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No doubt he makes the bird every time! I get to share his tried-and-true recipe with a step by step tutorial after observing him make this centerpiece! So, you can serve the perfect turkey for your Thanksgiving feast! You’ll love this recipe!
Easy Thanksgiving Turkey
You can count on this turkey recipe! It’s been tested and prepared many times for our Thanksgiving Dinners and never disappoints!
My mother-in-law has tried many different turkey recipes and always comes back to this recipe. Actually she entrusted dad to make it every year, so know that it’s pretty fail-proof and simple!
The Story Behind This Turkey Brine:
There are many recipes for cooking Thanksgiving turkey, but none compare. This is a recipe like no other. Let’s just say my father-in-law had his share of curing meat back in Ukraine.
Ma, told me how dad would process a pig in the fall to cure it with the same exact salty brine. I found it amazing how dad would eyeball the spices and salt and hang the ham in the attic to cure all winter long in the harsh winters back in Ukraine.
Then when Spring came they would take down the ham and eat it for a week long. Mind you this was when they didn’t have refrigerators or foil–amazing I know!
Natural Meat Tenderizer
This is not one of your typical recipes for brining Thanksgiving turkey! The freshly grated onions work as a natural meat tenderizer. I think it’s because the natural enzymes break down the proteins. So, give the turkey a couple days to sit in it before baking.
If you didn’t know Ukrainians use LOTS of garlic! I mean we add it to just about anything. So, don’t be surprised that you’ll find lots of fresh garlic in this turkey recipe. Trust me it works and is one of the key components to his “slurry” brine.
The next most important brine ingredient is the salt. That’s what will preserve the turkey until it’s ready to be baked and imparts lots of good flavor.
Variations:
Sometimes we stuff our Thanksgiving turkey with rice to make it a one-pan dish. This is done by making my rice pilaf recipe and filling it inside the cavity. I’d marinate the turkey for the full two days, then fill it with the rice the day of baking.
One year my father didn’t want the mushroom flavor so we omitted them using that pilaf recipe and it turned out amazing! You don’t even have to cook through the rice just bring it to a boil and immediately turn off. Then use this parboiled rice to stuff the turkey.
Mise en Place
Equipment:
- Roasting pan- it doesn’t need to be fancy. I used this large pan with a mini cooling rack inserted.
- Turkey Bag– my father-in-law won’t even make a turkey without these. This locks all the juices in and ensures a tender turkey!
- Box grater- to finely grate the onion, use the circled side.
- Garlic Press- to crush all the garlic cloves.
- Large Tray– is needed for serving and handling a large bird (even defrosting).
- Mixing bowl to make the slurry brine.
- Instant Read Thermometer- Turkey is safe to eat when the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 165°F (74°C) inserted into the thickest part of the thigh or breast.
- Kitchen twine– to tie the turkey legs.
Ingredients:
- Whole Turkey- this recipe works for 15-20 pounds of turkey. As a rule of thumb, plan 4 to 5 ounces per person for cooked turkey. Otherwise plan for 1/2 pound to 3/4 pound per person for uncooked turkey. This means a 15 pound bird yields about 30 servings.
- Brine Slurry- is a thick paste of crushed garlic, finely grated onion, crushed bay leaves, black pepper, salt, Montreal steak seasoning, and garlic salt.
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to cook turkey, scroll down to my recipe card (down below). I also have detailed instructions and photos to help you perfect your turkey!
How To Make a Thanksgiving Turkey
- First, make sure your turkey is completely thawed before preparing the slurry. Allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey meat to thaw in the fridge so, that’s 2-3 days of defrosting in the fridge. Give yourself an extra day just to be safe!
- When the turkey is thawed, remove it from its packaging and find the neck and bag of giblets. You can either remove them from the packaging and put them back into the cavity or compost them to the yard chickens.
- Wash the turkey well and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey into a turkey bag. Set aside.
- Make the meat tenderizer (slurry). Peel all the cloves of garlic and crush them with a garlic press into a mixing bowl.
- Finely grate the onion using a box grater. Add this to the mixing bowl.
- Season the onions and garlic with black pepper, salt, Montreal steak seasoning, and garlic salt. Add the crushed bay leaves and mix well with your hands. This will make a paste and works as a meat tenderizer.
- Smear the seasoned paste all over the turkey and place any remainder into the cavity.
- Tie the legs together using kitchen twine. Then tie the bag securely and marinate for two days in the fridge. The juices will release as it sits in the onions. I like to rotate the bird, once in the morning and once in the evening so that it marinates evenly.
- On the day of baking carefully transfer the bird onto a rack over a roasting pan. Plan for 3 hours of baking time. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the turkey for 3 hours. Make the turkey bag is not touching the upper heating element.
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving. Then carefully tear open the bag and remove the turkey using heavy duty spatula turners
Serving Turkey
Making a turkey is one thing, but you want to make it look presentable too. This is when serving platters come in handy. You probably have a large tray lying in a cupboard. It doesn’t need to be massive. Wipe it clean, arrange some romaine lettuce leaves over the edges.
Watch how to carve a turkey here. (This is the same culinary school I went to)!
Carefully transfer the turkey from the bag using two heavy-duty spatula turners. I recommend asking for help at this stage, at least for someone to hold the roaster. Have the tray as close as possible to the roaster then carefully transfer the bird. Place it right onto the center of the platter.
For garnish add sliced pomegranates cut into lengthwise pieces and sprinkle with herbs if you wish. There’s a saying “you eat with your eyes first”. Plating a turkey can be both appealing and appetizing.
How To Make Turkey Gravy From the Drippings:
Let’s be honest, oftentimes the turkey is the last thing you’re waiting for. So, to put everyone on hold to make the gravy probably isn’t the best thing to do. This is because the turkey needs to rest before even tearing open the turkey bag to get those drippings.
However, there is a hack I’ve learned over the years for serving turkey gravy for crowds using leftover drippings and turkey meat. You’ll need to:
- Collect 2 quarts of the pan drippings and juices. Add water if needed. Put this in a large pot and bring it to a boil.
- In a separate bowl make a slurry by slowly stirring 3 cups of cold water to 1 1/4 cups flour. Add this cold slurry to the boiled drippings and season it with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper, and 1/2 Tbsp each of onion and garlic powder. Add any leftover shredded turkey meat from the feast and keep it warm until serving.
- This turkey gravy freezes well, too. So, you can stock your freezer with it for many more mashed potato suppers.
Chef Pro-Tip: This is a catering hack for serving turkey in a buffet line. You simply roast the turkey beforehand, pull it off the bones, and keep it moist in gravy for scooping easily to guests.
How We Serve Our Thanksgiving Turkey:
I know, everyone has there Thanksgiving staples but maybe I can spark new ideas for your Thanksgiving Dinner? We serve the usual classics at our Ukrainian Thanksgiving (served in the United States, so I guess it’s Ukrainian-American Turkey? Anyways…)
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
- Salads- it’s either this Korean Carrot Salad or Olivye Salad (Ukrainian Olivier potato salad).
- This Mushroom Gravy (it’s amazing, really)!
- Rice Pilaf, stuffed inside the turkey (parboiling the rice is key).
- Crusty Homemade Bread
- Cranberry sauce made from dried cranberries. Ya’ll this is so good, like sweet and tart jam made in minutes!
- Steamed Corn– obviously we don’t make all of this every year but these are usually in rotation or on mind when it comes to hosting.
FAQ
Do I Drain The Marinade Before Baking?
This recipe will extract liquid naturally from the turkey. To get the most juicy turkey leave that liquid in the turkey bag. It stays on the bottom anyway and produces a succulent bird. Don’t worry the turkey still browns under the bag. I think this what makes it nearly fall-of-the-bone!
Should I Brine The Turkey If I bought One in a Solution?
Yes! As odd as that sounds, this recipe is mostly made with high-quality turkey like Butterball. If you notice most of these birds have an 8% solution of water and spices.
However, that’s not to say we don’t season it. Dad’s slurry for this recipe seasons the meat and works like a natural meat tenderizer. So, yes use this recipe regardless if this turkey is store-bought or wild. It will still work!
Do I Have To Baste The Turkey?
No, I don’t baste this turkey when it cooks in the oven. To keep it moist, I’ll marinade the turkey on all sides with the liquid that releases naturally from the turkey. This tenderizes the meat beforehand and then all that is left is roasting it in the turkey bag, which I do not open during baking.
Can I Cook The Turkey With Stuffing?
If you are making stuffing using homemade bread, also known as dressing, then you can cook stuffing in a turkey. The store-bought stuffing is a quick fix that takes minutes to cook so, that can tend to get overly mushy by the time the turkey is done roasting. However, homemade stuffing takes much longer to bake and can turn out delicious stuffed in a turkey.
I Don’t Have an Oven, Can I Cook the Turkey another Method?
Yes! If your assigned to make the Thanksgiving turkey, and can’t make it do with an oven, you can use an electric roaster oven, directions stay the same!
Tips for The Best Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe:
- Allow the turkey (15 to 20 pounds) to bake for a minimum of 3 hours before testing it with a meat thermometer. You don’t want to open the turkey bag before that.
- If the turkey bag blew up in the oven and is touching the heating element, pierce it on the side once, using a knife or meat thermometer. This will deflate the bag by a tad but will still keep that steam in.
- Allow the turkey to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving…I don’t think we ever make it that long but you get the point.
- Reserve those drippings from your roasting pan (or bag) to make turkey gravy!
- If you want turkey to roast at lower oven temperature to achieve more tender and evenly cooked results then consider slow roasting. This is done at a low-temperature for a longer cooking time. I’d do a range of 300-325°F.
- If you refuse to bake in a turkey bag, then cook a smaller turkey and cook it in a dutch oven pot with a lid. It will produce the same results.
More Lean Meat Recipes:
Use many of these chicken recipes with leftover turkey meat. Leftover turkey meat goes great in enchiladas, soups, casseroles (like pot pie), chicken salad, and quesadillas! Don’t let that turkey meat go to waste!
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Juicy and Tender Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large roasting pan with insert rack, (I used a large stainless pan lined with a mini cooling rack)
- Turkey bags, (my father-in-law uses two, I can get away with one but don't tell him)!
Ingredients
- 15-20 lb Turkey , (I used Butterball brand)
- 12 bay leaves , (crushed)
- 2 onions, (finely grated)
- 5 heads garlic , (peeled and cloves crushed with a press)
- 2 tsp heaping of ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp heaping of sea salt
- 2 1/2 Tbsp garlic salt, (Lawry's brand)
- 1 Tbsp heaping Montreal steak seasoning
Instructions
- Remove turkey from the packaging with the neck and giblets (freeze or discard them to the chickens). Wash and pat dry the turkey with paper towels. Place the turkey inside a turkey bag and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, finely grate two onions and crush the 5 heads of garlic cloves, using a garlic press. Add the crushed bayleaves, 2 tsp heaping of black pepper, 2 heaping Tbsp of salt, 2.5 Tbsp of garlic salt, and 1 heaping Tbsp of Montreal Steak seasoning. This will be the consistency of a slushy.
- Rub the onion mixture all over the turkey, place any remainder into the cavity.
- Securely tie the turkey legs together using kitchen twine. Tie the turkey bag and marinate in the fridge for at least two days. Rotate the turkey every morning and evening, to evenly marinate.
- On Thanksgiving day, place the turkey (in the bag) over a roasting tray lined with a rack. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Place the turkey on the lower rack of the oven and bake it for 3 hours enclosed in the bag. The turkey is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Let it rest for 20 minutes then open the turkey bag and transfer to a serving platter. Serve!
Notes
- Serving Size: As a rule of thumb, plan 4 to 5 ounces per person of cooked turkey. Otherwise plan for 1/2 pound to 3/4 pound per person for uncooked turkey. This means a 15 pound bird yields about 30 servings.
- Watch how to carve a turkey here. (I graduated from the same Culinary school)!
- Brine: The freshly grated onions work as a natural meat tenderizer along with the salt, known as a turkey brine “slurry”, as I like to call it.
- Thawing Instructions: Make sure your turkey is completely thawed before preparing the slurry. Allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey meat to thaw in the fridge so, that’s 2-3 days of defrosting in the fridge. Give yourself an extra day just to be safe!
- Stuffing turkey with rice: make this rice pilaf (can omit mushrooms) and bring the rice to just a boil then let it sit for 20 minutes and stuff.
- Turkey Gravy Recipe: Add 2 quarts of the pan drippings and juices into a large pot (add water if necessary). Bring it to a boil. In a separate bowl make a slurry by slowly stirring 3 cups of cold water to 1 1/4 cups flour. Add this cold slurry to the boiled drippings and season it with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper, and 1/2 Tbsp each of onion and garlic powder. Add any leftover shredded turkey meat and keep it warm until serving. This freezes well and is ideal for serving turkey in a buffet style setting.
- Storing: Place cooled off, pulled turkey meat into an airtight container or freezer zip-lock bag. Keep refrigerated for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 to 6 months.
- Bake Turkey on the lower rack of the oven: If the turkey bag blew up in the oven and is touching the heating element, pierce it on the side once, using a knife or meat thermometer. This will deflate the bag by a tad but will still keep that steam in.
- Rest Turkey: Allow the turkey to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.
Nutrition (per serving)
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