Whole turkey baked in the oven - a recipe for how to cook it correctly

Today we have an extremely tasty and healthy page with recipes for making juicy and soft turkey baked in the oven. The Indian rooster, as the bird used to be called, is another blessed gift from the New World to old Europe. In Russian cookbooks it was more often called Indian chicken. At first they prepared it as a curiosity for the elite, but soon they tried it, and, starting from the 18th century, they began to breed it in monasteries and landowners' farmsteads. Nowadays, dishes from overseas poultry are an invariable attribute of the festive table and ordinary everyday meals.

The main task of the housewife is to prepare the dish so that the poultry meat becomes juicy. If you can do this, consider that your skill is beyond praise. Beginner cooks need to strictly follow recipes and correctly follow recommendations during the cooking process.

How to bake a juicy and soft turkey in the oven

You can use all parts of the bird for baking: drumsticks, thighs, breast fillets, wings. If you decide to cook a whole turkey, buy young turkey carcasses, up to 10 kg. weight.
Before placing in the oven, the carcass must be completely defrosted and lie on the table so that the meat reaches room temperature.
To ensure that the meat comes out juicy, carefully peel off the skin, then fill the space with a layer of butter.
During the baking process, be sure to baste the carcass with the released juice.
If possible, place the bird on the grill so it will cook quickly and evenly.
Turkey loves seasoning. Pairs especially well with rosemary, basil, saffron, thyme, oregano, and sage. In addition to various seasonings, the bird's belly is stuffed with garlic, lemons, apples, and oranges.

How long to bake a turkey? You'll have to do a little math. The carcass weighs about 7 kg. bakes for about 3-3.5 hours. That is, for every kilogram of poultry it will take 35-40 minutes. Knowing the weight of your carcass, you can easily calculate how long to cook the turkey.

Juicy turkey baked in the oven - a simple recipe

The simplest recipe for preparing juicy poultry for the holiday. Most Americans, where the dish is often prepared for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, bake the turkey, without further ado, exactly this way.

Take:

Turkey – carcass up to 7 kg.
Chopped garlic - 4 tablespoons.
Soft butter – 400 gr.
Chopped parsley - 1.5 cups.
Lemon.
Salt - a teaspoon.
Pepper - a teaspoon.

Step by step recipe:

Soften the butter in any way you like. Finely chop the garlic cloves and chop the parsley.

In a deep bowl, combine the oil with chopped garlic. Stir.

Add chopped parsley, stir the contents thoroughly again.

Pour in lemon juice, pepper and salt. Mix the mixture thoroughly again.

Prepare the bird carcass. If necessary, scorch it, rinse well, and pat dry with paper towels.

Place the carcass on its back, use a sharp knife to cut the skin of the turkey, making a pocket on the right and left.

Place about a third of the filling into these pockets, trying to get it as deep as possible.

Place a third of the mass into the abdomen.

Rub the remaining mixture over the entire carcass.

Be sure to turn and rub the back of the turkey.

Transfer the prepared carcass to a baking sheet. You can take a heat-resistant form, and it will be great if you put a grill on the bottom of it, then the bird will not burn.

Follow further based on your capabilities. If the farm has a high lid, cover it. Or use a sheet of foil, covering the top and tucking in the sides.

Bake the bird at 150°C for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the foil or lid. Raise the temperature in the oven to 200 o C. Cook the dish for exactly another hour.

Do not rush to immediately remove the dish from the oven. Let stand for 15-20 minutes so that the meat is thoroughly soaked and “inhales” the heat. Then it will be guaranteed juicy.

Turkey recipe in foil

a couple of garlic heads,
marjoram,
30 g olive oil,
juice of one lemon,
salt,
nutmeg, pepper.

apples – 3-4 pcs.,
pineapples -350g.,
cheese – 100 g.,
garlic – 4 cloves,
lemon – 0.5 pcs.,
mayonnaise – 2-3 tbsp. l.,
basil - a couple of sprigs.

Prepare the marinade by mixing the oil with spices and chopped garlic, let it brew for 15 minutes. Rub the bird with it, wrap it in a bag and put it in the refrigerator for 12-15 hours.

After this time, prepare the filling: cut apples, cheese, pineapples into cubes, add spices, add whole garlic cloves, add mayonnaise and stuff the turkey. The legs need to be tied before baking.

Turkey fillet in the oven with vegetables

There are countless options for preparing fillet with vegetables. But, since turkey is often baked for the holiday, I give an original recipe for a multi-colored dish.

We take:

Poultry fillet – 1 pc.
Carrot.
Red bell pepper.
Green peas - a jar.
Canned corn – 0.5 jars.
Rice – 0.5 cups.
Dill, parsley.
Sunflower oil, pepper, salt.

How to cook:

Boil the rice in advance.
Cut the fillet into pieces. Chop the greens. Rub the carrots with large shavings. Remove the seeds from the pepper and cut into cubes.
Fry the carrots in a little oil. When it turns brown, add the pepper. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Place the pieces of meat in a heat-resistant dish. Distribute rice and fried vegetables around.
Place the peas and corn from the jars, splashing some of the liquid from the jars.
Preheat the oven to 180 o C. Turn on the timer for 40-60 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. When the dish is cooked, place the meat on a plate, mix the remaining ingredients and use as a side dish.

Cooking time calculation?

If the bird is frozen, it should thaw. At room temperature, this will take from 5 to 20 hours, depending on the size of the carcass and the room temperature.

To make the bird tender and flavorful, it must be marinated. To do this, ideally it should spend the night in the refrigerator in the marinade. Or at least a few hours.

Cooking time depends on many nuances:

Calculate this way: 50 minutes per 1 kg. Keep in mind that the older the bird, the harder its meat.

How to bake turkey breast in pieces so that the meat is soft and juicy

There is nothing superfluous in this recipe; all ingredients combine harmoniously with each other. The meat can be served hot or cold - in any form it will be a success. Recipe taken from Yotam Ottolenghi's Cookbook.

You will need:

Turkey breast – about 1 kg.
White wine – 120 ml.
Garlic – a clove.
Parsley, mint, cilantro - 4 large chopped spoons each.
Lemon juice – 60 ml.
Olive oil - the same amount.
Salt – 0.5 small spoon.
Ground cumin - 0.5 small spoon.
Pepper - the same amount.

Preparation:

Wash the poultry meat, dry it, put it in a deep bowl.
Grind the remaining ingredients stated in the recipe in a blender into a homogeneous sauce.
Pour the marinade over the breast, stir with your hands while rubbing the marinade into the meat. Send the workpiece to the cold to marinate for a day. Make sure the marinade completely covers the meat.
After the specified time has passed, transfer the breast pieces into a heat-resistant dish (do not pour out the marinade, it will be used to prepare the sauce). Place in an oven preheated to 220 o C. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
Then lower the temperature to 200 o C, cook for the next quarter of an hour. Reduce the temperature again, now to 180 o C.
At this temperature, continue baking the breast for 35-40 minutes.
The clear juice released when you pierce the meat with a knife will tell you when the dish is ready. If you notice that the top of the dish is starting to burn, cover with foil. Keep the finished turkey in the oven for a while, then remove and cut.
While baking, make a delicious sauce. Pour the remaining marinade into a frying pan, boil, and simmer for 15 minutes (the sauce should reduce by half). Adjust the taste for salt.
When serving the dish, pour the sauce over the meat.

If you plan to use meat in cold cuts, first let it cool, then cut into pieces.

Turkey with citrus notes

The whole turkey will turn out juicy in the oven if you marinate it well and stuff it with orange slices and garlic. True, we will be marinating the turkey for two days, so if you are planning a holiday feast, take care of this in advance. The taste and aroma of such a bird are simply inimitable!

Ingredients:

turkey carcass;
table salt – 7-9 teaspoons. spoon;
granulated sugar – 0.1 kg;
coriander seeds - 1 ½ teaspoons. spoons;
laurel leaves – 3 pieces;
onion - 1 head;
carrot root vegetable - 1 piece;
orange - 1 fruit;
clove inflorescences - 10 pieces;
garlic – 1 head;
soft butter – 0.1 kg;
black pepper – 1 teaspoon. spoon;
boiled water – 3-4 liters.

Preparation:

We cut the turkey: remove the head of the bird and clean out the giblets. We clean the carcass from the remaining feathers. We wash and dry it.
Now let's prepare the marinade for the whole turkey in the oven. Pour water into a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil.
Add granulated sugar, salt, coriander seeds, and laurel leaves.
When the marinade mixture boils again, turn off the stove and cool it.
Take a container (such that the turkey fits in it). Place the bird in a bag upside down and place it in a container.
Peel the onion and carrot roots. Chop the vegetables into thin rings.
Let's put them in a bag with the bird.
Dilute the marinade mixture with filtered water (3-4 liters).
Pour it over the turkey. The marinade should cover the bird completely.
Leave the container with the turkey in a cold room for a couple of days.
After the specified time, you can bake the turkey.
Knead the soft butter lightly with a fork, add black pepper to it, stir.
Wash the orange. Then lower it into boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
Let's dry the orange. We stick clove inflorescences over its entire surface.
Cut the garlic head (no need to peel it) into halves crosswise.
Line a baking sheet with several sheets of foil.
Remove the turkey from the marinade mixture and dry it.
Place the bird breast side up on a baking sheet.
Rub the turkey with the butter mixture.
Place an orange and garlic halves inside the carcass. You can also stuff the bird with pickled vegetables - carrots and onions.
Cover the turkey with a sheet of foil (not too tightly).
Read also: Chicken thighs in creamy sauce in a frying pan. Chicken thighs in creamy sauce
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Bake the turkey for 45-50 minutes.
Then reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees.
Bake the turkey for the same amount of time.
Then remove the foil and brown the bird at a temperature of 220 degrees.
Let's leave the turkey in the switched off oven for half an hour. And then you can serve it to the table.

On a note! A whole turkey in the oven in foil always turns out juicy from the inside. When cutting the foil, keep in mind that its edges should hang over the pan so that they can be used to wrap the bird.

How to cook a juicy whole turkey for New Year's Eve

An idea for New Year's or Christmas, when you want to prepare a spectacular dish. I offer a simple but very successful recipe for roasting a whole turkey.

Required:

Medium-sized turkey carcass (up to 7 kg).
Butter.
Lemon – 2 pcs.
Apples.
Potato.
Olive oil.
Garlic.
Dry white wine – ½ glass.
Rosemary - several sprigs.
Greens, pepper, salt, poultry seasonings.

Don't be surprised that the exact quantities of ingredients are not listed. This depends on the weight of your bird. As you proceed, you can easily figure out how much and what you need to take. The only thing that is important to know is that for every kilogram of meat you should take 20 grams. salt.

How to cook:

Rinse the carcass and pat dry with paper napkins. Rub salt outside and inside.
Melt the butter, cool it a little. Pour in lemon juice from one fruit, add crushed garlic. Add seasonings, including rosemary, and add a little salt. Stir the marinade and let it sit for 20 minutes.
After straining, carefully rub the turkey carcass on all sides (don’t forget the belly).
Place on a baking sheet or other suitable container. Place on the refrigerator shelf. Marinate the bird for 6 hours. If possible, hold it longer, then the meat will become even more flavorful.
Rinse the apples, cut out the middle part, divide into 4-6 parts. Cut a whole lemon into circles.
Place, alternating, in the belly of the bird. Pack very tightly.
Tie the legs and wings with twine to prevent the carcass from falling apart during baking.
Coat the top of the carcass with oil. Transfer it to an oiled baking sheet if you previously kept it on another vessel.
Pour ½ cup each of white wine and water into the bottom.
Cover the workpiece with a sheet of foil and place in an oven preheated to 180 o C. Cook for 3-3.5 hours.
An hour before the end of cooking, place potatoes cut into large slices around the carcass.
Every hour, take out the baking sheet, remove the foil, and pour the juice over the meat. 20 minutes before the end, remove the foil completely, then a beautiful golden brown crust will appear.

Turkey drumstick baked with potatoes

about other recipes for turkey baked with potatoes on a separate page - I invite you to visit.

Ingredients:

Turkey drumstick – 1 kg.
Potatoes – 6 tubers.
Garlic – 6 cloves.
Seasoning for potatoes and meat - to taste.
Sunflower oil, salt, pepper.

Cooking technology:

Wash the meat and dry with napkins. Rub with meat seasoning mixed with salt and pepper. Make several cuts at the base of the bone and stuff with garlic.
Rub the drumstick with sunflower oil and place in a mold.
Peel the potatoes, divide into slices, and place in a bowl. Add potato seasoning, salt, and splash a little oil. Stir the contents.
Place the potato slices around the drumstick. Cover the pan with foil and bake.
Oven temperature 200 o C. Cooking time – 1.5 hours.
20 minutes before the end of baking, remove the sheet of foil to give the meat a golden crust.

Marinating and stuffing

Here are some marinade options.

Crush a few cloves of garlic into olive oil, add salt, and add a pinch of Provençal herbs. Let the marinade sit for a quarter of an hour, then spread it over the bird inside and out.
The second option is quick, the meat is marinated for a couple of hours in a mixture of lemon juice, salt, pepper, soy sauce and chopped garlic. When using this marinade, you are guaranteed a juicy turkey.
An equally interesting marinade can be obtained by mixing a glass of natural grape juice, a glass of chilled water, ¼ tsp. citric acid, 1 tsp. salt and sugar, 7 peppercorns.

Important point! Since the carcass is large, it will not be salted evenly, so you need to chop it with brine. This can be done using a disposable syringe. You need to take a strong saline solution and make several injections into the chest and legs.

Stuffing a turkey is an art. You should not use porridge for this due to the large size of the bird. Stuffing is essential to retain moisture so the turkey stays juicy while cooking.

The most suitable fruit fillings:

Other fillings and additives:

Place the filling so that there is still room inside the carcass, hot steam should circulate freely.

What to bake in?

It is very convenient to bake a bird in a sleeve, but placing it there is not so easy. In addition, the bag may not be able to withstand such a long baking period. The best option is to use foil.

How to bake a turkey thigh (in a sleeve)

I recommend this recipe because it is suitable for everyday meals and holiday treats. The meat can be served hot or cut into pieces cold (in cold cuts). The dish contains an incredibly tasty marinade, so it is eaten to the last bite.

Take:

Turkey thigh – 1.2 kg.
Soy sauce – 4 large spoons.
Honey - a big spoon.
Mustard – 1.5 tablespoons.
Sunflower oil – 3 tablespoons.
Lemon.
Sour apples – 0.5 kg.
Salt – ½ small spoon.
Granulated sugar - a large spoon.
Pepper - to taste.

How to bake:

Remove the skin from the thigh and cut out the bone. Make several punctures in the meat.
Combine soy sauce, honey, butter and a spoonful of mustard in a bowl, mix well.
Pour the marinade over the fillets and leave on the table to marinate for 2-3 hours.
Transfer the marinated preparations into a baking sleeve and close it tightly. Place on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 200°C for one hour.
After the specified time has passed, cut the sleeve and return it for additional baking. Leave for another quarter of an hour to brown the meat.
At the same time, prepare the applesauce. To do this, grate the apples with large chips and pour in lemon juice. add the remaining half spoon of mustard, salt and sugar, season with pepper.
Place the apple mixture in a frying pan and pour in the oil. Simmer over low heat until the apples are cooked.
Serve the turkey with the applesauce and any remaining marinade left in the pan after roasting.

Cooking tips to keep the turkey juicy and soft

It is advisable to study tips for cooking turkey in advance so that you can go shopping prepared. However, they will not hurt those who already have turkey in stock.

For baking in the oven, especially if you plan to cook the bird whole, only a young turkey weighing up to 4 kg is suitable. It can be recognized not only by its weight, but also by its light, relatively thin skin. If you purchase turkey meat that has already been cut into pieces, pay attention to the cuts: they should be slightly moist and shiny. If the meat is sticky or crusty, then you should not choose it.
You should purchase a whole turkey for roasting a couple of days before the planned feast. If you buy it earlier, you will have to freeze and defrost, which will not have the best effect on the organoleptic qualities of the finished dish. If you buy it just before cooking, you may not have time to marinate the meat.
It is better to bake chilled meat in the oven, especially when it comes to dietary turkey meat. Frozen and thawed meat becomes less juicy. To prevent a dish prepared from frozen meat from becoming too dry, it is defrosted without a sharp temperature change, that is, in the refrigerator.
To prevent the turkey meat from drying out during baking, you can use a sleeve or foil. If foil is used, it is better to wrap the legs and wings of the bird in separate pieces, and then pack the whole carcass in foil. Then it will be possible to remove the layers of foil gradually. This will allow you to get a golden brown crust, but the wings and legs will not burn or dry out. It is recommended to make several punctures in the sleeve before baking. They are needed for steam to escape. Otherwise, the steam may tear the bag.
To make the turkey juicier, you can remove its skin and place pieces of butter under it. To create an appetizing crust, butter the bird on top.
Cooking time for turkey in the oven depends on the oven temperature, the size of the bird or pieces, and the recipe. Typically it takes 3 hours to bake a 4kg turkey.

You can bake the turkey with or without minced meat. Whole birds are usually stuffed with fruits, mushrooms, vegetables, and cereals. Prunes are often used as minced meat for turkey rolls. You can bake the turkey right away with potatoes and other vegetables. In this case, you will get a complete dish. Other recipes make cold turkey appetizers.

Turkey medallions baked in foil with cheese

Baking poultry in medallions is convenient because you will make a delicious portioned dish. It looks very appetizing, it’s not a shame to put it on the holiday table.

We take:

Turkey fillet – 500 gr.
Cheese – 100 gr.
Tomatoes – 2 pcs.
Sour cream – 20 ml.
Sunflower oil – ½ large spoon.
Basil, seasoning for poultry.

How to bake:

In a separate bowl, mix sour cream with seasonings.
Cut the tomatoes into circles, grate the cheese into fine crumbs.
Rinse the meat, divide into medallions, and dry with paper towels.
Coat the pieces with sour cream sauce. Place a sheet of foil on a baking sheet, leaving a long tail, and oil it. Lay out the blanks.
Cover each medallion with a tomato slice and sprinkle with cheese crumbles.
Wrap the baking sheet in foil, leaving no gaps. Cook at 200 o C for exactly 30 minutes. After the timer signal, remove the baking sheet and open the foil.
Return the dish to the oven, continue baking for another 10 minutes until a nice crust appears. Do not rush to take out the baking sheet, let it sit in the oven for another quarter of an hour.