Healthy Thomas Keller Turkey Recipe - TheFoodXP (2024)

FAQs

What is the healthiest way to cook a Thanksgiving turkey? ›

Rustveld suggests air frying your turkey as a healthier alternative to deep frying. It takes less time at 400 degrees, and the end product contains less fat since you do not need to add oil. “Deep frying is not as healthy as air frying, roasting or grilling,” he said.

Add the lemon zest and juice, crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Mix well to combine. Remove the giblets from the turkey cavity. Season the cavity well with salt and pepper, then stuff with the onions, lemon, garlic halves and 2 bay leaves.

Brush with clarified butter.

Every turkey deserves a generous dose of butter before roasting. Keller prefers his in the form of clarified butter. As he points out in the My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken recipe, the water content in regular butter can prevent the bird from turning crisp.

Deli-sliced meat will be the healthiest option because of the low ingredient list – take this Boar's Head Premium Lower Sodium turkey, for example, which contains only “Turkey breast, water, less than 1.5% of salt, sugar, sodium phosphate.”

If you want to feel more satisfied after meals or are trying to lose weight, lean ground turkey or lean ground beef works well. If you're eating for a healthy heart, lean ground turkey—which is lower in saturated fat—is the better pick for you.

An easy turkey tip: Peel and quarter an onion or two and nestle it into the cavity of your turkey. Alliums like onions and shallots add flavor and a bit of moisture to poultry. The onion and shallot flavor also pairs well with other onion-infused sides like dressing and green bean casserole.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Don't butter your bird

Placing butter under the skin won't make the meat juicier, though it might help the skin brown faster. However, butter is about 17 percent water, and it will make your bird splotchy, says López-Alt. Instead, rub the skin with vegetable oil before you roast.

Generously season the turkey cavity with salt and pepper, to taste. Brush the turkey with olive oil, and rub it with the seasoning mixture. Tie the legs together loosely to hold their shape, and tuck the wing tips under.

You can use a good quality extra virgin olive oil, fill the cavity with a cut onion, carrots, celery, a lemon, a head of garlic, and fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme. You can also add some stock to the baking pan and surround your turkey with more cut onion, carrots, celery, lemons, fresh rosemary and thyme.

Should I put a stick of butter in my turkey? ›

Impart rich flavor and add moisture to your Thanksgiving turkey by adding a layer of butter under the skin before roasting. Learn how to do this simple (but genius) technique for a delicious Thanksgiving turkey. I'm Kelly Senyei with http://www.epicurious.com, and this is how to put butter under turkey skin.

Bake for exactly 1 hour and turn off the oven. Do not open the oven door! Leave the turkey in the oven until the oven completely cools; this may take 4 to 6 hours. Reserve the pan juices and refrigerate the turkey if it will not be served soon after roasting.

Roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 125°F, about 3 hours. Remove foil; raise oven heat to 400°F. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180°F, 45 to 60 minutes more.

Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes until basting with some of the chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 2 to 2 ¼ hours longer.

Roasting the bird slowly, at a lower temperature is the best way to achieve tender meat. You should still prep the bird with butter, salt, and pepper, as described above (or dry-brine it). To cook, set your oven to 325°F and roast for 3½ to 4 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird.

Since there's less saturated fat in roasted than in fried poultry (see table below), this is our recommendation. Remember that poultry skin contains higher saturated fats than the meat alone, so make sure to limit skin consumption, however you cook it.

“Turkey is a great source of protein, rich in many vitamins and minerals, and is low-fat — if you don't eat the skin,” Catherine M. Champagne, professor of nutritional epidemiology and dietary assessment and nutrition counseling at Louisiana State University, told the American Heart Association.