Say goodbye to dry turkey with the Best Christmas Turkey! It is succulent, juicy and filled with traditional Christmas flavors. Serve with Christmas vegetables and potatoes.
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Turkey is the main attraction during Christmas so it is important to get it right. The following steps below will help you make a juicy, mouthwatering turkey that will have your family and friends coming back for more!
To make a moist, succulent turkey, soak it in brine for at least 1 hour. Brine is simply salt dissolved in water. The ratio for any wet brine is 1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water or 1 liter of water to 70g of salt. You can brine the turkey for 1 hour per 500g of meat.
Serve this Turkey with Christmas White Hot Chocolate with Baileys, The Best Roast Potatoes, Creamy Mashed Potato Recipe and Cheese Puff Pastry Christmas Tree.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
- This is the best Christmas turkey because it is moist, juicy, and succulent! Follow a few simple steps, and you will have a showstopping turkey in no time.
- When meat is left to soak in brine, it absorbs the liquid and salt, which results in more juicy and moist meat!
- You can add any ingredient to the brine of your choice to make the best Christmas turkey. Some favorites include fresh lemons, onions, garlic, basil, thyme, and more!
Best Christmas Turkey Recipe Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Turkey: Select a good-quality turkey. Make sure that it has not been soaked in brine already. If so do not brine the turkey because it will be too salty. Allow the turkey to thaw completely before soaking in brine.
- Sugar: Adding sugar balances out the savory flavors in the brine.
- Onions: I used white onions for the best Christmas turkey, but feel free to use red onions or shallots instead.
- Garlic cloves: Fresh garlic cloves work best for this recipe.
- Oranges: Add fresh oranges for a sweet citrus flavor.
- Lemon: This also adds a subtle sour citrus-like flavor to the turkey.
- Herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary and bay leaves): This combination of herbs adds delicious earthy flavors to the turkey.
- Unsalted butter: Is rubbed all over turkey. It is combined with seasoning, gives the turkey its gorgeous brown color.
Tips and Substitutions
- Dry: Pat the turkey dry before rubbing it with the seasoned butter. This will ensure that the turkey is crispy on the outside.
- Thaw: Thaw the turkey before adding it to the brine. If you don't, roasting the turkey will take longer.
- Size: The best Christmas turkey can be used for any sized turkey. Feel free to half, double or triple the ingredients accordingly.
How to Make The Best Christmas Turkey
1. Start by adding water to a large pot. The water should cover the turkey. Next, add salt to the water, sugar, black pepper to taste, onion, garlic cloves, orange, lemon, thyme, sage, a few bunches of rosemary and bay leaves. Heat the mixture on a low/medium stove to dissolve and cook the ingredients added to the water. Stir and cook the brine until the salt and sugar dissolve.
2. Once the salt and sugar have dissolved, remove the mixture from the heat and leave it to cool. If you are in a hurry, you can add ice or cold water to cool it down faster. Do not add too much, though, as you don't want to dilute the brine. Next, add a medium-sized turkey to the brine and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Note: The longer you leave the turkey in the brine, the more moisture it will absorb. However, do not soak the turkey for more than 24 hours, as this may cause the flesh to become too soft and mushy.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/356F/ Gas 4. Then, remove the turkey from the brine and leave it to sit until it dries, or pat it with a paper towel.
4. Grab a bowl and room-temperature unsalted butter, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix well.
5. Rub the butter mixture on the turkey's body, then add it to a large oven dish breast-side up.
6. Stuff the turkey with lemon, orange, garlic cloves, and onion.
7. Tie the drumsticks, tuck the wings in, and bake for 3-4 ½ hrs. Check the turkey every 30 minutes and pour the juices from the tray on top of it so that it does not dry out. If the turkey skin becomes too brown, you can cover it with foil loosely as it cooks.
8. Feel free to add festive vegetables such as sprouts, parsnips and carrots to the turkey tray in the last 30 minutes. The vegetables will soak up the turkey juices! A meat thermometer can help you determine whether the turkey is ready. Insert it between the breast and leg. The temperature should be 75°C/165°F.
9. Once the turkey is ready, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the best Christmas turkey with roasted potatoes, Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, roasted carrots and Brussels sprouts and gravy.
Recipe FAQs
This all depends on the size of the turkey. The general rule is 25-30 minutes per kilo if the turkey is at room temperature. However, if the turkey is frozen it will take a longer time to cook.
Turkey is traditionally eaten in the UK during Christmas.
Place leftover turkey in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days.
More Tasty Christmas Recipes
Best Christmas Turkey
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot
- 1 Large Oven Dish
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized turkey 7 kg
- ½-1 cup of salt
- ½ a cup of sugar
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 oranges chopped largely
- 2 lemon chopped largely
- 3 teaspoon of thyme
- 4 teaspoon of sage
- A bunch of rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 125 g of unsalted butter
Instructions
- Start by adding water to a large pot. The water should cover the turkey.
- Add ½-1 cup of salt to the water, ½ a cup of sugar, black pepper to taste, 1 onion, 2-3 garlic cloves, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1-2 teaspoon of thyme, 1-2 teaspoon of sage, a few bunches of rosemary and 2 bay leaves.
- Heat the mixture on a low/medium stove, stir and cook until the salt and sugar dissolve.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and leave it to cool down or add ice to the mixture to cool it down faster. You can also add cold water.
- Add a medium sized turkey (6-7kg) to the brine and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Preheat oven at 180C/356F/ Gas 4. Remove turkey from the brine and leave it to sit until dry or pat it dry with a paper towel.
- Add 125g of unsalted butter to a bowl (must be room temperature). Add 1-2 teaspoon of rosemary and thyme. Add salt to taste, pepper to taste and mix well.
- Rub the butter mixture on the body of the turkey and then add it to a large oven dish breast side up. Stuff the turkey with 1 largely chopped lemon, 1 largely chopped orange, 2-3 garlic cloves, 1 onion, tie the drumbsticks and tuck the wings in and bake for 3-4 ½ hrs. Check the turkey from time and add pour the juices from the tray on top of the turkey so that it does not dry out. If the turkey skin becomes too brown then you can cover it with foil loosely.
- Once the turkey is ready leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Marta
I get random cravings for turkey no matter the time of year, so I made this version in the middle of August and my family thought I was crazy... until they tasted it. It was so succulent and flavorful that it may be my new way of prepping turkey.
Robin
This turkey was tender and flavorful! I plan to use this recipe again around the holidays.
Jazz
It's nowhere near Christmas here but I made this turkey for a themed dinner over the weekend and had to come back to tell you that it turned out just perfect. So I will be making it again for the holidays! Thank you!
Kaluhi
This was the most perfect roast Turkey I have ever made. I always used to get it wrong but I invested in a thermometer per your recommendation. The result was divine!