Combining the classic Christmas flavours of orange and sage, this roast turkey recipe delivers deliciously tender meat and crispy golden skin every time. Serve with all the trimmings and be sure to reserve some meat to make this crowd-pleasing turkey and ham pie for Boxing Day.
oranges, quartered and fried in a little oil until brown, to garnish
Directions
Step 1
Remove the turkey from the fridge 1hr before you stuff it to let it come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, orange zest, sage and some seasoning.
Step 2
Put the turkey, breast-up, on a board and use tweezers to pluck any stray feathers from the skin. Lift up the neck flap and use your fingers to ease the skin gently away from the breast meat. Spread the butter between the skin and the meat.
Step 3
Put the stuffing inside the neck cavity, taking care not to overfill. Turn the turkey over on to its breast, pull the neck flap down and over the stuffing and secure with a skewer or cocktail sticks. Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time, allowing 30-35min for each 1kg (2lb 2oz) of weight.
Step 4
Transfer the turkey to a large roasting tin, breast-side up. Secure the legs with string and season all over. Cover loosely with foil and roast for the calculated time, removing the foil for the last 30min of cooking. If you find the skin is browning too quickly, cover the turkey with foil again - and don't forget to baste at least four times during cooking.
Step 5
To check the turkey is cooked, insert a fork into the thickest part of the thigh to see if the juices are running clear. If there's any red tinge, return the bird to the oven and keep checking it every 10-15min. Alternatively, use a meat thermometer - the temperature needs to read 76°C when the thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.
Step 6
Transfer the roast turkey to a board, cover well with foil and clean tea towels. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 30min or up to 11/4 hr.
Step 7
When ready to serve, transfer the turkey to a warm platter, remove the skewer or cocktail sticks and garnish with stuffing balls and orange quarters.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
