Roasted Lemon & Herb Turkey

My absolute favourite turkey to make for holiday dinners.

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Roasted Lemon & Herb Turkey

Yield: 8-10

Author: Anthology of Crumbs

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 4 HourTotal time: 4 H & 20 M

There's something about the lemon in this golden yet tender turkey that adds just enough acidity to the succulence and decadence that is a holiday dinner.

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Ingredients

• 1 x 15 lb turkey
• 10 grams fresh thyme sprigs (this is about half a clamshell in Canada)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary*
• 2 sprigs fresh sage*
• 2 lemons, halved
• 2 garlic bulb, halved plus 3 cloves, minced
• 1 cup butter (250 g), softened (I use a dairy free alternative)
• 2 lemon, rin d finely grated (do this before halving your lemon!)
• about ⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil
• sea salt flakes
• 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock

Instructions

1. Bring your turkey to room temperature.
2. While your turkey is warming up, place softened butter, lemon rind and minced garlic in to a bowl and mix to combine.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse your fresh turkey and pat dry this can be done the night before and stuff with paper towel to soak up the cavity. Remove paper towel. Stuff cavity with the two lemon halves, thyme, rosemary*, and sage*. To secure the cavity, cross the legs and tie with kitchen string.
4. Gently loosen skin from the breast meat with a soft spatula or your finders and push the butter mixture under. Use any extra mixture to rub on top and over the legs and wings.
5. Lay the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour chicken stock in to bottom of the pan. Pour olive oil over the turkey and massage in. Sprinkle salt flakes over top. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 1 ½ hours.
6. Turn oven down to 325°F. Remove the foil and roast, basting every 30 minutes, for another 2 ½ hours (double check doneness at the 2 hour mark) or until the skin is beautifully golden and juices run clear when you test with a paring knife.***
7. Rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Notes

*rosemary and sage optional

**if you find the turkey is getting too brown early on (typically the top of the breast and/or wings), cover those areas with some foil.

***If the juices are pink, roast for another 15 minutes and check again. Repeat as necessary until the turkey is cooked. If you are using a meat thermometer, it should read 165°F in the breast. The temperature will rise as it rests for a bit.

****save the juices for gravy and the leftover turkey and carcass for making broth.

https://www.anthologyofcrumbs.com/roasted-lemon-herb-turkey

turkey, thyme, roasted, thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday

Mains, Poultry