Follow our steps on How to cook a Moist Roast Turkey. And a chart on How long to cook a Turkey and Turkey Cooking Time per lb for a perfect Roast Turkey.
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My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. This day is about being together as a family, thankful for the blessings received and plenty of great food.
And I am a traditionalist when he comes to Thanksgiving, the star of the table has to be a beautiful moist Roasted Turkey.
Cooking a perfect roast turkey is not that hard. We have a few tricks up our sleeve to help you have a perfect roast turkey. We start by preparing the bird by removing the giblets and neck from inside the turkey. Save these for giblet gravy is that is on your menu. We rise the bird and fill the cavity with onions and celery and springs of rosemary and place on a roasting pan with a rack.
The legs are tied with bakers twine for a prettier presentation. We use melted butter to cover the entire turkey for a moist roast turkey. Generously salt and pepper and sprinkle on plenty of dried sage. Place in a 325 degree F oven and tent with foil to prevent over-browning.
How Long to Cook a Turkey per lb at 325 degrees F:
Bake according to the timetable on the turkey or use the chart above for how long to cook a turkey per lb. Begin checking on the turkey 30 minutes prior to it being done using an instant-read thermometer and remove the foil to brown.
I don’t need to mention leftover Turkey, that’s a given. I have been known to roast a turkey just for the leftovers.
Leftover Turkey Recipes from this Moist Roast Turkey include Turkey Cranberry Sliders and Turkey Noodle Casserole.
How to cook a Turkey
Follow our steps on How to cook a Moist Roast Turkey. And a chart on How long to cook a Turkey and Turkey Cooking Time per lb for a perfect Roast Turkey.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1- 15 lb Turkey
- 1 stick of Butter
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 stalks of celery cut into thirds
- sprigs of rosemary
- sage
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Check that the bird is completely thawed out.
- Remove the neck and giblets (gizzard, liver, and heart) from the cavity of the bird. Rinse the thawed turkey and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place onions, celery, and rosemary in the cavity of the turkey. Pull the legs of the turkey together and tie with kitchen twine. Place turkey in a turkey roasting pan with rack
- Melt butter on stovetop or low power in the microwave. Brush the entire turkey with the melted butter, season with the dried sage, salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- Place the turkey in the preheated oven and roast according to the above chart. (Approximately 15 minutes per pound for an unstuffed Turkey). Tent with foil to prevent the turkey from becoming overly brown.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of your turkey about 30 minutes before being done. Continue to cook until the thickest part of the thigh is 185 degrees, and the breast is 170 degrees.
- Remove from oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes to redistribute the juices before carving.
If you enjoyed this recipe on How to Roast Moist Roast Turkey
Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Old Fashioned Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
Happy Thanksgiving!
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My husband and I will be doing Thanksgiving on our own this year, and this post was definitely well timed! You make it look so easy, so hopefully I cannot mess it up too badly 🙂
We will be at a friend's home for Thanksgiving, so I won't be roasting a turkey this year. But I do love doing it, and that turkey looks so good I can almost smell it. I want to snitch a bit of that crispy skin and meat!
That's one delicious looking turkey, I roast it upside down first too so the breast stays moist. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday too – and I LOVE turkey. 🙂 I also love the stuffing/dressing/whateveryoucallitinyourneckofthewoods. And the cranberry sauce. And… well, you get the picture. 😉
Looks delicious! And the truth is the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is all the wonderful leftovers. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Your turkey looks awesome! Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
I saw you linked up this recipe at Flour Me with Love linky party last week. It would be perfect for my new link party posted today which features turkey recipes. I hope you'll stop by and post it along with any other turkey recipes you have. You can find the party here:
http://futureexpat.com/2013/11/required-ingredient-turkey/
I love the turkey and all of the leftovers 🙂 I am soooo looking forward to Thursday! Happy Thanksgiving to you, Lee and your family! {hugs}
Your turkey looks amazing! Thanks for sharing on Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!
This looks great! I am so ready for Thanksgiving! Only 2 more days 🙂
Thanks for sharing it on Friday Follow Along Party @ http://thecraftiestallie.blogspot.com/
Love that color, Evelyn. Makes me want Thanksgiving dinner now!
Thank you for linking!
I adore rosemary with poultry and your turkey looks amazing. Thanks for linking up with us at Share Your Stuff Tuesday.
We are breaking with tradition this year, and celebrating ThanksChristmas instead. That means no turkey for us, at least not this week 😉 I love your tip about baking it upside down, I will definitely give that a try!! Maybe I will do a full on Thanksgiving spread in the dead of winter, so I can be prepared to blog about it next October, lol Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Evelyn – Lisa xx
Whoo looks so tasty, I can't't wait for our Turkey this year 🙂
Thanks for sharing at Creative Mondays,,,
Beautiful turkey!! Looks very flavorful and moist!
Hi Evelyn,
Your turkey looks beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party. Have a great week.
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com
Looks beautiful! And I'm sure very tasty!