Roast Turkey with Herb Butter (2024)

Ready to put a perfectly roasted Martha Stewart turkey on your holiday table? This herb butter turkey recipe is surprisingly easy to prepare. Before going into the oven, the bird is coated in a simple, flavorful butter rub mixed with rosemary, sage, and thyme, which makes the skin crispy and golden, and the meat moist and flavorful. Place the turkey on a bed of roasted vegetables—along with the turkey neck—to elevate the meat above the bottom of the pan and collect delicious drippings to make Rich Gravy.

Food Safety

The rules of food safety are the same every day of the year, but holiday meals can present a unique set of concerns because everything is bigger: a fuller fridge, bigger guest list, a profusion of different dishes on the menu, and a bigger bird, too.No matter how packed your fridge and your agenda are, though, make the effort to follow these rules of safe poultry handling at every step of the way.

• How to Safely Thaw a Frozen Turkey
• How to Safely Cool and Store Leftovers
• How Long Does Leftover Turkey Last in Your Refrigerator or Freezer?

How to Stuff a Turkey

The debate is ongoing about whether it’s safe to put stuffing in the turkey before roasting. (Read this to learn the pros and cons of stuffing a turkey.) If you do stuff your turkey, there are a few essential rules.

First, every ingredient in the stuffing should be cooked before it goes in the turkey—this especially means no raw sausage, oysters, or eggs. Second, pack the stuffing loosely into the turkey cavities. It will expand in the oven as it fills with turkey drippings, and, if it’s packed too tightly, it won’t heat quickly enough, keeping it at unsafe temperatures for too long. Third, don’t stuff in advance. The stuffing should go in the turkey right before you put it in the oven.

What Is Basting?

Basting is a technique for helping foods get browned and stay moist while they’re cooking. Some turkey recipes call for brushing or drizzling the bird with its own pan drippings several times while it’s roasting; other recipes call for a separate preparation of basting liquid (such as seasoned, melted butter).

How to Tell When a Turkey Is Done

Many turkeys come with a pop-up timer already inserted in the breast, which contains a button that’s is supposed to spring up when the meat reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. However, these timers aren’t always reliable or accurate, so it’s better to use a meat thermometer.When the breast reaches 160 degrees, it’s ready to come out of the oven. The residual heat will cause carryover cooking as the meat rests, bringing it to the perfect temperature of 165 degrees. Cooking turkey to the correct temperature is a matter of food safety, but it’s also a matter of tastiness: overcooked turkey can be tough and dry.

1. Preheat oven and make herb butter:

   Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the lowest position. Make herb butter: In a small bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons butter with chopped herbs; season generously with salt and pepper.

   

2. Prepare turkey:

   Loosen skin: Working from the neck end, slide fingers under skin until you reach the end of the breast, being careful not to tear the skin; rub herb butter under the skin.
   

   

3. Fill neck cavity with stuffing:

   Place turkey breast side down. Fill neck cavity with stuffing; avoid packing. Close up by folding skin over and fastening with skewers or trussing needles.
   

   

4. Tuck wings:

   Turn turkey over; bend wing tips underneath bird so they stay in place (you may have to break the bones).

   

5. Stuff cavity:

   Loosely fill large cavity with stuffing.
   

   See Also

   How to Season a Thanksgiving Turkey to Perfection

   

6. Tie legs:

   Using cotton kitchen twine, tie legs together securely (they will overlap) so bird retains its shape and moisture during cooking.

   

7. Cut neck:

   Cut neck into pieces

   

8. Prepare roasting pan:

   Mix neck pieces with carrots, onions, celery, and 2 cups water in a large roasting pan. Set roasting rack over vegetables in pan.

   

9. Rub turkey with butter:

   Lift turkey onto rack; rub with remaining tablespoon butter. Season generously with salt and pepper. Tent turkey loosely with foil.

   

10. Roast turkey:

    Roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 125°F, about 3 hours. Remove foil; raise oven heat to 400°F. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180°F, 45 to 60 minutes more. Tent with foil if bird browns too quickly; add more water if pan becomes dry.

    

11. Rest turkey before carving:

    Transfer turkey to a serving platter; cover loosely with foil, and let it rest at least 30 minutes before carving.

    

Make-Ahead Herb Butter

The herb butter can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Return to room temperature before using.

How to Carve a Turkey

For most of us, there are only a couple times of year we have any call to carve such a large item, so we don’t get many chances to practice. Use our step-by-step guide for how to cut a turkey for tips on doing it right.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How to cook a juicy turkey?

There are several steps you can take to make sure your turkey is juicy. You can brine it with a traditional saltwater brine, a buttermilk brine, or a dry brine. You may choose to rub softened butter both under and over the skin. You can baste the turkey as it roasts. And finally, be vigilant about the temperature. Check it frequently with a meat thermometer as it nears the end of its cooking time, and take it out as soon as it reaches doneness—160 degrees in the breast meat, which will continue to rise to 165 as it rests.

What does rubbing butter on a turkey do?

Covering a turkey with butter (under and over the skin) serves to flavor and moisten the meat, as well as help the skin get crispy and golden brown.

Do you put water in the bottom of the roasting pan for turkey?

We usually advise against putting liquid in the pan when roasting a turkey. The liquid creates steam, which will prevent your turkey from browning evenly and make the skin soft and flabby instead of crispy. Adding water to the pan will also dilute the flavor of the pan drippings, resulting in less-than-flavorful gravy. The only time we recommend adding water to the roasting pan is if the drippings evaporate to the point where they’re in danger of burning. In this case, add a small amount of water —just enough to cover the bottom—and only add more as necessary.

More Roast Turkey Recipes:

• Roast Turkey with Rosemary and Lemon
• Spice-Rubbed Roast Turkey
• Roast Turkey with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze
• Perfectly Moist and Tender Turkey
• Stuffed Turkey Breast with Apricot Jam
• Roasted Turkey Rubbed with Coriander, Black Pepper, and Fennel