Butter Roasted Turkey! Delicious, juicy and the most fabulous buttery, crispy skin ever! This turkey is brined, stuffed with aromatics and rubbed with a delicious herb butter rub. You have to try this!
Happy Wednesday, you guys!
Thanksgiving is next week! Are you ready?? My sister’s family is coming and Joe, Rina’s husband, is coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner. Joe is like a brother to me and my family and I love him so much. I am so happy that my family will all be together next week. This holiday season, let’s all give thanks, spend time and appreciate our loved ones and I’m going to look ahead with positivity for our country’s future.
In case you missed it, I was LIVE yesterday on Go Bold With Butter’s Facebook page yesterday! I had so much fun and we’re doing it again TODAY at 1pm CST and I’m making pie so don’t miss it!
Yesterday, I made this Butter Roasted Turkey, gravy and a traditional homemade stuffing!
Butter Roasted Turkey: To Brine Or Not To Brine
You guys, if you don’t know what turkey you are making for Thanksgiving next week, I highly recommend this one! It’s so good! And because of the brine, it’s super juicy and delicious. While we are on the subject of brines, what do you do? A wet brine or a dry brine? There are arguments for both and I’ve tried both and I’m still not 100% sure which one I like best. I loved them both!
One thing, however, that I do know and strongly advise: the herb butter. My herb butter is made with 100% REAL butter, and this is how you get that beautiful, golden brown exterior!
Butter Roasted Turkey with Gravy!
Butter Roasted Turkey with Gravy
Equipment
- turkey oven bags
- large roasting pan with rack
- meat thermometer
Ingredients
For the brine:
- 1 heaping cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns or juniper berries
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 gallon vegetable stock or water (use veg stock for more flavor)
- 1 gallon ice cold water
- 1 (14 lb). turkey
For the herb butter:
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temp
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme (leaves only) chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (leaves only) chopped fine
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper
For the Aromatics:
- 1 apple (Honeycrisp, Gala, etc) skin on, sliced into wedges
- 1/2 onion peeled, and sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 to 3 fresh sage leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
For the gravy:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups turkey stock
- salt and pepper
Instructions
For the brine:
- Using a large pot, place ingredients (salt to the vegetable stock only!) into the pot and bring everything to a boil, making sure the salt and sugar dissolve. When finished, let the brine liquid cool completely. This is very important.
- Using turkey oven bags (I like to double them), place your turkey into the bag and pour in the cooled brine liquid. Add a gallon of ice cold water. Submerge your turkey in the brine liquid, close the bag and refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. When ready, rinse the turkey in cool water and pat dry.
For the Aromatics:
- Place your brined, dry turkey, breast side up onto the rack in your roasting pan. Stuff the turkey with the apple slices, onion, rosemary thyme, sage leaves and a cinnamon stick.
For the Herb Butter:
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Using a medium sized bowl, mix together all of the ingredients and spread the herb butter all over the turkey exterior and underneath the skin. If there are some areas you have missed, you can melt some unsalted butter and use a pastry brush to get the areas you might have missed.
- Roast your turkey at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, then lower to 350 degrees for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Or, until your turkey breast registers at 170 (breast) and 180 in the thigh.
For the Gravy:
- You can make the gravy one of two ways. In a separate saucepan, or wait until the turkey is finished and use the roasting pan so you can incorporate all the turkey drippings.
- Whisk together the butter and the flour to make a paste. Add the paste into the turkey stock and whisk over medium high heat until smooth and thickened slightly. Again, if you are using your roasting pan, do everything inside the roasting pan, over medium to medium high heat on your stovetop. Taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly.
- To Serve: I like to add fresh kale leaves, or even parsley around the turkey with it's on a platter. Add some pomegranates and persimmons to add color! Remove the aromatics from the turkey. Slice the turkey and serve with the gravy. Enjoy!
How to Dress Your Platter
I also used curly kale, pomegranates and persimmons to decorate and garnish the plate! When you’re doing it, think of texture and color! I feel like it adds so much to your Thanksgiving Day table, and the turkey!
GIVEAWAY
(please note this giveaway is over)
Today, I am giving away this fabulous Brushed Stainless Steel Ceramic Nonstick Roasting Pan from ZWILLING J.A. Henckels!!! Isn’t it beautiful you guys?! It’s the perfect size for any turkey, it’s so durable and sturdy and it has that gorgeous satin exterior finish!
Features & Benefits:
• Satin exterior finish
• CeraForce Ultra Ceramic Non-stick Coating
• Easy cleaning & food release
• PTFE & PFOA free
• Oven safe up to 400˚F
• Clad 3-ply construction from rim-to-rim
• Oversized handles for better control with large oven mitts
• Removable non-stick coated stainless rack (PFOA free)
• Dishwasher safe
• Measures: 16” x 13.75” x 3″
GIVEAWAY
To enter the giveaway, click here. It’s an Instagram only giveaway!! Good luck! Open to US residents only!
Wishing everyone a very happy and delicious Thanksgiving!
