Lunch / Dinner
Roasted Turkey with Chipotle Butter
If there’s one holiday that is a food holiday, it’s Thanksgiving. Everyone comes to the table excited for turkey and the bounty of side dishes. Give them what they want, but shake up tradition with a few novel takes on ho-hum turkey
On Turkey Day, the turkey is usually the showpiece, but it’s also the anchor of the Thanksgiving meal. Without it, it just isn’t Thanksgiving. For this bird, keep it moist and flavor-packed with chipotle butter under the skin.
Ingredients
RINSE:
PURÉE:
Test Kitchen Tip
For even cooking, place turkey legs toward the back of the oven.
Instructions
Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Separate skin from flesh on turkey breasts.
Purée 1 stick butter and chipotle in a food processor. Spread butter under turkey skin.
Season bird, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Stuff lemon and onion inside cavity.
Preheat oven to 325°. Place a rack inside a roasting pan.
Roast turkey on rack, covered with foil with legs to the back of the oven, 1½ hours. Remove foil, roast turkey 1 hour, and brush with barbecue sauce. Continue roasting and brushing turkey with sauce every 20 minutes until an instantread thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165° and thigh registers 175°, 1–1¾ hours more. If skin gets too dark, cover turkey with foil.
Transfer turkey to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 30–45 minutes before slicing. Reserve pan drippings.
Separate the skin from the meat, so it’s easier to spread the butter under the skin and on the meat.
Spread the chipotle butter under the skin of the turkey to keep the breast as moist as possible.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per serving
Calories: 799
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 41g 63%
Saturated Fat 13g 65%
Cholesterol 318mg 106%
Sodium 371mg 15%
Carbs 8g 2%
Fiber 0g 0%
Protein 93g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.