Thanksgiving Turkey

My mom said this is her go-to Thanksgiving Turkey recipe. It turns out perfectly every year that she never wants to try a different one! It is golden brown skin with no burning on the wings and the meat is so tender and juicy, it never turns out dry! If you have been struggling to find the right recipe for your main event on Thanksgiving, try this one! We use it and love it every year!

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours + overnight
Yield: 1 Turkey

Ingredients:

• 1-18 lb Turkey

Butter mix: 

• 1 cup butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• ¼ tsp lemon zest
  

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients for the Butter Mix and stir really well until the oil works into the butter.

Prepare the turkey:

1. Thaw in ice water in a deep sink or pan so the turkey is covered. Salt the water with 1 cup salt. I did this overnight. Remove neck and giblets.
2. In the morning, rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey in a roasting pan and tuck the wings under the bird so they don’t burn. Loosen skin on top of bird gently so not to break the skin.
3. Place 2/3 of the butter mixture under the skin and then using the skin to spread it around as evenly as possible. Then run the rest of the butter mixture on top of the skin all over the bird. Drizzle the whole turkey with olive oil. Stuff turkey with one cut up lemon and 1 cut up onion and ¼ cup parsley. Sprinkle bird with salt and pepper generously.
4. Cook turkey in oven at 430°F for 30 minutes.
5. Pull the pan out and baste turkey with the juices in the bottom of the pan. Turn the oven to 350°F and tent the turkey with foil. Do not allow the foil to touch the bird.
6. Bake for 4 ½ hours.
7. When done, Turkey should rest on the counter for 1 hour covered with foil. Carve the turkey as desired and serve.

*Recipe provided by Christine Cook Christensen