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Rachel Ballinger

The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

5 from 1 vote
This is your recipe for the perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and perfectly juicy Thanksgiving turkey.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 4 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

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

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Rinse the turkey and pat dry with paper towel.
  3. 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.
  4. Place the turkey, breast side down, in a large roasting pan and bake in a 400 degree oven for one hour.
  5. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another hour.
  6. Then flip the turkey, breast side up, and cook for another hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
  7. 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.