How to Roast a Turkey with Stuffing (Times and Temps)
Everyone seems to know or have the best way to make an Oven Roasted Turkey and they’re right! It’s actually really hard to mess up a turkey. Let’s get roasting!
If an Easy Roasted Turkey Isn’t your Idea of thanksgiving Why not Try…
I’ve got a few suggestions, of course. Try an Easy Prime Rib or this Smoked Turkey. Both are wonderful dishes that really shine on Thanksgiving or Christmas. And the sides can all be practically the same.
And don’t forget drinks! Everyone loves a Cranberry Mule or this Christmas Punch.
What you need to make a roasted turkey
You need a few supplies to make a roasted turkey. But not a lot and nothing too special. And if you are intimidated about carving your roasted turkey, check out our holiday carving guide.
- turkey
- butter
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- fresh poultry herbs (can also be dried poultry seasoning herbs)
- chicken broth or turkey broth
You will also need
- roasting pan that fits your turkey
- foil
- turkey baster
- digital thermometer
What size bird should you buy?
For small families or parties use an 8-10-pound bird, this will feed 4-6 people easily. This size bird will thaw quickly and roast quickly. It’s honestly our favorite size bird.
But if you have bigger families, just figure on about 1 1/2 pounds of bone-in turkey per person. Just remember this size bird takes longer to thaw and roast.
You could always roast two smaller birds for larger families. I like to do that because if they’re small enough, you can put two in one pan.
Remember a stuffed birds take longer than an unstuffed bird so a smaller stuffed bird really is a great choice here.
What Size Pan You need For Roasting A turkey
When I pick out the turkey in the store like to make sure the pan I have is big enough. So while I’m in the store I check it against the pans in stock. I just place it in the size of pan I already own and make sure it fits. If it doesn’t, I know I need a bigger, better pan.
You can absolutely go with an aluminum foil pan just try to get the kind that has handles on the side for easy lifting. OR put it on a baking sheet to get it in and out of the oven so you don’t bend the pan, drop the turkey and lose all your hard work.
If you’re planning to invest in a roasting pan. Get a good one. Deep enough to hold a bird, ham, or roast beef. Lids, in my opinion, are optional.
If you get a small turkey you can just put it right in a 9×13 baking pan. You don’t need a roaster to get it done. Just use aluminum foil to tent your turkey.
How Long to Thaw a Turkey
This is where most Thanksgivings go sideways, and it happens days before anybody turns on an oven. A frozen bird can’t be stuffed, and a partly frozen one can’t be stuffed safely, so thawing isn’t a side task on this recipe. It IS the recipe, it just starts on Sunday.
In the refrigerator, plan on 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds. The 10 pound bird in this recipe needs about two to two and a half days. A 12 to 14 pounder needs two and a half to three and a half days. A really big bird can take 4 or 5 days, so count backward on a calendar and don’t do the math in your head at the store.
Put it in a pan. Every time. Turkeys leak, and thawing juices running across a refrigerator shelf is exactly the mess you don’t want near everything else you’re cooking that week.
If you’re short on time, cold water thawing works and it works well. Keep the bird in its wrapper, put it in a sink or a cooler of cold water, change the water every 30 minutes, and count on 30 minutes per pound. That’s six to seven hours for a 12 to 14 pound bird. It has to be cooked right after, no putting it back in the fridge for tomorrow. Bacteria grow fast between 40 and 140 degrees, and that’s the whole reason for both of these rules.
Before you stuff it, reach into the cavity. If the giblet bag doesn’t pull out easily, or there’s still ice in there, it’s not thawed and it’s not ready for stuffing. You can roast a still frozen turkey if you have to, it just takes up to 50 percent longer to get to 165, but you cannot stuff that bird. Stuffing goes in a baking dish that year, and it’s still a good dinner!
Stuffing A Turkey
Stuff it LOOSELY. About three quarters of a cup of stuffing per pound of bird, spooned in, not packed. Packed stuffing is dense stuffing, and dense stuffing takes forever to heat through, which is exactly the problem you’re trying to avoid. Any stuffing that doesn’t fit goes in a buttered baking dish, and honestly that pan is the one everybody fights over anyway.
Once a turkey is stuffed with stuffing, put it in the oven to roast. DO NOT STUFF A BIRD AND PUT IN THE REFRIGERATOR. It must be cooked immediately. The stuffing can harbor bacteria if it’s left in the refrigerator overnight. Raw poultry, warm stuffing, and time in the fridge all make it a dangerous combination.
How Long to Cook a Stuffed Turkey
Before anything else, buy a thermometer and trust it over the pop-up timer. Those little plastic timers are set to pop well past done, so by the time it springs, your breast meat has been drying out for a while. An instant read thermometer is under twenty dollars and it’s the difference between knowing and guessing, and on a bird this expensive it’s the one thing I’d tell you not to skip!
Here’s the thing nobody tells you until you’re standing in front of an open oven at 1pm on Thanksgiving: a stuffed bird and an empty bird do not cook the same. The stuffing sits in the coldest part of the turkey and it has to come up to temperature too, so a stuffed bird runs longer than the chart on the wrapper says. Plan for it. Do not plan your dinner hour around the wrapper.
Two numbers, and they’re both 165°F. You’re looking for 165°F in two places.
- The thigh, in the thickest part, not touching bone: 165°F
- The center of the stuffing, pushed straight into the middle of the cavity: 165°F. This one is not optional and it is not a suggestion. The stuffing has been sitting against raw poultry for hours. If it hasn’t hit 165°F, it isn’t done, no matter how good the bird looks.
Check both. A bird can look gorgeous, hit 165°F in the thigh, and still have stuffing sitting at 140 in the middle. And be sure to check it in several places to get a good idea of what the overall temperature is.
If the breast is done and the stuffing isn’t
First things first DO NOT PANIC, it happens to ALL of us at some time or another. This will happen to somebody reading this, so let’s just handle it.
Scoop the stuffing out, into a buttered baking dish, spread it out so it’s an inch or two deep, and put it back in the oven until the center reads 165°F. It usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Spread thin, it heats fast. While you’re at it pop the whole turkey back in the oven to roast and make sure it’s all 165°F in the cavity. This only takes about 10 minutes once the stuffing out of it.
What you should NOT do is leave the whole bird in the oven and wait for the stuffing to catch up. The breast will be sawdust by the time the middle gets there.
Get the stuffing out, let the bird cook ten more minutes and then let it rest while the stuffing gets cooked through.
If the breast is browning too fast but nothing’s up to temperature yet, tent the breast with foil and keep going. That’s it. That’s the whole fix.
What to serve with your Easy Roasted Turkey
Turkey is best served with something a little tangy and that’s why you need to serve a cranberry sauce with it, try this Orange Cranberry Sauce. You HAVE to, positively MUST, make these Creamy Whipped Potatoes and serve them with my Turkey Gravy from Pan Drippings, whatever you’ve been making can’t hold a candle to this combo!
Of COURSE, you have to make a Green Bean Casserole, this one made with frozen green beans is easy to make and delicious too! And this Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie is a MUST MAKE.
How to Store Roasted Turkey
Store any leftover turkey in an airtight container in the refrigerator. We use and love pyrex containers with plastic lids.
Roasted Turkey with Stuffing
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 ounce fresh poultry herbs a mix of sage, rosemary, parsley OR 2 TBSP dried poultry seasoning, taste the stuffing and add more as needed
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 10 pound turkey thawed, giblets removed, and turkey cleaned as desired, wash inside and out if that appeals to you, pat dry
- 16 ounce corn bread stuffing mix
- 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Heat 1/2 cup of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat
- When the butter melts add the onion and celery cook it until soft, stirring occasionally
- In a saucepan melt the additional 1/4 cup of butter
- If using fresh herbs chop 2 TBSP of mixed herbs and add to the 1/4 cup of melted butter along with 1 tsp salt, if using dried herbs use about 1 TBSP poultry seasoning, set aside to cool a bit to rub on the turkey
- Chop two more TBSP of fresh herbs and add to the celery and onion, add 1 tsp salt, stir to combine
- Add 2 cups chicken broth, simmer together for 5 minutes
- While it simmers place the turkey in the roasting pan
- If it's not dry pat it dry
- Rub the bird inside and out with the herb infused butter, set it aside
- Back to the stuffing, pour the dry mix in a mixing bowl
- Pour the onion celery mix over the stuffing and toss to combine, try to keep it loose and not compacted, if you boiled the liquid away you may need to add another splash of broth
- Put the stuffing into the turkey cavity and the neck cavity, generally I overstuff the bird and kind of pile over the cavity opening so I don't have any leftover stuffing, but it is important not to force it all in and pack it tightly, discard any leftover stuffing because you don't want any turkey juice in that stuffing sitting in the refrigerator
- Once stuffed place the turkey in the hot oven and roast it for 15 minutes per pound or until an instant read digital thermometor reads 165°, baste with pan juice every 30 minutes or so
- Alternately, you can cover it with foil and bake until it's 165° on a thermometer, basting as above, then remove the foil and roast until the skin is crispy and brown and then temperature is 165°
- Once removed from the oven remove the stuffing from the turkey, and cover it to keep it warm
- Let the turkey rest for 10-15 minutes
- Remove to a large carving board and carve the turkey
- Pour off the juices to make gravy or make turkey broth or soup
- Serve the turkey and stuffing together
