Honey Brined Herb Roasted Turkey

Honey Brined Herb Roasted Turkey

  • Prep Time: 12 hrs
  • Total Time: 16 hrs
  • Servings: 16

    • About This Recipe

    “Allow 12 – 18 hours for the turkey to marinate in the brine. It’s worth the wait as this process always assures a moist, flavorful turkey.”

    Ingredients

  • 1fresh frozen whole turkey, thawed or 1fresh frozen whole turkey
  • 8 -10quartswater
  • 2cupskosher salt
  • 1cuphoney
  • 3 -4teaspoonsfresh coarse ground black pepper
  • 10 -12garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2bunchesfresh thyme
  • 1bunchfresh sage
  • 4 -5cupschicken stock
  • 2 -3lemons
  • 2 -4teaspoonsolive oil

    • Directions

  • Remove giblets and neck from turkey, reserve for gravy. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.
  • Prepare brine by mixing water, honey and salt in a large bowl. Stir until honey dissolves. Add half the thyme and sage along with the garlic and black pepper. Set aside. Add chicken stock.
  • Line an extra-large stock pot with a food-safe plastic bag. Place the rinsed turkey in the bag and pour brine over the turkey. Gather the bag tightly around the turkey, causing the turkey to be surrounded by the brine. Seal the bag and refrigerate the pot, bag and brined turkey for at least 12 hours.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F Remove turkey from brine and pat dry inside and out. Discard brine. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (about 2 1/2″ deep) roasting pan.
  • Squeeze lemon juice into the main turkey cavity. Put the squeezed lemon halves into the cavity along with the rest of the thyme and sage. Coat turkey lightly with oil and sprinkle inside and out with salt, pepper.
  • Insert an oven safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful the pointed end of the thermometer does not touch the bone. Roast turkey, basting with poultry stock every half hour or so.
  • Loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, remove foil during last hour and a half of cooking time. Continue to roast until thermometer registers 180°F in the thigh, or 170°F in the breast.
  • Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes before carving.

    • Reviews

  • “I had never brined the turkey before.Wow! What a difference.We loved this recipe!I left the turkey in the brine for 1 1/2 days and let the turkey dry in the refrigerator for another day.Before baking it, I made a mixture of garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning and put it under the skin of the turkey. Then, I rubbed the exterior of the skin with a mixture of olive oil and fresh lemon juice.The whole family said it was the best turkey we’ve ever had.Thanks for a great recipe.”

  • “This the best turkey I have ever made!It was so juicy,and the flavor was excellent.I skipped the lemons and just stuffed the bird.”

  • “Yes, this recipe makes for a wonderful turkey. The bird was juicy, easy to carve, but most of all full of flavor. Even though my brining bag burst during the prep, I vow to brine all poultry from now on. It was so good that I can now laugh about having to mop up 6-8 quarts of briney water the day before Thanksgiving. :)”

  • “The best turkey ever”

  • “The brining was great for a moist turkey. Mine came out tasting rather salty, though. I notice that most other brining recipes only call for one cup of salt, so next time I’ll just cut the salt in half. “

  • “I am always responsible fo rthe turkey for the holidays. After reading all the reviews, I thought this would be worth the effort. Boy, were they right!! This was the most moist turkey I have ever made, and the flavor was wonderful. I didn’t change a thing, and the compliments were endless. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!!”

  • “Best turkey I ever had!I left it in the brine for 48 hours then B.B.Q. on a gas grill, it was the best. The white meat was as moist as the dark, I will do it again soon. Thank you John”

  • “Never had a brined turkey before.Good good good, excellent recipe.Try it I promise you will like it.I let my stand for about 19hours.Very worth trying.Also I am a guy and have never cooked a turkey before and had to cook one for 14 people on Thanksgiving..so I was very nervous, this turkey turned out awesome.”

  • “I have to join the crowd and say that this was a fantastic turkey! I brined it for about 16 hours, then cooked it in a Reynolds (TM) oven bag (I never remember to baste, so this solves that issue!) It was by far the most moist and flavorful turkey I have ever made – thanks for the great recipe!”

  • “This was great.I always brine my chicken pieces before making fried chicken but this was the first time I’ve brined a turkey.The meat is much more flavorful done this way.”

  • “I used this recipe for my first Thanksgiving cooking attempt. I had 8 guests including my 82 year old grandmother and grandfather. All said it was the best turkey they had ever eaten. It was a little scary to prepare but I had faith and went with it. It came out fabulous.”

  • “I’m sold on brining. I love turkeys and this was one of the most moist and flavorful turkeys I’ve ever had. Thanks – “

  • “Can’t add much to what everyone else has already said. Best turkey I’ve ever made.=)”

  • “Fantastic.I cut the salt to 1 1/2 cups per other suggestions, I think I might cut it a little more next time as I thought the gravy was little salty.We had an 18 lb turkey and 5 people, hardly any leftovers!I brined it for 36 hours in a large water cooler container in the garage where it was cold.I also couldn’t find fresh herbs so didn’t have them.
    UPDATE:since my first review I have cut the salt to 1 1/4 cups and been using the herbs.Usually start brining it Tuesday night before Thanksgiving as I usually have at least a 20 pound turkey.It’s the only way to have turkey, so flavorful and no need to add any salt when you eat it, it’s always juicy too.”

  • “BEST turkey ever!! Thanks!”

  • “I have used this recipe for a couple Thanksgivings now and it really makes a great turkey. If you are looking for a better way to make turkey you need to try this recipe!”

  • “This was the first turkey I ever made, I am so glad I chose this recipe. I am sold on brining. Not a whole lot of effort makes for the BEST turkey I have ever had. One of our thanksgiving guests isn’t a fan of turkey and he said it was the only turkey he has ever liked. I strongly recommend this for every skill level. I brined my turkey in a cooler and put some ice in it to keep it cold and let it sit for 24 hours. I also used Recipe #145064 for the gravy (sooo good) and Recipe #34382 for mashed potatoes, subbing the parm for ramano. Delish. Cant wait to make it all again.”

  • “My husband made this recipe for Christmas Eve.The turkey turned out really moist and flavorful.We didn’t have fresh sage so just sprinkled in a generous amount of poultry seasoning instead.Thanks for posting!”

  • “Best turkey I EVER made! Followed it exactly as written. Just can’t use the drippings for gravy, too salty. Thanks!”

  • “I was nervous about this recipe. So nervous I bought an extra turkey breast and roasted it the “traditional” way. I also made a separate pan of dressing in case the stuffing from the brined turkey didn’t turn out. But my nerves could have rested as this turkey turned out to be undoubtedly the best of my turkey “career” and the stuffing was delicious as well. In the end we had a really moist and delicious turkey and I still have an uncut turkey breast in the fridge for later. I skipped after brining lemon and spices and just stuffed the bird with my regular stuffing recipe. I brushed the outside with olive oil mixed with a bit of garlic and never once basted the bird while it cooked. This will definitely be my new “traditional” turkey every year. Thanks Mirj for another fabulous recipe!!”

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