Recipes Ingredients Meat & Poultry Turkey Recipes Roast Turkey With Herb Butter 4.1 (315) 17 Reviews A compound butter made with rosemary, sage, and thyme sets this bird apart. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 14, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 1 hr Total Time: 5 hrs Servings: 10 Jump to recipe Ready to put a perfectly roasted turkey on your holiday table? This recipe includes herb butter for turkey and is surprisingly easy to prepare. Before going into the oven, the bird is coated in a simple, flavorful rub of butter mixed with rosemary, sage, and thyme, which makes the skin crispy and golden and the meat moist and flavorful. Place the turkey on a bed of roasted vegetables—along with the turkey neck—to elevate the meat above the bottom of the pan and collect delicious drippings that you can use to make a Rich Gravy. 12 Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes for Every Taste, Including Roasted, Smoked, Brined, and Glazed Kelsey Hansen Food Safety The rules of food safety are the same every day of the year, but holiday meals can present a unique set of concerns because everything is bigger: a fuller fridge, a bigger guest list, a profusion of different dishes on the menu, and a bigger bird, too. No matter how packed your fridge and your agenda are, though, make the effort to follow these rules of safe poultry handling at every step of the way. There are three main areas of food safety to consider for the Thanksgiving meal: Safely thawing a frozen turkey Cooling and storing leftovers safely Knowing how long leftover turkey is good for in the refrigerator How to Stuff a Turkey The debate is ongoing about whether it’s safe to put stuffing in the turkey before roasting. (Read this to learn the pros and cons of stuffing a turkey.) If you do stuff your turkey, there are a few essential rules. Every ingredient in the stuffing should be cooked before it goes in the turkey: This especially means no raw sausage, oysters, or eggs. Pack the stuffing loosely into the turkey cavities: It will expand in the oven as it fills with turkey drippings, and, if it’s packed too tightly, it won’t heat quickly enough, keeping it at unsafe temperatures for too long. Don’t stuff in advance: The stuffing should go in the turkey right before you put it in the oven. How to Stuff and Prepare a Thanksgiving Turkey What is Basting? Basting is a technique for helping foods get browned and stay moist while they’re cooking. Some turkey recipes call for brushing or drizzling the bird with its own pan drippings several times while it’s roasting; other recipes call for a separate preparation of basting liquid (such as seasoned, melted butter). How to Tell When a Turkey Is Done Many turkeys come with a pop-up timer already inserted in the breast, which contains a button that is supposed to spring up when the meat reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. However, these timers aren’t always reliable or accurate, so it’s better to use a meat thermometer. When the breast reaches 160 degrees, it’s ready to come out of the oven. The residual heat will cause carryover cooking as the meat rests, bringing it to the perfect temperature of 165 degrees. Cooking turkey to the correct temperature is a matter of food safety, but it’s also a matter of tastiness: overcooked turkey can be tough and dry. Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 whole turkey (about 12 pounds), thawed if frozen, rinsed and patted dry, neck reserved (set aside giblets for stuffing, if desired) Cornbread And Sausage Stuffing 4 to 6 large carrots, halved crosswise 2 large onions, cut into 8 wedges 2 stalks celery, halved crosswise Directions Kelsey Hansen Preheat oven and make herb butter: Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the lowest position. Make herb butter: In a small bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons butter with chopped herbs; season generously with salt and pepper. Kelsey Hansen Prepare turkey: Loosen skin: Working from the neck end, slide fingers under skin until you reach the end of the breast, being careful not to tear the skin; rub herb butter under the skin. Kelsey Hansen Fill neck cavity with stuffing: Place turkey breast side down. Fill neck cavity with stuffing; avoid packing. Close up by folding skin over and fastening with skewers or trussing needles. Kelsey Hansen Tuck wings: Turn turkey over; bend wing tips underneath bird so they stay in place (you may have to break the bones). Kelsey Hansen Stuff cavity: Loosely fill large cavity with stuffing. Kelsey Hansen Tie legs: Using cotton kitchen twine, tie legs together securely (they will overlap) so bird retains its shape and moisture during cooking. Kelsey Hansen Cut neck: Cut neck into pieces Kelsey Hansen Prepare roasting pan: Mix neck pieces with carrots, onions, celery, and 2 cups water in a large roasting pan. Set roasting rack over vegetables in pan. Kelsey Hansen Rub turkey with butter: Lift turkey onto rack; rub with remaining tablespoon butter. Season generously with salt and pepper. Tent turkey loosely with foil. Kelsey Hansen Roast turkey: Roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 125°F, about 3 hours. Remove foil; raise oven heat to 400°F. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180°F, 45 to 60 minutes more. Tent with foil if bird browns too quickly; add more water if pan becomes dry. Kelsey Hansen Rest turkey before carving: Transfer turkey to a serving platter; cover loosely with foil, and let it rest at least 30 minutes before carving. Kelsey Hansen Make-Ahead If you want to get a little ahead, you can make the herb butter a day ahead and refrigerate it. Return to room temperature before using. How to Carve a Turkey For most of us, there are only a couple times of year we have any call to carve such a large item, so we don’t get many chances to practice. Use our step-by-step guide for how to cut a turkey for tips on doing it right. Frequently Asked Questions How can you cook a turkey so it stays juicy? To make sure you cook a juicy turkey, there are several steps you can take. You can brine it with a traditional saltwater brine, a buttermilk brine, or a dry brine. You may choose to rub softened butter both under and over the skin. You can baste the turkey as it roasts. And finally, be vigilant about the temperature. Check it frequently with a meat thermometer as it nears the end of its cooking time, and take it out as soon as it reaches doneness—160 degrees in the breast meat, which will continue to rise to 165 as it rests. What does rubbing butter on a turkey do? Rubbing butter on a turkey means covering the turkey with butter (under and over the skin). It serves to flavor and moisten the meat as well as help the skin get crispy and golden brown. It's definitely a good thing to do when roasting a turkey. Do you put water in the bottom of the roasting pan for turkey? No, we generally do not put liquid in the pan when roasting a turkey. The liquid creates steam, which will prevent your turkey from browning evenly and make the skin soft and flabby instead of crispy. Adding water to the pan will also dilute the flavor of the pan drippings, resulting in less-than-flavorful gravy. The only time we recommend adding water to the roasting pan is if the drippings evaporate to the point where they’re in danger of burning. In this case, add a small amount of water—just enough to cover the bottom—and only add more as necessary. Is butter or olive oil better for roasting a turkey? We prefer butter to olive oil for roasting a turkey, perhaps because we are traditionalists when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner. We also think butter helps to make the most flavorful pan drippings to use in your turkey gravy. You can certainly use olive oil to rub on your turkey if you prefer—or use a combination of butter and olive oil to get the best of both fats. Do you have to let a turkey rest before carving? Yes, you have to let a turkey rest before carving it. The resting period allows time for the juices to redistribute. Just like with a roast beef or pork, cutting into the meat before it has rested means the juices will end up on the cutting board rather than inside the meat—and that means you lose moisture and flavor. 5 More Roast Turkey Recipes to Try: Roast Turkey With Rosemary and Lemon Roast Turkey With Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze Perfectly Moist and Tender Turkey Citrus and Herb Turkey Roasted Turkey Rubbed With Coriander, Black Pepper, and Fennel Originally appeared: Everyday Food, November 2005 Rate It PRINT Updated by Jennifer Anderson Jennifer Anderson Jennifer is a writer for MarthaStewart.com.