Best 9 How To Roast Turkey Recipes

OVEN-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Mix the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle some of the spice rub inside the cavity of the turkey. Separate the skin from the breast meat with your fingers, starting at the top of the breast and sliding to the right and left, then working down. Massage some of the rub onto the meat under the skin. Sprinkle the remaining rub on the turkey's skin. Place the turkey on a sheet tray and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours so the flavors can marry.
• Set a rack at the lowest position in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature. Tie the legs together and tuck the wing tips under. Place the turkey in a roasting pan. Drizzle the outside of the turkey with a few tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the turkey about 3 hours, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F. Transfer the turkey to a platter, cover loosely with foil and let rest 30 minutes before carving.

A SIMPLY PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

OVEN-ROASTED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix 1/4 cup butter, garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic and herb seasoning, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Place turkey breast with skin side up into a roasting pan. Loosen skin with your fingers; brush half the butter mixture over the turkey breast and underneath the skin. Reserve remaining butter mixture. Tent turkey breast loosely with aluminum foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour; baste turkey breast with remaining butter mixture. Return to oven and roast until the juices run clear and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 30 more minutes. Let turkey breast rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
• While turkey is resting, transfer pan drippings to a skillet. Skim off excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in skillet. Place skillet over low heat; cook and stir shallot in turkey grease until opaque, about 5 minutes. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet with shallot and whisk in white wine, scraping any browned bits of food from skillet. Whisk in chicken stock and flour until smooth. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened. For a creamier, lighter gravy, whisk in half-and-half.

THE BEST ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Adjust a rack in the lowest position and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Remove any turkey parts from the neck and breast cavities and reserve for other uses if desired. Dry the bird well with paper towels, inside and out. Salt and pepper the inside of the breast cavity and stuff the onion, garlic, herbs, and bay leaves inside. Set the bird on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan breast-side up. Brush generously with half of the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tent the bird with foil.
• Roast the turkey for 2 hours. Remove the foil and baste with the remaining butter. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F in the thigh of the bird, about 45 minutes more.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Carve and serve.

VERY MOIST AND FLAVORFUL ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces, quarter the pieces, and refrigerate butter until needed.
• Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the turkey breast and thighs. Cut a hole in the turkey skin between tail and body (to affix legs); cut a hole on each side of the turkey beneath each wing (to affix wings). Rub the entire skin with vegetable oil.
• Toss apple and onion wedges, garlic cloves, and celery in a large bowl until combined; sprinkle poultry seasoning over the apple mixture and toss again to coat. Stuff the body and neck cavities with the apple mixture. Insert each wing tip into the hole under the wing to secure wings; insert both legs into hole near tail to secure legs.
• Place turkey onto a rack and set in a roasting pan. Insert cold butter pieces under the loosened skin, distributing the butter as evenly as possible.
• Roast the turkey in the preheated oven until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, not touching bone, reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 3 1/2 hours. Check for doneness after 3 hours.
• Remove roasting pan containing turkey from oven and cover with aluminum foil, lightly pressing the foil directly onto the bird. Let the turkey rest for 40 minutes before carving.

HOW TO COOK A TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Place onion, celery, and carrot in a large, shallow roasting pan.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Pat the outside and inside of the turkey dry with paper towels.
• Combine salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Season the inside of the turkey with about 1/3 of the salt mixture. Fold wing tips under the bird.
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat until the edges begin to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Cook and stir rosemary and sage for 1 minute.
• Place rosemary and sage inside the cavity of the turkey; reserve melted butter. Tie the legs together with twine.
• Brush outside of the turkey completely with the melted butter. Season with remaining 2/3 of the salt mixture.
• Bake turkey, uncovered, in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 3 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest in a warm area 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

JUICY ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Brush over turkey. Place turkey on a platter. Cover and refrigerate for 1-24 hours. , Preheat oven to 325°. Place turkey on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, breast side up. Add the onion, celery and parsley to turkey cavity. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together. Arrange bacon over top of turkey breast. Spread butter over turkey. Pour broth and water into pan., Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170°-175°, 3-1/2 to 4 hours, basting occasionally. Remove turkey from oven. If desired, remove and discard bacon. Tent with foil; let stand 20 minutes before carving. If desired, skim fat and thicken pan drippings for gravy. Serve with turkey.

PERFECT TURKEY IN AN ELECTRIC ROASTER OVEN

Steps:

• Take the insert pan out of the roaster and pre-heat the roaster to its highest setting. On mine it's 450, but use 500 if your oven goes that high.
• Do not wash the turkey! The USDA says that washing it could cause a spread of salmonella poisoning. Sprinkle salt in the cavities. Stuff if desired. Don't pre-stuff your turkey; mix and stuff ingredients immediately before roasting. Tossing in a few pieces of cut fruit or herbs is not considered 'stuffing.' Stuffing usually means filling up the cavity with about ¾ cup stuffing per pound of turkey.
• Rub the entire bird with olive oil or butter. Doctor up your bird with whatever special seasonings you wish. I always use poultry seasoning. Finish with a good sprinkle of seasoning salt and black pepper.
• I highly recommend using a wired thermometer so you can watch the temperature without lifting the lid. Your turkey will be done much earlier than the estimated cook time, so keep a sharp eye on that thermometer. If using a pop-up turkey plug type thermometer, those little pop-ups stick sometimes so you should really use two of them.
• Put the rack into the insert pan and make sure the handles are up, not tucked below. Put the bird in the insert pan on top of the rack. Don't add water to the pan. Put the insert pan back into the roasting pan. If your roaster doesn't have an insert pan, it's ok - just be very careful putting the bird into that hot oven, you don't want to burn your hands on the sides of the oven! Cover.
• Roast at highest setting for 30 minutes. The butter/oil, seasonings and the searing time will make the skin beautifully browned and perfect!
• After 30 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 325.
• The turkey will self-baste if you do not lift the lid, so you don't have to baste it every 20 minutes like you do in your conventional oven. DO NOT LIFT LID during cooking time! Lifting the lid will increase cooking time because roaster ovens lose their heat unlike regular ovens. I've read that roaster ovens effectively 'steam' the turkey making the meat come out -- well, steamed. This is not true as you will find out. Similar to the roasted chickens you can get at your supermarket, the bird will come out moist and perfectly roasted. Why do you think they call it a Roaster Oven?.
• Figure your total cooking time from the time you first put the bird in the roaster. The Butterball website has a great calculator:.
• http://www.butterball.com/calculators-and-conversions.
• FINAL TEMPERATURE FOR SAFETY AND DONENESS IS: 180 DEGREES IN THIGH AND 165 DEGREES IN BREAST AND STUFFING. Juices should be clear, not pink.
• Check your turkey EARLY. Really start watching the temp an hour before it's supposed to be done. Your turkey will almost certainly be done before the suggested cooking time. Watch your wired meat thermometer. If using a pop-up turkey plug type thermometer, check by lifting the lid quickly so the oven doesn't lose its heat. If necessary, check after another 30 minutes, but I doubt you'll have to do that. I say check after 30 minutes because it's really OK to let the bird roast a little extra - you won't dry it out using my method if you let it go for 1/2 hour.
• When done, remove the turkey from the roaster, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. This allows the juices to really seep into the meat, so they say.
• If you try this method, please let us know your results!
• Happy Thanksgiving everyone!