You’ll hardly find anyone who does not spend their Thanksgiving dinner digging into a large piece of flavorful and juicy turkey. A whole bird often graces the center of many holiday tables, but there are more ways than one to make it.
Making the perfect Thanksgiving turkey takes effort and time. You’ll prepare the bird, stuffing, seasonings, oven, and many other things. However, the juicy meat, super crispy skin, and impeccable flavors make it worth it.
Also, turkey prep is much easier with the right recipes. Find the best Thanksgiving turkey recipe for your special holiday meal here.
1. Black Folks Southern Turkey
We’ll start our list of turkey recipes by heading to the US south. This area is famous for its soul food, which are heartwarming dishes that taste and feel like home. Thus, this southern-style roasted turkey will surely warm the cockles of your heart.
This turkey meets all ideal qualities – moist, juicy, and delicious. That’s made possible by a special brine. For the brine, you’ll need water, apples, orange, ginger, cloves, pomegranate, brown sugar, and cinnamon sticks.
Meanwhile, the turkey rub needs Famous Dave’s Country Roast Chicken Seasoning, roasted herb and garlic seasoning, parsley, and fresh herbs.
2. Tuscan Style Roasted Turkey
You can make this delicious Tuscan-style roasted turkey in three easy steps. Prep the roasting pan and clean the turkey, make the herb butter spread, and baste and cook the bird.
You’ll stuff the turkey with a diced onion, lemon slices, and sprigs of sage. For the herb butter barrier, you’ll need garlic, butter, sage, lemon, kosher salt, and red pepper flakes. You’ll spread that mixture between the skin and meat of the turkey breast and legs.
You’ll also need water, olive oil, white wine, and Dijon mustard for basting. Within three hours, you have a perfectly cooked turkey.
3. Asian Spiced Thanksgiving Turkey
Give your classic roasted bird an oriental twist by imbibing it with bold Asian flavors. These spices give a unique aroma and flavor, breaking the holiday mold.
To start, you’ll stuff a thawed and brined whole turkey with basil, lemongrass, scallions, and ginger. Then, make a rub using mayonnaise, sriracha, ginger, and garlic powder. Cover the bird with a portion of the mixture, then season with salt and pepper.
Roast for an hour, flip the bird and rub the remaining mayo mixture. Roast until the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. Let the turkey rest for twenty minutes before slicing.
4. Creole Roasted Turkey with Holy Trinity Stuffing
Creole cuisine is a melting pot of deliciousness as it blends European, African, and Native American flavors. This Creole Thanksgiving turkey exudes that iconic flavor profile, making your celebration stand out.
You’ll need an onion, green pepper, celery ribs, pepperoncini, garlic cloves, butter, Creole seasoning, and the turkey (of course). Stuff everything inside the turkey except for the butter and Creole seasoning. Combine the remaining ingredients to make a rub.
Rub the bird, then roast it in a hot oven until 170 to 175 degrees F. Get your turkey from the oven, stand, slice, and serve with drippings.
5. Cajun Roasted Turkey
Do you like your meat with a kick? It’s time to swap your old ways with the best turkey recipe for spicy lovers like you. This recipe features paprika, cayenne pepper, and other spices.
You’ll need unsalted butter, kosher salt, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, dried oregano, thyme, and chicken stock. Process the seasonings until they feel like dust, and combine them with butter to make a rub.
Place the stock in the bottom of the pan to keep the meat moist and flavorful. After a few hours, you have the spiciest and juiciest turkey.
6. Dry-Rubbed Roast Turkey
Most recipes call for a wet brine made from salt, water, and other stuff. Well, Bon Appetit has it that you’ve been doing it wrong. Instead of a liquid mixture, you’ll use a dry brine for this recipe.
The dry brine consists of salt and brown sugar. This turkey is incredibly moist and flavorful despite the lack of wet components. That’s because of the unique way of cooking and brining, as you’ll see in the post.
Moreover, there’s no complicated rub – just butter. Instead, you’ll make a glaze using vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, garlic, orange zest, and butter.
7. Garlic Herb Butter Roast Turkey
This recipe promises a moist turkey by using unique techniques and ingredients. For instance, the bird sits on a layer of garlic halves instead of a roasting rack. It keeps it from drying out while also imparting flavor.
Meanwhile, the turkey rub is an herb and garlic butter mixture. You’ll need thyme, unsalted butter, minced garlic, salt, and cracked pepper. This mix ensures golden skin and flavorful meat.
The turkey cavity is also stuffed with garlic halves, lemon, thyme, rosemary, and olive oil. This stuffing gives flavor to the inside of the bird without undercooking or drying it out.
8. Maple-Rosemary Roast Turkey
This recipe makes the sweetest and most succulent turkey. It is so unique and delicious you’re sure there are no turkey leftovers to deal with the next day.
To make this roasted turkey, you’ll need pure maple syrup, kosher salt, tricolor peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic cloves, fresh rosemary sprigs, orange peels, and apple peels for the brine. Besides those, you’ll need more maple syrup and unsalted butter.
After brining, preheat the oven, pat dry the bird, tuck its wings, and tie the turkey legs. Let it roast. Now and then, you’ll retrieve the bird to brush with butter or maple syrup.
9. Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey
Sous vide is not a traditional way of cooking turkey. But maybe it’s high time to do so. With this process, there’s much less risk of drying out the turkey, ensuring a moist and juicy bird.
This specific recipe uses fewer ingredients: turkey, kosher salt, fresh sage leaves, and melted butter. You should spatchcock and dry-brine the turkey before cooking it sous vide. You’ll use kosher salt for dry-brining.
Meanwhile, spatchcocking removes the backbone so you can lay the bird flat. This lessens the cooking time and ensures consistency. For a golden brown color, finish the cooking in the oven.
10. Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Turkey
Is your oven busy, and you don’t have a sous vide machine or instant pot? That’s alright – you can always turn to your trusty crock pot to get your Thanksgiving dinner ready on time.
By slow cooking your bird, you don’t just get moist and juicy meat – it’s also incredibly tender. To cook the turkey, you’ll need garlic heads, thyme, rosemary, and lemon. You’ll also need herb butter made with salted butter, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper.
The recipe also includes homemade gravy. To make the gravy, you’ll need turkey broth, butter, flour, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
10 Creative Turkey Recipes for Thanksgiving
Transform your classic Thanksgiving turkey using these new and creative recipes.
Ingredients
Black Folks Southern Turkey
Tuscan Style Roasted Turkey
Asian Spiced Thanksgiving Turkey
Creole Roasted Turkey with Holy Trinity Stuffing
Cajun Roasted Turkey
Dry-Rubbed Roast Turkey
Garlic Herb Butter Roast Turkey
Maple-Rosemary Roast Turkey
Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey
Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Turkey
Directions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a turkey for Thanksgiving in 30 minutes or less!