I often hear people say they don’t like Thanksgiving food, especially the turkey.  My reply is always the same: “then you haven’t had a good turkey!” Turkey is something you have to put a little effort in to.  It needs lots of flavor to shine.  This recipe will help you cook the juciest turkey you have ever made and help it be a highlight of your Thanksgiving table.

For this recipe we are going to cook our turkey in a turkey roasting bag in a turkey roasting pan. You can get the bags at any grocery store, just make sure you get the turkey size!  Not only is using a roasting bag a failproof way to get a turkey that is juicy and flavorful, but it will cook the turkey up to an hour faster and self-bastes so you don’t have to keep basting!

Now let’s talk about some frequently asked questions when it comes to cooking turkeys! It’s a good idea to read through all these notes a week prior to cooking your turkey so you have everything ready ahead of cooking day!  

How big of a turkey are you going to need?

I personally plan on 1-1/2 to 2 pounds of turkey per person (remember this includes the weight of the bones too.)  This usually gives us plenty of leftovers to both share and munch on over thanksgiving weekend!  If you don’t want leftovers, you can plan on 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of turkey per person, (I always prefer to have too much than too little and if you don’t want the leftovers someone at your gathering will.)

How long does the turkey need to defrost?

If you are using a frozen turkey, (which most people do), you will need to defrost it in your refrigerator for several days leading up to Thanksgiving.  Just place the turkey (in the packaging) on a large rimmed baking sheet and put it in the refrigerator.  A good rule is one day for every 4 pounds of weight. (So up to 12 pounds will take 3 days, 16 pounds will take 4 days, 20 pounds will take 5 days, 24 pounds will take 6 days.)  This means you cannot be buying a frozen turkey two days before Thanksgiving!  While their are methods to quickly defrost turkeys, they require you changing cold water every 30 minutes so no-one gets sick, so don’t get caught with this – buy your turkey early and set a phone alarm or Alexa notification to remind you to move it to the refrigerator.

How do I prep the turkey?

When you are ready to prep the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator and remove the packaging.  Place on a large clean baking sheet or a large cutting board.  Don’t wash it!  Pat it down with paper towels until as dry as you can get it.  Place your hand in the large opening of the turkey and remove the neck.  On the back end of the turkey you will need to lift the flap of skin and remove the bag of giblets.  Some people keep the neck and giblets to make gravy.  I’m not one of those people, so unless you want to use them, go ahead and discard.  I like to tuck the two wings under the back of the turkey so the tips don’t burn.  (See pic below.)  The legs are usually already tied together, but you can use baking string to tie them if they are not.  The turkey is now ready for you to add your butter, herbs, onions and lemons!

How long does the turkey need to cook?

How long you need to cook your bird is always the big question, especially on Thanksgiving when you are trying to plan everything. To have the best turkey you are going to want it to reach at least 165 degrees in both the breast and the thigh, so you will need an instant read thermometer and you will have a range of time to check the temp!  Once your turkey is the right temp, you remove it from the oven and tent it to keep it juicy until carving and serving time.

When I am planning my Turkey time, (we always do a big 20-24 pound turkey), I allow an hour for prep, 3 hours for cooking (see chart below) and and an hour for resting and carving, so I start 5 hours prior to wanting to be ready to serve.  On Thanksgiving we usually eat around 2:30pm, so I want to start prep at 9:30am and make sure it’s in the oven by 10:30am.

Below are the approximate oven time ranges for cooking turkeys of different sizes in the oven bag!  I like to do the first 30 minutes at 400 then reduce the heat to 350 for the rest of the cooking time to seal in all the juices and ensure a nice golden brown skin.

• 20-24 pounds will need about a total of 2-1/2 to 3 hours
• 16-19 pounds will need about a total of 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours
• 13-15 pounds will need about a total of 2 to 2-1/4 hours
• 10-12 pounds will need about a total of 1-1/2 to 2 hours

Start checking your turkey’s temperature at the low end of the range and remove it as soon as everything has hit at least 160.  (It will continue to rise in temp during the resting time to hit the 165 recommended by the USDA, but if you want to let it hit 165 in the oven to be sure, you can absolutely do that.) When checking the temp of the turkey you need to test in different places.  I check at a minimum vertically down behind the thigh and horizontally in to the thickest part of the breast.  You do not need to open the bag to check the temp,  you can do it right through.  Make sure you do not hit any bones when you take the temp.  As a note, the thigh will usually register higher than the breast and that is a good thing.

A couple of other tips for this recipe:

• I cook my stuffing/dressing separately from the turkey.  Turkeys cooked without stuffing cook faster and I love to be able to fill with lemon and onion to season from the inside as well as the outside.
• If you can’t find the fresh herbs you need, you can use 1 tsp dried herb per 1 Tbsp fresh in the butter.  However, I truly believe the fresh herbs absolutely make this turkey as tasty as it is, so try to get fresh if you can!
• One of my tricks after carving is to spoon a little of the pan drippings over the meat to keep it nice and juicy!  You don’t need a lot, just enough to keep it from drying out.
• Once you have carved the turkey, if the rest of dinner isn’t quite ready you can seal the platter of turkey meat with foil and put a kitchen towel over the top to help the turkey stay warm!

Ingredients:

• 1 large turkey, defrosted (I usually cook a 20-24 pounder.)
• 2 lemons, zested, then cut in to chunks (reserve the zest for the turkey butter)
• 1 onion, peeled and cut in to chunks

Turkey Butter:

• 2 sticks salted butter, room temp
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 Tbsp fresh sage
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Instructions:

1. Place your oven rack at the lowest position in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400. Remove defrosted turkey from the packaging and put it on a large baking sheet to prep.
2. To prepare the turkey, remove the neck from the inside the large cavity of the turkey, then remove the bag of giblets from the back end cavity of the turkey.  If you aren’t going to use them to make gravy, (I don’t), you can discard.  Tuck the excess flap of skin that is on the back end of the turkey cavity back in.  Fold the back wings underneath the bird.  Your legs should already be tied together but if not, you can tie them together at the tips with baking string. Set aside.
3. Place a turkey roasting bag in a turkey roasting pan on it’s side on top of the rack and sprinkle 1 Tbsp flour in the bottom of the turkey bag. Set the roasting pan aside.
4. To make the turkey butter, in a small mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, salt, tarragon, thyme, sage, rosemary, lemon zest and minced garlic.  Use a spatula to combine it all until it’s fully incorporated.
5. With your fingers or a rounded edge of a spoon handle, gently loosen the skin that is over the breasts so you can slide butter under the skin. Push some of the butter under the skin as far back as you can get it, then gently pull the skin back over the breast as far as it will go without ripping.
6. Have someone hold the bag open for you while you slide the turkey in to the bag with the large open cavity facing towards the front of the open bag.
7. Once the bird is in the bag, smear the rest of the butter all over the bird with your hands.
8. Place the chunks of onion and lemon in to the the large open cavity then wash your hands extremely well!
9. Use the bag tie to close the bag and make six small slits in the the top of the bag with a knife.
10. Place the roasting pan in the oven, making sure that the bag is not touching any part of the oven.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and cook an additional 2 to 2-1/2 hours (for a total of 2-1/2 to 3 hours in the oven for the 20-24 pound turkey.)
11. For your turkey to be cooked properly You will want the breast and thighs to register at least 160 with an instant read thermometer before it comes out of the oven. (It will continue to climb in temp while it is resting to hit the 165.)  Start checking after the lowest time of the range listed by pound.  For the 20-24 pound turkey you will start checking after 2 hours at 350.  You can stick the thermometer right through the bag into the meat, just don’t touch the bones with it when taking the temp. If the meat is not registering at 160-165 in BOTH places, then place it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes at a time until the right temp is reached.
12. Once the turkey is ready, remove the turkey from the oven, then let rest for 30 minutes before carving to let the juices redistribute.
13. Carve off the meat, drizzle with a bit of the buttery drippings and then serve!