Roasted Farm Fresh Turkey with Rosemary and Citrus
Roasted Farm Fresh Turkey With Rosemary And Citrus- If you are looking for the best roast turkey recipe for your holiday table, I have it right here. I know roasting a whole turkey can seem intimidating, especially with all the various cooking methods out there. This is a simple recipe without a lot of hassle that produces lots of flavor. I’ll guide you every step of the way to cook a whole turkey fresh from the farm (or the local grocery store) seasoned with orange and fresh rosemary that you and your guests will love!
Farm Fresh Roast Turkey
I’ve been cooking with farm fresh veggies and meats for many years now, and when that time of year for turkey rolls around, you can be sure there is one on my family’s table multiple times during the Fall and Winter.
I love using free range turkeys whenever I can. This blog is all about farm fresh ingredients and how to make great use of them, along with using fresh items from the local grocery store and cooking from scratch as much as possible. In fact, I worked on a small farm for a time and I learned so much about the quality of the ingredients you get from local farms.
If you have run across this recipe, rest assured you can in fact make this with a store bought or pasture raised turkey (I’ll give you instructions for both).
When I have additional guests, I like to make my roast turkey breast along with this whole roast turkey for extra meat. It is also a nice way to make sure you have extra breast meat for those who like it. I hope you and your guests love this recipe!
Are Pasture Raised Turkeys Better?
This type of turkey does have a few advantages. Turkeys that are pasture raised are more lean (more on that below) because they have not been injected with anything.
Grocery store turkeys are injected with oil, water, flavor enhancers, and other things that not only increase the turkey’s weight, but they make the turkey harder to brine if that is a cooking method you like to use.
While this recipe does not use a brine, I wanted to share the info that pasture raised turkeys take well to brining due to them being nothing but meat, no fillers.
If you want to try cooking pastured turkey, I suggest researching farms in your area to see who might sell them. You may also be able to special order them through a local health food store or food coop.
Ingredients Needed For This Roast Turkey
Pasture Raised or Store Bought Turkey- whether you are able to find a pasture raised turkey from a local farm or you buy one from the grocery store, I highly recommend buying one that has not been frozen. Fresh turkey is much easier to work with, and no panicking about defrosting. If all you are able to find is frozen turkey, then by all means use that!
Oranges- I use navel oranges, but you can also use mandarins or blood oranges if you like.
Fresh Herbs- We are using rosemary for this recipe. If you’d like to add some thyme or sage, feel free to do so!
Don’t forget to head down to the recipe card for the complete ingredient list.
Seasoning The Outside And Inside Of Your Turkey
I cannot stress enough that you should not be afraid to season your turkey! This does not mean using too much, but don’t be afraid of your salt and pepper and other seasonings. They add flavor and enhance the flavors of the turkey as well.
Be sure it has plenty of seasoning outside as well as inside the cavity.
Why use orange and rosemary? For one thing, rosemary and poultry are a match made in heaven. The orange really adds a nice citrus note that I think is really great with the flavor of turkey, much like the combination of chicken and lemon.
Cooking The Turkey
Follow along with me, and I’ll show you how to cook fresh turkey!
- Remove the turkey from the packaging and rinse.
- Season the turkey and tuck in the wings and tie the leg bones together.
- Roast the turkey until done.
There is certainly more to this process, but I wanted to provide a basic overview. The recipe card has all the info you’ll need to make a great turkey!
How Long To Cook A Farm Fresh Turkey
It is really important to note that roasting a pastured turkey will take less time than cooking a turkey you buy from the grocery store because they tend to be leaner. Because they cook faster, this means keeping a bit of a closer watch on it while it cooks than you would a store bought turkey.
Be sure to see the notes in the recipe card for the full instructions for store bought as well as pasture raised turkey.
It Is Important To Rest The Turkey
Once the turkey is out of the oven, it is really important to let it sit under foil to allow the meat to rest for at least 20 minutes. If you don’t, your turkey will be dry when you carve it because the juices will run out if the meat does not properly rest.
How Much Turkey Per Person?
How large a turkey should you cook? That can depend on a few things. First, how many people you are feeding or how much you’re hoping to have for leftovers.
The size of your roasting pans and the size of your oven can also determine whether or not you cook a large turkey. I always use a large disposable foil roasting pan. This allows me to use something larger than any roasting pan that I would be able to store in my kitchen year round.
In my experience, I prefer cooking two smaller turkeys or cooking one whole turkey and a turkey breast as previously mentioned. I have found that when it comes to cooking turkey, something between 12 and 14 pounds is ideal for my family of five and a couple of guests and still expect to have a little leftover for turkey sandwiches.
One pound to one and a half pounds per person is a good place to start. This allows for the weight of the bones to be factored in to make sure you have enough meat for each person.
Delicious Sides To Pair With Your Roasted Turkey
Here are a few great suggestions:
For other ideas, head over to the Fall and Winter sections of the blog. I’ve got a lot of recipes to help you create a terrific menu!
How To Store Roast Turkey Leftovers
I like to store my leftovers in large gallon freezer bags or an airtight container with a lid. Leftover turkey is good for up to five days. After that it just isn’t as fresh, even if it’s still good to eat.
Ideas For Leftover Turkey
I love leftover turkey in a sandwich, and one of my favorite sandwiches is a turkey salad sandwich.
Other ideas include adding to soups, pot pie, or turkey casserole.
I hope you love this roasted farm fresh turkey with rosemary and citrus! If you made this recipe I’d love to hear from you. Simply leave a rating or comment. Recipe questions? Send me an email, I am always happy to help! If you want to receive all the latest updates and happenings right to your email, then don’t forget to sign up for my email list. Happy Cooking!
Roasted Farm Fresh Turkey with Rosemary and Citrus
This easy roasted farm fresh turkey is seasoned with rosemary and orange. You'll love how simple this recipe is, and it makes a great main dish for your holiday table!
Ingredients
- One Turkey, 10 to 14 pounds (I used a 12 pound turkey for this recipe)
- 4 Navel Oranges
- 10 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
- 3 tsp of Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp of Black Pepper
- 2 tsp of Paprika
- 1 stick of Unsalted Butter
Instructions
- Turn the oven on to 325 degrees.
- Remove the gizzards and neck from the cavity of the turkey.
- Rinse the turkey well inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Zest two of the oranges and cut them in half and leave two of the oranges whole.
- Place the turkey inside a large roasting pan or large disposable foil pan and season all over inside and out with the 3 tsp of salt, 1 1/2 tsp of pepper and 2 tsp of paprika.
- Soften (but don't melt) the unsalted butter and stir the orange zest into the butter. Rub it all over the outside of the turkey and up under the skin of the breast, and inside the cavity if there is enough butter.
- Place the two whole oranges inside the cavity along with a couple of springs of the rosemary. If two oranges won't fit, one is fine.
- Take the two zested oranges that are cut in half and place them inside the roasting pan up next to the turkey and place the remaining rosemary springs around the turkey and up under the breast skin.
- Tuck the wing tips under the bird and tie the legs together with butcher's twine.
- Place in the oven (you may need to have the oven rack in the bottom position depending on the size of your oven) and roast for 10 minutes per pound for a pasture raised turkey, and 15 minutes per pound for a store bought turkey until a meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees for a store bought turkey and 165 degrees for a pasture raised bird.
- In the last hour of cooking, tent the breast with foil so it does not dry out, and this helps keep the skin from overcooking as well.
- Once the turkey is cooked, wrap tightly with foil and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes.
- After resting, carve the turkey by cutting off the legs and then cutting the thigh and drumstick meat off the bones.
- Then, cut the breast meat from the bone, and serve.
Notes
Smoked paprika or hot paprika may be used for this recipe.
You can also use lemon along with the orange, and add fresh sage or thyme.
It is important to note that you should check the thigh for doneness starting in the last 15 minutes of cooking for the size of the bird. For example, a 12 pound store bought turkey should take around three hours at 15 minutes per pound, but you'll want to check the thigh temperature starting at around 2 hours and 45 minutes and keep checking every 10 minutes or so to ensure that it hits the right temp without overcooking.
For a pastured turkey it is similar: 12 pounds would take 2 to 2 1/2 hours, so you would want to check the internal temp of the thigh at around 2 hours of cooking time to see how its coming along.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 586mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g
All information presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is provided for recipes contained on this site. This information comes from online calculators. Although The Copper Table attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
