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It’s finally time for Turkey Talk!! I LOVE this herb and butter roasted turkey with white wine pan gravy.
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Like November is here! I have only been waiting for this day since like, the beginning of August! I am such a freak, I mean who starts thinking about the holidays in the heat of the summer? Basically what I’m trying to say is that this post has been a long time coming.
While everybody was enjoying all the things that go along with October, I was roasting turkeys, mashing potatoes and eating Thanksgiving dinner. Or well, at least towards the end of October I was. I try to be on top of things, but then somehow I always fail.
UGH.
But hey! I got the turkey made and um, I am pretty dang happy with it. I mean, come on. Doesn’t it look perfect?!?!
It is!!
Ok, so here’s the deal. When it comes to the holidays, I am all about traditional. I love traditions and to be honest, I don’t like breaking them. That said, I do love to switch little things up just a little with things like side dishes and desserts. But the turkey?
The turkey has to be classic. Herbs and butter. Nothing fancy, nothing overdone. Just classic, simple and delicious flavors.
For as long as I can remember, my mom has always cooked the Thanksgiving bird. Even last year, she cooked the turkey. She is a good turkey roaster and we had a good thing going. I’d do the sides + desserts + apps and she handled the turkey…although last year, I do recall that she and my dad were out hiking for most the time the turkey was cooking leaving me to tend to it.
Actually, as I recall, she and dad were still hiking when people began arriving for dinner. Typical.
Anyway, I love my mom’s classic turkey, so I took inspiration from her, read a whole bunch online and then made some turkeys (yup plural, and I still have three more to make between now and Christmas). And you guys, I swear by this turkey you see here today.
It’s perfection and I could not be more excited about it.
As you can read from the title, Herb and Butter Roasted Turkey with White Wine Pan Gravy, my turkey is simple and traditional. Pretty sure it doesn’t get much more classic than this.
Just the way I like it.
The secret to my turkey is a butter soaked cheesecloth. I read about this method of cooking the bird in this month’s Food and Wine. The second I read about it, I knew I had to try it. It’s flipping genius!
You soak a layer of cheesecloth in melted butter (mine is full of fresh thyme, sage, parsley and lemon zest!) and then drape the butter soaked cheesecloth over the bird. Then you roast the turkey with the cheesecloth ON the bird. The cloth protects the skin from burning all while basting the turkey with butter the entire time it roasts.
Genius I tell you, and the skin comes out perfect, the meat is incredibly moist and the flavor is spot on! You do not even need to tent the bird with foil, the butter soaked cheesecloth works magic guys and it could not be easier.
Soo the gravy though?!? My mom has alway has always had trouble with gravy. Like it was either clumpy, too thin or flavorless. I get it, gravy can be hard, but this pan gravy will make your life simple. Nothing too tricky and it gets made in the very same pan you roast the turkey in. Hello less dishes – YES!
Plus, the flavor is out of this world. It’s all about those pan drippings. 🙂
So are you excited yet?? Are you going to start planning Thanksgiving? It’s T-minus twenty days away and I have then next couple weeks packed with my personal Thanksgiving menu. Think sweet taters, pies, cookies, mashers, casseroles, salad, bread and the works. I may even throw a few drinks your way this holiday season too.
Wait, question: are we into drinks? Like cocktails? With booze? Let me know.
It’s gonna be a really good November. But since Turkey is the star of the show, I figured I would start there.
Next up are the apps, sides, desserts and a couple easy dinners too (you know cause we all gotta eat between now and the big day – duh!).
YUM. Did you break out the stretchy pants yet, cause I think it may be time. I am full-force (like intensely so) in all holiday GO mode, so excited!
SIDE NOTE: My dad asked, since we had turkey in October, if that meant we could skip it at Thanksgiving. I practically looked at him like he was insane. I mean, what??!? Who skips the turkey on Thanksgiving? Guys, he is out of his mind I tell ya. Like losing it BIG TIME.
Or he’s just a giant Scrooge, thinking a combo of both actually.
Herb and Butter Roasted Turkey with White Wine Pan Gravy.
Ingredients
- 1 (14-16) pound turkey, giblets and neck removed
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage, plus more for stuffing the bird
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, plus more for stuffing the bird
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 piece large of double lined cheesecloth
- 2 lemons, halved
- 1 garlic head, tips sliced off
- 1 onion, halved
- 7-8 cups low sodium chicken or turkey broth
White Wine Pan Gravy
- 1 cup white wine
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- drippings from the turkey
- 2-3 cups low sodium chicken or turkey broth, as needed
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- 1. Remove the turkey from the fridge one hour before roasting. Remove the giblets + neck and allow to come to room temperature.2. Make the butter. In a medium bowl, combine the 1 stick butter, the sage, thyme, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. 3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan.4. Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with the, lemons, garlic and onion. Gently lift the skin of the turkey by using your fingers and going in between the skin and body of the bird. Rub the herb butter under the skin of the bird, spreading some of the butter on top of the skin as well. Take the remaining 1 stick butter and melt it over the low heat on the stove or in the microwave. Dampen your cheesecloth with warm water and squeeze dry. Submerge the cheesecloth in the melted butter, making sure all the cheese cloth has soaked up the butter. Lay the cheesecloth over the bird, covering most of the bird. Drizzle any remaining butter over the turkey.5. Pour 4 cups of chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting plan. Place the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 45 minutes at 450 degrees F. After 45 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and continue cooking for another 2 hours (until the turkey registers 160 F. on a meat thermometer), adding 1-2 cup of broth half way through roasting. I like to baste the turkey with the drippings 2 times throughout cooking and when doing so rotate the roasting pan.6. Remove the turkey from the oven and remove the cheesecloth, transfer the turkey to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil and let rest 20-30 minutes before slicing.7. Make the gravy. Strain the liquid from the roasting pan, skimming off most of the fat. I like to pour the broth into a 4 cup measuring cup and then place in the freezer for 10 minutes. This helps the fat rise to the top of the surface. Once you have skimmed the fat, add enough broth to equal about 4-5 cups total of drippings/broth.8. Place the roasting pan over two burners and add a splash of wine (about 1/2 cup) to deglaze the pan. You want to scrape up all those brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is throughly deglazed, add the butter and once melted, add the flour whisking to combine. Cook stirring constantly, until the mixture is golden, around 5 minutes.9. Increase heat to medium high and add the remaining 1/2 cup of white wine, whisking as you go to let the wine reduce down. Slowly add reserved broth, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the sage and cook, continuing to stir, until the gravy has thickened to your desired thickness, around 8 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm with the turkey.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
That picture? It makes you happy and excited, right?? I know, me too!!
Made this last year and it’s delicious! I have one question, do you think we can run the herbed butter on the turkey the day/night before? thinking about it!
Thank you for all your recipes!
Hi Veronica,
Thanks so much for making this recipe again! Yes, that would be okay for you to do! Happy Thanksgiving! xT
Looking forward to making this Turkey again. As I made it last year and everyone said it was so good and secretly telling me it was the best one at our Thanksgiving party. LOL. My question is about the gravy. Can I use unbleached bread flour?
Hi Nicole,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you last year! Yes, that should be just fine for you to use:) Happy Thanksgiving! xT
Do we think this will work similarly for a turkey breast? We rarely do the whole bird since the crew is small. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi there,
Here is my recipe for the turkey breasts:
Butter Roasted Turkey Breasts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 6
2 skin on, bone in turkey breasts (about 4-5 pounds total)
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter
1/3 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, sage, and parsley
zest of 1 lemon
kosher salt and black pepper
1 head garlic, skin left on and head cut in half horizontally
4 shallots, halved
1 cup white wine
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the butter, herbs, lemon zest, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
3. Gently loosen skin from the turkey breasts. Rub butter under the skin and all over the outside of breasts. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the thyme sprigs, garlic, and shallots in large roasting pan and then place the turkey breasts, skin side up, on top. Roast turkey breasts, rotating halfway through, until skin is crisp and golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breasts registers 160 degrees F., about 45–55 minutes.
5. Transfer turkey breasts to a platter or cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Carve and serve the turkey breasts with pan drippings and roasted shallots.
Thank you so much! And thank you for pulling such quick responses out for this super busy time of year. Extremely generous of you. Hope you and the whole team have a wonderful holiday!
I’m making this today for our small group thanksgiving! My only worry is the skin getting crispy. Did you have any issues with that because of the cheesecloth? I was thinking about starting it off the first 45 minutes without then adding it after the heat is reduced. Would love to know your thoughts on this! Thanks so much!
Hi Paige,
I make this turkey every year and have never had issues with the skin getting crispy with the cheesecloth:) You can follow the recipe as written! I hope it turns out well for you! xx
Okay so I made this Turkey yesterday and I have a few things I struggled with. When I went to put the compound butter on the skin and under, I could not get it to spread to save my life. The butter was nice and soft and the Turkey had been coming to room temp for about 90 minutes so it wasn’t super cold or anything. Not sure why I couldn’t get it to spread. So the butter/herbs were sporadic. Second the time. This could totally be my oven but it took ages to cook for me. It was a 14lb bird and I put it in at 12:30 and it didn’t reach 160° until 5:30pm. I’ve never had this issue with a Turkey or anything before so I have no idea what happened there. Third, the skin did not crisp up for me so when I was checking it at one point I looked under the cloth and just took it off. It cooked uncovered for about an hour and the skin was perfectly golden brown and it looked fantastic when it was all said and done. It tasted really good but could have been better I think if the butter had spread well for me. I’m making the Turkey for our family thanksgiving tomorrow and will likely use the same method because it was very hands off and easy.
Hi Paige,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! What temp did you cook the turkey at? I promise the skin with get crispy with the cheesecloth on there and just be sure to baste over it:) I hope this helps! xx
This is my first time making the turkey for Thanksgiving, so I did a test run today with a smallish bird (9lbs) and it was absolutely delicious. The only deviance I had from the recipe’s results is that the skin didn’t get crispy. Any recommendation for crisping that up without drying out the meat? (For cooking @ elevation purposes, I live at 6200 ft.)
Regardless, I would take a non-crispy skin and a flavorful, juicy turkey over crispy skin any day! Great recipe!
Hi Kim,
Thanks for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear the skin was not crispy, I have never had that issue! How many layers of the cheesecloth did you use? Did you use a lid on your roasting pan? Just trying to troubleshoot to see what may have happened. xx
Hi! I used a single layered cheese cloth, but doubled over (so two layers total) and no lid. I did cook the turkey with vegetables underneath for that particular dinner, so maybe that created too much moisture? Trying just with the broth today. It’s going in the oven soon! 🙂
Thanks!!
Hello! I am cooking a 24 pound turkey. When you say add 12 min per pound, i am assuming your bird was 14 pounds so i’m adding 10 more pounds so 140 minutes or 2.3 hrs. Do i still just do the 45 min at 450 and then increase the 350 roast time from 2 hrs to 4.3? Thank you!
I’m sorry *120 min or 2hrs
Hi Cassandra,
Yes, you will add 120 minutes to this recipe for your 24 lb turkey. I would also use a meat thermometer just to be sure it’s the perfect temp and turns out best for you! I hope you love this recipe! xx
This looks amazing. Do you want to place the bird directly in the roasting pan sitting in the broth OR do you want it on a rack within the pan? Thanks for clarifying!
Hey Alli,
If you have a rack, go ahead and use that! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Would the cheese cloth be appropriate to use in a convection oven? Also, are you basting it over the cheese cloth?
Hi Lori,
You bet, and yes you will baste over the cheesecloth. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
my first time cooking a turkey ever and this recipe was delicious/so easy to follow! I wanted to practice once before we host Thanksgiving and this will be my forever recipe.
Yay!! Love to hear this, Shae! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! xT
What roasting pan do you use? I need a new one, and yours looks like it’s good quality! Love all your recipes! Most of our Thanksgiving dishes come from you! Thank you!
Hey Lindsay,
Here is the link for my roasting pan:
https://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=535290069&pid=uid3696-43323264-41&aid=45496900&utm_content=productwidget%3A635bffad870c5535ef0047a0&utm_medium=referral
Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Thanksgiving! xT
Would you recommend bringing the bird with this recipe? If so, should I reduce the salt during roasting?
Hi Jennifer,
I never brine my turkey, but you definitely could if you wanted:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Does the lemon zest and halfed lemons used for stuffing the bird make for a strong lemon flavored gravy from the drippings?
Hi Judy,
I personally don’t feel as though they do, but you are more than welcome to reduce those:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Excited to make this! Do you double layer your cheese cloth?
Also I’m making a 21lb turkey, I’ve always done 12-14 min per pound (4.5-5 hours) is this right?
I usually go by the internal temp, but then I saw your comment about adding 12min per pound and got confused!
My first time hosting this year and using all of your recipes!
Hey Taylor,
If you cheesecloth is single lined you will fold it in half to make it double:) And then yes, this recipe is only for a 14-16 pound bird, so add an additional 12 minutes per pound from there. I hope that makes sense! xT
Would this recipe work with margarine?
Hi Shauna,
Yes, that would work for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
How long do you think a 10lb Turkey would take and should this recipe cut to about 2/3 for ingredients ? Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
I would just cut the recipe in half and then you are going to have to reduce your roasting time by 12 minutes per pound from the recipe. I hope it turns out well for you! xx
I made a spatchcock turkey last year to conserve oven space and cut cooking time. Will be using your recipe this time with my spatchcock turkey – excited to try out that butter soaked cheesecloth method!
I hope you love this recipe, Michelle! The cheesecloth is a game changer:) Let me know how it turns out! xT