Assemble your ingredients:

• a thawed turkey 
• onions
• celery
• lemons
• olive oil
• salt
• black pepper 
• garlic powder
• rubbed sage
• rosemary
• thyme leaves 

Rinse your turkey and pat dry with paper towel. I know they say that only spreads raw chicken bacteria in your sink and really isn’t necessary but I still do it because I want too. Haha! Generously baste the turkey, inside and out, with olive oil. Now it’s time to season it. Just generously season it. Measure and sprinkle with your heart not measuring spoons. 

Place the turkey, breast side down, in a large roasting pan and bake in a 400 degree oven for one hour.

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another hour. Then it’s time to flip the turkey, breast side up, and cook for another hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Flipping the turkey is a bit of an adventure, especially if it’s a big one, and a highlight of our Thanksgiving. The whole family comes to watch the flipping of the turkey. We’re easily entertained!
You can buy silicone heat resistant gloves that work great or you can improvise like we do. My husband is the official Turkey Flipper and he will put on oven mitts and then I wrap his hands in aluminum foil and it works great! 

After flipping the turkey and letting it bake for another hour until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, remove it from oven and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. 
And there you go, my friends, the juiciest most delicious Thanksgiving turkey ever! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Rachel Ballinger ☕️🦃🍽️

“A lot of living happens in the kitchen.”  ~Rachel 

Thanksgiving Sides to go with your Turkey: 

• Old-Fashioned Pie Crust 
• Cranberry Apple Pie 
• Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese 
• Creamy Cranberry Salad 

Print

The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

This is your recipe for a perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and perfectly juicy Thanksgiving turkey.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Thanksgiving, Turkey

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours

Author Rachel Ballinger

Ingredients

• A thawed turkey
• 2 onions quartered
• 2 celery stalks cut into 2 inch chunks
• 2 lemons quartered
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Rubbed sage
• Rosemary
• Thyme leaves

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Rinse the turkey and pat dry with paper towel.
• Baste the outside of the turkey with olive oil, season it inside and out with salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Stuff the onions, celery, and lemons inside the turkey cavity for flavor.
• Place the turkey, breast side down, in a large roasting pan and bake in a 400 degree oven for one hour.
• Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another hour.
• Then flip the turkey, breast side up, and cook for another hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
• Remove from oven and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Notes

You can buy really cool heat resistant silicone gloves that work perfect for flipping a turkey but since we don’t have those really cool gloves, I create some for my husband that work perfectly. I just wrapped oven mitts in aluminum foil. Works great!
No, I don’t measure all the spices. I just sprinkle them on generously.

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