This recipe turned out the juiciest turkey I’ve ever had, including my Mother’s incredible brined turkey. It has wonderful flavor and I love that it only requires two hours of roasting.
If you are looking for any other last minute Thanksgiving Day recipe ideas, continue below the recipe for a few I have on my blog.
Incredible 2-Hour Turkey
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
1 (18-22 pound*) turkey
Carrots, celery (cut into large chunks), onion (peeled and cut into large chunks), garlic cloves (peeled and smashed)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
Butter
Brown paper bag
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck and wash the turkey. Fill the cavity of the turkey with carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. With your hands, rub the entire turkey with the lemon juice mixture.
Place the turkey breast down (this is opposite of how a turkey is normally cooked – so just flip the turkey upside down) in a large roasting pan. Place the roasting pan in the hot oven for as many minutes as the turkey weighs (ie. 19 lb. turkey = 19 minutes). Bake for the allotted time.
Meanwhile, grease a large brown paper bag with butter on both sides. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully (because the turkey and roasting pan are HOT) make a tent out of the paper bag and drape it over the turkey, taking care to tuck the sides of the bag into the roasting pan (otherwise, the butter will drip off the bag, leap onto the oven burner and possibly create a large fire.). Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and cook the turkey for two hours.
Remove the roasting pan and turkey from the oven and let turkey sit for 20 minutes. Remove turkey from the roasting pan and pour the drippings into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. Make a slurry from flour and water (to the consistency of thick, heavy cream) and add to the drippings until desired consistency is reached. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. Boil for a minute, still stirring constantly, until thickened. Serve over the turkey.
*I used a 13 pound turkey and cut the cooking time down by 15 minutes. Perfect!
Recipe source: My Kitchen Cafe
More Thanksgiving ideas:
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (come on, eat some salad! It will make you feel less guilty about the pie.)
Veronica's Cornucopia 
Glad this turkey turned out such great results, Veronica! Your pictures of it on the plate look juicy and delicious.
LikeLike
Thanks, Mel, it’s all thanks to you and your Aunt Marilyn. :)
LikeLike
You have an awesome collection of recipes here! Love the pictures!
LikeLike
Thanks Debs!
LikeLike
How is this brined, i was looking for the brine recipe..
I am soaking the 22 lb’er for the job in brine for 4 days.. mine is smaller but still frozen solid, so i can place that in there as the ice, to keep it cold.. i like the butter on the bag idea, i might just have to try that with the giant one!
LikeLike
There is no brining here. I just mentioned that it’s as juicy as my Mom’s brined turkey. I think the flavor of brined turkey is the best–next I would like to try brining the turkey and using this method to cook it. I think that would be crazy delicious.
LikeLike
Ah ha, i was tired, must have missed it. I might just do this with my brined ones, that dang paperbag is intruiging!
LikeLike
V!!!
This is wack! sounds insane but I high temp roast chickies all the time… Just might try it.
LikeLike
I know! But you know me, I’m always wack so it makes sense that my turkey method is wack too. :) It’s good to hear from you, sir. Hope you’re doing well.
LikeLike
Guess what, Veronica?! I just bought my first ever whole bird!! It was on a gorgeous sale so I couldn’t help it…but now I have to roast it, doh! But your post came at the perfect time. :-)
And I’ve got my eye on that pumpkin cheese ball and the gooey pumpkin butter cake! :D
LikeLike
The gooey pumpkin butter cake is a really popular dessert–it’s so good! I like it so much better than pumpkin pie. Good luck with your first roasted turkey!
LikeLike
I normally fry my turkey (sooo juicy! and quick!) but it looks like it’s going to rain Thursday. I’ve never liked roasting a turkey b/c it takes so long and requires so much basting, and even then, it usually turns out dry. So thank you for this, Veronica!
LikeLike
The turkey recipe sounds awesome! I go to my SIL’s for Thanksgiving but, we get a turkey from work. So, I will be having turkey soon and will try this. I think I printed off most all of the other recipes too! :) Thanks V!
LikeLike
What a clever way to cook a turkey! I love your other Thanksgiving dish ideas too — pumpkin butter cake is a favorite in our family!
LikeLike
Such a yummy turkey! I have yet to cook a whole bird…I gotta get on that!
LikeLike