Description
This best recipe for roasting a turkey yields a perfectly crispy, flavorful, and moist bird. Featuring a fragrant herb and butter rub with rosemary, thyme, garlic, and olive oil, this method ensures golden brown skin and juicy meat through high-heat roasting followed by slower cooking and careful basting. Ideal for holiday meals or special occasions, this straightforward recipe delivers delicious results every time.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Rub
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
Butter Mixture
- 1 stick melted butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit to create a hot environment that will help crisp up the turkey skin.
- Prepare Dry Rub: In a small bowl, mix together the kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, minced rosemary, and chopped thyme until well combined for the dry rub.
- Prepare Butter Mixture: In another small bowl, combine the melted butter, olive oil, and minced garlic, which will be used to baste and flavor the turkey throughout cooking.
- Prepare Turkey: Place the turkey breast side up on a rack inside a roasting pan. Pour about 1 cup of water into the bottom of the pan to prevent drippings from burning. Brush the butter mixture all over the turkey and inside the cavity, then liberally massage the dry rub all over the entire turkey. Reserve some butter mixture for basting later.
- Initial High-Heat Roast: Roast the turkey in the preheated 450 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the skin turns a golden brown color, helping to seal in juices and flavor.
- Reduce Heat and Continue Roasting: Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue roasting the turkey, basting with the reserved butter mixture every 30 minutes to keep the skin moist and flavorful.
- Monitor Internal Temperature: After the second hour of roasting, begin checking the turkey’s internal temperature every 15 minutes using an instant-read thermometer, aiming for 160 degrees Fahrenheit when checked at the thickest part of the breast to avoid overcooking.
- Rest the Turkey: Once at temperature, remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest on a cutting board for 30 minutes to one hour. This resting period allows carryover cooking to finish and lets the juices redistribute for moist, tender meat.
Notes
- Want the secret to a perfectly crispy, moist roast turkey? It’s a multi-step process involving high heat roasting followed by lower heat and regular basting, but this recipe simplifies it into manageable steps.
- Using a rack elevates the turkey, allowing even heat circulation and preventing soggy skin.
- Adding water in the roasting pan helps prevent drippings from burning and keeps the environment slightly moist.
- Resting the turkey is essential for juicy meat, so don’t skip this step.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approximately 6 oz cooked turkey meat)
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 540 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 120 mg
