somewhat differently: I used a bag for the turkey, adjusted slightly for cook time, which worked great, and I dry-brined for almost a day, seasoned with salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and curry. Also, I only put half the lemon inside the turkey, to make room for my extra-large apple. Without changing the recipe, I would give it four stars. (My husband couldn’t stop picking at it when I was trying to carve, though, so I think he would give the finished result five stars.) This is my first turkey I’ve made entirely by myself, so next time I think I might turn the temperature down a little earlier (I let it stay at the first temp for too long out of negligence), but I loved the results!
Been slow cooking this turkey all day, smells really good
This turkey was delicious. Very moist. First you get a taste of honey and then the lemon. It was really good.
This is a great idea but I am not a fan of the roasting method. Starting out at 400 – covering with foil etc… If I were to do this again, I would stick with roasting at 350 and glaze more toward the end to get a nice finish. The cooking time in this recipe is also way off. It has you cooking a 10 Turkey for 3 1/2 – 4 hours to an internal temp of 180. A 10 lb turkey will take 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Poultry is considered done at an internal temp of 165. Check Food Safety . gov to confirm this.
I tried this recipe today,made a few alterations, I seasoned the turkey with seasoning called shadown benni (bandania),fresh chive and fresh celery a few cloves of garlic and then added the black pepper,salt and thyme pimento peppers to the blender and blended everything together and rubbed it all over the turkey inside out I think basically my turkey was dry probably due to the brand,so i added some chicken stock to the basting ingredients, the turkey was definately a hit among everyone and I would definately make this again!Thanks for such a great tasting recipe
We upped the butter to 4oz and the honey to 8oz. The lemon was almost too strong, but the honey tasted great. For a 16+lb bird, we roasted for 2.5 hours at 350, after reducing the temperature, and it was just the right doneness.
This recipe is GREAT. I’ve never been crazy about turkey, but looooved this. It browned beautifully and made a really moist and yummy bird.