Herb butter turkey recipe, make it every year for Thanksgiving. Try this herb butter turkey recipe for Thanksgiving this year and it will help you cook a perfectly tender, flavorful and juicy turkey, together with a rich turkey gravy. So good that you will be cooking the turkey meat in like manner again.

This recipe is accordingly made with the ingredients in proportion to the turkey meat of 14 pounds.

1. Tips

a) For brining do not use frozen turkey instead use a thawed turkey.

b) Use paper towels after brining the turkey to take away the moisture from the surface of the turkey meat. Doing this is very important because later when you will apply the herb butter mixture the mixture will lay on the surface rather than rubbing away.

c) Add a dash of lemon to the herbed butter.

d) Also, if possible, include a reminder of the routine to keep on checking the process of cooking turkey.

2. Ingredients Required For Making Herb Butter Turkey

2.1 For Wet Brine

2 cups of salt
1 cup of sugar
4-5 bay leaves
1/4 cup of roughly grounded black peppercorns
12-13 litres of water
Onion, cut in half
2 oranges, half
2 bulbs of garlic, minced
4 sprigs of rosemary
4-5 sprigs of thyme
6 scallions
4 sprigs of sage

2.2 For Herb Butter Turkey Meat

Fresh Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Salt or Kosher Salt
Freshly minced garlic
Grounded black pepper
Lemon wedges
2-3 Oranges cut in half
Normal or Red potatoes, cut in half
2-3 carrots, diced into biteable pieces
4 Scallions for the turkey and 2 scallions for the herbed butter
Half a cup of vermouth (optional)

2.3 For Herbed Butter

1 cup of finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons of salt
1 tsp of finely grounded black peppercorns
2 tablespoons of garlic paste
1 tablespoon of ginger paste
3 scallions
2 sprigs of thyme
2-3 sprigs of sage
1 cup of unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of olive oil
chicken stock powder
A dash of lemon juice
2 sprigs of rosemary

2.4 For Herb Butter Turkey Gravy

Remaining herb butter mixture
1 Stick of unsalted softened butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pan juices
Salt if required
Turkey Broth
Freshly ground black or white peppercorns

3. Tools Required For The Herb Butter Turkey Recipe

A large pot of 30 Liters
Large Roasting Pan
Roasting Rack
Food processor
Small pot
Butchers twine
Paper towels
Meat thermometer
Silicone Brush

4. Preparation Of Herb Butter Turkey

First, let’s start with preparing the brine to cook a turkey. You can prepare the turkey with the process of wet brine or dry brine. I’m gonna tell you both the ways to brine the turkey. Suit to whichever process is convenient for you. It doesn’t matter whichever method you choose to brine the turkey because the rest of the process of cooking the turkey meat is going to be the same.

4.1 Wet Brine For Herb Butter Turkey

To prepare the wet brine, start by boiling the water in a large pot. After the water has come to a boil, start adding the ingredients one by one, first add the freshly ground pepper, then add salt, followed by the sugar, adding sugar here to the brine is important as it will help with the caramelization of the turkey. It will also add a little sweetness to the meat.

Add your herbs; fresh sage, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme. Next add the onion, fresh garlic, scallions, oranges and lemon wedges to the brine. And, lastly the bay leaves. After you have added all the ingredients, let it simmer for 2-3 minutes while you stir the ingredients in the pot.

Turn off the fire and allow the brine to come to room temperature or you could also add a few ice cubes to the brine to cool it down. Your wet brine is perfectly done, lastly, add the whole turkey to the pot and let the turkey sit for 12-13 hours.

Allowing the turkey to sit in the broth is important because this will let the turkey soak in all the aroma and flavour from the fresh herbs and other ingredients. The longer you let the turkey sit in the broth the more it will keep absorbing the aromas and the flavours.

4.2 Dry Brine For Herb Butter Turkey

To prepare the dry brine you only need one ingredient which is normal salt or kosher salt, kosher salt would be much better as compared to normal salt. Rub a generous amount of kosher salt into the whole turkey and the inside of the turkey skin. Make sure to rub every space and crevice of the turkey. Now, cover the turkey with a cling wrap, then let the turkey rest for a day in the refrigerator. Then proceed with cooking the turkey in a similar process to that of a wet brine.

5. Instructions To Cook Turkey

Step 1

Take out the turkey which had been sitting in the broth for a while along with all the herbs and other ingredients from the brine. Then rinse the turkey with water and then remove the moisture from the outside of the turkey with the help of paper towels.

Rinsing the turkey is to make sure that no parts of the ingredients got stuck to the surface or the crevices of the turkey. After rinsing thoroughly, gently dab the paper towels, do not press on too hard on the outside or the surface of the turkey because then the paper towel might soak the flavour as well from the turkey.

Step 2

Next, start stuffing your turkey with the ingredients that you had earlier taken out from the wet brine. Add the ingredients one by one to the turkey cavity with onion, oranges, lemon wedges, garlic bulbs, scallions, rosemary, thyme, sage and bay leaves.

Stuffing the turkey cavity is an exquisite process for the best turkey recipe because as the turkey will slowly cooks, it will start to release steam and, this steam is what will keep the turkey moist and absorb and keep seeping into more flavours in the turkey. In turn, you will have the most perfectly roasted herb butter turkey.

Step 3

For the next step, you will need to make herb butter for a moist turkey with a crispy surface. To prepare the herb butter, add the finely chopped parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage to the food processor. Then continue by adding the finely minced garlic and ginger paste. Adding ginger will emphasize the taste of the herb butter, but it is completely fine if you don’t want to add the ginger paste to the herb butter mixture.

And to the processor, add the chunks of chopped scallions and the chicken stock powder to the herb butter. The powder will add an umami flavour to the herb butter mixture. Seasoning the herb butter is important, so accordingly season your herb butter mixture with salt and pepper.

Further, to the herb butter, add the olive oil, this olive oil will add density to the herb butter, but more importantly, it will carry the flavour in the herb butter altogether to add a rich taste to your herb butter turkey. Consequently, run the processor till the herb mixture turns into a fine paste.

Finally and lastly add the butter which is at room temperature, butter, which is softened will blend nicely with the herb mixture, but if it isn’t at room temperature and is not softened it won’t blend with the herb mixture and you will notice the lumps of butter in the herb mixture. Hence, follow the butter recipe properly or else your further steps of cooking a tasty recipe will get obstructed.

Step 4

Now take out a large roasting pan and add your carrots, normal or red potatoes and scallions all diced into biteable pieces. Spread all the vegetables evenly in the roasting pan. After you are done placing the vegetables in the roasting pan, add half a cup of vermouth wine in addition to the pan. And later place a roasting rack over it, so you could lay the turkey over the rack later.

Adding vegetables will add an extra flavour correspondingly to your gorgeous turkey.

(Additional step: Adding the wine vermouth to the vegetables. Vermouth is a type of wine that is flavoured using herbs and spices. Vermouth wine can be found in two types, that is red wine and white wine. Adding vermouth to the turkey recipe will give an extra punch of oozing flavours to the turkey.)

Step 5

Now place your marinated turkey over the roasting rack. After placing the marinated turkey loosen the skin of the marinated turkey and rub the earlier mixture of butter under the skin. Rubbing the butter under the skin is important because this will add texture to the turkey skin. The butter under the skin will get caramelized and as the turkey cooks, it will have a crispier texture from the outside and on the contrary a moist turkey from the inside.

Step 6

Before adding the herb butter to the rest of the outer surface of the turkey. You will need to use butcher’s twine to tie the turkey, so all the stuffing stays in place and do its work.

Start with tying the turkey from its upper body and then moving to the lower body which is the turkey cavity in a crisscross motion, then pull the legs of the turkey in the centre and do a crisscross motion with the butcher’s twine again and seal the legs with final multiple ties.

Perfectly sealing the turkey is important when you are making a recipe with stuffed turkey, if you don’t tie the turkey properly all the stuffing will come out and the entire turkey recipe will be an absolute failure.

Check this video to know how to use butcher’s twine

Step 7

Now, rub herb butter all over the turkey evenly and also add the herb butter to the cavity of the turkey. Also, rub herb butter on the lower surface of the turkey, do not forget that there are vegetables by the turkey underneath.

So, when you add the butter mixture to the lower surface of the turkey, the turkey juice and the herb butter mixture are going to get soaked and mixed with the vegetables which is then gonna give the vegetables more added flavour. Do not put all the herb butter at one time leave the remaining herb butter for later.

Remember the tip to keep the turkey dry on the surface, cause if the turkey is not dry on the surface you won’t be able to apply the herb butter. If the surface of the turkey is wet all the herb butter won’t stay in place and it’ll all glide away from the surface of the turkey. Hence, always make sure your turkey is dry before applying the herb butter.

Step 8

After the turkey is completely coated with herb butter you are good to go with the furthermost important process for the turkey recipe, which is to roast turkey perfectly. While cooking turkey the oven temperature is the most important thing. Therefore, the ideal oven temperature to roast turkey is by starting with the temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place your large roasting pan with the turkey and vegetables inside the lowest rack of the oven with the temperature set at 450 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for half an hour.

When half an hour is completed open the oven and slid out the roasting rack of the oven a little and add the remaining herb butter to the turkey skin with the help of a silicone brush. After you are done applying the herb butter push the rack back into the oven again and cook the turkey further for three hours.

For the next three hours cook the roasted turkey at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit or accordingly, to the kind of oven, you are using. But make sure to keep checking the cooked turkey every 45 minutes and you can also keep adding the herb butter to the turkey skin every time you check the roasted turkey.

If you feel like your roasted turkey is burning and needs to be taken out immediately, you do not need to worry much just use something to cover it further and cook the turkey. To avoid burning the turkey and still allow it to cook from inside you can cover the turkey with foil paper and then place the turkey in the oven to cook again. This will help in not burning the turkey and still cooking the turkey at its pace.

Step 9

Take out the large pan of roasted turkey from the oven and place it on the table. And then with the help of your meat thermometer insert it into the roasted turkey to check its temperature. If the roasted turkey registers a temperature of 175 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer then it means that the turkey has been roasted to perfection.

Step 10

The last most important step remaining after roasting the turkey perfectly is to make a perfect gravy as well. This gravy is equally important and similar to the roasted turkey as it will create a balance between the texture and taste of the flavorful turkey.

After removing the roasted turkey you will notice the broth left from cooking the vegetables and from the turkey juices. This broth will act as a potent ingredient in making the gravy richer and creamier for the gravy. So, remove the vegetables from the roasting pan and drain out the broth or the drippings into a different container for the gravy.

Step 11

To make a rich gravy first you will need to make a Roux out of butter and flour. This Roux will help with thickening the gravy and add a creamy thick texture to the gravy.

Start by adding the leftover mixture from the butter earlier to the small pot or if there is no mixture of butter remaining then start by adding a stick of salted or unsalted butter in a small pot. Let the butter melt, do not let the butter burn or else the taste of the gravy will change.

Once the butter has melted, add one-fourth cup of all-purpose flour to the butter and keep whisking the batter with the help of a whisk. Keep whisking the mixture on low flame until the mixture turns a colour of golden brown. It is fine if the texture of the mixture turns lumpy and crumbly, and not smooth and runny.

Making the Roux will approximately take six to seven of your minutes.

Step 12

After the Roux is done, add the drippings and the turkey broth, which was made from the wet brine into your Roux slowly and gradually. Do not pour the pan juices or the wet brine directly into the pot or the texture of your gravy will become lumpy and unlikeable. Pour the pan drippings in small proportions into the pan while you simultaneously keep whisking the mixture.

Once you pour all the drippings into the mixture, turn the flame high and let the mixture come to a boil. After it comes to a boil, reduce the temperature and keep it simmering for about the next 5 to 6 minutes. Keep whisking in between while the gravy simmers.

Step 13

The final step is to season the gravy. Season the gravy with freshly ground black or white peppercorns and salt if required. The most important thing to do is serve the herb butter turkey recipe.

6. Time Required To Prep Herb Butter Turkey:

It would be better if you let the turkey brine for a day or at least 12 -14 hours before you start cooking the turkey.

7. Configured Time For Cooking Herb Butter Turkey:

Approximately 3-4 hours.

Save this Thanksgiving turkey recipe and make everyone smile.

Last Updated on August 28, 2023 by Himani Rawat

Author

Samruddhi (Author)

Herb Butter Turkey Recipe in 7 Simple Steps

1. Tips