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
Hi again, one more for ya lol.
Would this recipe be sufficient for a 15 lb turkey? Thanks in advance.
That should work. You can choose to add a bit more butter and ingredients to cover the entire turkey if you’d like. This recipe is for a 12-pound turkey.
Hi i am really excited about using this recipe! Fingers crossed. I just have one question, How often to you baste the turkey during cooking>
We baste it occasionally. I haven’t really tracked that but about every 30-40 minutes or so.
Can I use salted butter or will it draw out the moisture? I already have it in stock.
If all you have is salted butter than that’s fine. A few of our readers have reported good results using that.
Can I use salted butter instead?
I think that will work fine. Our readers only had salted butter and mentioned it turned out great! I hope you love this recipe!
Hi, i only have extra virgin olive oil. Should i wait and get regular at the store or can i go ahead and use that?
Hi Bianca, you can still make it work but extra virgin is not ideal because it doesn’t tolerate high eat well and does not have a high smoke point and the turkey is on high heat for the first 20 minutes. You can also use canola oil or even better is avocado oil if you have it.
I am excited to try this but also a bit nervous about strong lemon taste on the turkey meat. Does it have a noticeable lemon taste?
Hi Cheryl, the turkey meat doesn’t have an overpowering lemon taste. The gravy has a stronger lemony flavor so you could cut back if you wanted to but the turkey meat will not be overwhelmingly lemon-flavored 🙂 Others have reported great results even cutting the lemon juice in half.
I’ve always used an oven bag. Can I still use with this recipe? Thanks!
Hi John, I honestly haven’t tried that method so I can’t make that recommendation. If anyone else has tried, please let us know! 🙂
I have a 19 1/2 pound turkey. Would I need to change the ingredients and how much more cooking time will I need to add?
Hi Mel, One of my readers reported the following which should help:
“1. Took me 4 days to thaw turkey
2. Marinated turkey with butter and herbs for 2 days,
3. Cooked on HI for 30 min and rest at 350 oF
4. 10 min per lb. (what? Yes 10 min per lb)
5. Internal temperature between breast and tight registered 160 oF.
6. Took out of oven and Covered well with heavy duty aluminum oil and did let it rest for 2 hours.
Yes for 2 hours (Ramsay’s tip – rest turkey for almost the same time as a cooking time).
Guess what how it turned out? one person who ate 4 turkey in 3 days he told that this was the most delicious turkey. My husband (who always know a clue of good food because he eats lots of doctor’s lunches) told that turkey was awesome (juicy, crispy skin, and etc.). ok. I got lots of compliments.”
Do I need to stuff the turkey?
we don’t currently have a stuffing recipe since it isn’t something we grew up eating (neither my husband or I), but if I come up with something great, I will be sure to share it! 🙂
Hello,
I noticed the instructions stated to take the bird out 30 minutes prior to handling. If I am prepping the bird the night before, is this still safe to do so? This will be my first time attempting a bit of prep the night before, so I am unsure of how safe this is? Thank you, I cannot wait to try this!
Hi Sherri, If you are prepping the bird the night before (very smart way to do it!), I would take it out at least 30 minutes and probably more like 1 hour prior to baking to take the chill off before putting it in the oven for more even baking.
What can I substitute the lemon with? My husband cannot have anything with lemon in it.
I have not tried this recipe without the lemon just because it is very important to the flavor here. I would suggest still using the lemon on the outside and not placing lemons inside the turkey so you still will have all the flavor without any strong lemony flavor.
Yayyyyyy! I see the Alton brown note and remove foil in bold black letters. Thank you! Every year that would be the one question I always seem to ask otherwise, I live by your recipe. Your recipes are amazing through and through! I hadn’t had not one complaint making this turkey! And apologies about asking the same question every year but it helps me now the one missing piece.
That’s so great! Thank you for the wonderful review!!
Should I cover my turkey to keep it moist? I noticed you didn’t cover yours.
We only covered the breast with foil and it turned out juicy!
Hey Natasha 🙂 , thank you for this awesome turkey recipe! I’m really wanting to try this out but our turkey is less than the suggested 11 lbs. Can we still follow the cooking time based off the 13 minutes per lb rule? Thank you so much and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi Amanda, yes that is correct – I Would follow those guidelines and I always highly recommend using a thermometer to double check. 🙂
Wondering what will happen if I do use extra virgin olive oil? That is all that I have… is it ok?
You can use more if need be. Are you looking to substitute that for something else?
Hi Natasha! Thank you for this AMAZING recipe. I will be making this turkey for the 3rd year now, my husband loves it and our one year old son will get to try it for the first time this year.
I do have a question, the past times of making this I used a pre brined frozen turkey (butterball), thawed out as instructed. This year I am cooking an all natrual, fresh (non frozen) turkey. I have heard brined turkey is a staple to making a juicy turkey. Should I pre brine my turkey?? If so do you have any recipes or recommendations for brining?
Hi Miranda! You are more than welcome to bring it ahead of time or marinate if you’d like. Several of our readers have. We don’t brine or pre-marinate ours and it turns out juicy & flavorful just fine.
Hi Natasha
If I have a 9 pounds turkey should I still use the 20 minutes and 430 degrees for the first time in the oven? How about for the second time in the oven?
Hi Eugene! Yes, that should be fine! You would want to cut down time for the second part so watch it closely and possibly decrease cook time.
hi there. I bought brined turkey and so do I need to omit the salt or reduce the salt amount? Please advice. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I don’t brine but you can if you prefer, it just isn’t necessary for this recipe. Several of our readers have brined and followed this recipe with great results!
Well the turkey I bought is brined already, not that I prefer that necessarily. So since it’s been done I was wondering whether I need to adjust the salt or just simply follow the recipe. Thanks for the timely reply, I do appreciate it.
Hi Flower, you shouldn’t have to adjust the salt if the turkey is brined already. I hope you love the roast turkey and Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Def gonna try this, but just to confirm; no injecting needed? normally we inject with chic broth and white wine but it still isn’t juicy enough.
We did not inject this Turkey. Some of our readers have injected it in addition to following this recipe, however.
I know you said you can prepare turkey a day in advance. Do you think two days in advance would be ok?
Are you looking to marinate it for two days? Several of our readers of marinated it for up to 48 hours and loved it.
Thank you for replying so quickly. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!