Easy - Healthy Garlic Butter Herb Roasted Turkey

Easy - Healthy Garlic Butter Herb Roasted Turkey

Here's your guide to making the perfect, juicy, and naturally low carb turkey for Thanksgiving.  I will walk you through choosing your turkey to thawing, brining and roasting time, we'll cover it all and you will have the perfect garlic butter herb roasted turkey. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Easy Garlic Butter Herb Roasted Turkey Recipe

Prep Time                       10 minutes
Cook Time                       3 hours
Resting Time                   20 minutes
 
INGREDIENTS
· 2 gallons Water
· 2 cups Kosher salt
· 12 lb Whole Turkey
· 1/2 cup Butter (softened; use ghee for dairy-free, paleo or whole30)
· 1 tbsp Fresh sage (chopped finely)
· 1 tbsp Fresh rosemary (chopped finely)
· 1 tbsp Fresh thyme (leaves only)
· 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
· 1 tsp Lemon zest
· 1/2 tbsp Sea salt
· 1/2 tsp Black pepper
 
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large stock pot large enough to fit the turkey, stir together 2 gallons of water and 2 cups kosher salt. Submerge the turkey in the brine. Refrigerate for 8-10 hours.
2. When the turkey is done brining, drain the water and pat dry. Place the turkey onto a roasting pan with a roasting rack.
3. Position the oven rack on a low position, so that there is enough room for the turkey. The top of the turkey should end up just slightly higher than the middle when placed in the over later. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. In a small bowl, mash together the softened butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, minced garlic, lemon zest, sea salt and black pepper.
5. Use your hands under the skin of the turkey to separate the skin from the meat underneath. (Be careful not to tear the skin.)
6. Spread half of the butter all over the turkey underneath the skin. Spread the other half over the skin all over.
7. Check the chart below for the amount of time to roast without foil and the remaining time with foil. For a 12 lb turkey, that’s 45 minutes uncovered follow by about 2 1/4 hours covered. To cover, tent the top of the turkey with foil, shiny side out, making sure the foil is not touching the turkey, and return to the over.
8. Check that the roasted turkey is done with a meat thermometer—it should read 165 degrees for the safest option. For the most juicy turkey, aim for 150-155 degrees, and then cover in foil immediately after removing from the oven. Let the turkey rest, covered in foil, for about 20 minutes to come up to 165 -170 degrees before serving.
 
 

How much turkey per person:
To figure out how much turkey per person, a general guide is 1 pound per person, or 1.5 per person if you want leftovers. Of course, this accounts for bone weight too, so each person wouldn’t actually be eating an entire pound of meat. 


Turkey thawing times by weight:
  • 4 to 8 pound turkey: 1 to 2 days
  • 8 to 12 pound turkey: 2 to 3 days
  • 12 to 16 pound turkey: 3 to 4 days
How to brine a turkey:
Place your thawed turkey in a pot large enough to hold the turkey and cover completely with water. I keep my brine simple with just water and salt.  For ever gallon of water you need to cover your turkey in the pot add 1 cup of salt. I use a Kosher Salt for my brine. Brine the turkey for 8 to 10 hours, don’t go much over or you risk the turkey being too salt.


Turkey Roasting Time
Start by roasting the turkey to brown the skin, then cover it and continue roasting for the remaining time.
  • 8 to 11 lb turkey, roast uncovered for 45 minutes and then cover and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
  • 12 to 14 lb turkey, roast uncovered for 45 minutes and then cover and roast for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes.
  • 15 to 17 lb turkey, roast uncovered for 45 minutes and then cover and roast for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours.


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