Homemade Turkey Rub Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What should I season my turkey with? ›

Brush the turkey with olive oil, and rub it with the seasoning mixture. Tie the legs together loosely to hold their shape, and tuck the wing tips under.

Should you rub turkey with butter or oil? Some chefs suggest rubbing the turkey skin with vegetable or olive oil rather than using butter for turkey. This debate has very little to do with the meat itself but more to do with getting brown, crispy skin.

Impart rich flavor and add moisture to your Thanksgiving turkey by adding a layer of butter under the skin before roasting. Learn how to do this simple (but genius) technique for a delicious Thanksgiving turkey.

Instead of filling your bird with stuffing, fill it with aromatics. (News flash: Cooking stuffing inside a turkey can be dangerous.) The basics, like onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sage, help lend that traditional Thanksgiving flavor. Take your aromatics up a notch by adding halved lemons or oranges.

The majority of recipes you'll find on the internet and even cookbooks involve using butter as a binder for seasoning chicken or turkey. The butter is supposed to flavor and moisten the turkey when rubbed underneath the skin, as well as help get the skin crispy and golden brown, like a magazine shot.

This method is simple and roasts the bird slowly, which gently cooks the meat but tends to dry out the bird a little more than the other method. Be sure to brush the bird with olive oil or a butter-and-herb mixture every 20 minutes to help retain moisture and deepen the color of the skin.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

When roasting a turkey without water, it will produce its flavorful juices. After cooking, you can extend the turkey's juices with broth or wine, then add it to your gravy for extra flavor.

You'll want to plan on about 1.25 pounds of turkey per person. That means if you're expecting 12 guests, plan for a 15-pound bird. To make things simple, we've created a guide to help you pick the perfect-sized turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner menu.

What should you season your turkey with? ›

Stick with salt and pepper, put herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage to work, or take spicy Cajun seasoning for a spin for some kick. Whatever blend you choose, spread it all over the turkey—on top, underneath, between the body and wings and legs, under the skin, and even in the cavity of the bird.

Crispy Turkey Skin Method: Start on High Heat, Finish on Low

The Themoworks blog advises cooking at 450°F for the first hour and then reducing the temperature to 325°F for the remainder of the cook time. FoodieCrush says to roast at 425°F for 45 minutes and then at 325°F until the turkey is done.

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature. The simplest way to figure out turkey roasting times is to calculate 13 minutes per pound at 350°F for an unstuffed turkey (that's about 3 hours for a 12- to 14-lb. turkey), or 15 minutes per pound for a stuffed turkey.

Do you season your bird at least a day ahead of cooking? I can't emphasize enough how much the simple, foundational practice of pre-seasoning almost any protein delivers deeper flavor and juicier results than a sprinkling of salt just before cooking.

How do you add flavor to ground turkey? Turkey meat can be flavored with easy ingredients like kosher salt and pepper, bell peppers, garlic powder, and olive oil. If you're cooking meat, specifically turkey taco meat, hot sauce and enchilada sauce are your best mates.