Around Thanksgiving time my local grocery store does a promotion where if you spend enough money in a certain amount of time then you get a free turkey or ham for the holidays. So I picked one up and on Christmas vacation, we decided to do another mini Thanksgiving. I had this cooking up along with some Crockpot Mashed Potatoes and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus. We had no complaints, especially when I made some Homemade Turkey Gravy with the drippings! This is a great recipe if you are taking care of the turkey for Thanksgiving for the first time.
Ingredients:
1 12-14 pound turkey
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
Salt and Pepper
Onion Powder
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup water
Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 500 degrees and remove the gizzard and giblets from the turkey.
2) Clean, rinse and dry the whole turkey.
3) Lather the outside with 1/2 of the butter, try to get some under the skin too. You can use more butter if you need to.
4) Sprinkle salt, pepper and onion powder all over the bird, be generous.
5) Place the rest of the butter in the cavity with the garlic and 1/2 of the onions and carrots.
6) Pour the water into the bottom of the roasting pan and add the remaining vegetables.
7) Roast the turkey at 500 degrees for 20 minutes, until the turkey has browned. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and leave the turkey to cook. Roast for about 3.5 hours until the bird hits 165 degrees with a meat thermometer. About halfway through cooking time, use foil and tent the bird to keep it from over browning. Add an extra half hour of roasting time for every extra 4 pounds on turkey you have.
8) Let rest for 20 minutes before carving. You can use this time to make some gravy!
Ingredients
- 1 12-14 pound turkey
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
- Salt and Pepper
- Onion Powder
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup water
Method
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees and remove the gizzard and giblets from the turkey.
- Clean, rinse and dry the whole turkey.
- Lather the outside with 1/2 of the butter, try to get some under the skin too. You can use more butter if you need to.
- Sprinkle salt, pepper and onion powder all over the bird, be generous.
- Place the rest of the butter in the cavity with the garlic and 1/2 of the onions and carrots.
- Pour the water into the bottom of the roasting pan and add the remaining vegetables.
- Roast the turkey at 500 degrees for 20 minutes, until the turkey has browned. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and leave the turkey to cook. Roast for about 3.5 hours until the bird hits 165 degrees with a meat thermometer. About halfway through cooking time, use foil and tent the bird to keep it from over browning. Add an extra half hour of roasting time for every extra 4 pounds on turkey you have.
- Let rest for 20 minutes before carving. You can use this time to make some gravy!
