Homestyle Turkey, the Michigander Way

204 Reviews

“A simple, down to basics recipe when it comes to the good old tom turkey. Originally submitted to ThanksgivingRecipe.com.” - by Robin C.

Ingredients

1 (12 pound) whole turkey
6 tablespoons butter
4 cups warm water
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 tablespoons seasoning salt

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Metric US

Original recipe yields 16 servings

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse and wash turkey. Discard the giblets or you can add these to pan if these are anyone's favorites.
Place turkey in a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Separate the skin over the breast to make little pockets. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on both sides between the skin and breast meat. This makes for very juicy breast meat.
Combine the water with the bouillon, and sprinkle in the parsley flakes and minced onion. Pour over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle seasoning salt over the turkey.
Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 4 to 5 hours. For the last 45 minutes or so, remove the foil so the turkey will brown nicely.

Nutrition

Amount Per Serving (16 total)

Calories
548 cal
27%

Fat
28.1 g
43%

Carbs
1 g
< 1%

Based on a 2,000 calorie diet

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Reviews (204)

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PRAISELDR

Jul. 15, 2005

"OK, I know everyone's written about this recipe, but I just have to say that we NEVER eat turkey. I made this for Christmas last year (I was in a "traditional" mode) It literally fell off the bone. It..." See more was incredible. We devoured it. NOTHING LEFT. Since then, we've made it several times. Each time - amazing results. I have referred many people to this recipe. It's worth it's weight in gold!"

Cooking 101

Dec. 4, 2007

"I first reviewed this on Nov. 20 but after reprinting it since I lost mine went through the reviews again and decided to update since I seen some had some issues with it being dry and not browning. I..." See more used a 23 pound turkey and replaced the water with chicken broth. I used the same amount of butter for the pockets, rubbed it with olive oil and I took the foil off the last hour so it could brown. I also let the turkey rest covered with foil for 30 minutes before carving so the juices would flow back throughout the turkey. After transferring the carved pieces to the platter there was still juices left on the platter after the turkey was all gone. That's how juicy the turkey turned out to be. Nov. 20th review: This makes the best turkey, moist, tender, delish. I found this recipe last Thanksgiving and use it to cook turkey year round. I do add quite a bit more chicken stock (personal preference) and make gravy with the drippings. Yummy"

IHAVE2BOYS

Dec. 26, 2005

"Wow, easy and great! And moist! Last year I made "Perfect Turkey" from this site, which required both brining and turning over during cooking. Don't bother with either! Make this much-easier and just-..." See moreas-good turkey instead! The only changes I made were to put the turkey on a bed of onion, celery & carrot chunks, and to stuff a few pieces of the above plus a chopped apple into the cavity. None of these veggies are eaten, but they give the turkey and juices a great flavor. Don't use the cooking times in the recipe as my 20-lb bird took only 4 hours. (Also note that in ingredient list, "broth" is supposed to read "bouillon.")"

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