Turkey is the star of Thanksgiving, and it’s pretty important to get it right – I have you covered with this simple, failproof, and mouthwatering Roast Turkey Recipe. This has a crisp, salty skin with a flavor-packed, juicy center. You’ll love my trick for a tender turkey breast every time.
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Helpful Reader Review
“I have been making your turkey recipe for a couple of years now every Thanksgiving and Christmas. My family has gone from not looking forward to turkey to RAVING about how flavourful, delicious and moist this Turkey is!” – Jennifer ★★★★★
Juicy Roast Turkey Video
This turkey recipe is well-loved with hundreds of 5-star reviews over the years. It’s fantastic! You can even make this turkey recipe a day in advance (see make-ahead tips below) if it makes your life easier, and it will taste even better! Plus, Turkey Brine is optional here, saving you a day of prep.
In this video, I’ll show you how to make this turkey, step-by-step so you can feel confident making “the year’s most important dish.”
Turkey Recipe
I was so excited about this juicy roast turkey recipe every step of the way, and I think you’ll feel the same way when you try it. The first turkey I ever made was such a flop that I was discouraged for a few years to revisit it. When I set out to make this turkey recipe, I was determined to ensure you had success the first time and every time you made this recipe.
I spent days researching the best turkey recipes online and in cookbooks, with trusted advice from my Mom and you, my readers. This Turkey recipe has been gracing your holiday tables since 2014! I’ve also been perfecting it over the years, and I can confidently say this tender and delicious turkey will impress your dinner guests.
The turkey breast is so juicy and flavorful, and the skin is crisp and roasts to a beautiful golden brown. I invited all of my family over to help eat this turkey and received rave reviews from 10 adults and quite a few kiddos. I was so giddy and excited when I tasted the juicy bird. Keep the turkey drippings to make the best Turkey Gravy; it’s super delicious and will be the talk of your Thanksgiving dinner!
Roast Turkey Ingredients
- Turkey – this recipe is written for an 11-15 lb turkey. A larger turkey will work, but bake time will vary (see chart below). You’ll also need salt and pepper to season the turkey inside and out.
- Flavored Butter – unsalted butter, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper
- For the Turkey Stuffing – You can use my stuffing recipe, but I stuff the turkey cavity with onion, garlic, parsley, and a quartered lemon. I prefer to cook turkey stuffing separately from the turkey, so I stuff my turkey with aromatics instead (which makes the gravy taste awesome), but if you do stuff the turkey with traditional stuffing, make sure the stuffing reaches 165˚F in the center.
Don’t Forget to Thaw Your Turkey
Make sure you give yourself enough time to thaw and roast your turkey. A larger bird will take longer to thaw and roast, so plan according to the chart below.
Per the USDA guidelines, thaw your frozen turkey in the refrigerator 1 day for every 4 to 5 lbs of turkey. My 12 lb turkey took 3 days to thaw, while a 16 lb turkey would take 4 days. For a quick-thaw method, see my Spatchcock Turkey Recipe (you can defrost a 12 lb turkey in 6 hours).
How to Prepare Your Turkey for Roasting
- Defrost the Turkey – You should never cook a frozen or partially frozen turkey or it will cook unevenly. Follow the turkey thawing guide above, depending on the size of your turkey.
- Optional Brine Step – once the turkey is thawed, you can Brine your Turkey if you prefer (it requires 1 hour per pound), although it’s not necessary for this recipe. Also, check the turkey packaging since some turkeys are pre-brined, so you don’t need to brine again if that is the case.
- Remove turkey from fridge about 30 minutes before you start working with it. If the turkey is closer to room temperature, it will bake more evenly. *Remove the neck and bag of giblets from the turkey and set it on a roasting pan.
- Pat dry turkey with paper towels. Let turkey sit in over paper towels to soak up any excess water from the turkey.
- Fold the wings behind the turkey; if you don’t they are the quickest to scorch and dry out.
Seasoning, Stuffing, and Tying up a Turkey
- Season inside of turkey cavity generously with about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
- Make the Flavored butter – In a medium bowl (it’s even easier in the bowl of a food processor), combine 2 sticks of softened butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, 4 Tbsp lemon juice, and 3 pressed garlic cloves, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Mash/stir with a fork or process until well combined (the lemon juice doesn’t easily stir into butter, but keep mixing and it will happen after a few minutes). This mixture was adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Turkey video and it’s wonderful. Take a whiff of it; you’ll fall in love with how fresh it smells!
- Separate the skin from the turkey breast by pushing your fingers under the skin. Do this from the front and the back of the turkey, being careful not to tear the skin.
- Stuff 2/3 of the butter mixture under skin, then spread the butter around by massaging over the top of the skin. This butter keeps the turkey breast tender and juicy and provides rich flavor.
- Pat dry the skin and rub the remaining butter over the outside of the turkey (breast, legs, wings). Drizzle all over the top of the turkey with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper; I just love a crisp, salty skin.
- Stuff the turkey cavity with a quartered onion, 4 halved garlic cloves, 1/2 bunch parsley and quartered lemon. Use kitchen string to tie the turkey base and legs together; crossing the legs to better close up the turkey cavity, plus it looks extra fancy on the table.
How to Roast a Turkey
- Prep: Pre-heat the oven to 430˚F on the bake mode. Place oven rack in the lower part of your oven (mine was on the second level from the very bottom) – this ensures that your large turkey roasts in the middle of the oven and keeps the turkey breast further from the top heating element.
- Here is a fantastic tip I picked up from Alton Brown to protect the turkey breast and keep it juicy: Fold a large square sheet of foil into a triangle. Rub one side of your triangle with olive oil and shape the foil (oil-side-down) over the turkey breast, then remove foil; it will shield your turkey breast and keep it from getting dry. You’ll apply this shield later in the roasting process.
- Insert Thermometer – Place an oven-safe meat thermometer into the bird; beneath the drumstick; deep into the dark meat. It’s ready for the oven. Start roasting uncovered at 430˚F for 20 min.
- Baste Turkey – Remove from oven; quickly baste with butter from the bottom of the dish. You can use a baster or tilt one side of the pan and collect drippings with a large spoon. Now apply prepared foil triangle to turkey breast area.
- Reduce oven to 350˚F and bake for another 2 hours 30 min for a 12 lb bird. (Once you have reduced the oven to 350˚F, you will bake about 13 min for every pound of turkey). The turkey thigh should register 170-180˚F on the temperature probe and the turkey breast at 165˚F to make sure it’s fully cooked through then remove from the oven (keep in mind the turkey temp continues to rise slightly after it’s out of the oven).
- Rest the Turkey – Transfer turkey to a serving platter and cover loosely but fully with foil. Let turkey rest for at least 1 hour. It will become more tender and easier to carve, the longer it sits. Keep drippings from roasting pan for a most delicious turkey gravy. Decorate around your turkey and make it festive. I used kale for my greens, then added small apples, sliced oranges and quartered lemons.
Make-Ahead
- To Refrigerate: You can fully prepare your turkey a day ahead – stuff, butter it up, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator one hour before baking the next day.
- To Freeze leftover turkey: Shred the meat and transfer it to freezer-safe zip-top bags or use a food saver to squeeze out as much air as possible, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- To Reheat Leftovers: My secret to the best-tasting reheated turkey is our Leftover Turkey in Gravy. We make this every year on the day after Thanksgiving.
So many of you have made this roast turkey over the years, and it gives me so much joy to hear your success stories and see this turkey in photos from your Thanksgiving feasts. Also, I love this sweet photo from 2014 when we filmed this video recipe. It’s hard to believe my son is a teenager now!
I’d love to hear what is on your Thanksgiving menu this year (scroll down to see my personal menu). And I’m so curious – do you make Turkey on Thanksgiving AND Christmas? My Mom sure does and I love it! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
Juicy Roast Turkey
Ingredients
For the Turkey
- 12 lb turkey, (Anything from 11-15 lbs will work, but bake time will vary), thawed*
- Salt & Pepper, for the inside and outside of the bird
For the Flavored Butter
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, (2 sticks)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, not extra virgin, plus more to drizzle top
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon, plus 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 3 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1/2 Tbsp salt, I used sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
For the Stuffing
- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- 1 lemon, quartered
Instructions
Prepping your Turkey
- Remove thawed turkey* from the fridge about 30 minutes before you start working with it. If the turkey is closer to room temperature, it will bake more evenly. Remove the neck and bag of giblets and pat dry turkey with paper towels. Let it sit in a roasting pan lined with paper towels to soak up any excess water then discard the paper towels. Fold the wings behind the turkey so they don't scorch in the oven.
Seasoning, Stuffing, and Tying up a Turkey
- Season inside of turkey cavity generously with about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
- Make Flavored Butter – In a medium bowl or in a food processor*, combine: 2 sticks softened butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, 4 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 pressed garlic cloves, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Mash /stir with a fork until well combined (the lemon juice doesn't easily stir into butter but keep mixing and it will happen after a few minutes).
- Separate the skin from the turkey breast by pushing your fingers under the skin. Do this from the front and the back of the turkey; being careful not to tear the skin.
- Stuff 2/3 of the butter mixture under skin then spread the butter around by massaging over the top of the skin. This butter keeps the turkey breast tender, juicy and provides rich flavor.
- Pat skin dry and rub remaining butter over the outside of the turkey (breast, legs, wings). Drizzle all over the top of the turkey with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper; I just love a crisp, salty skin.
- Stuff turkey cavity with quartered onion, 4 halved garlic cloves, 1/2 bunch parsley and quartered lemon. Use kitchen string to tie turkey base and legs together; crossing the legs to better close up the turkey cavity, plus it looks extra fancy on the table.
How to Roast a Turkey
- Prep – Pre-heat the oven to 430˚F on the bake mode. Place oven rack in the lower part of your oven (mine was on the second level from the very bottom).
- Make Foil Shield – to protect the turkey breast and keep it juicy: Fold a large square sheet of foil into a triangle. Rub one side of your triangle with olive oil and shape the foil (oil-side-down) over the turkey breast, then remove foil; it will shield your turkey breast and keep it from getting dry. You'll apply this shield later in the roasting process.
- Place an oven-safe meat thermometer into the bird; beneath the drum stick; deep into the dark meat. Start roasting uncovered at 430˚F for 20 min.
- Baste – Remove from oven; quickly baste with butter from the bottom of the dish. You can use a baster or tilt one side of the pan and collect drippings with a large spoon. Now apply prepared foil triangle to turkey breast area.
- Reduce oven to 350˚F and bake for another 2 hours 30 min for a 12 lb bird. (Once you have reduced the oven to 350˚F, you will bake about 13 min for every pound of turkey). The turkey thigh should register at 170˚F on the temperature probe and the breast at 160˚F to make sure it's fully cooked through then remove from the oven (keep in mind the turkey temp continues to rise slightly after it's out of the oven*).
- Rest Turkey – Transfer turkey to serving platter and cover loosely but fully with foil. Let turkey rest for at least 1 hour. It will become more tender and easier to carve, the longer it sits. Keep the drippings from roasting pan for turkey gravy. Now you can decorate around your turkey and make it festive. I used kale for my greens, then added small apples, sliced oranges and quartered lemons.
Notes
*A food processor makes it much easier to blend the lemon juice into t he flavored butter, saving time and effort.
*Final Temperature – As the turkey rests, it will continue to rise to a final temperature of 165˚F at the breast and 175-180˚F at the thigh.
*Nutrition label is a rough estimate – remember that most of the butter and oil will remain in the pan when the turkey is done roasting.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
To Cook a Larger Turkey:
Many of you have asked about using a larger turkey. One of my readers, Shannon, shares her experience with a 23-pound turkey (Thanks Shannon!):
“Used this recipe last night with a 23 lb turkey and it was superb!! I used 3 sticks of butter, 1 cup of parsley, kept the zest and juice of 2 lemons and quartered them for the stuffing. Kept 1 large onion peeled & largely sliced, used about 8 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced in half. Cooked at 430 for 20 min and then 350 for about 5 1/2 hours, basting occasionally. I used the tin foil hat and had to made a couple other tin foil accessories for the legs that started to scorch. Took the tin foil hat off when it had 10 min of cook time left to ensure a nice browned top. Had tons of drippings to make a delicious gravy with. Will use this recipe every year! So flavorful and yummy. Thank you”
Natasha’s Thanksgiving Menu
These are the classic Thanksgiving recipes that we can’t go without for our annual Thanksgiving feast. Only the best for the biggest cooking day of the year!
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Mashed Potatoes
- Turkey Gravy
- Cranberry Sauce
- Apple Pie
- Pumpkin Pie (or Pumpkin Cheesecake)
- Cheesecake
- Sweet Potato Salad
- Au Gratin Potatoes
- Stuffing
I made this mostly to the instructions, but apparently I messed up in the execution, as the breast came out extremely dry. It was complicated by the fact that I wasn’t present for most of the cooking (I left it in the care of my neighbor whose larger house we were using for the dinner and who knows nothing of roasting turkeys). I think either the fact that a.) the turkey didn’t get any basting at allduring its cooking process and b.) it may have been left in the oven about an hour too long may have been the deciding factors.
-shrug-
oh well – I will say the rest of the turkey was very tasty, but I was disappointed in the breast. Since the fault may have been my own I won’t say this recipe wasn’t successful and I do want to re-try this sometime when I can keep my full attention on things. (P.S. I did the herby lemon butter in a food processor and it was AWESOME – afterward we spooned a little on toast and steamed potatoes, yummy!)
Oh bummer!!! Definitely overcooking a turkey will result in a dry turkey breast. I definitely recommend using a thermometer to gauge doneness. It’s tempting to leave a turkey in too long for fear of undercooking which is why the thermometer is so beneficial. I hope you love it when you give it another go! 🙂
Seasons Greetings,
I found your recipe and have everything I need to make it happen. My question to you is “Once I have seasoned and buttered down the turkey….can I let it marinate over night in the refrigerator and cook it around noon the next day ?” I dont need it till after 5pm.I would pick up on #6 – stuff turkey with quartered onion
Yes you can absolutely prep and even stuff the bird the day before. I have done it up to three days in advance and it was great!
Hi,
Thanks for the great recipe. My sister used it a few years ago at Thanksgiving and it worked great.
I tried it for the first time this year though, and had trouble with it not being cooked in the middle. I used a square roasting pan instead of a deeper turkey dish, but otherwise followed your directions as closely as I could. Was I supposed to use convection bake instead of the normal setting?
I normally cook vegetarian, so the entire experience of cooking meat is new to me! 😛
Hi Mark, I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. It was supposed to be on a regular bake setting, not convection. Did you use a meat thermometer? I highly recommend one for next time to ensure the turkey is cooked through and not overcooked. Not using a thermometer is risky business. Did you follow these instructions using a turkey large than 12 lbs?
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for the reply. I did use an electronic thermometer and poked it into the turkey at various times throughout the cooking. It seemed to be the right temperature, but my Mom also suggested using a meat thermometer instead. Will give that a go next time I try this recipe. Thanks! 🙂
I’m an amateur in the kitchen and never cooked a turkey, ever. I cooked a 20lb bird and just used a little extra of everything. It was easily the best turkey I’ve ever had for the holidays, and many of my 15 guests said the same thing. What people said about the breast is true… very tender, juicy, and flavorful. This bird was a hit and I’m VERY glad to have found this recipe. So, THANK YOU!
The only advice I’d give that I havent already seen on this site is how to handle the “drippings”. My grandmother didnt want to use the drippings in the gravy b/c it was almost all butter. We agreed to just give up on the drippings UNTIL we took the turkey out to set for an hour. We didnt leave the turkey in the hot roasting pan, we moved it to a carving dish and as it sat there for an hour a pool of “juice” began to form. We got our delicious drippings from the carving dish and it wasnt too much butter.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
This is going to be my first turkey, so I will try to follow your instructions. I dont have fresh parsley, so I used dried ones. I dont have the string, so I Mcgyver it with foil.
I hope to post my finished turkey on your page!!
Thank you so much for the info and I hope you keep doing what you do best – cooking!
Best,
Emelie
I hope you love the turkey and have a wonderful and merry Christmas!
I’m making this now as we speak!!! I can’t wait to try it, I’ll let you know how my first time went lol
Great recipe, our turkey came out great and everyone loved the taste!! I made some mistakes along the way but it wasn’t enough to ruin the recipe. I also did the ashed potatoes that you posted and it was perfect!!! I forgot to get flour so I combined the drippings with some chicken/turkey gravy and it was amazing!!!!! This will be my to go dinner menu for all Xmas 🙂
That sounds great Maria! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I just put my turkey in the oven with your wonderful juicy recipe and it’s my first time so it was easy and awesome smell but I can imagine when it’s done I bet it will be even more awesome thank you for your awesome recipe because I did wanted to do something different this Christmas dinner 😀
I hope you love it and have a merry Christmas!
Thank you SO much for this step by step guide. I used this recipe last year to make my first ever turkey on Christmas Eve. I’ll be using it again this year for my second ever turkey on Christmas!
You’re very welcome Nikki! Thank you for sharing your review!
Hi! I want to try your recipe for Xmas dinner. It’s my first time to make roast turkey. Just want to ask, do I need to brine the turkey for this recipe? Thank you and happy holidays!
Hi Joanne, brining isn’t necessary with this recipe. You could if you wanted to but it isn’t necessary with this method. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! 🙂
Thank you very much for your response, I really appreciate it! I will made this for our Christmas dinner, hope I will make it correctly, hehehe… thank you very much! Have a wonderful Holidays!
My pleasure Joanne! Merry Christmas to you!
I made your turkey for our Xmas dinner and It was perfect. My family loves it super moist And juicy. THis was my first turkey that I made and I’m so thankful for your recipe.
Awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Joanne 🙂
Hi there,
I’m making my first ever turkey for christmas and I wanted to take your recipe and merge it with another way of cooking the bird. I want to cook the turkey breast down the first hour of cooking to crisp the bottom side of the turkey and then flip. Do you think that this will mess with the butter on the breast, since gravity might force the juices down and it will be a slippery mess. let me know what you think!
Hmmm… I haven’t tried it that way so I’m not 100% sure. I think you could make it work if you put the butter under the skin and then spread the remaining butter along with olive oil, salt and pepper on the bottom side of the turkey (the side that will be facing up initially for you), then when you flip the turkey over, baste generously all over the turkey breast. Do let me know how it works out. I’m so curious!!
This is exactly how I imagine a typical turkey. Since I love American food, I’m just trying to cook great recipes.
Many thanks and greetings from Germany
Thank you for sharing your review!
Hello!
First time making a turkey this weekend. Do you also cover the entire turkey loosely with foil while it baked at 350 or you solely use the triangle?
Very excited to try this!
Hi Krista, I only use the triangle so the turkey can turn golden will roasting.
Hi! This is my first time cooking thanksgiving dinner. Do you not use the lid of the roaster at all? Or did I miss that part. Thanks!
Hi Sara, In this recipe, I do not use the lid. My Mother uses the lid on hers but in this recipe it isn’t necessary since you have the foil shield to protect the turkey breast from drying out.
Thank u very much the Turkey came out so juicy our family love it i give it an A+5 star I would recommend it to anyone thank u again from the Holmes family:)
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing review!! 🙂 I’m so happy your family loved the turkey 🙂
OM..Goodness..This was ABSOLUTLEY THEE best Turkey I have ever ate. My 16 year old hates turkey..I made her try it once when it was done and she went back for seconds!! The turkey was sooo juicy!! You were right about falling in love with the butter mixture. It had the whole house smelling great! I can not wait til xmas to make another one 😉 Thanks sooo much.. and Merry X-Mas
AWESOME!!!! I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed it! 🙂 Have a Merry Christmas!
I made turkey for my friendsgiving last year using this recipe. It was the first time I ever cooked a turkey, and your instructions were so easy! The turkey turned out perfect. I am currently (like, as I type this) cooking this year’s friendsgiving turkey using the same recipe because I know how great it is 🙂
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that. 🙂 Thank you for such an amazing review!
I’m a guy, I did the turkey this year (a 12 lb-er), followed the recipe exactly, and now I’m in big trouble because it came out so good! Now I have to cook more! Followed the recipe exactly. Thanks so much! Awesome. Guys beware!
Hi Jeff, that is just the best review!! Thank you so much :). I’m all smiles!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
This was my first time cooking turkey for my family. I was looking for an easy but super juicy recipe and yours was which I picked. It was a success!!! not only with my family but last night with friends, the plate with leftovers it was still juicy and, for me, much better. Great great recipe!!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for the amazing review and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
It was my first time making the turkey for my family, I decided to use this recipe and they all loved it! It was super juicy and tasty! Thank you so much!
Suri, thank you for such a wonderful review, I’m all smiles 😬.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I prepared my 22 lb turkey following the measurement guidelines you posted from Shannon…and cooked it in an electric roaster. It was absolutely the best turkey I have ever eaten. The flavor was excellent, the meat was so moist and the drippings made the best gravy. This will definitely be the recipe I use from now on.
Hooray!! I’m so happy to hear that. 🙂 I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving! 🙂
Used this recipe yesterday. First time making Thanksgiving dinner. I had a 11 lbs turkey and it came out amazing. Really nice flavor and super juicy! Had a little trouble getting the butter to stick to top of the bird, but I ended up saving 1/6 of the mix that I then applied after the first 20 minutes, which worked perfectly. Thank you so much for this recipe! Big hit! Will definitely use this again!
You are very welcome and thank you for such a nice review!