The juiciest, crispiest roast turkey is produced when a turkey is spatchcocked, and it is prepared in a small portion of the time that a complete turkey typically requires. It’s much simpler than you might think to spatchcock if you’ve never attempted it. Reduce cooking time and make carving much simpler by taking away the backbone and flattening the bird. If you give it a try, you might never turn back.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
Ingredients
- 1 (10 pound) whole turkey
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
Instructions
- Gather ingredients.
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- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place a roasting rack on a baking sheet.
- Place turkey, breast-side down, on a cutting board. Using a pair of sharp heavy-duty kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone.
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- Repeat on the other side of the backbone. Remove backbone and reserve for making turkey stock for gravy.
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- Press firmly down onto both sides of turkey to flatten.
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- Flip turkey breast-side up and put on the roasting rack. Tuck wing tips under turkey (behind breast). Pat skin dry and rub olive oil over entire turkey. Season with sage, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
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- Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet every 30 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and continue to roast until skin is crisp and golden, about 15 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
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- Remove turkey from the oven, cover loosely with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
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- Serve hot and enjoy!
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- If you’d like to brine your turkey, do it after you’ve removed the backbone in Step 2.
- Melted butter can be used in place of the olive oil if desired. You can baste turkey with melted butter every 30 minutes while roasting.
- Please note the differences in ingredient amounts, the omission of olive oil, the use of dried herbs instead of fresh, and the length of time for dry-brining when using the magazine version of this recipe.
Reviews
I’ve made this recipe several times, now, and am amazed at how well it works. In fact, since the oven on our stove died, I was sure I could never roast a whole turkey in our counter-top convection oven. Spatchcocking allows a 10 lb, or even slightly larger, turkey to fit without touching the upper element. Also, like an earlier reviewer, I discovered how easy cutting along the backbone is with pruning shears I picked up at the dollar store!
I used the reverse sear method to cook this spatchcock turkey and it turned out beautifully and so moist! This method allowed the thighs and breast to cook evenly.
If you don’t like the herbs just sprinkle with kolsher salt and baking soda front and back no need to marinate makes it soft tender and perfect to taste plus added crunchy outside
This is the only way to Roast any Bird. Another step to ensure even cooking of the dark meat is to dislocate the hip joints on both thighs. I took this tip from my very first restaurant employment experience in 1975 at Gino’s Hamburgers & KFC in Northern Virginia.
Thank goodness I found your recipe! Despite thawing the bird since Sunday, my 14 lb turkey was still frozen in the center! Spatchcocking prevented my serving dinner at midnight. Otherwise, I roasted the turkey my usual way, first shmearing it inside and out (my kids’ favorite way to help in the kitchen), then sprinkling it with herbs. Came out perfect!
FIRST, A TIP to make your spatchcock experience EASY! A week or so before Thanksgiving, I purchased a new pair of $10. pruning shears just for this task. Any hardware or gardening store carries them. My goodness, they made short work of what I thought would be time consuming, difficult and laborious. When I first read this recipe I was worried that it would come out dry. I needn’t have worried, this recipe was wonderful! A deceptively simple recipe that is packed with great flavor.. Compared to traditional turkey roasting, the bird cooked MUCH more quickly. Our 2021 spatchcocked turkey was moist and so delicious. Now it’s 2022 and I’m here to view the recipe so I don’t forget any ingredients when I make it again for 2022.
Loved it! Had to cook it 30 minutes longer than recipe time to reach internal temp of 165 so using a meat thermometer is imperative.
Becoming my go to turkey method now. Being spread out also gives better brown bits for gray – especially if you cook over crush garlic, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary.
Hardest thing about this is thawing the turkey.
I dont think I’ll ever not spatchcock a turkey again.
The only changesthat I made were not taking out the backbone and brining it first. It still turned out perfectly.
I made this for Thanksgiving in my gas grill. It turned out absolutely perfect and quite easy to make. I put veggies and herbs and a few splashes of worcester sauce in a large cookie tray. I placed the spatchcocked bird (14lb+) on a cooling rack on top of the veggies and herbs. I cooked it for 2 hours at 350 and an addl 15 mins at 400+ to crisp the skin. Otherwise, I followed the recipe.
It was very easy to make. I used my own blend of spices. Everyone loved it and even a 15 pound turkey cooked in the 1.5 hrs + 15 minutes. I probably will not go back to the old way of cooking a turkey. So glad I found this recipe.
We made this in our pellet smoker & it was awesome. I followed the recipe as close as possible. The 14 lb turkey cooked at 350 for 1 hr 40 minutes. We didn’t increase the temperature and the skin was still very crispy. Next time I will pull it off sooner.
Excellent and moist. I used jarred ground sage and thyme in the olive oil instead of fresh herbs because I liked the look better.
Used butter and it rocked!
Excellent recipe. The only tweak I’d recommend is to loosen the skin of the turkey and put the herb/oil mix *under* the skin. You can facilitate this with a rubber spatula.
The moistest Turkey I have ever had! I am not a fan of turkey at all but my husband likes it so when his mother called last minute saying she was coming for dinner tonight I defrosted a small 6.5lb turkey and found this recipe. Delicious! I put the turkey on top of a bed of potatoes & onions and followed the cooking instructions. Definitely going to make this again!
This will be the only way that I will ever bake a turkey again!
I started spatchcocking my turkey several years ago. I will never roast or deep fry one ever again. This is the only way for me. It’s almost idiot-proof. I should know because I’m almost an idiot. LOL Do yourself a favor and throw grandma’s tradition in the trash can and spatchcock that bird.
I finely grind fresh sage, rosemary, thyme & coarse ground black pepper, then soak several tablespoons of the spices in 1/4-1/2 C. EVOO for 24 hours. Then I rub EVOO mixture by hand over bird & under the skin the night before. I have successfully “roasted” a 17# turkey on our Weber grill using a heavy duty aluminum cookie sheet lined with foil and the turkey placed atop 2 cookie cooling racks. This year in 20 degree weather the turkey was completed in 2 hours 40 minutes. Buon Appetito!