Butter Basted Roasted Turkey – doesn’t the name conjure visions of rich, buttery goodness with every bite?

Since my Twice Baked Turkey was a miserable failure, I decided that this time, I would take a more traditional route by just basting the turkey with butter. In years past, I’ve always made my mother’s Foil-wrapped Turkey and last year I made my Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Roasted Turkey, both excellent choices.

But this year, I just wanted to essence of the turkey to take center stage and not mess with the underlying turkey flavor by brining it in citrus and plastering it with herbs – so Butter Basted Roasted Turkey it is!

This recipe takes a little bit of babysitting, only because you initially roast it at 425 degrees for a half hour, then turn it down to 325 degrees. So, if you forget to turn it down, you’ll be in a world of hurt {grin}! Plus you baste it with butter every hour and turn the roasting pan around in your oven about every hour to insure an even golden brown color.

Once out of the oven, you let your Butter Basted Roasted Turkey rest for 45 minutes to an hour, covered, before slicing and serving. This gives you plenty of time to make Homemade Turkey Gravy, Classic Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Easy Cornbread Stuffing, Spinach Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole and Green Beans and Mushroom Casserole! Just kidding – I know you don’t make that many side dishes!

Here’s the recipe:

Butter Basted Turkey

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Butter basting creates a crispy skin and lets the essence of the turkey shine through!

Author: Carole from Toot Sweet 4 Two
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 30 mins
Yield: 16 1x
Category: Dinner
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

One 20 pound turkey
2 tablespoons salt
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 green apples, seeded and quartered
1 stick of butter, melted

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Instructions

Defrost the turkey for a minimum of 5 days in your refrigerator (it takes a turkey one day for every 4 pounds to defrost).
Remove turkey from packaging and remove giblets and neck; discard or keep to make giblet gravy.
Rinse turkey under cold, running water (inside and out) and pat dry.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Place turkey in a roasting pan fitted with a wire rack, breast side up.
Pour salt into the palm of your hand and rub inside cavity of turkey liberally.
Stuff the turkey’s cavity with the quartered onions and the quartered apples.
Using kitchen twine, tie turkey legs together.
Tuck wings under turkey to prevent burning.
Using a pastry brush, brush turkey with melted butter.
Place turkey in preheated oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, baste turkey with butter again and turn oven down to 325 degrees F.
Set timer for one hour, then baste turkey again, rotating pan.
Set timer for one hour, again, then baste and rotate turkey pan again.
Repeat this procedure every hour until instant-read thermometer, inserted in thigh, registers 165 degrees F.
If areas of the turkey (the legs, for example) start to get too brown, cover with foil.
Once turkey is done, remove from oven and cover.
Allow to rest for 45 minutes to one hour, covered loosely with foil, and then transfer to a cutting board.
Slice and serve.

Notes

May need more butter to baste the turkey!

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Comments

dana says

November 16, 2020 at 6:26 am

When do we utilize the onion and green apples?

- Carole says
  
  November 16, 2020 at 4:45 pm
  
  Thank you, Dana, so much for catching that! You stuff the turkey’s cavity with the quartered apples and onion. I’ve updated the recipe thanks to you!