At True Made Foods, we know Thanksgiving
Dry, lifeless, unseasoned turkey is why some people hate turkey and treat Thanksgiving dinner as a chore and not a celebration. At True Made Foods, we believe every time families and friends gather for a meal it is sacred and these times should not be wasted on boring and bland food. We started True Made Foods to help bring fun flavor and healthy , real delicious food back to the American dinner table and backyard BBQ, so we’re here to help you uncover the beauty of cooking a fantastic turkey.
While smoking a turkey low and slow for hours is our ideal method, we know that's not always possible for most families.
So below we’ve given you three tried and true styles for making a memorable Thanksgiving Turkey treat. These recipes are easy to remember, easy to adjust based on individual preferences and winners every single time.
Each style involves dry brining the turkey for 12-36 hrs, using a butter or olive oil spice rub and adding vegetables and a liquid to the pan to keep the Turkey moist during the cooking process and to help serve as the base for the gravy.
Brine the Turkey
The most important thing to remember for every recipe is to dry brine the turkey in the fridge a day or two before roasting (12 - 76 hours).
For the dry brine, all you really need is coarse, sea or kosher salt and ground pepper. You can add additional spices to the dry brine, but these spices won’t make much of a difference. We recommend adding the additional spices highlighted in the recipes below by mixing them with the butter or olive oil and applying to and, ideally, under the skin right before cooking.Cooking the Turkey
-
Pre-heat the oven to 450F.
-
Follow one of the below recipe styles for prepping the turkey based on what style recipe you want to follow.
-
Place the turkey, breast-side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan
-
You can also use a lattice work of carrots and celery to replace the rack
-
After 30-min, reduce oven temp to 325F
-
Put a loose aluminum foil tent over the turkey breast
-
Cook the turkey until the breast and thigh read 155F with an instant read thermometer
-
In general, cooking time should be about 15-min per pound
-
Ideally use an instant read wireless (or wired) thermometer measuring both the thigh and breast. The hard part of cooking a turkey is getting the legs and breasts to get to the same temp simultaneously without drying out the breast.
-
Keep checking the skin on the breast, if it’s not perfectly crispy and golden brown, remove the foil for the last thirty minutes.
-
Once the turkey is at temp, remove from the oven and let it rest until it ideally temps at 160F for the breast and 165F for the thighs.
Mediterranean-Style Turkey
This recipe is a classic recipe with French and Italian influences. It is simple and gives you everything you want in a roast turkey: crisp skin, juicy and well-seasoned meat. It’s also extremely straightforward, the kind of thing you can memorize, then return to year after year.
Ingredients:
-
Grass-Fed Salted Butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-
2x Red or Yellow Onions
-
1x large carrot (peeled and chopped)
-
1x large stick of celery (peeled and chopped)
-
12-20 garlic cloves depending on your preference and turkey size
-
2x large lemons
-
Rosemary
-
Thyme
-
Course Ground Black Pepper
-
Rubbed Sage
-
Nutmeg
-
1cup dry white wine, plus more as needed
-
1 to 2 cups chicken or turkey broth plus more as needed
Butter or Olive Oil Rub
-
Use softened, room temperature butter or extra virgin olive oil for this recipe.
-
Grind or chop up the thyme and rosemary.
-
Crush six cloves of garlic
-
In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter or olive oil with the spices (thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, crushed garlic, nutmeg)
-
Amounts will vary depending on the size of the turkey and your preference.
-
Add salt to taste
-
Rub the finished product all over the turkey, get it under the skin and directly on the meat, especially on the breast if possible.
Prep The Turkey in the pan
-
Chop the onions into quarters or sixths
-
Chope the lemons into slices
-
Peel the rest of the garlic head into cloves
-
Stick pieces of the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and lemons in the cavity
-
Stick slices of lemon and cloves of garlic underneath the skin where you can
-
Leave any remaining vegetable pieces in the bottom of the pan
-
Add the wine and some broth to the bottom of the pan
-
Other herbs that go well in this recipe:
-
Parsley
-
Dried Oregano
-
Bay Leaves
Cajun-Style Turkey
This recipe adds a little kick to your turkey, it’s basically like the Mediterranean influenced recipe with some soul. Instead of using more French spices like thyme and rosemary, this recipe leans heavily into the paprika, cayenne and pepper and replaces the mirepoix base (onions, celery and carrots) with the holy trinity (onions, bell peppers and celery).
Ingredients
-
Grass-Fed Salted Butter
-
2x White Onions
-
12-20 garlic cloves depending on your preference and turkey size
-
1x Green Bell Pepper chopped
-
1x large stick of celery chopped
-
Smoked Paprika
-
Cayenne Pepper
-
Fine Ground Black Pepper
-
White Pepper
-
Rubbed Sage
-
Garlic Powder
-
2x large lemons
-
1cup dry white wine, plus more as needed
-
1 to 2 cups chicken or turkey broth plus more as needed
Butter Rub
-
Use softened, room temperature butter for this recipe.
-
Crush half the head of garlic
-
In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter with the paprika, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper and rubbed sage.
-
Adjust the amounts by your flavor preference and the size of your turkey.
-
Add salt to taste
-
Rub the finished product all over the turkey, get it under the skin and directly on the meat, especially on the breast if possible.
Prep The Turkey in the pan
-
Chop the onions into quarters or sixths
-
Chope the lemons into slices
-
Peel the rest of the garlic head into cloves
-
Stick pieces of the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and lemons in the cavity
-
Stick slices of lemon and cloves of garlic underneath the skin where you can
-
Leave any remaining vegetable pieces in the bottom of the pan
-
Add the wine and some broth to the bottom of the pan
Carolina BBQ-Style Turkey
This recipe will allow you to capture the taste and feel of a classic Carolina-style BBQ but using your oven and turkey on Thanksgiving. We make it easy for you to bring out these authentic hundred-year old flavors by using our True Made Foods Pitmaster products from legendary Pitmasters Ed & Ryan Mitchell.
Ingredients
-
Grass-Fed Salted Butter
-
2x White Onions
-
12-20 garlic cloves depending on your preference and turkey size
-
1x large stick of celery chopped
-
True Made Foods Pitmaster All Purpose (Poultry) Rub / Spice Mix
-
True Made Foods Pitmaster Memphis Sweet BBQ Sauce (optional)
-
1 to 2 cups chicken or turkey broth plus more as needed
Butter Rub
-
Use softened, room temperature butter for this recipe.
-
Crush half the head of garlic
-
In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter with the garlic and the Pitmaster All Purpose (Poultry) Spice Mix
-
Adjust the amounts by your flavor preference and the size of your turkey.
-
Rub the finished product all over the turkey, get it under the skin and directly on the meat, especially on the breast if possible.
Prep The Turkey in the pan
-
Chop the onions into quarters or sixths
-
Chope the lemons into slices
-
Peel the rest of the garlic head into cloves
-
Stick pieces of the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and lemons in the cavity
-
Stick slices of lemon and cloves of garlic underneath the skin where you can
-
Leave any remaining vegetable pieces in the bottom of the pan
-
Add the Pitmaster mop sauce to the bottom of the pan with some broth
In the last 30-minutes of cooking (optional)
-
Baste the turkey with the Pitmaster Memphis Sweet BBQ Sauce
