We’ve got the Best Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe for you. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to cook a turkey. This recipe is ideal for beginners and seasoned cooks a like. It will teach you how to cook a turkey in the oven to be moist and juicy! That’s right – no more dry, chewy turkeys.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To roast a Thanksgiving turkey, you will need the following ingredients:
- Whole turkey
- Salt
- Pepper
- Turkey broth
- Butter
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Thaw Turkey Safely
We have two methods for thawing frozen turkey. They include the following:
- The quickest way to thaw a whole turkey is in a bath of cold water. Thawing in cold water takes about 30 minutes per pound. However, every 30 minutes, you will need to replace the water with fresh water. We also add ice to the water to ensure it is very cold.
- Thawing your turkey in the fridge works as well (just slower, but less intensive). Set the turkey on a cookie sheet to catch any liquid that could come off the turkey when thawing. Thawing your turkey in the refrigerator takes about 1 day for every 5 pounds of turkey.
How to Make the Best Thanksgiving Turkey
- Once your turkey is thawed, remove the packaging from the turkey.
- Preheat oven to 325℉.
- Remove the giblet packets (they contain the gizzard and heart) and the neck is there too. Check both ends of your turkey for these packets because it is often found in the neck and end cavities.
- STOP! There is no need to rinse your turkey – all that it will do is contaminate your sink. The bacteria you are trying to rinse off will die when it cooks in the oven.
- Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- Set the turkey in a roasting pan breast side up. You don’t have to have a nice big roasting pan to get a delicious turkey. Your roasting pan can be a metal one, or you can purchase an aluminum roasting pan. You can find a roasting pan on Amazon HERE or even at the dollar store.
- Tuck turkey wings under and tie or clamp legs together.
- Salt and pepper the inside cavity of the turkey.
- Dry outside of turkey with a paper towel.
- Baste turkey with melted butter. Salt and pepper all over.
- Insert meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Meat thermometer should reach between 165℉ and 180℉. The juices should run clear. Pro Tip: You want to put it on the side that you will be able to see when you open the oven door. This way you will be able to easily see the temperature of the bird.
- Add broth into the bottom of the pan. (Water will also work).
- Tent foil over the turkey as it cooks. Cook in preheated oven for 3 ½ – 4 hours (depending on the size of your turkey – see notes below to know how long to cook your turkey for).
- After you remove the turkey from the oven, let it rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. This gives you time to get a few more things done for the big meal. This will give you the perfect amount of time to whip up a Homemade Turkey Gravy to go with your best Thanksgiving turkey and mashed potatoes!
- Keep turkey covered with foil to keep warm while it rests.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- It’s not necessary to baste the turkey during the cooking process. When you are constantly opening the oven, you will lose oven heat which will take longer for the turkey to cook and may dry it out.
- Don’t cook your stuffing inside your turkey. If you fill the cavity of your turkey with stuffing, your bird will be done cooking and your stuffing will not yet be to a safe temperature to eat. Cook your stuffing in a casserole dish and then fill the turkey cavity with prepared stuffing before.
- Do not rinse your turkey in the sink. That will contaminate your sink. The bacteria you are trying to rinse off will die when the turkey cooks in the oven.
- You don’t have to have a nice big roasting pan to get a delicious turkey. Your roasting pan can be a metal one, or you can purchase an aluminum roasting pan. You can find a roasting pan on Amazon HERE or even at the dollar store.
- You want to put thermometer on the side that you will be able to see when you open the oven door. This way you will be able to easily see the temperature of the bird.
Serving Sizes and Proportions
The size turkey breast will determine if you can feed a smaller crowd or a larger one. Make sure to decide how much turkey breast you will need ahead of time. If you are wondering how many people your turkey will feed, we recommend this method. A good rule of thumb is that whatever your turkey weighs, that’s how many peopke it will feed. Thus, an 8-pound turkey will feed 8 people. If you know you have small children, then you will be able to feed a bit more with your turkey. If you want leftovers, plan on 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. This article from the HuffPost is also is a great resource and gives you an idea of how much to cook per person.
How Long to Roast a Turkey in the Oven
Turkey cooking times are often found on the back of turkey packaging. Some approximate times for cooking your turkey include the following (oven heated to 325℉):
- 8-10 pounds 3 to 3 ½ hours
- 10-14 pounds 3 ½ to 4 hours
- 14-20 pounds 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
- 20-22 pounds 4 ½ to 5 hours
- 22-24 pounds 4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours
About 30-40 minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the foil tent to let your cooked turkey skin turn golden and a little crispy. You’ll have a moist and tender bird underneath the golden skin.
How to Store Leftover Turkey
Leftover turkey should be cooled down as quickly as possible. The more surface area that is exposed to cold air, the faster your turkey will cool. A whole turkey in a large container will take too long to cool down to a safe temperature, which will give bacteria a chance to multiple.
- In the Refrigerator: Place in an airtight container and place in the the refrigerator. Leftover turkey can store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
- In the Freezer: Once cooled, place your turkey flat in an airtight freezer bag. Label your bag with the date. Turkey stored in the freezer will last up 3 months. Thaw in a refrigerator, and use within 1 day of thawing.
- Reheating: Our favorite way to reheat leftover turkey is to warm it on a nonstick pen to give it some extra crispiness. You can also reheat in the oven at 350℉ for 12 to 15 minutes. When reheating in the microwave, heat for 1 to 2 minutes checking every 30 seconds. Try not to overheat your turkey, it can become dry and hard.
Enjoy More Delicious Turkey Recipes
Whether you want to cook your turkey in the Instant Pot, slow cooker, or traditional oven roasting, we have got you covered. Check out our comprehensive collection of turkey recipes here.
- 5 Ways to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey
- Crockpot Turkey Breast
- Easy Marinated Turkey Breast
- How to Cook a Frozen Turkey in the Instant Pot
- How to Roast a Turkey in a Convection Oven
- Instant Pot Turkey Breast
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Turkey Breast
- Slow Cooker Turkey and Stuffing
Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 pound turkey
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 14.5 ounces chicken broth, can also use water or turkey broth
- 4 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325℉.
- Remove wrap from thawed turkey, and then remove neck, giblets, and gravy packet if one is included.
- Place turkey into roasting pan breast side up.
- Tuck turkey wings under and tie or clamp legs together.
- Salt and pepper the inside cavity of the turkey.
- Dry outside of turkey with a paper towel (don’t wash or rinse your turkey because you will contaminate your sink. The bacteria will die when it cooks in the oven).
- Baste turkey with melted butter. Salt and pepper all over.
- Insert meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Meat thermometer should reach between 165℉ and 180℉. The juices should run clear.
- Add broth into the bottom of the pan. (Water will also work).
- Tent foil over the turkey as it cooks. Cook in preheated oven for 3 ½ – 4 hours (depending on the size of your turkey – see notes below to know how long to cook your turkey for).
- After you remove the turkey from the oven, let it rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. This gives you time to get a few more things done for the big meal.
- Keep turkey covered with foil to keep warm while it rests.
Notes
- 8-10 pounds 3 to 3 ½ hours
- 10-14 pounds 3 ½ to 4 hours
- 14-20 pounds 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
- 20-22 pounds 4 ½ to 5 hours
- 22-24 pounds 4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
I will be cooking my turkey this year in my instant pot. I will be cutting it up so it will fit but I haven’t purchased it yet so I don’t know how big it will be. How long would you suggest I cook it ( min per pound), and do I do natural release or can I quick release the pressure. And any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Melissa! How big is your turkey? We do have a recipe to cook a turkey breast in your instant pot: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/instant-pot-turkey-breast/ – so you might want to check that out. I was actually experimenting with cooking a turkey in my instant pot last night. The general rule for cooking a turkey in your Instant Pot is to cook it for about 6 minutes per pound (that is if it is thawed . . . if it is frozen, I would go up to 9 minutes per pound). I hope that helps! And I would do a natural release for about 20 minutes and then go from there!
How much salt are you putting inside & outside of the turkey? It looks like about 1/2 C salt was put into the bird. Is that right? How big was the turkey you made?
What type of meat thermometer is best?
Any digital meat thermometer works great. We like the ones from Thermoworks, but whatever one you have on hand will be great
This is how I roast my turkey in the oven. Been doing it for 49 years.
One year I bought a box of cranberry walnut stuffing, from ALDI and it was amazing! Do you have a cranberry walnut recipe I can make? I’ve been experimenting for years, and just cant get the flavor right.
We haven’t tried making a cranberry walnut stuffing but it sounds amazing! This recipe has some good reviews: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/valerie-bertinelli/cranberry-walnut-stuffing-3161532
When you say “tent the turkey” do you mean wrap it in foil, or just place a tent if aluminum foil on the top?
we just loosely place a piece of foil over the turkey to prevent the breast from burning