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Crispy, golden, moist, and absolutely delicious, this Whole Roasted Turkey is the perfect main course for any of your upcoming holiday events.

What is the holidays without a good centerpiece? This Whole Roasted Turkey is just that, it has everything to make it look great, but what’s even better is that it tastes great.

The pan is lined with vegetables and the turkey is stuffed with fruits and herbs, all topped off with a delicious compound butter that gives this meal an over-the-top flavor.

I’ve always been a turkey fan, really in any form – but when it comes to the holidays, this Whole Roasted Turkey is my go-to recipe, and everyone absolutely loves it.

I know that a lot of people have their own go-to method, but trust me when I say that this recipe is one of a kind, and delicious, and if people are hungry enough, there are no leftovers.

If you are planning ahead on your holiday meals, I highly suggest that you put this Whole Roasted Turkey on your menu, you will not regret it.

Some of my favorite side dishes to go with this recipe include: Italian Sausage Stuffing, Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Apple Cranberry Sauce.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

Full of flavor, not lacking in the lease.
With vegetables and fruits this is super fun.
There are so many recipes that you can make with the leftover turkey.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):

Onions
Garlic
Celery
Carrots
Bay leaves
Whole turkey
Unsalted butter
Parsley
Lemon juice
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Kosher salt
Poultry seasoning
Pepper
Lemon
Orange
Drippings
All-purpose flour

HOW TO MAKE A WHOLE ROASTED TURKEY:

Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a large roasting dish, add the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and bay leaves, and set aside.
Place the turkey on a sheet tray and tuck the wings under. Pat dry with paper towels.
In a large bowl, stir together the butter, minced garlic, parsley, lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper.
Use your hands to carefully separate the skin from the meat. You need to place your hand under the skin at the neck and start separating the skin from the breast meat. Work your hand all the way down and around the turkey breast, even going into the leg and thigh area. You need to make sure you do not puncture the skin.
Next, add the compound butter under the skin, leaving about 2 tablespoons of it behind. I take a small spoon with butter on it, work it under the skin and use my hand on top to smush the butter around all over the meat.
Make sure the breast area is completely covered with the butter and go down to the leg area as well, where you separated the skin.
Take the remaining butter and smear it all over the outside of the skin.
Place the turkey on top of the veggies in the roasting pan.
Next, fill the cavity with the sliced lemon, sliced orange, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, and sage.
Take some kitchen twine and tie the legs together. The legs should criss-cross when tightly tied.
Place in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes per pound. The turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the thickest meat of the thigh, not touching the bone, reaches 165°F. If it looks like the skin is browning too fast, add a large piece of foil tented over the roasting dish. I had to do this about 1 hour before the turkey was cooked through.
Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
To make the gravy, place the veggies from the roasting dish into a colander over a large bowl to let any excess drippings, drip off into the bowl and discard. Pour the remaining drippings through the colander to catch any solids.
Let the drippings sit so the fat will rise to the top. Skim off the fat or use a gravy separator to help. What’s left should be the pure drippings/liquid.
We want 4 cups of drippings, so measure it and if there is not enough, add a little chicken stock to it until you get 4 cups.
In a large skillet, add the butter and let it melt. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute.
Very slowly, stream in the drippings while constantly whisking to avoid lumps. Season with pepper. Let simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste, and add salt or more pepper if needed.
Cut the twine and take it off of the legs, slice the turkey and serve with the gravy.

DO I HAVE TO USE VEGETABLES IN MY ROASTING PAN?

You do not, we like to do this because we are making our own gravy from the pan drippings, and we feel like the vegetables really gives the gravy so much more flavor.

If you do not want to use the vegetables, you can leave them out of the recipe, but I highly suggest that they be used.

HOW LONG DOES MY TURKEY NEED TO COOK?

If you are new to making a turkey or just want a guide, the general rule is that you will cook your turkey at 325 degrees F for 13-15 minutes per pound.

This of course, can differ between the size of the turkey you use, how your oven cooks, and another myriad of factors.

We used an 18 pound turkey for this, and it took 3 hours and 30 minutes to fully cook. The best way to tell when a turkey is done is by using an internal thermometer. When inserted into the thickest part, it should read 170 degrees in the thigh and 180 degrees in the breast.

WHAT CAN I ADD OR TAKE AWAY FROM THIS RECIPE?

This is an overall great base recipe for a Whole Roasted Turkey. You can add more or fewer herbs depending on your taste, and other herbs like marjoram, oregano, basil, and tarragon can be used.

You can also use dried herbs if you cannot find fresh, substitute 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for the fresh.

HOW TO STORE:

Turkey stores beautifully, and you are bound (unless you have a large or hungry family) to have some leftovers. These can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where they will keep for up to 5 days.

This can also be frozen, place the turkey in a freezer container or bag where it will keep for up to 3 months.

To defrost, remove to the refrigerator overnight until thawed.

To reheat, place slices of turkey into a foil packet with some water and baking at the original temperature until heated through.

We also like to heat this up on the stovetop with some of the leftover gravy so the slices are coated in gravy, this is another option that is really tasty.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

Cooking times will vary on the weight of your turkey.
For this recipe try to use an 15-20 pound turkey, ours was 18 pounds.
Ovens bake differently, so do not always rely on time for when it is done, I suggest an internal thermometer, you can see above on knowing when it is finished.
This can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
This is a great base recipe, add or take away herbs or use dried instead of fresh.
The vegetables in the pan are optional, but make the gravy taste amazing.
We like to tie the legs together, this helps the turkey cook more evenly and faster.
If you do not want to use butter in the gravy, you can use some of fat that you skimmed off the top of the pan drippings. You will want to make sure that you use 1/2 cup.

Looking forward to the holidays and want something that will catch everyone eye but is also super tasty and you will fall in love with? Then this Whole Roasted Turkey is just what you need.

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Whole Roasted Turkey