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
Thank you for this simple, easy recipe. First-time turkey roaster this Thanksgiving and the only thing I did different was add in an over-night brine to lock in the moisture. I cooked a 22 lb turkey and everyone said it turned out good! This recipe really helped. The only thing I would change for next time is to put a different stuffing inside the turkey, omit the 20 minutes at 450-degrees. My 22 lb turkey cooked in under 3.5 hours as I believe my oven may have been at 370-degrees instead of 350-degrees. Next time I want to try out the 350-degrees the entire length of the cooking and learn better how to “Truss” tie the turkey. That was the only part that I felt could use more explanation in this recipe.
Thank you for sharing your experience with using stuffing inside the bird.
We did this for Thanksgiving this year. It was FANTASTIC!!!! Best turkey ever!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Andrea! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Epic recipe and EASY to do. Marinated for about 30min or so overnight and the next day it was so fast to roast. The turkey was filled with flavor and juicy and tender. Especially the dark meat.
I recommend using high quality butter! I used an Italian butter from Costco. Great butter.
Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful review with me, Will! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I have done Thanksgiving turkeys a million different ways and I will have to say, this was the best recipe I have ever found!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Wow! The juice stayed mostly inside the bird! Crispening it up on high heat for 20 minutes and all the butter and olive oil made such a huge difference! Thank you Natasha! Our pan had a wire rack on the bottom, so the all the skin got crispy including the bottom. As we carved it, the crunchy skin on the bottom was like a bowl full of juices. This will be our go to recipe from now on, and my mother-in-law will follow your recipe too, now that she’s tried the yummy turkey!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Marina!
Natasha,
This is truly the BEST Roasted Turkey recipe ever!
Folks, follow this recipe exactly and you and your family will enjoy a sensational masterpiece of a Turkey! The absolute juiciest breast meat and perfectly done dark meat is typically difficult to achieve, but not with this recipe! Temperature probes take the guess work out of the process and allow you the comfort of knowing that you can remove the bird at the exact right time. I am amazed at what the foil barrier over the beast meat does to protect the white meat from overcooking. Many Thanks Natasha!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Mike! Thank you for the wonderful review!
I’m vegan, and for my holiday cheat day, I’m sooooo glad I found this recipe! My husband is a gourmet chef, so our family is picky and judges everything we eat. They all remember every dry turkey we’ve ever eaten, and were sure this year wouldn’t be different. I heard nothing but “Mmmm, it’s so juicy/tasty/moist/etc…” from all around our table!! The matching gravy is also to DIE for😍 Thank you for helping make this Thanksgiving one to never forget!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Usually make a deep fried turkey. Thought I would go traditional this year. I didn’t stuff it, but this recipe was fabulous! Extremely moist! I added a
few sprigs of fresh rosemary. Would highly recommend!!
Thank you for the wonderful review!
Haooy Thanksgiving! This is a great recipe. Love the tips If I brine my turkey, can I still follow this recipe or does the salt amount change?
Hi Debbie, I haven’t tried brining it myself, but I imagine that would work! If you happen to experiment, please let me know how you like that.
Hi Natasha, I followed your recipe and the end result was a juicy very tasty turkey, but unfortunately the skin and drippings were extremely salty. I will definitely make another turkey without brining and using your fabulous recipe. Thank you so much
Thank you for sharing that with us, Debbie! I haven’t tested this with brine to advise on adjustments, but I hope it works out better for you next time.
Hi Natasha,
So…I love all your recipes I have tried. I was roasting a turkey and searched to see if you had a recipe (since you have one for everything else lol). I came across this one and O…M…G.!!!!! Usually when I roast turkey it comes out on the dry side. This turkey was so moist and delicious, though…and the flavor was amazing! Definitely a recipe I will hang on to! Thank you!
I’m so happy you gave my recipe a try, Kai! I’m happy you all loved it!
I prepared my turkey using this recipe this year following the recipe exactly. It turned out to be full of flavor, smelled amazing and it roasted to a beautiful color, and no I didn’t take a picture 🙃. Will definitely use this method again. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Thank you Natasha, amazing recipe 🦃❤️
You are most welcome, Connie.
My first turkey and fallowed your recipe to the letter. My bird turned out perfect😲 Thank you for this recipe. I will always use it. Happy Thanksgiving 🦃❤️
Hi Connie, that makes me happy too! Thank you for letting us know about that and I’m glad you loved it.
First time baking a turkey. Wow, easy and absolutely delicious. Thanks Natasha!
Yay, love it! Thanks for your great feedback, Donna.
🤩 absolutely delicious even though I messed up turning up the heat after 20 minutes to 450 instead of 350. I was so disappointed at first thought my turkey was ruined. To my surprise it wasn’t thank God. It was moist, tender and very flavorful. No need to look for another turkey recipe this one is it from now on. Only thing I did was add more garlic & thyme to butter mixture. And added fresh Rosemary sage, & thyme to the cavity aromatic
Hello Martha, I’m so glad to hear that you were able to work it out and you were able to make an awesome Turkey! Thanks for sharing that with us.
Just tried this recipe tonight and it was the best tasting Turkey I’ve had. Nice and moist. Got a nice taste of Lemon and Parsley in there which gave it a nice taste to it. Really recommend this recipe . Will use it again for Christmas
Sounds awesome! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
2nd year I’ve made this turkey – SO juicy and flavorful!! Even the white meat (which I typically find dry and tasteless) was amazing!! Thank you Natasha!!!
You’re most welcome, Jen. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for your videos. So much more fun n easier to follow your recipes than trying to figure it out from a recipe book.
Tried your Turkey recipe n it was amazing.😋 So easy to prep turkey n results are great. Everyone loved it!!!
Happy Thanksgiving 🍁🦃
Will make your gravy tomorrow for the leftovers.
Happy Thanksgiving! Great to hear that you and your family enjoyed this recipe.
Huge success this Thanksgiving (2020) with your recipes, Natasha. I cant thank you enough! The very first time I have to make a Thanksgiving meal for my family and all your recipes were a hit. You made me look like a pro. This turkey, I tell ya, flavorful, detailed instructions. Simply delicious.
I also made your cranberry sauce and gravy, and sweet potatoe casserole. All came out amazingly delicious.
Hello Eleni, that makes me so happy. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Happy Thanksgiving! We have called this year “Natasha’s Thanksgiving” at our house. We used your turkey recipe, gravy, cranberry sauce and chocolate lasagna for dessert! Everything was spectacular. I can’t wait to have Thanksgiving next year with the rest of my family so they can enjoy your recipes too. Thank you so much ❤️
That is the sweetest! Thank you for sharing that with me, Marie. I’m so glad you loved all the recipes that you tried!
Happy Thanksgiving! Ours was made even happier by this incredibly delicious turkey and homemade gravy! My sister and I have never made gravy and this was so simple. It was as phenomenal as you said it would be👍 Already planning on using both recipes again next year. Thanks for taking the scary out of making both turkey and gravy 🥰
Looks like this is going to be on your favorites list! Thanks for your great feedback, Tina. Happy Thanksgiving too.