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The best and easiest Thanksgiving turkey

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5 from 1 review

A delicious, moist, flavorful turkey recipe, infused with beer, citrus and fresh herbs.

Ingredients

Scale

For the brine

  • Equal parts beer and water
  • 2–3 bay leaves
  • 2–3 oranges, halved
  • Fresh thyme
  • Fresh sage
  • Salt and whole peppercorns
  • 2 heads of garlic, halved lengthwise
  • Sugar to taste
  • A bunch of scallions, rough chopped

For the turkey

  • A whole turkey! You can also do this with turkey breasts
  • 1 bunch of carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 sweet onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch of celery, roughly chopped
  • Butter
  • To stuff the turkey: oranges, garlic, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary

Instructions

  1. 1. In a huge stovetop, combine equal parts beer and water, and then salt and sugar to taste. You will use a decent amount of salt and sugar. Season to taste so that it tastes noticeably salty and sweet.
  2. 2. Stir in the scallions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, oranges (squeeze the juice out of each half into the mixture before adding the orange), 2 tablespoons of peppercorns. Bring the liquid up to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and let cool completely.
  3. 3. In a brining bag or large pot, add the turkey. Make sure the remove the neck and gizzards that are inside. Pour the brine on top, and seal completely or cover. Store in the fridge overnight. Make sure the turkey is fully submerged.
  4. 4. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 and grease a large turkey roasting dish with butter or nonstick spray. Place the carrots, celery and onion on the bottom, and season well with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
  5. 5. Place the turkey on top, and secure the wings under the bird. Fill the turkey with oranges, halved garlic, fresh thyme (almost and entire bunch) and fresh rosemary.
  6. 6. Melt 1-2 sticks of butter, and drizzle over the turkey. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together and cover the dish with foil before placing in the oven.
  7. 7. Check the turkey after 1 hour to start basting. Using a turkey baster, cover the turkey in the juices every 20 minutes until it’s finished cooking. Watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn, and start checking the temperature in an hour or so, depending on how large your turkey is.
  8. 8. When the internal temperature reaches about 140, remove the foil to let the turkey brown as it finishes cooking. Remove the turkey from the oven when the internal temperature is at least 155 degrees.
  9. 9. Allow the turkey to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. After carving, use a spoon to over it in the juices from the pan and the vegetables.

Notes

3 tips for an awesome turkey

  • -Brine it. Don’t skip this step! It makes it so much more flavorful and keeps it from drying out
  • -Baste the heck out of it. This keeps it from burning and makes it taste amazing
  • -Use a meat thermometer to make sure you don’t overcook/undercook.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://fitnessista.com/chef-kyles-perfect-thanksgiving-turkey/

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