Turkey meat is very popular due to its taste, beneficial properties and low calorie content. A whole bird baked will decorate both everyday and holiday tables. Recipes for cooking a whole turkey in the oven will be discussed in more detail in this article.
How to choose a turkey?
The choice of poultry must be approached with all responsibility, because the taste of the prepared dish will depend on its quality. When buying a turkey, you need to pay attention to its size and appearance. The optimal weight for a bird is considered to be 5–10 kilograms. These parameters are determined by the age of the turkey.
Adults can reach 35 kilograms, but the meat of such birds will be tougher and less palatable than that of young turkeys. Young carcasses weighing up to 5 kilograms will certainly have tender meat. However, in terms of taste, young turkey poults are inferior to raised birds. The best option for baking in the oven as a whole would be a carcass weighing five kilograms.
As for appearance, first of all you need to assess the condition and color of the skin. There should be no dark spots or mucus on it. The skin should be elastic and dry.
If possible, when choosing a bird, it is recommended to touch it. After pressing on the carcass, there should be no indentations left.
If a dent remains on the bird, this indicates that the carcass is not very fresh. The skin tone should be creamy, and the color of the meat can vary from rich red to light pink. The color of the pulp is influenced by the composition of the meat: red contains more protein and less fatty inclusions than pink.
It is not advisable to purchase frozen poultry. Turkey meat is very tender and contains virtually no fatty layers. Freezing negatively affects the structure of the pulp and its taste.
General cooking principles
If the poultry carcass was purchased frozen or was frozen after purchasing it at home for storage, it must be properly defrosted before baking.
To prevent the meat from losing a lot of juice during defrosting and becoming dry and tough, it is necessary to use a long defrosting method.
The bird must be placed in the refrigerator and left until completely thawed. Defrosting time depends on the weight of the turkey and the temperature in the refrigerator. It is best to leave the carcass to defrost overnight.
The time it takes to bake a turkey in the oven depends on several factors. First of all, this is the weight of the carcass: the larger it is, the longer the bird will cook. The temperature in the oven is no less important.
There are several techniques for cooking a whole turkey in the oven, all of which involve varying the temperature one to several times throughout the cooking time.
Usually they start baking the bird in an oven preheated to 200–250 degrees, and after a while the temperature is reduced to 180 and the carcass continues to bake until done.
It takes an average of two to four hours to cook a turkey. The readiness of the bird can be checked by piercing it. It is best to pierce the meatiest parts of the carcass: breast or thigh. If clear juice flows out of the cut, it means the bird is completely baked.
To make turkey meat more juicy and soft, it must first be marinated for several hours. It is best if the carcass sits in the marinade all night. The bird can also be stuffed before baking. Fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and nuts are usually used as filling.
Recipes
There are many options for cooking a delicious whole turkey in the oven. The recipes differ not only in the ingredients used, but also in the cooking technology. Some recipes call for pre-marinating and stuffing the poultry. There are also different ways to bake a turkey: the carcass can be cooked in the oven on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil, in foil or in a baking sleeve.
In foil
Baking food in foil has certain advantages. Foil allows you to seal the meat hermetically and thereby prevent juice from leaking out. Thus, the bird turns out soft and juicy, because during the cooking process it is evenly heated and simmers in its own juices. For the classic recipe for cooking turkey in foil, you will need the following components:
- one bird carcass, weighing four kilograms;
- one medium onion;
- two hundred grams of butter;
- five tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil;
- a mixture of dried aromatic herbs;
- Ground black pepper and salt are added to taste.
First of all, you need to prepare aromatic butter. To do this, it is softened by keeping it at room temperature for about an hour. Soft butter is combined with herbs, salt and pepper. This could be a mixture of Provencal herbs, rosemary or basil.
After this, the oil must be placed in the freezer until it hardens. The turkey carcass must be washed well, the skin removed from feathers, if any, and dried with paper napkins. After the butter has hardened, it must be cut into small pieces. It is necessary to make cuts on the entire surface of the carcass on the skin and place plates of aromatic oil in them.
On the onion, it is necessary to make a deep cross-shaped cut along almost the entire length of the onion, but in such a way that it does not fall apart. Onions are placed inside the turkey carcass.
The bird itself is rubbed on the outside with sunflower oil, salt and pepper. After this, the carcass must be tightly wrapped in foil.
The wings and legs are wrapped first, and then the whole bird. The oven must be preheated to 180 degrees and place a baking sheet with the bird in it. The carcass, weighing four kilograms, needs to be baked in foil for three hours.
After the specified time has passed, the turkey must be removed from the oven, carefully unwrap the foil and put the bird back in the oven for another half hour. This is necessary so that a crispy golden crust forms on the surface of the carcass.
With apples
Stuffed poultry is more aromatic and has an original taste. The most common stuffing for turkey is vegetables or fruits. One of the most popular fillings is apple. To prepare stuffed poultry you will need the following products:
- a small turkey, weighing from four to five kilograms;
- two medium red apples;
- two medium onions;
- a bunch of parsley;
- a couple of lemons;
- three branches of fresh rosemary;
- one hundred grams of butter;
- three cloves of garlic;
- three large spoons of vegetable oil;
- one orange;
- salt and ground black pepper are added to taste.
The bird carcass must be cleaned of remaining feathers, washed well and wiped with a paper towel. The butter must be softened, kept for some time at room temperature, and combined with finely chopped herbs, chopped garlic, finely grated zest of one lemon and its juice, as well as salt and pepper.
A third of the aromatic butter should be placed under the skin of the bird, and the remaining mixture should be rubbed on the outside of the carcass. Onions must be peeled and cut into two parts. The apples are cut into large pieces and placed inside the turkey along with the onions.
A small number of apple pieces must be placed on the baking sheet itself, which is pre-greased with vegetable oil. Fresh herbs, sliced orange and lemon are also added to the apples on the baking sheet.
To prevent the stuffing from falling out of the carcass during baking, you need to tie the turkey legs with culinary thread, and sew up the hole or seal it with wooden toothpicks. The oven needs to be preheated to 180 degrees and the stuffed bird should be placed there. The carcass is baked for one hour and thirty minutes, after which it must be taken out of the oven.
The turkey must be poured with the juice that has flowed onto the baking sheet. Place a sheet of foil on top of the carcass and seal the turkey. The bird is put into the oven for another two hours. The baking time may be increased if you are roasting a large turkey. In any case, before stopping the baking process, the meat is checked for readiness by piercing the juice that has been released.
The video presents you with another simple recipe for cooking turkey in the oven. Bon appetit!
How to cook a whole turkey so it's tender and juicy
The custom of roasting turkey for the table came from America, where Thanksgiving and Christmas are not complete without this dish. Poultry often becomes a signature dish, because every housewife should know how to cook a whole turkey so that it is soft and juicy.
In addition to the fact that this dish looks beautiful and incredibly tasty, it is also healthy, as it is low in calories, contains a minimum of cholesterol, and many vitamins and microelements that have a beneficial effect on the human body.
There are several recipes for cooking a whole turkey; they differ in the preparatory process and stuffing.
"Festive Turkey"
Ingredients:
large bird carcass;
1 piece each carrots, oranges, onions, garlic;
2 bay leaves;
cinnamon stick;
7 cloves;
2 tsp each favorite spices, coriander;
1 tsp. allspice peas;
1/2 cup granulated sugar;
10 tbsp. lie rock salt;
150 g butter
Cooking steps:
1. The turkey is gutted and washed, or a ready-thawed one is used. All edible innards from the turkey are also removed and the neck is removed.
2. In order for the bird to be juicy, 2 - 3 days before cooking, it must be soaked in a solution that includes: salt and sugar dissolved in boiling water (1 liter), chopped carrots and onions, a cinnamon stick broken into pieces, bay leaf, allspice and coriander.
3. The turkey is lowered into a large container, filled with the solution, and then cold purified (filtered or bottled) water is added so that it completely covers the product. Periodically, the bird needs to be turned over and the meat massaged, then it will be better saturated with moisture.
4. The bird is removed from the solution and washed under running water.
5. The carcass is greased with butter, previously softened at room temperature and supplemented with a mixture of herbs and spices, mashed garlic (half a head). The turkey is rubbed inside, outside, and also under the skin, for which you need to tear the film - the ligament connecting the skin to the flesh.
6. An orange is placed inside the bird, boiled in boiling water for 2 minutes, then stuffed with cloves. The remaining half of the head of garlic is cut in half and also placed in the inside of the bird so that one part is in front of the orange, the second follows it.
7.The hole is secured with wooden skewers or sewn together with harsh threads.
8. The turkey is baked in a sleeve or foil. If you use a sleeve, then you should not cut it at the end; the bird will brown as is. Foil is another matter: the turkey should be wrapped so that there is an air layer under it, and during the cooking process, the bird is poured with the released juices and fat, 30 minutes before the end of baking, the foil is opened and the top is browned.
The product is laid out breast side down, since this is the driest part of the bird and it is necessary for it to be saturated with the draining fat.
Cooking time is calculated based on the weight of the bird: half an hour per 1 kg of weight. To begin with, set high heat to 240 degrees for 30 minutes to form a golden brown crust. Then the heat is reduced to 190 degrees, and the product remains there for 3 to 4 hours, depending on the weight.
The cooked turkey should release completely clear juice when pierced with a wooden skewer.
9.Now the threads or skewers are removed, the orange and garlic are removed.
The turkey is placed breast side up on a plate, covered with clean foil and left for a third of an hour. Then it is served to the table.
This is a classic option in its entirety so that it is soft and juicy in the oven for a special event, but it can always be supplemented and diversified.
Variations and tips on the holiday turkey theme
1. The bird can be stuffed with a mixture of: boiled rice, fried and minced turkey liver, dried grated carrots and diced onions, a small handful of steamed dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins and prunes), ground pepper, salt and nutmeg, and a little broth is added or just water. The mass is kneaded and sent inside the turkey.
Baking occurs as in the above recipe. This dish goes well with a side dish of vegetables: Brussels sprouts, bean sprouts, broccoli, green beans, carrots.
2. You can also prepare the filling from a mixture of prunes and apples by chopping them and adding spices and salt, sunflower or melted butter.
3. Turkey with bacon is also good. The carcass is not pre-soaked, but deep cuts are made along its entire surface with the end of a sharp knife, into which pieces of frozen chicken fat and thin slices of garlic are placed. All surfaces are rubbed with spices, coated with butter or olive oil, and an orange, apple or lemon, cut into pieces, is placed inside.
The bird is topped with pieces of chicken fat and strips of bacon, placed in the refrigerator overnight, then left at room temperature for another couple of hours and then baked.
4. You can add honey, cognac, champagne, wine to the marinade, and replace regular water with carbonated mineral water. 
5.If you don’t have time for long-term marinating, you can simply rub the bird with salt, garlic, rosemary and olive oil, leaving it like that for just a couple of hours.
With one medium-sized turkey of 5 - 7 kg (you should not take a bird larger than 10 kg, it is better to buy two, but smaller ones) you can feed 10 guests, because other meat masterpieces are no longer required.
The main thing in preparing a turkey baked in the oven is to achieve juiciness and tenderness of the meat. To do this, it is marinated, stuffed, and stuffed.
One of the common mistakes housewives make is lowering the temperature in the oven. As a result, the poultry meat dries out, becomes tough and dry.
Turkey should be baked in the oven at a temperature of at least 180°C. Also, this bird loves baking sleeves and foil. It turns out much juicier in them.
How to cook turkey:
Whole carcass:
Pieces on the bone.
Oven-baked turkey will taste better if you use a fresh carcass of a young bird. Therefore, it is not recommended to purchase meat in advance and freeze it. The age of the bird when purchased can be determined by the color of its skin. It should be light and thin. If you purchase not a carcass, but semi-finished pieces, then when cut, the meat should be moist and shiny, without dried crusts. When pressed with a finger, the hole is quickly restored.
If using a frozen carcass, it is best to thaw it slowly to preserve flavor and nutrients. To do this, place it in a cup and place it at the bottom of the refrigerator at least a day before preparation. You can’t put meat straight into the oven. Mandatory treatment and washing are required; feathers may remain on the skin. For the same reason, you should not purchase ready-made semi-finished products, for example, turkey rolls, cutlets, or marinated meat. It’s tastier and safer to cook meals completely yourself.
A whole turkey carcass baked in the oven is often stuffed. You can use vegetables, fruits, cereals, mushrooms and other products as filling. You should never stuff a carcass in advance, as the contact of meat and filling provokes the growth of bacteria. It is better to do this immediately before sending it for baking.
Recipe 1: Turkey in the oven “Christmas”
A simple recipe for a whole turkey roasted in the oven. The meat turns out juicy, the bird is covered with an appetizing crust. At the same time the sauce is being prepared. Despite the name, the dish is suitable not only for the Christmas table, but also for any other celebration.
Required Ingredients
Turkey carcass up to 4 kg;
Butter 100 gr. + 30 for lubrication;
Salt pepper;
50 ml wine;
1 carrot;
1 celery.
Cooking method
Add softened butter and grind well. Wash the carcass thoroughly. It is not recommended to use large birds for this recipe as there is no pre-soaking required. Carefully remove the skin from the sternum and fill with prepared butter. Lubricate the skin and cavity with the remainder. Rub the top of the carcass with salt and pepper, and also process the inside.
Wash the lemon, cut it into 2 parts and put both halves inside the carcass. Cross your legs, make cuts on opposite sides and tuck them in. Place the turkey in the oven for half an hour at 220°C. Then remove, reduce the temperature to 180 °C and cook for about 2.5 -3 hours. Every 30 minutes you need to take the bird out and water it with the released juice.
While the turkey is roasting in the oven, you can prepare the base for the sauce. Cut the celery and carrots into pieces, add 0.7 liters of water and boil until fully cooked, you can slightly boil them. Cool without draining. After cooking the carcass, there will be oil in the mold. It must be added to boiled vegetables in any proportion. The more, the richer and more flavorful the sauce will be. Season everything with salt, pepper and blender. You can add herbs and spices to taste.
Recipe 2: Turkey in the oven “Juicy” with fruit
Turkey baked in the oven according to this recipe requires pre-soaking in brine for a day. This gives the meat extra juiciness and reduces cooking time. The carcass size can be any, but it is better not to use large birds over 6 kg.
Required Ingredients
Turkey carcass;
150 gr. butter;
For brine per 1 liter of water:
Bulb;
0.04 kg salt;
0.03 kg sugar;
10 peppercorns.
For filling:
Walnuts;
Prunes.
Cooking method
A day before cooking turkey baked in the oven with fruit, you need to marinate it. For a medium-sized bird, you need to prepare about 4-6 liters of brine. To do this, pour water into a saucepan, add salt, spices, and chopped onions. Bring to a boil, cool. Rinse the carcass and remove any remaining feathers from the skin. Place the bird in the brine; it should completely cover the carcass. Place in a cool place.
After marinating, remove the carcass from the brine and allow the liquid to drain. Meanwhile, prepare the green butter. To do this, chop the greens and mix with softened butter. Place this mixture under the skin of the carcass. Place a filling of chopped apples, nuts and dried fruits inside. Tie your legs together. Grease the carcass with butter or vegetable oil and place in the oven at 180 °C. Baking time depends on size, but usually takes at least 3 hours.
To make the meat juicier and the crust more appetizing, you need to periodically remove the carcass and lubricate it with the released juice.
Recipe 3: Turkey fillet in the oven with sour cream sauce
Turkey fillet baked in the oven with sour cream turns out very tender and juicy. You can use both the flesh from the thighs and the breast. But it’s better not to combine them together, since their cooking times are different and the breast may turn out dry.
Required Ingredients
Fillet 1 kg;
200 gr. sour cream;
50 ml soy sauce;
3 cloves of garlic;
3 tomatoes.
Cooking method
Prepare a filling from sour cream, soy sauce and garlic. Cut the meat. You can cook turkey fillet baked in the oven either in small pieces or in portions. You can also bake large pieces for slicing. It's all a matter of taste. You will only need to increase or decrease the cooking time. Place the fillet in a mold, pour the sauce over it, put tomato rings on top and bake until done.
Recipe 4: Turkey fillet in the oven with adjika
To prepare a turkey baked in the oven according to this recipe, you will need a sleeve. But if you don’t have it, you can use foil. The meat is prepared very simply and requires a minimum of ingredients, suitable for any side dishes.
Required Ingredients
Fillet 0.8 kg;
Spicy adjika 2 spoons;
4 cloves of garlic.
Cooking method
Stuff fillet pieces with cut garlic cloves, add salt and generously grease with adjika on all sides. Place in a sleeve, close and make a puncture at the top to allow air to escape. Place in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes at 190°C. Then the sleeve can be cut and the meat thoroughly fried until golden brown.
Recipe 5: Turkey drumstick in the oven with bacon and fennel
A recipe for incredibly tasty and juicy turkey drumsticks baked in the oven with aromatic fennel. If someone does not like this spice, you can use any other one to your taste. The dish is prepared immediately with a side dish of potatoes, carrots and tomatoes.
Required Ingredients
Drumstick 5-6 pieces;
Bacon for wrapping;
Bunch of fennel;
0.8 kg of potatoes, preferably small ones, the size of an egg;
2 carrots;
5-6 small tomatoes;
2 cloves of garlic;
0.5 lemon;
50 ml oil;
Cooking method
First, let's prepare the marinade. For it, chop the garlic, grind with lemon juice, and add salt. Rub the washed and dried shin with marinade and leave for 2-3 hours. At this time, prepare the vegetables. Peel the carrots and cut each one lengthwise into several strips. Peel the potatoes and use them whole, just like the tomatoes. If the tubers are large, then you can cut them into 2-4 parts.
Wrap each drumstick with 2-3 strips of bacon. Place in the center of the mold, arrange the prepared vegetables around, add salt and sprinkle with chopped fennel. Drizzle oil on top of vegetables. Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven for an hour at 190°C. Then remove the foil, increase the temperature to 220 °C and bake until golden brown.
Recipe 6: Turkey drumstick in the oven with prunes and garlic
To prepare turkey drumsticks baked in the oven, you will need not very large legs, which it is advisable to marinate for several hours in advance. The number of products is arbitrary. The dish is prepared immediately with a side dish of vegetables.
Required Ingredients
Prunes;
Potato;
Carrot;
Sour cream;
For the marinade:
Pineapple juice;
Soy sauce.
Cooking method
You can use orange juice instead of pineapple juice. Add soy sauce to it in a ratio of 1:5. Pour over the legs and leave for at least 2 hours. Cut the garlic and prunes into small pieces. Vegetables can also be prepared, peeled, and cut in advance. Remove the drumstick from the marinade, make small cuts and stuff with pieces of prunes and garlic. Add some salt to the vegetables. Place the legs in the pan, placing vegetables between each other.
Now you need to mix sour cream with the remaining marinade 1:1 and pour on top of the dish. Bake until done in the oven at a temperature of 180-190 °C.
Recipe 7: Turkey breast in the oven “Home-style boiled pork”
Many people buy boiled pork in the store, but in fact it is very easy to cook at home. An easy oven baked turkey breast recipe. The amount of meat is arbitrary. You can bake the whole breast or half at the same time.
Required Ingredients
Turkey breast;
Mayonnaise;
Seasoning for meat;
Cooking method
Peel the garlic. Cut each clove into 2-3 parts. Stuff the breast with pieces of garlic. Prepare the marinade: mix mayonnaise with salt or seasoning. Generously coat the prepared breast with the resulting sauce. Leave for at least 4 hours, or put in the refrigerator overnight. Then put the piece in a refractory dish and bake in the oven until cooked.
If you are using a large piece of breast (from 1 kg), you can use a baking sleeve. But you don’t need to completely cook the meat in it. Still, turkey boiled pork baked in the oven turns out tastier when fried. Therefore, after 1-1.5 hours the sleeve can be removed or simply cut and bent to the sides.
Recipe 8: Turkey breast in the oven with mushrooms
Recipe for amazing oven baked turkey mushroom rolls. The dish turns out delicious, beautiful, ideal for holiday tables. The recipe uses fried champignons, but can be made with absolutely any mushrooms, even pickled ones.
Required Ingredients
5 pieces of breast, palm-sized, 1.5 cm thick;
300 gr. champignons;
Bulb;
Black pepper;
Oil for frying mushrooms;
100 ml broth;
A clove of garlic.
Cooking method
Fry the mushrooms in a frying pan with onions in a small amount of oil, add salt and pepper. Beat the fillet through the cellophane with a hammer. Salt and pepper on both sides. Place mushrooms on a piece, roll it up, and secure the edge with a toothpick. Do this with all pieces of meat. Place the rolls in the mold. Mix mayonnaise with broth, add crushed garlic and pour over rolls. Bake until done. Before serving, remove the toothpicks and cut the rolls into pieces.
Recipe 9: Turkey thigh in the oven with pineapples “Accordion”
Pineapples are a great addition to any meat, including turkey. The dish turns out juicy and incredibly aromatic. To prepare a turkey baked in the oven with pineapples, you will need a thigh. This part of the carcass tastes like beef, but is much lighter and more tender.
Required Ingredients
2 turkey thighs;
Canned pineapples 6 rings;
Mayonnaise 100 gr.;
Cooking method
In a liter of water, dilute a full spoon of salt with a mountain, lower the thighs and let stand for a couple of hours. More is possible. If desired, you can add any spices to the brine. But you shouldn’t overuse it, as garlic and pineapple will add their own special flavor to the dish. There is no need to remove the skin from the thighs for this dish.
Mix mayonnaise with chopped garlic and set aside. Remove the thighs from the brine and dry with a towel. Cut the pineapple rings in half. Now you need to make 6 deep cuts to the bone in each thigh on the fleshy side. If the turkey was small, the thighs were small, then less is possible.
Salt the meat, thoroughly grease it with mayonnaise, working well into the resulting pockets. Then insert a pineapple slice into each. It may not fit entirely, that’s okay, that’s how it should be. If there is any mayonnaise sauce left, you can pour it on top. Place the thighs in the pan, cover the top with foil and bake at 180°C for 1.5 hours.
Recipe 10: Turkey thigh in the oven, Italian style
This savory oven roasted turkey thigh is prepared with a blend of Italian herbs. Ideal with pasta, vegetables, potatoes. But it can be used for slicing, just like boiled pork. But to do this, the thigh will need to be cooled and the bone removed.
Required Ingredients
Turkey thigh 1 pc.;
Spoon of Italian herbs;
spoon of honey;
2 spoons of soy sauce;
Olive oil for lubrication;
Cooking method
The main thing in this dish is to use high-quality honey and let the meat marinate well. To do this, melt the honey, add soy sauce and a little salt. On the thigh on both sides, make cuts 2 cm deep at the same distance between each other. You can chop it into strips or crosswise to create squares on the surface. Coat the inside of the cuts with sauce, and spread the remainder over the surface. Then pour Italian herbs into the slots. There is no need to sprinkle the outside; the spices will burn during cooking. Leave the meat to marinate for 3-4 hours. Then put it in a mold, brush the top with olive oil and bake in the oven until done.
Recipe 11: Turkey breast in the oven with buckwheat and vegetables
Housewives rarely cook cereals in the oven, but in vain. It is in it that they turn out unusually tasty and immediately solve the issue with the side dish. Turkey fillet baked in the oven with buckwheat is very simple to prepare, but still has a decent taste. You can cook it similarly with rice.
Required Ingredients
0.8 kg fillet;
Buckwheat 2 cups;
5 tomatoes;
3 bell peppers;
Bulb;
Salt pepper;
50 gr. vegetable oil.
Cooking method
Rinse the buckwheat, drain the water and pour into a deep baking dish, leveling it. Add 400 gr to the cereal. salted water. If you have meat broth, you can use it. Cut the turkey into small pieces, like for goulash. Cut the pepper into cubes and mix with the meat. Add salt, pepper, mix thoroughly. Spread the meat mixture over the buckwheat in an even layer. Cut the tomatoes into thick 0.5 cm rings and place them on top of the meat. Lightly salt the top and brush with vegetable oil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes at 190°C, then reduce to 170 and cook for another 15 minutes.
Turkey baked in the oven - tricks and useful tips
To ensure that a turkey baked in the oven is juicy and tender, you need to grease the meat under the skin, not the skin. The skin on the brisket easily moves away and allows you to add a sufficient amount of butter, sour cream or mayonnaise. The skin is lubricated for a delicious crust.
When cooking turkey, a lot of juices and fat accumulate in the pan. You can make sauces from them and add them to side dishes. And if use is not possible at the moment, then the mass should be placed in a container and sent to the freezer. It can be used in any dish, including fillings for feasts.
Turkey meat will be much tastier if you add a little sugar to the marinade. You can also use honey.
Don't know how long to cook a bird? Do the math! Every half kilo requires 18 minutes of cooking in the oven at an average temperature of 180-200. The filling also needs to be taken into account when calculating.
To make the bird tender and juicy, you can simply place it in the pan with the breast down. Of course, the appearance of the carcass will suffer a little from this, but you don’t have to worry that the meat will turn out dry.
To prevent the ends of the legs from burning and to have an attractive appearance, they can be wrapped in pieces of foil. It is better to hide the wings in the slots of the carcass.
And the main secret of a delicious oven-baked turkey is still the quality of the meat. If it is old or has been defrosted several times, then no recipe will help you prepare a royal dish. And young and fresh poultry will be delicious with any sauce or even without it.
By cooking a turkey in the oven, the housewife will be able to treat the whole family with not only a tasty, but also a dietary dinner. Turkey meat can be included in the diet of even the smallest family members. If there is no need to monitor calories, it is allowed to combine poultry with potatoes, milk sauces, and cheese.
Ingredients:
Poultry carcass for 3 kilos;
5 dessert spoons of classic soy sauce;
Salt and spices (a few sprigs of rosemary are required);
Fresh garlic to taste;
1 lemon.
Preparation:
1. Rinse the bird carcass on all sides. If necessary, treat with a torch. Remove the entrails. Coat with oil.
2. Peel the garlic and crush it. Combine with sauce and spices. Salt the mixture.
3. Rub the prepared turkey carcass with the resulting gruel. During the process, vigorously rub the ingredients into the meat with your hands.
4. Rinse the citrus and scald with boiling water. Place into the belly of the bird along with a couple of sprigs of fragrant rosemary. Place a few more on top of the carcass.
5. Place the turkey in a baking sleeve. Tie the structure. Leave the bird to marinate in a cool place for at least 1.5 hours.
6. Place in the mold in the sleeve. Cook whole for 1.5 hours at 190°.
Pour the juices released during the process over the turkey baked in the oven and serve for dinner.
Ingredients:
750 g poultry fillet;
800 g potatoes;
A pinch each of ground paprika, curry, basil, granulated garlic, a mixture of poultry and potato spices;
1 branch of rosemary;
A pair of green onions;
Salt and pepper;
Sunflower oil;
2 bay leaves.
Preparation:
1. Cut the peeled potatoes into slices. Place in a bowl. Add salt, all spices except curry and those intended for poultry.
2. Mix the potato pieces well with your hands. Pour them with a small amount of oil.
3. Chop the poultry fillet into medium pieces. Place pepper, salt and curry in a bowl.
4. Combine meat and potatoes. Add laurel and rosemary.
5. Place the products in a rectangular glass dish.
First, bake the turkey and potatoes under a layer of foil for 70 minutes (at 180°). Then leave in the oven to brown for another 20 - 25 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 large poultry steaks;
40 ml vegetable oil;
2 cloves of garlic;
Salt pepper;
1 tsp. thyme.
Preparation:
1. Place washed and dried steaks in a bowl.
2. Add small cubes of garlic, mashed thyme, salt and pepper to the bird to taste.
3. Pour oil over the food and leave for half an hour.
4. Place the turkey in a ceramic dish. And the container itself goes into the baking sleeve.
Cook turkey steaks first for 25 minutes at 230 - 240°. Then carefully cut the sleeve in the middle and let the bird brown for another quarter of an hour.
Turkey cutlets in the oven
Ingredients:
750 g turkey fillet;
Oregano, basil, red and black pepper, salt;
Crumb crumbs;
1 piece each onions, potatoes and carrots;
1 tbsp. l. dry dill.
Preparation:
1. Coarsely chop the prepared fillet. Place it together with the onion pieces in a blender bowl. Grind at high speed.
2. Add potato and carrot slices. Mix the products together. You should get homogeneous minced meat.
3. Add all the spices and salt to the mixture. Stir in the egg. Add dry dill and breadcrumbs (a couple of tablespoons). Adjust the amount of breadcrumbs by eye. Their volume affects the thickness of the dough.
4. Place the minced meat in a couple of layers of cling film or a bag and beat it on a hard surface several times.
5. Form small cutlets from the mixture. Place on an oiled baking sheet.
Bake turkey cutlets at 200° for about 40 - 45 minutes.
Bird thigh in sleeve
Ingredients:
2 bone-in thighs;
Large piece of butter;
1 tbsp. l. lime juice (freshly squeezed);
1 bunch of asparagus;
Salt and spices;
½ lemon;
Olive oil.
Preparation:
1. Soften the butter (approximately ½ of a standard stick). Add salt and your favorite spices to it. Beat with a mixer at low speed. Pour in lime juice, mix well.
2. Distribute the mixture obtained in the first step over the turkey thighs, slightly lifting the skin.
3. Sprinkle the bird with salt.
4. Place the thighs into the baking sleeve. Cook for 35 – 40 minutes at 220°.
5. Separately, fry the asparagus. Season with salt and lemon juice.
Serve the roasted poultry thighs with a garnish of asparagus.
Baked turkey wings
Ingredients:
250 g turkey wings;
1 tbsp. l. olive oil;
1 tbsp. purified water;
½ tsp. salt;
Pepper mixture, dried basil, sweet ground paprika, granulated garlic;
2 tbsp. l. sun-dried tomatoes.
Preparation:
1. Wash and salt the meat components. Rub them with the spice mixture. Place in a heat-resistant form.
2. Add olive oil and chopped sun-dried tomatoes there.
3. Pour 1 tbsp into the mold. salted hot water.
4. Cover the wings with foil.
Bake at 200° for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove the foil from the pan and continue cooking for another quarter of an hour.
How to deliciously bake a turkey drumstick?
Ingredients:
1 kilo of turkey drumsticks;
Any poultry seasoning mixture;
Sunflower oil;
6 – 8 potatoes;
1 tsp. spices for potatoes;
Fresh garlic to taste.
Preparation:
1. Rinse the drumsticks and peel off the skin. Make slits in the meat pulp and insert pieces of garlic into them.
2. Rub the bird with meat spices and salt.
3. Place in pan and leave while potatoes are prepared.
4. Cut the vegetables into slices, pour over oil, sprinkle with salt and special spices. Mix well. Place potatoes around the meat.
5. Cover the pan with foil.
Bake turkey drumsticks with potatoes in the oven for 50 minutes at 220°. Reduce the temperature by 20 degrees and cook the dish for another quarter of an hour.
Festive boiled pork recipe
Ingredients:
1 kilo turkey fillet;
Sea salt and 3 tbsp. l. stone;
Mixture of colored ground peppers;
3 dessert spoons of sunflower oil;
3 – 4 garlic cloves;
1 tsp. sweet paprika;
3 tbsp. filtered water.
Preparation:
1. Place boneless, skinless fillet in a solution of water and regular table salt. Cover with a plate on top and press down with a weight. Refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, remove excess liquid from the fillet with napkins. Give the piece the desired shape and tie it with thread.
3. Using a sharp knife, make small holes all over the surface of the bird. Insert pieces of garlic into them.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the oil and all the specified spices. Add a minimal amount of sea salt. Rub the aromatic mixture onto the meat on all sides. Place on a baking sheet lined with dry parchment.
5. Place the workpiece in the oven, preheated to 250°. Cook for half an hour.
6. Turn off the oven. Allow the meat to cool completely in it.
Remove the strings from the boiled pork, cut into thin slices and serve. Store refrigerated, wrapped in parchment paper.
Filled rolls
Ingredients:
4 prepared poultry fillets;
4 thin strips of zucchini;
4 things. cherry;
200 g mozzarella;
Preparation:
1. Beat the fillet (make sure that the pieces of the bird do not tear), add salt.
2. Place a slice of young zucchini on each slice.
3. Add cheese and 1 pc. cherry
4. Roll up the rolls and secure each one with a toothpick.
5. Place the preparations in a baking dish. Cook at 180° in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes.
Cut each roll into two parts. Serve hot.
Poultry baked with apples
Ingredients:
700 g turkey thigh fillet;
1 large apple;
1 tbsp. l. grain mustard;
3 dessert spoons of olive oil;
Fresh garlic;
Pepper and salt.
Preparation:
1. Prepare a marinade from mustard seeds, olive oil, and mashed garlic. Each housewife determines the amount of the latter for herself. Add salt and pepper.
2. Spread the meat with the resulting marinade. Leave for a couple of hours.
3. Wash the apple and chop it into slices together with the peel (removing the core and seeds).
4. Place marinated turkey on foil. Place apple slices on top.
5. Wrap the cover tightly.
Cook the bird in a very hot oven for 45 minutes. Then remove the foil and turn on the grill function for another 10 minutes.
Turkey fillet in foil
Ingredients:
½ kilo of poultry fillet;
1/3 tbsp. classic soy sauce;
3 dessert spoons of olive oil;
Fine salt;
3 garlic cloves;
Provençal herbs and turmeric.
Preparation:
1. Rub the washed and prepared fillet with a mixture of salt and spices on all sides.
2. Make holes in the bird and stuff them with small pieces of fresh garlic.
3. Place the fillet on foil. Drizzle with sauce and olive oil mixture. Wrap tightly.
4. Leave the structure for 1 hour at room temperature.
Bake the turkey fillet in the oven in this form for 45 minutes at 200°. Then continue cooking without foil for another 20 minutes.
Baking option with vegetables
Ingredients:
Half a kilo of turkey fillet;
Provençal herbs, salt and paprika;
Olive oil;
3 dessert spoons of classic soy sauce;
1 carrot;
150 g green beans;
200 g pumpkin pulp;
1 head of garlic;
2 potatoes.
Preparation:
1. Sprinkle small pieces of fillet with spices, salt, and mix. Cover the bowl with the meat with cling film and refrigerate while the vegetables are cooked.
2. Peel all vegetables, if necessary, cut into large pieces. Chop the garlic into miniature slices. Add frozen green beans. Sprinkle the mixture with salt. Drizzle with a little oil.
3. Mix vegetables with marinated meat.
4. Place in a baking container and cover with foil.
Cook in the oven at high temperature for 40 minutes covered and another 20 minutes uncovered.
To make turkey dishes tasty and tender, you should always marinate the bird in advance. For example, in soy sauce or spiced oil. The ideal solution would be to leave it in the marinade overnight and start cooking in the morning.
Vegetarians and other adherents of a healthy lifestyle completely eliminate meat from their diet, since it contains large amounts of bad cholesterol and fat. However, American nutritionists say that eating turkey will not harm your health, since its meat is a low-calorie and very nutritious product, which contains extremely little cholesterol, but a lot of magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus and other trace elements necessary for the body.
List of recipes in the article:
Turkey: how to bake in the oven
In addition, turkey meat contains many vitamins and amino acids, which allow a person to look young and fresh. Several dishes from this bird, consumed twice a week, will provide you with an influx of vitality and a healthy appearance.
How to cook turkey
So, how to deliciously cook turkey meat baked whole in the oven? Of the ingredients you will need a whole turkey (based on five kilograms), one cinnamon stick, one and a half teaspoons of coriander seeds, two bay leaves, one hundred grams of onions, one hundred grams of carrots, ten buds of cloves, one orange, one garlic, one hundred grams of butter butter, one hundred and twenty grams of granulated sugar and ten teaspoons of salt.
To prevent the finished turkey from losing its juiciness by drying out during cooking, pre-soak it for 24 hours or several days in a salty solution of salt, sugar and spices.
After soaking, pat the bird dry with paper towels. Then wash the orange thoroughly and place it in boiling water for a few minutes. Stick the clove buds into the softened peel and cut the head of garlic into two parts. Place the orange, cloves and garlic into the turkey's belly and sew up the hole with thread or secure with wooden skewers.
Roast the whole turkey
To cook a delicious turkey, you need to bake it in the oven. Soften the butter, add ground pepper and stir the mixture. Cut the baking foil into long pieces and line a baking sheet with them.
The edges of the foil should hang from the baking sheet so that they can be loosely wrapped around the turkey for more complete baking.
Place the turkey on a baking sheet, breast side up, brush with butter and place a little butter under the skin of the bird. Wrap the turkey in foil, leaving room for air under the foil. Place the baking sheet with the bird in the oven, preheated to 220 degrees, and cook for forty minutes, after which the heat should be reduced to 180 degrees and leave the turkey there for three hours (the larger the bird, the longer the baking time).
In the middle of the process, brush the turkey breast with the remaining oil, and at the end, open the foil, increase the heat to 230 degrees and bake the meat for half an hour until golden brown.
Determine readiness by the clarity of the juice flowing from the thickest part of the turkey breast, pierced with a sharp knife.
You can serve the finished dish on the table twenty minutes after the end of baking.
Stuffed turkey
Another popular American recipe is stuffed turkey. For this dish you will need a whole bird, one hundred grams of rice, half an onion, one carrot, turkey liver, ten grams of raisins, prunes and dried apricots, as well as twenty grams of vegetable and butter. For spices, take ground pepper, salt and nutmeg.
Preparing the Turkey for Roasting
The washed and gutted turkey must be thoroughly rubbed with pepper and salt and placed in a cool place for several hours. While the carcass is cooling, boil the rice, wash and chop the dried fruits. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry all the spices, adding carrots, onions and turkey liver in the process.
For a richer and juicier taste of the dish, turkey liver should be cut into small slices and added to the frying at the very end.
