Easy Apple Cider Roast Turkey for Thanksgiving
This is the ultimate Thanksgiving turkey recipe! Made with an apple cider brine and apple cider glaze to perfectly fit the season.
Well, it’s taken me 10 years of recipe blogging to publish a roast turkey recipe, but I’m glad the day is here! This recipe is a delicious take on a classic baked turkey, perfect for any special occasion or holiday.
For this Thanksgiving turkey recipe, I start by brining it in a sweet and herbaceous apple cider brine. Doing this helps lock in moisture and flavor from the inside out! I don’t always do a wet brine when I’m cooking a whole turkey, but I do think it’s a necessary step when baking a turkey.
Next, I rub the turkey with seasonings and add butter to help keep the breast meat moist. And then, I roast! Adding the apple cider glaze helps the skin to caramelize beautifully, making the turkey nice and glossy.
One thing I know for sure is that if you serve this turkey at your Thanksgiving meal, everyone will be asking for the recipe! It’s beautiful and feels so special.
Recipe and Substitutions:
Although this recipe takes time to make, it’s really pretty simple and does not use a long list of ingredients! There are several changes you can make to this recipe to make it your own, including:
- To the brine, feel free to add sliced orange, a few cloves garlic, fresh thyme or even lemons!
- Instead of butter, you’re welcome to use olive oil.
- Instead of dark brown sugar, you can substitute more honey or maple syrup
- Instead of apple cider, use apple juice.
- Add chunks of carrot or celery to the roasting pan.
Serving Suggestions
I like to enjoy this turkey for a traditional Thanksgiving meal alongside green bean casserole, stuffing, corn casserole and spoonbread!
If you need more ideas, I’ve put together a comprehensive list of Thanksgiving recipes to consider.
Storing Leftover Turkey
Have leftovers? Lucky you! Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Your leftovers will also freeze for up to 4 months.
Use those leftovers by making Turkey Cranberry Sliders! They also use up leftover cranberry sauce, which is awesome.
Easy Apple Cider Roast Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 batch apple cider turkey brine
For the turkey:
- 12 pound whole turkey, thawed with the giblets removed
- ½ cup butter, salted, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sage, dried
- 1 cup turkey broth, for the bottom of the pan
For the glaze:
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
Equipment
- Drip EZ BBQ Prep Tub expandable, stores flat
- Turkey Brine Bags if you're using a bucket for the brine
Instructions
- The Day Before: Make the brine. Add the turkey and refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours.
- The Day Of: Drain and rinse the turkey. Once you remove the turkey from the brine, rinse it well, or it will be too salty. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels to remove excess water. Optionally, you can save the herbs and fruits to place inside the turkey when cooking!
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and move the oven rack to the bottom level of your oven.
- Make the butter rub. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and sage until smooth.
- Place your turkey breast side up in your roasting pan with a roasting rack. Stuff the cavity with half of the leftover herbs and fruits from the brine (optional).
- With your clean hands or a spatula, gently separate the skin from the meat over the breast to make a pocket. Use half of your butter under the skin of the breasts, smoothing it out as much as you can. Rub the remaining butter over the skin of the bird, making sure to get the legs and wings as well as the breast.
- Tuck the wings and secure the legs. Tuck the wing tips behind the body of the bird and use butcher’s twine to tie the legs together at the end.
- Add a cup of turkey broth and the remaining herbs and fruits leftover from the brine to the bottom of the roasting pound.
- Bake uncovered for 10-12 minutes per pound. If your turkey starts to brown too early, tent it with aluminum foil to slow the browning of the skin.
- While the turkey is baking, making the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple cider, brown sugar, and honey, stirring until just simmering. Continue to simmer until slightly reduced and thickened.
- When the turkey has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the breast and along the thigh bone at the thickest part of the thigh, it is done and can be removed from the oven.
- Rest. Remove the turkey from the roasting pan and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Use a basting brush to glaze the turkey while it's resting.
