Recipe By Christie Morrison
Published on July 17, 2024
Never cooked a Thanksgiving turkey? Start here. We’ve taken out the guesswork and there’s no mid-roast flipping or basting required. If you’re an experienced Thanksgiving chef, you’ll be impressed with this sophisticated recipe, featuring herbed butter beneath and on top of the skin.
Time
4 hrYield
Serves 10-12 peopleWhy This Recipe Works
We wanted to develop a foolproof and easy recipe for herb-roasted turkey and gravy that allowed the herb flavor to shine through. Roasting the turkey at a gentler temperature helps it cook more evenly without needing to be flipped and allows the butter to brown without scorching. For maximum flavor and browning, we apply softened butter flavored with rosemary, thyme, sage, and grated lemon zest (for a bit of brightness) both under and on top of the skin. To build the flavor for the gravy, we add chicken broth, white wine, and aromatic vegetables to the roasting pan; as the bird cooks, the drippings fall into the broth mixture and infuse it with intense flavor. A couple of tablespoons of parsley added at the end give the gravy a vibrant, fresh punch that perfectly complements the deep herbal taste of our Herb-Roasted Turkey with Gravy.
Ingredients
Turkey
Gravy
Instructions
Cook along with these step-by-step instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Scatter onions, carrot, and celery in bottom of large roasting pan; add broth, wine, sage leaves, rosemary sprig, and thyme sprig to pan. Set V-rack over vegetables in roasting pan.
- Combine butter, garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, minced sage, minced rosemary, and minced thyme in bowl and mix until smooth. Pat turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Using your fingers, gently loosen skin covering breasts and leg quarters, being careful not to tear skin. Spoon half of butter mixture under skin, directly on meat. Using your hands, rub remaining butter mixture over outside of turkey. Tuck wings behind back and tie legs together with kitchen twine.
- Transfer turkey, breast side up, to V-rack. Roast until breast registers 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 2½ to 3 hours. Transfer turkey to cutting board and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, carefully strain contents of pan through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator; discard solids and let liquid settle for at least 5 minutes.
- Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until honey-colored, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in 4 cups defatted pan juices (if necessary, add enough water to equal 4 cups) and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Carve turkey and serve with herb gravy.
For The Turkey
For The Gravy
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