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Perfect Roast Turkey Recipe

best roast turkey recipe with oranges and sage butter on a serving platter with sage leaves
  • Serves:  10
  • Prep Time:  20 min
  • Cook Time:  3 hrs 30 min

Ingredients

  • 1 (15-pound) turkey, thawed
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, (plus extra whole leaves for garnishing)
  • 2 clementines, halved
  • 4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 large white onion, halved
  • 4 celery ribs, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic head, halved
  • 1 cup water

Dry Brine

  • ⅓ cup kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Method

  1. In a small bowl, combine the salt, turmeric, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika. 
  2. Rub the turkey inside and out, and with the brine mixture. Place the turkey uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. Rinse the dry brine off the turkey under cold running water and pat the turkey dry completely dry with paper towels, inside and out. Let the turkey rest at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.
  4. Preheat the oven to 450° F with a rack in the center position.
  5. In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter with fresh sage. Keep warm over low heat until ready to use.
  6. Squeeze the juice from the clementines over the turkey. Stuff the cavity of the turkey with half of the carrots, half of the onion, half of the celery and the squeezed clementine rinds. Rub or brush the outside of the turkey with the melted sage butter.
  7. In the bottom of a large roasting pan, arrange the remaining celery, carrots, onions, and garlic along with the water.
  8. Tuck the wings and truss the legs—see the post above for more info about how to do that—to ensure that the turkey breasts don’t dry out. Set the turkey on a rack in the roasting pan.
  9. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take a large piece of tin foil and create a tent to cover the turkey breasts, leaving legs and thighs exposed. 
  10. Reduce to temperature 325°F and continue roasting for about 3 hours, or roughly 15 minutes per pound of turkey. 
  11. When the turkey has about 45 minutes left to roast, remove the foil tent to let the turkey breast get golden brown and the skin to crisp. The turkey is done when the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh and the thickest part of the breast reads 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.
  12. Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. Garnish with whole sage and any other herbs you have on hand. 

Notes

To avoid drying out the turkey, start checking the internal temperature when you have about 30 minutes of roasting time left.