Make Ahead Roast Turkey with Gravy
A juicy roast turkey made in advance, carved and layered over a flavorful gravy ready to reheat right before the main event. This recipe saves so much time and stress on the big day making your holiday hosting much more enjoyable!
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