Classic Stuffed Turkey With Old-Fashioned Gravy
4.8
(65)
Active Time
55 minutes
Total Time
5 hours 25 minutes
Roasting a stuffed turkey means two of Thanksgiving’s most important players are prepared simultaneously, a boon for multitasking cooks everywhere. But there’s nuance to the process. No one wants to cut corners only to serve a dry Thanksgiving turkey or woefully undercooked stuffing. One key to a successfully stuffed bird is to slow the cooking of the turkey breast by covering it with aluminum foil so it comes out of the oven juicy and golden brown. Another is to ensure the turkey stuffing is warm before packing it in the bird, giving it a jumpstart on reaching a safe temperature by the time the meat is perfectly cooked.
This recipe is for a 12- to 14-pound turkey serving eight people, but it can be scaled up for a bigger bird. We estimate at least one pound of turkey per person if you want ample turkey leftovers (and who doesn’t?).
Some experts prefer to cook their turkeys to an internal temperature of 165° (rather than 180°, as we do here). Rick Rodgers, who created this recipe, believes dark meat in particular does not achieve optimum flavor and texture until it reaches 180°. If you choose to stuff your turkey and cook it to only 165°, the stuffing will almost definitely not reach a safe temperature. When you remove the turkey from the oven, check the temperature in the center of the stuffing and cook further in the microwave as indicated below.
Letting the turkey stand after it comes out of the oven is an essential part of the roasting process. Letting it rest gives its juices time to redistribute, making for a moister turkey, and provides an excellent opportunity to make the gravy and reheat your Thanksgiving side dishes. There’s no need to cover the bird—it’ll stay warm enough, and covering it would only soften the crispy skin.
Once you’ve learned how to roast a stuffed turkey, customize it by adding diced apples, dried cranberries, or toasted pecans to your stuffing recipe, or swap this one out for a nostalgic stuffing made from boxed seasoned cubes or a Garlicky Sausage Stuffing to give your Thanksgiving dinner an extra kick.
Ingredients
8 servings
Herbed stuffing
Turkey and assembly
Preparation
Herbed stuffing
Step 1
Place rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 325°. Toast 10 cups (1") cubes crusty country-style bread (1 lb.) on a large rimmed baking sheet until just dry, 25–30 minutes.
Step 2
Melt ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter in a large heavy skillet over moderately low heat. Add 3 medium onions, chopped, 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced crosswise, 1 tsp. dried thyme, ½ tsp. dried sage, and ½ tsp. dried rosemary; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 3
Transfer vegetable mixture to a large bowl. Add dried bread cubes, 1½ cups hot Homemade Turkey Stock or store-bought turkey stock or chicken broth, and ½ cup water and toss to combine. Taste for seasoning.
Do ahead: Stuffing can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Rewarm in a microwave before continuing.
Turkey and assembly
Step 4
Place a rack in lowest position of oven; preheat oven to 325°. Grease an 8” square baking dish or 2-qt. casserole dish with unsalted butter. Lightly brush roasting rack with vegetable oil and place in roasting pan.
Step 5
Remove plastic or paper packet of giblets from one (12–14-lb.) turkey (usually in small cavity). Remove from packaging ; reserve gizzard and heart; discard floppy, dark purple liver. Remove neck from large cavity. Remove from packaging and reserve. Using tweezers or needlenose pliers, remove any feathers and quills still attached to skin (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others).
Step 6
Pat turkey dry. Loosely fill small (neck) cavity with warm stuffing. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with metal skewer. Loosely fill large body cavity with stuffing. Transfer any remaining stuffing to prepared dish and drizzle with ¼ cup warm Homemade Turkey Stock. Cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
Step 7
Place turkey, breast-side up, on rack in roasting pan. Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with kitchen string. Rub turkey all over with 4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened, and sprinkle with 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Tightly cover breast area with foil, leaving wings, thighs, and drumsticks exposed.
Step 8
Transfer gizzard, heart, and neck to roasting pan around rack. Pour 2 cups warm Homemade Turkey Stock into pan.
Step 9
Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices (lift up foil to reach breast area) and continue roasting 1½ hours more, basting every 45 minutes (2¼ hours total). Baste again; if pan juices have evaporated into glaze, add additional 1 cup warm Homemade Turkey Stock to pan. Roast another 45 minutes (3 hours total). Remove foil from breast area, baste, and add stock if necessary, until instant-read meat thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 180°F, about 1 hour more (4 hours total).
Step 10
Insert instant-read thermometer into center of stuffing in body cavity. If thermometer does not register 165°, transfer stuffing to microwave-safe baking dish and microwave on high until 165°, about 3 minutes for 10°. Cover and keep warm. Using turkey holders (or by inserting large metal serving spoon into body cavity), transfer turkey to large serving platter. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
Step 11
Meanwhile, increase oven temperature to 350°. Remove giblets and neck from roasting pan and discard. Pour drippings into measuring cup or gravy separator. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1—2 minutes, then skim off and reserve fat or, if using separator, carefully pour juices into measuring cup, reserving fat left in separator.
Step 12
Transfer foil-covered dish of stuffing to oven and bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough remaining warm Homemade Turkey Stock to pan juices to total 4 cups. Measure turkey fat, adding melted unsalted butter if necessary to total 6 Tbsp. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderate heat and add fat. Whisk in 6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, then cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in stock mixture and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining ¾ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper and keep warm.
Step 13
When extra stuffing has baked 10 minutes, remove foil and bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Pour gravy through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, then transfer to gravy boat. Carve turkey and serve gravy and stuffing alongside.
Do ahead: Gravy can be kept warm over very low heat, covered, up to 20 minutes. If it thickens, thin with additional stock before serving. If skin forms on top, whisk well to dissolve.
Editor’s note: This stuffed turkey recipe was first printed on Epicurious in October 2007. Head this way for our guide to your best Thanksgiving ever →
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Reviews (65)
Back to TopI've done this recipe for 3 years in a row, perfect every time, if you follow the recipe your turkey will come out perfect......please read everything in this recipe, it's relevant.
Annette Soto
San Diego, CA
11/24/2022
Am I the only one to consider the cooking time(s) confusing? Recipe specifically states it is for a 12 pound stuffed turkey, and to roast at 325 for "4 hours total." But then: "Cooking times (for a stuffed bird, cooked at 325°F to an internal temperature of 180°F) will be as follows: 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds: 3 1/2 to 4 hours . . . ." That implies to me something closer to 3.5 hours for a 12 pound turkey.
larrybard
Philadelphia, PA
11/26/2020
I don’t get the math on the cook times. Roast 45, baste and roast another 45, then another 1 1/2 hour...how do you get 2 1/4 hours? Very confusing.
Hoornbeck
11/28/2019
I had mixed results with this recipe. On the positive side, the meat itself came out perfectly, with tender, juicy breast meat and full cooked dark meat. The gravy, however, was a disaster. Although I removed all the innards from the turkey before stuffing and cooking it, it seems that birds aren't thoroughly cleaned at the processing plant these days, and bits of offal often remain. In this brined Trader Joe's bird, goo dripped into the broth mixture in the roasting pan, resulting in a horrid mess. I wound up siphoning all the liquid out of the pan after about two hours of cooking, and I made gravy with the fond that developed after that. The next time I roast a turkey, I will cover the breast with foil, but I will forego the broth.
Anonymous
Nowhere in particular
11/23/2018
YOUR OWN article on which kitchen gadgets to throw out as unnecessary tells us to dispose of our ROASTING RACK because we can replace the rack with balled up tin foil, then you go on to give us this ( sub-par) recipe for roast turkey that REQUIRES a roasting rack!!!! I've been homemaker for more than 40 years and there is no substitute for a roasting rack. There's no reason to use it "once a year" and let it gather dust in a corner, as you say. Why only use it to roast a turkey? Why only make a lovely turkey only once a year!? A roasting rack is a wonderful tool for roasting a large prime rib, pork loin, or a couple of chickens for a crowd, or multi purpose uses. The neck, heart and giblets should be used to make a heavenly stock for the gravy while the turkey roasts. Basting a turkey is a waste of time! It lets the heat out of the oven over and over, causing the turkey to roast slower. It has been proven that basting does not produce a moister turkey breast. I have family and friends lined up for my delicious turkey dinners for over 40 years!
Anonymous
Cooks Heaven
2/4/2016
I made the turkey and gravy tonight and the gravy was outstanding ( as was the turkey ) Everyone raved about the gravy and it was very easy. I can't get the turkey parts for the stock where I live so I substituted Swanson's no salt chicken stock and it was fine.
2skiers
Vermont
12/25/2015
It came out of the oven looking like a Norman Rockwell painting, it was so perfect. I used an off brand turkey that I know has a good flavor. I did, however, make my own basic stuffing and used only winter savory and sage. I've never made a better turkey in forty years!
Jenandew
Ponca City, Oklahoma
12/1/2014
The best roast turkey I have ever made, and believe me I've made many. This year I used a fresh, pre brined turkey and cooked it according to the directions in this recipe. I was so pleased to finally have a perfectly cooked, beautiful and most of all a turkey I could be proud of. I only made the turkey, unstuffed and my own gravy recipe. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on!
KDavis1
metro Atlanta
12/2/2013
For the second year in a row, this recipe has produced the perfect turkey: moist, flavorful and beautifully browned. Everyone asked how I kept the turkey breast so moist. The recipe requires the simplest of ingredients and is so easy to cook! 4 bastings, one removal of foil from the breast and that's it. Oh, and maybe adding a little extra broth to the pan along the way. No flipping of heavy slippery turkeys required, just smear on the butter and cook. I always use a Trader Joe's brined turkey but have tried a number of recipes from this website in search of the perfect one--and this is absolutely it. The Old-Fashioned Gravy will make you dizzy, it's so good and the Sage/sausage version of the Herbed Stuffing is a classic and unbeatable. People are still saying this was the best Thanksgiving turkey, dressing and gravy they've ever had.These are the recipes I'll use forever.
anewleaf
Seattle, WA
12/1/2013
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and my daughter has requested it again for Christmas. We were amazed how easy it was and the turkey was so moist. I guess we will do turkey for Christmas instead of tenderloin.
Anonymous
West Palm Beach
12/4/2011
When we cut into the bird my husband asked me what was wrong with the turkey, Was it done? it seemed too moist. No, it was actually moist! Everyone raved about the turkey. I made the stuffing as well both the plain version and sage & sausage version. Both were very good. Watch the celery salt with the sage and sausage version - mine was too salty for my taste.
Anonymous
Princeton, NJ
12/3/2011
This was the first time I've ever made a turkey, let alone a Thanksgiving feast, and it turned out wonderfully, especially considering I was the sole person in the kitchen! Followed this recipe exactly, with the one exception of melting some butter and mixing into it some sage and rosemary and rubbing it between the skin and breast meat... Really sticking my hand in there, kind of gross, but I heard this makes the skin really yummy and crispy, and keeps the breast moist, and yup, it was a yummy turkey!! My boyfriend raved that the gravy was the best he'd ever had (thanks to the turkey neck floating around in the roasting pan :P but he doesnt know that...) Good one on the foil covering the breast, it browned so quickly once I took the foil off!
dombot
Calgary, AB
10/11/2011
I haven't made this, but I'm am totally surprised that no one gives the tip to roast the bird UPSIDE DOWN, which is the easiest, most fool-proof way to guarantee moist breast meat. We don't eat white meat in this house, so I end up using the leftovers for enchiladas or whatever I conjure up. Start roasting your bird upside down so the juices run to the white meat.
Anonymous
and Personal Chef in Arizona
9/3/2011
This year was the first time I've made Thanksgiving dinner for my family. I followed this recipe exactly and my first time making a turkey was a success! Easy to make and delicious to eat.
missimegg
St Paul, MN
3/25/2011
After years of following the Cook's magazine recipe (400 degrees and lots of turning the bird) we decided to try a less exhausting method, and this recipe was great! Our bird was at 180 degrees in the thigh area by 3rd hour, so upped the temperature to 375 to quickly heat up and brown the breast. My stuffing was all cooked prior to putting in the bird and had no eggs or other raw ingredients, and heated up to 160 within 1/2 an hour at 375, along with a beautifully browned breast. I did push some extra turkey fat from the tail under the breast skin, which helped with the basting, and flavored the butter with poultry seasoning and extra sage when first buttering up the bird. YUMMY
jbscanlan
BC
11/29/2010
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