A juicy, golden brown turkey is the star of many holiday tables, but this is usually in addition to a variety of side dishes, breads, sauces, gravy and desserts… in other words, if you are hosting for the holidays, you’ll have a lot going on and having certain elements that can be successfully made ahead can make your overall experience and stress levels so much better.
Enter – my make ahead roast turkey with gravy.
Ever since I made my first make ahead roast turkey, I no longer roast a turkey the day of the party. It’s just too stressful trying to time everything perfectly, carve a turkey as guests are trickling in and then have to clean all of that mess up all while I mash potatoes and make sure my croissants don’t burn. I am getting stressed just thinking about it, but knowing I can make a beautiful turkey in advance and then pop it into the oven for 20 minutes with no baby sitting required, toss a couple of garnishes over it and wow my friends with my calm and cool composure… thats winning the holidays.
There is nothing difficult about this recipe. We are just using basic roasting techniques to create a beautifully juicy turkey, transforming the drippings into a great gravy and layering the carved turkey in some of that gravy to maintain its moisture and flavor until you are ready to reheat and serve to an adoring crowd.
Let’s get started…
This recipe starts just like most of my roast turkey recipes do…
-
- Step #1 – Unwrap the turkey, remove everything from the inner cavity, rinse the cavity and drain all of the water
- Step #2 – Dry the turkey with paper towels
- Step #3 – Let the turkey sit at room temperature for an hour
- Step #4 – Re-drain the inner cavity and make sure the skin it still nice and dry
- Step #5 – Brush the entire turkey with a good extra virgin olive oil and season generously with your favorite seasonings
- Step #6 – Add 32 ounces of stock, wine, beer or water into the base of your roasting pan
- Step # 7 – Slice the tops off of 2 garlic bulbs and cut 2 oranges in half or quarters and add them into the roasting pan
Roast the turkey uncovered at 425 degrees for 45 minutes to give everything a good head start and to let the skin get nice and crisp.
Lightly tent the turkey with foil, reduce the ovens temperature to 325 degrees and set a timer for 60 minutes.
After my turkey has been roasting for an hour and 45 minutes, I start basting every 15 minutes or so until the internal temperature reaches 155-160 degrees. Don’t mess with the little pop out thing that they often come with! Get an instant ready meat thermometer, so you know exactly when your turkey is ready to come out of the oven. This is the best way to prevent a dry bird in my humble opinion…
When you pull the turkey out of the oven, it needs to rest for 20 minutes before carving. A minimum of 20 minutes I’d say. You can rest it in the roasting pan, but I like to carefully transfer it onto a large cutting board, so it is ready to carve and I have easy access to the drippings and can start my gravy.
Carefully squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the bulbs and I also like to squeeze the orange halves with a pair on tongs to extract a little extra juice from them.
To make the gravy…
-
- Step #1 – Place a medium sized saucepan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter into it
- Step #2 – While the butter is melting, whisk 1/4 cup of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of stock or water until it is smooth and set aside
- Step #3 – Place a mesh strainer over the saucepan, pour the drippings through it and discard what the strainer captured
- Step #4 – Bring the mixture to a simmer
- Step #5 – Whisk in your cornstarch mixture and simmer until the gravy has thickened to your desired consistency
- Step #6 – Be sure to add salt and black pepper to taste before finishing the gravy!
Note – I like to grab some of the roasted garlic cloves, smash them a little and add them into my gravy, but this is optional. Some people are quite passionate about garlic not belonging in turkey gravy, so if you aren’t a believer, discard them, but if you love garlic, toss a few (or all) of them into the gravy.
When your turkey has rested and the gravy is good to go, ladle about 1/2″ of gravy into the base of a deep serving platter.
Carve your turkey and layer the turkey in a single layer over the gravy. If you feel like the turkey needs a little more gravy in there, feel free to add a little bit more.
Cover the remaining gravy and tightly cover the platter and chill everything until you are ready to reheat and serve.
This was really easy, right? And the knowledge that I have both a fabulous turkey AND great gravy just sitting there all ready to go makes everything feel so much easier on the actual big day.
I feel like making this turkey the day before is best, but I have done it 2 days in advance once and everything turned out fine then too.
To reheat the turkey, pull it out of the refrigerator an hour before you want to reheat it, so it can start relaxing.
After that, uncover the turkey and let it reheat in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until it is quite hot. Not only is the turkey all ready to go, but it is still beautifully moist, it has already been carved and your cutting board will not be covered in turkey juices. Thats a win-win in my book.
Make Ahead Roast Turkey with Gravy
Ingredients
- turkey, thawed
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- your favorite seasonings and spices
- salt and black pepper
- 32 ounces of liquid (stock, wine, beer or water)
- 2 garlic bulbs, tops sliced off
- 2 oranges, halved or quartered
Turkey Gravy
- 1/2 cup of stock or water
- 1/4 cup of cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- the drippings from the roasting pan
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the turkey…
- An hour before you plan to roast the turkey, unwrap it, remove anything from inside the cavity and pat the turkey dry with paper towels
- Let the turkey come to room temperature for a full hour
Roast the turkey…
- Preheat your oven to 450° and place a rack on the second to lowest setting
- Drain any liquids from the cavity of the turkey and transfer it onto a roasting pan
- Tuck the wings under the turkey and use baking twine to tie the legs together
- Re-dry the turkey skin with paper towels
- Brush about 1/4 cup of olive oil over the entire turkey and season generously with your favorite seasoning
- Pour 32 ounces of stock, beer or white wine into the base of the roasting pan and add 2 garlic bulbs (with the tops sliced off) and 2 halved oranges into the liquid
- Roast the turkey uncovered at 450° for 45 minutes
- Lightly cover the turkey with foil and reduce the oven’s temperature to 325°
- Set a timer for 60 minutes and allow the oven’s temperature to slowly reduce to 325°
- After 60 minutes, set a new timer for 60 minutes and baste the turkey with the pan drippings every 15 minutes during that 60 minutes
- After roasting for a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes, a 14 pound turkey will be cooked through or close to it, so start keeping an eye on the internal temperature and when the turkey reaches 160° in the thickest part, remove it from the oven and let it rest lightly covered with foil for 20 minutes
- Use tongs to carefully squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb and start your gravy while the turkey is resting
Make the gravy…
- Place a saucepan over medium heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter
- While the butter is melting, whisk 1/4 cup of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water until smooth in a separate bowl and set it aside for now
- Place a strainer over the saucepan and carefully pour the liquid from the roasting pan thru it (discard the peels from the gravy and orange halves)
- Bring the mixture to a low simmer
- Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened
- Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste
Assemble the turkey platter…
- Ladle about 1/2” of gravy into a deep rimmed oven safe platter large enough to hold your carved turkey
- Cover the remaining gravy and chill until ready to use
- Once the turkey has rested, carve it and arrange the sliced and pieces in a single layer over the gravy
- When all of the turkey has been carved, cover the platter tightly with foil and chill until ready to reheat
Reheating the turkey…
- Bring the platter out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan on reheating it
- Preheat your oven to 325°
- Remove the foil from the platter and reheat the turkey in a 325° oven for 20-25 minutes or until hot
- Reheat the leftover gravy over medium to medium low heat until steaming
Reader Interactions