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This Easy Herb Butter Roasted Turkey is moist and full of flavor.  A special step makes the turkey extra juicy. Your Thanksgiving dinner will be the best ever!
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Happy Thanksgiving!  Well, almost.  Did you know Thanksgiving is in 13 days!?!  Ahhh!  OK, nobody panic, we got this. If this is your first time in charge of the turkey, or you just want a refresher course, check out my Turkey Tips Post – it has a video showing you how to truss your turkey which is a little step to help your bird cook more evenly and look prettier when coming out of the oven.

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The extra step with this Herb Butter Roasted Turkey is using a cheesecloth soaked in butter to baste the turkey while cooking.  I learned that little tidbit from Martha Stewart and it makes the most beautiful, golden and juicy turkey.   I also made an herb butter mixture and rubbed it all over the turkey, under the skin.  Getting under the turkey skin might make you a little squeamish – I know it freaked me out the first time I did it.  The key is to be very gentle so that you don’t rip the skin.  I also used a thin wooden spoon to get between the meat and the skin, and that makes it easier (and a little less gross).
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I really went all out with garnishing this turkey.  I wanted to capture the celebration of a bountiful harvest.  I looked for beautiful fall fruit, such as pomegranates, persimmon, clementines, blood oranges and grapes.  I also used sage and fresh bay leaves as greenery. The turkey will still be delicious without all the garnishes, but they do make it a feast for the eyes.

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Herb Butter Roasted Turkey

Prep 30 minutes
Cook 3 hours 30 minutes
Total 4 hours
Servings 1 Turkey
This Easy Herb Butter Roasted Turkey is moist and full of flavor.ย  A special step makes the turkey extra juicy. Your Thanksgiving dinner will be the best ever!

Ingredients 

  • 1 turkey thawed
  • 8 tablespoons butter softened
  • 2 onions
  • 3 carrots
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 1 bunch fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon chopped, leave the rest whole
  • 1 bunch fresh sageย  1 tablespoon chopped, leave the rest whole
  • 1 bunch fresh thymeย  1 tablespoon chopped, leave the rest whole
  • kosher salt
  • pepper

Garnishes (Optional):

  • blood oranges
  • persimmons
  • pomegranates
  • clementines
  • grapes
  • fresh sage
  • fresh bay leaves

Instructions 

  • Remove turkey from fridge.ย  Remove neck and giblets from cavity, if making pan gravy you can put them in the roasting pan.ย  Set the turkey on a rack in the roasting pan. Pat the turkey dry, salt and pepper the inside of the the turkey cavity.ย  Allow to sit out for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450ยฐF and move rack to lowest position.
  • In a small bowl, add 4 tablespoons of butter with 1 tablespoon each chopped rosemary, sage and thyme, along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.ย  Mix until combined.
  • Roughly chop the onions, carrots and celery.ย  Place a few pieces of each in the turkey cavity.ย  Tuck the remaining rosemary, sage and thyme into the turkey cavity as well.ย  Put the remaining celery, onion and carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan.
  • Using your hand or a wooden spoon, gently loosen the turkey skin from the meat.ย  Rub the herb butter under the skin all over the turkey breast and thighs.ย  Rub the excess butter all over the outside of the skin (if you don’t have any excess butter, use an additional tablespoon of butter to rub all over the outside of the turkey).ย  Liberally season the outside of the turkey with salt and pepper.
  • Tuck the wings under the turkey.ย  Use kitchen twine to truss the turkey.ย  Cut a long piece of twine, start at the top of the turkey and over the wings, under the breast and tie the legs together (see my video tutorial HERE).
  • Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan.ย  Cut the cheesecloth so that a double layer will fit over the turkey.ย Soak the cheesecloth in the butter, squeeze out excess.ย  Reserve extra melted butter for basting.ย  Lay the butter soaked cheesecloth over the turkey.ย  If using a programmable meat thermometer, insert into the turkey thigh, being careful not to hit bone. The USDA recommends cooking a turkey to 165ยฐF degrees.
  • Pour 1 cup of water into the bottom of the roasting pan. Roast turkey in oven for 30 minutes.ย  After 30 minutes, reduce oven to 350ยฐF and baste the the turkey over the cheesecloth with remaining melted butter.ย  Roast for another 30 minutes, then baste again.ย  Continue to roast and baste every 30 minutes.ย  In the last 30 minutes of cooking, remove the cheesecloth and baste again (use pan juices when you run out of butter).ย  Turkey should take approximately 15 minutes per pound.
  • Allow to rest 2030 minutes before carving

Notes

How to figure out how long your turkey will take to cook: Multiply the number of pounds that your turkey weighs by 15 (minutes). So if you have a 12 pound turkey that would be 12 x 15 = 180 minutes or 3 hours.ย  This is a good guideline to get an idea of how long your turkey will take, but to really know when it is done you should use a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.ย  The USDA recommends cooking a turkey to 165 degrees.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinners
Cuisine: American
Did you like this recipe?Please comment, rate and share! And donโ€™t forget to tag me on Instagram @foxandbriar AND #foxandbriar so I can see what you made!
Easy Herb Butter Roasted Turkey | Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe | Turkey Seasoning | Oven Roasted Turkey | Low Carb Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe | Juicy Turkey Recipe | Turkey recipe using cheesecloth #turkey #thanksgiving #Thanksgivingturkey #thanksgivingrecipe
Hello! I’m Meghan.

I am so glad that you are here! I am the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at my blog Fox and Briar. I am a passionate, self-taught home cook and believe that most things are better homemade and that good food doesnโ€™t need to be complicated.

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6 Comments

    1. Hi Bob! That is quite fast! Also why a meat thermometer comes in handy, because it is the most accurate way to tell if the turkey is done. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!