This easy juicy roast turkey recipe guarantees succulent turkey every time! Even if you've never cooked a turkey before, this is one you can feel confident in pulling off. It's straightforward, foolproof, and delicious! The skin becomes crispy and golden, and the flesh stays juicy by rubbing a flavourful sage and orange butter beneath the skin and sealing the moisture with crispy bacon. Perfect for your next Christmas, Thanksgiving, or holiday centrepiece.

This easy juicy roast turkey is packed with flavour at every level! And all this flavour contributes to a delicious port and pistachio gravy to serve your roast turkey with.

The bacon, and sage and orange compound butter help keep the turkey juicy, and leave the most delicious pan drippings. But we also we stuff the turkey with onion, sage, and dried apricots, to flavour the meat and to use in the gravy! All these delicious flavours give the turkey and the gravy incredible depth of flavour that's so reminiscent of the holidays!

And if this wasn't enough, we also wrap the turkey with fatty bacon to protect it from drying out. The result? The most succulent, juicy roast turkey!

Ingredients for this Roast Turkey Recipe

Ingredients For the Turkey

Of course, you will need a turkey! If buying a frozen turkey, make sure it's fully defrosted before preparing. I prefer a separate stuffing that can be baked and become crispy and golden! So, instead of a traditional stuffing, we simply fill the cavity with aromatic ingredients. This helps gently flavour the meat, and actually forms the base of the port and pistachio gravy I serve with this roast turkey recipe.

To fill the cavity, you will need an orange, a brown onion, some fresh sage leaves, and some dried apricots. If you're in Australia, try and get your hands on Coles' 'soft and juicy' range of dried apricots. They're plump, and as the name suggests, very soft and juicy! They almost turn to jam when cooked, and the flavour is incredible. But any dried apricots will do! You'll also need salt, pepper, olive oil, and some fatty, thick, streaky bacon to cover the turkey breasts with.

Ingredients For the Sage and Orange Compound Butter

Turkey is a very lean meat, so I think rubbing some butter in between the skin and flesh (as well as on top) is mandatory for juicy roast turkey! For this compound butter, you'll need unsalted butter, fresh sage, the zest of an orange, salt and pepper. Simple but delicious! My only tip is to get a good-quality butter (I prefer grass-fed for the extra nutrition but also because it's sooo creamy)! The butter is there to keep the turkey succulent, but also to flavour the meat and the skin. So the better the butter, the better flavour you'll end up with!

How to Make this Easy Juicy Roast Turkey

Stuff the Cavity

One of my favourite things about roasting turkey is how it can all be done ahead of time! All you have to do Christmas day or Thanksgiving is pop it in the oven. But if you haven't planned ahead, no matter! Just take the turkey out of the fridge 1 hour before roasting. Allowing it to come closer to room temperature will ensure more even cooking! (If preparing in advance to cook the next day, skip this step and keep it in the fridge!)

Season the cavity generously with salt and pepper. Then quarter your orange and brown onion and place them in the cavity as well. Roughly chop the sage, and place that in too!

Prepare the Compound Butter & Turkey, then Roast

Make the compound butter by mixing in the orange zest, finely chopped sage, salt and pepper to softened butter.

From the cavity side, with the turkey breast-side up, gently push your fingers under the skin, and separate the skin from the flesh. Be careful not to rip the skin! I like to grab a rubber spatula to help with this and make sure all the skin is loosened across the whole breast, and the legs. Repeat from the other end of the turkey.

Grab two-thirds of the compound butter and distribute it under the skin of the turkey. Push it around so it evenly covers the bird.

With the final third of the compound butter, rub it all over the skin of the turkey.

Lay your bacon across the turkey breasts. You can overlap them, weave them - whatever floats your boat! Note: placing the bacon at this stage will mean the skin will not go golden and crisp in that area. I personally don't mind since you can't really tell once the turkey is carved up. But if you want to avoid this, you'll need to roast the turkey without the bacon for a whole to allow the skin to brown, and then place the bacon on and continue roasting. I avoid the extra step, but it's completely your choice!

Then simply roast the turkey in a moderate oven until the juices run clear at the thicket part of the leg. Baste with the fat at the bottom of the tray every half an hour or so.

For the 4kg (9lb) turkey I used for this recipe, this took me 1 hour 40 minutes at 180°C fan (356°F). If unsure, I suggest using a meat thermometer! The turkey is cooked once it reaches an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F) at the thicket part of the leg. Just place your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the leg without touching the bone! However, I would recommend removing the turkey from the oven a bit earlier. This is because the internal temperature will continue to rise when resting. So, remove the turkey when the meat thermometer reads 71°C (160°F).

The Most Important Step!

Finally, and this is the most important step, you need to let the turkey rest! The muscle fibres and proteins in the turkey contract when they go into the hot oven. This causes the moisture in the meat to be drawn into the centre. This is the same principle for any roasted meat! By resting the turkey, you give these fibres a chance to relax, and for the moisture to redistribute evenly in the meat. This means the turkey will be juicy and succulent!

As a rule of thumb for turkey, I like to rest it for at least as long as the cook time. So yes, that means popping some foil over it and letting it rest for 1 hour 40 minutes! The more you leave it to rest, the juicier it turns out! You'll be surprised how warm it stays under the foil after such a long time. And it doesn't matter if it's not piping hot, since we use that time to make a port and pistachio gravy from the drippings and aromatics. And the idea is to have warm turkey, with piping hot gravy on top, so don't worry about the long rest time😊

What to Serve Roast Turkey With

Apart from the delicious port and pistachio gravy I pair with this roast turkey recipe, there are a few favourite I always turn to! I typically always serve this turkey for my family during Christmas (no Thanksgiving for us in Australia!).

So I love preparing a big tray of my sticky maple-mustard glazed pigs in blankets as an appetizer. For the turkey itself, I like to scatter some pistachios on top (to complement the gravy) as well as some extra dried apricots. You could serve it with some buttery carrot and caramelised onion purée, or rainbow chard with candied walnuts for a unique side of greens! For dessert, indulge in my Persian rosewater pistachio cake with cardamom, or some gluten-free spiced nut and chocolate florentines!

But of all the ways to serve up this easy juicy roast turkey, nothing beats serving it on a bed of the world's best mashed potatoes (a famous Michelin-level recipe!). After all, it's the holidays, so may as well go the extra mile!

I truly hope you enjoy this recipe! If you tried it and loved it, I would be so grateful if you left a 5-star review and a comment to let me know how it went! xxx