Best Ever Herb Roasted Turkey

Our Herb Roasted Turkey is so moist and flavorful it is the only recipe you will ever need.   Nothing beats this buttery herb-infused flavor in your turkey.  A simple recipe that you will use again and again. So easy there is no basting required!


This is an old favorite recipe that I wanted to share with you. It is from the first year we had this website and the turkey is still my favorite. ... Enjoy!

Honestly, I don't care for cooking whole birds.  I would prefer to prepare a turkey or chicken breast, but there are those special occasions that you may want to prepare the whole bird; Thanksgiving, New Years or a chilly Wednesday.  Seriously though, I spent every Thanksgiving at my parents house until I moved to Arizona.  Since then, Chad and I have spent every Thanksgiving at his parents house.

So, luckily I am not usually the one to prepare the bird. But I wanted to learn how just in case Chad's mom decided to fly to Hawaii or something.  I didn't want to be practicing my first whole bird ever on Thanksgiving day.  Talk about added pressure. Well, even if you have the added pressure of preparing your first turkey this Thanksgiving, this recipe will ease the stress.

I can't help but think of my Mom when I think of that first turkey. My grandma moved out of state when I was about 7. Like me, my mom had never hosted Thanksgiving. She was preparing the turkey and didn't know all the tricks. She had managed to remove the innards and wash the bird, but when she was stuffing the turkey she starts hollering for my dad.

My dad, the hero, rushes to the kitchen and my mom is standing there with a turkey hanging off the end of her arm. She never realized that you can remove the metal closure on the legs. LOL So my dad busts up laughing and then takes a picture. Happy Thanksgiving Mommy. (We miss you!) I so need to find that photo.

I have had some less than spectacular turkey in my life, so my number one goal was to make this turkey moist and flavorful. I loaded it with an herb butter mixture made from my favorite herbs. You start by separating the skin from the turkey and rubbing the herb butter over the meat and on top of skin. Pour water in pan and cover.  You don't even have to baste the turkey, but you can if you want to. Truly the best turkey I have ever eaten and the perfect Thanksgiving dinner!

With love from our Thanksgiving table to yours!  XO

RECIPE AT BOTTOM

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Check out our favorite side dishes, perfect for Thanksgiving!  Click on the link or the photo to open in a new window.

Best Ever Drop Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat Cheddar Bay Biscuit Copycat) are light and flaky, garlicky cheddar drop biscuits glistening with butter and speckled with parsley.  Slightly crisp on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside. This recipe is so easy, it only takes one bowl, one whisk, no baking mix and 20 minutes!  Yes, only 20 minutes from start till serve.

The Best Stuffing Recipe Ever starts with sausage, cranberry and apple. Herbs and spices are added in but the real magic happens as the pan is deglazed with the most glorious combination of liquids and those bits are scraped up creating the most magnificent sauce to bake the stuffing in. Oh my word!

Best Ever Sweet Potato Casserole (Boston Market Copycat), is one for your recipe book!  Rich sweet potatoes covered in marshmallow and brown sugar streusel topping are a side dish to remember.

Best Ever Slow Cooker Creamed Corn recipe doesn't get much easier. Simply toss 6 ingredients into the slow cooker or crockpot and a few hours later you have the silkiest, creamiest most divine creamed corn you have ever eaten.

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Simple Herb Roasted Turkey

1 (12-14 pound) whole, turkey (defrosted)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons ground sage

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups water

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Prepare your turkey by removing innards and washing inside and out in cold water.  Set turkey on rack in roasting pan.  Slide hand under skin to separate skin from meat.  Tuck wings under turkey.

In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, basil, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper with a fork. 

Using your hands coat turkey with your butter mixture.  Slide hands under skin to rub herb butter mixture over meat.  Rub mixture all over top, side and legs as well as under the skin.  Pour water into pan.

Cover turkey with aluminum foil. Bake for 3 ½ hours (basting occasionally if you prefer), or until temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165° or more.  (Turkey will continue to cook once removed from the oven).  Remove the foil for the last hour to allow the turkey to brown completely.

Serve and enjoy!

DONNA'S NOTES:  Run a checklist in your head BEFORE you put the turkey in the oven.  Make sure you have added the water, smothered the turkey in the butter mixture and tucked the wings.  Now, if you happen to forget to tuck the wings...  Like I did.  You can use tongs to do this after it is in the oven, but be warned your turkey is less cooperative once it has started baking. (imagine that).  It took me and Chad and a lot of patience to get those slippery partially cooked wings tucked.  Not to mention they poked through my aluminum foil.

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Recipe developed by Donna Elick - The Slow Roasted Italian
Copyright ©2011 The Slow Roasted Italian – All rights reserved.

Originally published  November 14, 2011