Active Time
20 min
Total Time
3 hours
A big, golden bird is often the centerpiece of a holiday meal—but that doesn’t mean it has to take the most work. This roast turkey recipe makes it easy to get the main course on the table in just three hours, leaving you more time to bake the other elements of your Thanksgiving dinner (like your green bean casserole and sweet potatoes). The key to roasting a turkey in a shortened time frame is to cook it at a higher temperature than you might be used to. This allows you to cut the cook time, but it also has other benefits, like giving you golden brown, crispy skin and keeping both the breast meat and dark meat moist—no basting required. And you’ll still have plenty of drippings for turkey gravy. That said, we do not recommend this high-heat roasting method for turkeys weighing more than 16 pounds. For turkeys weighing less than 14 pounds, start checking the temperature earlier than the instructions call for.
If you’d like to add fresh herbs to your turkey (like fresh thyme or even some fresh rosemary), you can—it’s best to put some sprigs right into the bird’s cavity, along with a halved onion or any other aromatics, so that you don’t have to worry about them burning. But for this Thanksgiving turkey recipe, we keep the ingredients as simple as possible—all that’s added is salt and pepper. Then you’ll just need a roasting pan and a good meat thermometer (ideally one that you can read remotely, to keep track of the meat’s internal temperature), and in a couple of hours, you’ll have a perfect roast turkey sitting on your cutting board.
Ingredients
8–10 servings
Special Equipment:
Preparation
Step 1
Remove any feathers and quills with pliers (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others).
Step 2
Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.
Step 3
Mix salt and pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly in turkey cavities and all over skin. Fold neck skin under body and, if desired, secure with metal skewer, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string.
Step 4
Put turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1¾ to 2½ hours.
Step 5
Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan) and let stand 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 180°F). Cut off and discard string from turkey.
VARTIATIONS:
For a stuffed turkey: Twelve cups of stuffing will fill both cavities and leave you extra to bake separately. Just before roasting, spoon room-temperature stuffing loosely (stuffing expands as it cooks) into the neck (smaller) cavity. Fold the neck skin underneath the body and secure with a small metal skewer. Then loosely fill the body (larger) cavity, and tie drumsticks together. If you don't want any stuffing to spill out, cover the opening with a slice of fresh bread, tucking it inside the cavity before tying the drumsticks. Follow roasting directions above. (Timing for a stuffed bird may be slightly longer, but start checking the temperature at 1¾ hours.) Immediately transfer stuffing from body cavity to a shallow baking dish (separate from one for stuffing baked outside the turkey). Take temperature of stuffing in neck cavity and if less than 165°F, add it to the baking dish. Bake (covered for a moist stuffing or uncovered for a crisp top) until it reaches a minimum of 165°F. This can take 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the oven, which you may have lowered to reheat side dishes.
For a roast turkey breast: The same method used above can be applied to a whole turkey breast (instead of the entire bird). For a 6-to-8-pound breast (with skin and bone), reduce amount of salt to 1½ teaspoons and pepper to ¾ teaspoon. Use a V-rack instead of a flat rack. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted in thickest part of each breast half (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1½ hours. Let stand 30 minutes (temperature in breast will rise to between 175°F and 180°F). (For a grilled turkey option, see Grilled Whole Turkey.)
If you only have a dark-colored metal roasting pan, add 1 cup water to the roasting pan before putting the turkey in the oven. Click here to read more about the basics of how to roast a turkey.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the November 2005 issue of ‘Gourmet‘ and first appeared on Epicurious in October 2005.
Leave a Review
Reviews (81)
Back to TopThis is the easiest, tastiest turkey recipe, and I've used it for years. Zero fuss, crispy skin. The. Best.
cindyoa
12/26/2023
There are so many new recipes for turkey roasting, it's mind-bogling. You still can't go wrong if you make it the way your gramma did.
janelynn
weirton, wv
11/12/2022
Excellent! Best turkey I ever made. Had a 14 # fresh brined turkey from Whole Foods. Very nervous about 450 degrees for the whole roasting period, but it was perfect. Thank you for the reviewers that reminded me to add 1 cup of water to the pan. The reduced cooking and excellent flavor makes this my recipe from now on.
nancyrice
Rochester, MI
11/27/2020
Really nice! I used a dark roasting pan, so started with some water in the bottom, and had to add more a couple times, to keep the drippings from burning. All told, it took just shy of 2 hours to cook our 15.5 lb turkey.
hannahmasters
Nashville, TN
11/26/2020
I thought 450° would be too hot for the turkey but I tried it. I put it in and had to run out for 45 minutes. I came back and the skin on the top of the turkey was burnt. I had not covered the turkey because there was no mention of covering it. Flipped the turkey over, added broth to the pan bottom, pasted the bird with butter and returned it to the oven. I went back to what was recommended on the on the turkey package of 325° I like crispy skin I don’t like it burnt. Something is missing from this recipe for sure.
Diala
New York
11/26/2020
Someone explain to me how leaving a turkey at 450 degrees without adding water to the drippings doesn’t burn the pan or cause a ton of smoke to fill up the house? I’ve left a turkey at 325 degrees for 2 hours & I thought I was going to die do smoke inhalation. Yes, I cleaned the oven thoroughly prior to cooking.
rmj0572
Los Angeles, CA
11/16/2020
There is a magic step that is not included here: Don't add the cup of water, add half a bottle of dry vermouth. Watch the turkey, and each time you check it, make sure the pan isn't burning the pan juices. Top up the vermouth as necessary.If you use the whole bottle, fill the bottle with water, and continue to top up the pan as necessary to keep the juices from burning. I place the neck and giblets/heart/liver, and an onion, halved, cut side down, 2 carrots, same, a stalk of celery with leaves, and stalks of sage, rosemary, parsley, under the turkey in the pan. The vermouth reduces with the pan juices and cooks the aromatics and you can use it to make the world's best gravy. Try it.
Anonymous
Harpers Ferry, WV
12/25/2019
Amazing. Beautiful brown and juicy turkey, and so easy. Our bird was 14.5# and cooked in well under 2 hrs. We cleaned our turkey the day before and let it air dry in the fridge without any wrapping. We did brush it with melted butter before roasting, but otherwise did not baste it. No stuffing other than an onion, some parsley, lemon and garlic. We did add water to the pan but I would let it evaporate next time as we didn't get the nice brown bits that add richness and color to the gravy- flavor itself was good though. Definitely will do this again - and not just on Thanksgiving.
chicagowillie
Michigan
11/23/2018
I've made this recipe every year since it first appeared. I add some aromatics to the cavity (sage, onion, lemon and half a granny smith apple) and I cover the breast with foil once it's nice and brown. Like others, I add water to the bottom of the pan, something my grandmother always did so I do too. The turkey always comes out moist and delicious. One other thing, my turkeys are kosher, so they come already brined, which can't hurt.
Bobbylou
Tennessee
11/16/2018
With this recipe, you don't get as mellow a flavor as when you do it in the slow 325 oven. Good and juicy but not as deep a flavor. I also wrap my turkey in 2 brown bags and let it sit until the rest of the dinner is done. Also mellows it more.
4artssake
Blue ridge
11/16/2018
I’ve been using this recipe for about 10 years now - the turkey is always perfect. Delicious!
cinkue
Pacifica, CA
11/16/2018
This is a question, not a review. Breast up or breast down for this method?
ljceeme3841
Grand Junction, CO
11/4/2018
Great way with one big IF! I had post-Thanksgiving-grocery "previously frozen" parts: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 1 huge turkey breast. The legs and thighs went in first in a regular broiler pan with sloping 1-1/2" sides and plenty of water. Cooked beautifully and not too long. The breast went in later (still trying to defrost it) in a shallower broiler pan and water. BIG mistake! The shallower pan could not hold enough water. When I opened the door (lots of smoke, smoke alarms going off) to add more water (dumb idea), the oil splattered and went up in flames. Shut the door, opened outside doors, flames died down,, smoke alarms quieted down. The breast took quite a while to cook (pop-up finally popped) with lots of smoke and glazing too blackened to use the pan drippings. Breast was nicely done. A 450-degree oven works beautifully, as others have said, just as long as your pan is deep enough for a goodly amount of water that doesn't run out. Otherwise, big, big cleanup job afterwards. ;P
PJCurie
NH
12/4/2017
I cooked a 15 lb. Trader Joe Kosher turkey in 1 1/5 hours. I used a dark pan. Simple and easy. Very moist. I will continue to always cook a turkey this way.
jhcar
Boston, MA
11/28/2014
Ever since I found Thomas Keller's recipe for roast chicken here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348, I've cooked whole fowl this way. Absolutey fool-proof.
dana_eb
San Diego
11/27/2014
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