The Juiciest Roast Turkey
Chef Billy Parisi cooked this in a Facebook video. SeeMeCook wrote it up from the video as a full recipe and added ingredient weights and nutrition.
Watch the original videoImported by Carla on SeeMeCook
A whole turkey is roasted with a flavorful herb butter tucked beneath the skin, lemon and herbs in the cavity, and bacon over the top. The method begins with high-heat browning and finishes at a lower temperature until the turkey reaches 165°F.
- Time
- 3 hours
- Cuisine
- American
Ingredients
- 11 g
- 5 g
- 7 g
- 6 g
- 15 g
- 25 g
- 2 g
- 60 g
- 1 g
- 5 g
- 240 g
Weights are estimates. Together, the ingredients weigh about 6.27 kg before cooking, which is about 785 g per serving.
Steps
Whip the softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for about 5–7 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add the chopped parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, minced garlic, sea salt, and black pepper to the butter. Mix on low speed until incorporated, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Set the herb butter aside.
Pat the turkey dry inside and out with paper towels.
Stuff the turkey cavity with the lemon wedges, parsley sprigs, and bay leaves.
Using clean hands, carefully slide your fingers between the skin and meat over the breasts to separate them while keeping the skin intact and attached. Turn the turkey over and repeat on the back.
Divide the herb butter evenly and spread it beneath the skin on both sides of the breasts and beneath the skin on the back. A little butter may spill out.
Turn the turkey back onto its back and truss it with butcher’s twine.
Set the turkey breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast on the oven’s bottom rack at 450°F (230 °C) for 22–25 minutes, until browned on top.
Remove the hot turkey from the oven and carefully flip it over, using oven gloves and towels.
Cover the top of the turkey with the bacon strips.
Return the turkey to the oven and roast at 350°F (180 °C). Plan on 9–11 minutes per pound after the initial browning, or approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours total as stated in the recipe, until browned and cooked through.
After about 1 hour of roasting with the bacon on, remove the turkey from the oven and take off the bacon. Return the turkey to the oven for the remaining cooking time so the back can brown. Keep an eye on the bacon while it cooks so it does not burn; it need not be crisp.
Check that the thickest part of the breast or thigh has reached 165°F (74 °C). Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for 15–20 minutes.
Remove the butcher’s twine and the lemon stuffing, then serve.
Notes
The recipe page’s yield is 8. For storage, the source says cooked turkey keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months; thaw frozen turkey in the refrigerator for a full day before reheating. To reheat, warm portions covered in a saucepan with ½–1 cup chicken stock in a 350°F oven for 15–20 minutes, or microwave until warm. If the skin tears while buttering, the source suggests pinning the tear together with toothpicks and removing them before serving. The source gives both 90 minutes to 2 hours total and 9–11 minutes per pound after the initial browning; cooking time varies with turkey size, so use the 165°F internal-temperature check.
Nutrition
These are estimates per serving, worked out from the ingredients.
- Calories
- 1496
- Protein
- 146 g
- Carbs
- 3 g
- Fat
- 99 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
Where the calories come from
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