Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

We at Serious Eats are subject matter experts on Thanksgiving turkey. From sourcing your bird to finding delicious uses for leftovers, our turkey coverage runs deep. This collection of recipes is primarily focused on getting a whole bird on the table, but we do include some strategies for cooking turkey in parts. Legs and breast are essentially two different cuts that need to reach different internal temperatures; thus, cooking them separately is a smart strategy (and opens up many culinary possibilities). Whether you go with a traditional Norman Rockwell centerpiece or a turkey porchetta with a side of meltingly tender turkey leg confit, we recommend lowering the stress by planning the menu and scheduling prep. For an even more relaxed lead-up to the holiday, we also encourage you to choose at least a few sides and appetizers that can be made well ahead of time.

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November 2023

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

This back-to-basics roast turkey recipe is a great place for beginners to start, and the results are pretty dang fabulous: crisp skin and evenly cooked, juicy meat, without butterflying, flipping, trussing, or fussing. One trick that sets this recipe apart: A baking steel or baking stone is preheated in the oven, so when the roasting pan with the bird is added, the heat stored in the steel or stone helps kickstart the cooking of the turkey’s legs, which need to reach a higher temperature than the breast.

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

This is the recipe that butterflied a thousand turkeys. Unlike Helen of Troy, the repercussions of Kenji publishing this method for roasting turkey have been resoundingly positive: more Thanksgiving birds with bronzed and crispy skin, juicy breast meat, and tender thighs and drumsticks. For a tasty variation on this tried-and-tested method, stuff herb butter under the skin. Or try one of our editorial director, Daniel’s, flavor-packed riffs, like rubbing the bird with a Cajun-style spice blend or seasoning it with porchetta flavors.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

How do you improve on our proven dry-brining and butterflying strategy? Use the grill to free up oven space. Apple or cherry wood added to the fire gives the meat a delicate smokiness that enhances its flavor without overpowering it.

Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

This easy smoked turkey breast is the perfect centerpiece for your small gathering. Salting and resting the turkey in the fridge overnight provides extra insurance for moisture retention and flavor, and adding hardwood to the fire gives the meat a delicate smokiness but doesn’t overshadow the mild breast meat.

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Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

This turkey has the perfect balance of sweetness, smoke, and beautifully browned skin, thanks to a relatively high smoking temperature and a few chunks of fruit wood added to the charcoal. Brining the bird in a mixture that includes a pound of honey adds just the right amount of sweetness while keeping the bird juicy.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Many cooks are eager to infuse turkey with flavor. We’ve written extensively about how adding seasonings to brine doesn’t really work, and how the flavors of a marinade do not penetrate deeply into cuts of meat. Injecting the bird with a highly flavorful mixture, on the other hand, is quite effective! Here, we inject turkey with a blend of beer, butter, garlic, Worcestershire, Creole seasoning, hot sauce, salt, and cayenne, then smoke it over smoldering apple wood.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Deep-frying a turkey is a bit of an undertaking, but the result is a juicy bird with extra-crisp skin. We walk you through the process, with a special emphasis on safety precautions, so that your holiday dinner doesn’t end in disaster (or become fodder for decades worth of jokes at future family gatherings).

Serious Eats / Liz Clayman

The most foolproof way to prepare a roast without breasts that turn dry and stringy by the time the legs are nice and tender? Try a divide-and-conquer approach. A whole bird may be traditional, but roasting your Thanksgiving turkey in parts is the best way to achieve even, thorough cooking from breast to leg.

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Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Speaking of dividing and conquering, Kenji has taken this strategy to an extreme by deboning a whole turkey breast, slashing the cut side and seasoning it with porchetta flavors, and rolling it up in turkey skin. Once prep and assembly are done, this boneless roast is a snap to brown in a skillet and cook through in a low oven. For a deluxe option that’s made entirely on the counter and stovetop, try our deep-fried sous vide version.

Serious Eats / Mariel De La Cruz

A bone-in turkey breast, or crown roast, is the ideal size for small gatherings and is far faster to cook, going from fridge to table in under two hours. Here, Kenji starts roasting the herb-rubbed breast over a baking dish of stuffing, which absorbs the herb-infused drippings.

Serious Eats / Liz Clayman

For the juiciest turkey breast, sous vide cooking really does offer the best results. Here, the skin is removed, sandwiched between sheet pans, and baked until shatteringly crisp.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

If you’re tempted to prepare our turkey porchetta or sous-vide turkey breast for Thanksgiving but have purchased a whole bird and are wondering what to do with the legs, this is the recipe for you. Braising the legs in a mixture of red wine, stock, and aromatic vegetables has the added advantage of leaving you with the perfect foundation for gravy.

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Serious Eats / Tim Chin

Think of this recipe for juicy, fall-apart-tender legs as a no-hassle version of confiting: no heat knob to adjust minutely; no large quantity of fat to procure, dispose of, or repurpose. If you’re after a set-it-and-forget-it turkey leg recipe with a traditional Thanksgiving flavor profile and a phenomenal texture, look no further. For an old-school treatment that’s significantly richer and a little funky, see Tim’s recipe for koji-cured turkey confit.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Designed to serve as the centerpiece for a Korean-American banchan spread, Sunny’s recipe calls for dry-brining a bone-in turkey roast overnight, and then coating the skin with cinnamon-garlic butter and adding savory, funky doenjang to the cavity. The flavorful drippings are then used to create the jujube relish.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Another element of our Thanksgiving banchan spread, this stew braises turkey legs and wings with stock, sake, soy sauce, and root beer. A great cold-weather dish, and the perfect complement to our roast turkey ssam.