Roast Turkey Recipe
A holiday is not a holiday at our house without turkey. This roast turkey recipe gives you a no fail way of cooking turkey perfectly on any day of the year.
Equipment
- 1 roasting pan, large
Ingredients
- 15 pound turkey
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Remove giblets and neck from turkey. Place them in a large saucepan and set aside.
- Pat the turkey with paper towels inside and out. Loosely fill the neck cavity with stuffing (find a link to a great recipe below). Fold the neck skin over stuffing and skewer the skin to the back. Lift the wings and twist them so the tips are under the bird.
- Stuff the body cavity. Tuck the legs under the band of skin at the tip of the body cavity or tie them with string.
- Immediately place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. If you don't have a rack, butter a few slices of bread on both sides and place them on the roasting pan first. Sit the turkey on top of the bread to keep it from sticking to the pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together butter, sage and thyme. Rub this mixture over the turkey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place foil over the turkey so that it points upwards in the middle, making a tent shape. Make sure the foil is dull side up. Leave the sides open.
- Roast the turkey at 325ºF, for 4 hours. Baste every 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the foil after 4 hours and continue roasting until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 185ºF and the stuffing reads 165ºF. This will probably take about 1 hour longer.
- Transfer the turkey to a cutting board. Tent with the foil and let stand for about 20 minutes to let the juices settle before carving.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!