Best Oven Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Ever – Oh Sweet Basil

A classic turkey recipe for making the best oven roasted Thanksgiving turkey ever! It starts with a brine, gets smothered in lemon herb butter, and ends with a perfectly roasted whole turkey to feed your Thanksgiving crowd!

I’ve done it all. Over cooked, undercooked, bland, you name it. Thanksgiving has always been a stitch lame to me because the turkey was absolutely never exciting, hence why I loved the leftover sandwiches the best!

Mmmmm, potato rolls, mayo, turkey and a little cheese! Or, lately I’ve been doing a little cream cheese, poppyseed dressing, cheese and turkey on a roll and oh my goodness it’s life-changing.

But back to the turkey, you guys I’m serious I have spent every year for the past 15 years trying to figure out the best Thanksgiving turkey recipe and this is it. The secrets are for sure brining and proper herbs and rest time three things to make the perfect combo.

Turkey Basics

Before we jump in to making this roasted whole turkey, I want to cover a few of the basics:

• A frozen turkey will need thaw 24 hours per every 5 pounds.
• Turkey will need to cook for 13-15 minutes per pound.
• Safe internal temperature for a turkey is 175 degrees F the thigh and 165 degrees F in the breast.

So let’s assume you are going to roast a 12 pound turkey that is frozen when you purchase it and you want to have your meal on Thursday afternoon. Here is your brief timeline:

• Remove turkey from freezer to thaw in the fridge: 4 1/2 days ahead of time (Sunday morning – Tuesday afternoon)
• Brine: 24 hours (Tuesday afternoon – Wednesday afternoon)
• Turkey rests in fridge: 4-12 hours (overnight Wednesday to Thursday morning)
• Turkey rests at room temperature: 1 hour
• Turkey roasts in the oven: 3 hours
• Turkey rests: 30 minutes

Now the turkey is ready to carve and eat Thursday afternoon! Now here are those same steps in a little more detail…

How to Roast a Whole Turkey

Roasting a whole turkey starts with a 24 hour brine. Head to our favorite turkey brine recipe for all the details of why to brine, how to brine and what goes into the brine.

Turkey Prep

After the turkey brines, remove the turkey from the brine, pat it dry with paper towels and put it on a baking sheet uncovered. Stick it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours to dry the skin the out. This helps it gets deliciously crispy when it roasts. You can let the turkey sit in the fridge for 2 days. Just turn the bird upside down and right side up every 12 hours.

When you are ready to start roasting the turkey, pull it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for an hour. Because turkeys are very large in size it can be difficult to properly cook them. To help with this we turned to a technique we use in our Best Prime Rib recipe. Allowing the turkey to sit out for a bit takes the chill off and allows an evenly cooked bird. Do not let it sit out for longer than an hour.

Roasting Pan

When the turkey has been sitting out close to an hour, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Then in the bottom of a large roasting pan, add the apple cider and enough cooking wine (or regular wine) to fill the pan to a 1/4-inch depth. Place half of the quartered onions, 6 garlic cloves and the bay leaves in the pan. Now your roasting pan is prepped for the bird.

Lemon Herb Butter

Melt the butter and add the lemon zest, garlic, sage, thyme and savory and mix everything together. Loosen the skin on the turkey and put a few tablespoons of butter directly onto the meat, under the skin and massage it around. Brush the turkey skin generously with remaining herbed melted butter.

Roasting

Stick the remaining onion quarters, herb bunches and the lemon quarters not used in the bottom of the roasting pan into the turkey cavity. Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer pan to the oven and roast 30 minutes at 450 degrees.

Open the oven and cover the turkey with aluminum foil if it looks like the turkey is getting too brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh (without touching bones) reaches a temperature of 160-165 degrees. It will take about 2-2 1/2 hours more. Transfer turkey to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before carving.

And just like that, you have a beautiful whole roasted Thanksgiving turkey. It looks fancy, complicated and like loads of work, but it’s really simple! You’ll never use another roasted turkey recipe again!

How to Roast a Turkey Video