While the rest of your family is counting down the days until they can dig into some turkey, you’re feeling a little stressed. Making a turkey is hard work, and you’re afraid it won’t meet your family’s expectations. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about a thing when you use this Easy, No Fuss Thanksgiving Turkey recipe.
Ingredients
First, you need to pick up the ingredients. This recipe calls for:
- One:
- 12–20-pound turkey
- Onion, peeled and quartered
- Lemon, quartered
- Apple, quartered
- A 75-ounce container of fresh:
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
You’ll need additional ingredients for the herb butter. Gather:
- 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- A half teaspoon of black pepper, freshly ground
- 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped
- A half tablespoon of fresh sage, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
Prepare the Turkey and Oven
First, you need to get your turkey ready. Once thawed, take it out of the refrigerator. It needs to sit for an hour to reach room temperature.
Then open your oven and make sure there is room on the rack for the turkey to sit in the center. If not, adjust the oven rack. Then turn the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make the Herb Butter
Next, you’ll be ready to make the herb butter. Put the ingredients in a bowl and combine them. Just like that, you’ve made herb butter.
Season and Stuff the Turkey
With the herb butter ready, it’s time to remove the neck and giblets and pat the turkey dry. Then use salt and pepper to season the cavity before stuffing it with the apple, herbs, onion, and lemon. Follow that up with a few tablespoons of lemon butter under the skin. You can use your fingers to lift the skin so you can slide in the lemon butter. To do this, you’ll want to grab the skin that’s located right above the breasts.
Then put the turkey’s wings under the body and transfer the bird to the roasting rack inside of your roasting pan.
Butter the Turkey
Now, it’s time to go back to the herb butter. Pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften it. Then get out your basting brush and use it to spread the butter over the turkey. Make sure you get the legs and wings when you do this.
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Roast the Turkey
The hard work is done, and now it’s time to start roasting. First, though, you’ll need to calculate the roasting time based on the size of your turkey. The general rule is to roast it for 13-15 minutes per pound, although it can vary based on your oven.
After calculating the time, set the timer, and check on it when it’s halfway done. By then, the skin should be golden brown. You don’t want to burn the breasts, but the turkey still needs to cook longer, so cover it with foil.
Let it continue to cook, but monitor it with a meat thermometer. Once it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s ready to come out of the oven.
Tent it with foil and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. Then it’ll be ready to serve.
This recipe is proof that you don’t have to devote an entire day to roasting a turkey. Yes, it will take a long time in the oven, but the preparation is a breeze. That means you’ll have extra time to get everything ready for the big meal or to relax for a bit before the guests arrive.
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