When it comes to turkey, I feel like I have had it all. With 47 thanksgivings and probably 42 that I can remember under my belt (Get it? Under my belt??! 😂) all I know is that I want turkey that’s flavorful, not dried out, and easy to make!
Enter spatchcock turkey. That means the turkey is butterflied so it cooks faster, leaving you with the juiciest turkey EVER!
Another plus is that your oven is freed up more quickly for all of the juggling, since many of us don’t have two ovens!
After trying a ton of recipes, I found that I prefer combining two of my go-to food bloggers’ recipes and methods.
I spatchcock, which I learned by watching Ronny of The Primal Gourmet. He’s such a great teacher, and I highly suggest watching his how to spatchcock video!
Ronny’s dry brine and compound butter are SO good. He uses ghee. I have done that too. I’ve also used Kerrygold Butter and mmmmm both are delicious!
Below is his recipe, in which he uses a Traeger smoker. I don’t have one, so I use my one of my other favorite food blogger, Alex’s recipe for roasting, which I’ll share next.
RONNY’S TURKEY RECIPE
You can find his cookbook HERE– makes a great gift, too!
So I spatchcock the turkey, pat completely dry, and rub Ronny’s dry brine all over. I place it in the fridge uncovered on a sheet pan for at least 24 hours.
After dry brining for 24+ hours, I take it out of the fridge 1-1.5 hours before roasting. I make his compound butter with room temp Kerrygold butter or Ghee.
Next, I place my hand under the skin and move it carefully across the surface of the turkey to lift it from the breast, thighs and legs. I place some of the compound butter under the skin, lightly pat the outside of the turkey dry with paper towels, and smooth the compound butter over the entire surface of the turkey.
The next part is all Alex Snodgrass. I use Alex’s method of roasting the Turkey on a bed of veggies.
I place the veggies on a very large sheet pan with sides. Then I layer the turkey. I place the turkey breast side up, and roast until finished.
Alex’s recipe is here!
What I love about Alex’s recipe is that it is fast, and all the roasted veggies make for a flavorful gravy. And the veggies are sooooo delicious BECAUSE THEY SOAK UP ALL THE FLAVORRRRR.
Alex has two cookbooks, HERE and HERE. And she just launched her dressing, Side Dish, and Y’ALL. Every flavor is PHENOMENAL.
Follow Ronny and Alex on instagram.
And that’s it. I roast it, let it rest and carve it or let Rob do it (although it’s not as pretty as how Ronny taught me to carve it!) But that’s neither here nor there, because all we really want to do is eat at that point!
Also you should try my own favorite Mac and cheese recipe HERE, and my favorite greens recipe by Chef Resha. It’s soooo good. She can do no wrong!
Hope you have the best Thanksgiving!!
This looks so amazing!!!