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 