Perfect Roasted Turkey and Gravy

You don’t need loads of butter to make Perfect Roasted Turkey and Gravy–a dry brine and perfect cooking technique make this classic a little lighter without sacrificing flavor.

Roasting a whole turkey has always been intimidating to me. I’m not really sure why, given how much I love roasting chicken. I guess it’s the pressure, since the only time I really eat it is on Thanksgiving. If you mess it up, then dinner for everyone is ruined.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sent the newest edition of Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. I’ve been a fan of his ever since he was the food writer for The New York Times, so I definitely did a little fangirl dance when it arrived.

It’s pretty much a foodie bible (almost 1,000 pages long!), but it’s also easy to read and follow. So if you’re intimidated by cooking in general, I definitely suggest you buy it.

how to make Perfect roasted turkey and Gravy

The reason I bring it up is because Bittman is descriptive and clear in explaining each step of properly cooking a turkey, from cook time depending on weight of the bird to how to properly carve it. It was such a life saver for me!

His recipe does call for loads of butter, but I wanted to experiment to see if you could use less and still make a perfect turkey. The answer is YES you can, and the secret is simple: dry brine.

All you need to do is generously salt your turkey the day before. Leave it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then drain the liquid that forms at the bottom of the pan. Put your turkey back into the pan, on a rack, drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil, then season generously with fresh cracked pepper. This technique makes the most flavorful and juicy turkey!

Since we’re going to make the gravy in the same pan, add in the turkey neck, giblets, and heart (discard the liver) to the pan as well, along with 2 cups of chicken broth. This will create the base for your caramelized turkey dripping.

How long do i roast it?

That really depends on the size of your turkey. Mine was 13-pounds, which will feed about 8 people with ample leftovers. You want to cook it until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh meat reads about 160-165F degrees.

Start with a very hot oven–500F degrees. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until the turkey looks pretty brown. You will probably want to put some tinfoil on the tips of the wings so they don’t burn.

Then, lower the heat to 350 and cook the rest of the time, anywhere from 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours. Mine was perfectly done after 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Making the gravy

You want to let the turkey rest for about 30 minutes. That gives us plenty of time to make the gravy. This is what the drippings should look like when you remove the turkey from the pan:

There will be quite a bit of fat, and we really don’t need it to make a fantastic gravy. The flavor is in the sediment and drippings, not the grease. When you separate the grease from the good stuff, you should be left with 1 cup of caramelized drippings. If you have less, add enough chicken broth to make one cup.

To those drippings, we’ll add 5 cups of chicken broth. Place your pan over two burners and bring the gravy mixture to a boil. Lower to a gentle boil and cook until the liquid has reduced by half, scraping up the bits from the pan as you go. You should be left with 3 cups of liquid.

Once the stock is reduced, add in your cornstarch and water mixture. Bring back up to a boil and cook until the sauce is glossy and thickened, just a few minutes.

Add in cracked black pepper, and you are good to go! You probably don’t need to salt the gravy because it has reduced so much, but give it a taste and adjust as needed. You could also strain the gravy if you don’t want the browned bits in there, but those bits don’t bother me.

Now just carve your turkey! It’s really easy to make this, even though there are a few steps. Perfect Roasted Turkey and Gravy is not intimidating at all!

Extra tips

• Make sure you give your turkey plenty of time to thaw if you buy it frozen. Some can take up to 4 days to fully thaw in the refrigerator. If you find that your turkey is still a bit frozen on the day you want to cook, submerge it in cold water to thaw quicker.
• You MUST invest in a instant-read thermometer, since it’s the only way to ensure that your turkey is cooked all the way through. Everyone’s oven is different, and turkeys come in various sizes and meat densities, so you cannot rely on recipe cooking time only.
• Rest your turkey! It would be a shame to go through all of these steps and then ruin the turkey by carving it too quickly. Plan ahead so you have 30 minutes to let all of the juices settle back into the meat.

I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!