Everyone seems to be looking for turkey recipes for thanksgiving as we get closer to a day that is all about family, celebration and being thankful for what we have in life. In order to help you to gain time and prepare a wonderful turkey dinner, let us talk about the 2 most popular recipes, the ones that do taste great and that you might want to consider cooking.

Recipe 1 – Perfect Roast Turkey
Just as the name implies, this is quite an interesting one, a favorite among the turkey recipes for thanksgiving. The total preparation time is 3 hours and 20 minutes with cooking lasting 2 hours and a half. You will get 8 servings and the cooking level is intermediate.
Necessary ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter (non-salted)
- 1 turkey (around 10 pounds)
- 1teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
- 2 lemons – the juice from one and the other halved
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 1 onion cut in quarters
- 1 head of garlic
How to prepare:
Preheat your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the stick of butter in a saucepan. Add the lemon’s juice and the zest together with the thyme leaves teaspoon. Set it aside.
Remove the turkey’s giblet and wash it properly. Remove all the extra fat and let the turkey dry. Put it in a large enough roasting pan and add pepper and salt inside the cavity. Also, add thyme bunch, the halved lemon, the garlic and the onion. The outside of the turkey next has to be brushed with that butter mixture you cooked above. Add pepper and salt. Tuck the turkey’s wings under the main body of the turkey and tie the legs to each other.
Roasting the turkey lasts for around 2 and a half hours. Alternatively, when the juice runs clear, you can remove the string with which you tied the legs. After the turkey is done, remove it and use an aluminum foil to cover it. You should have it ready to be served in 20 minutes.

Recipe 2 – Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
This is one of the turkey recipes for thanksgiving that is really easy to cook but it does take a little over 1 day to finish. The preparation is around 10 minutes and the actual cooking time lasts 5 hours. However, you do get 18 servings with the ingredients below.
Ingredients needed:
- 2 cups of apple juice
- 2 cups of brown sugar
- 2 gallons of water
- 2 cups of salt
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 4 tablespoons of black peppercorns
- 3 oranges – peeled and without white pith
- 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 large turkey – 20 pounds
- 2 sticks of butter – unsalted
- 3 tablespoons of chopped orange zest
- 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves – minced
How to prepare:
Take a large pot. Put in the water, salt, garlic, sugar, apple juice, dried rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaves and the orange peel. Bring everything to boiling point and as soon as that happens, remove from the heat source. Cover the pot and wait until it reaches room temperature. After, put it in the fridge.
Remove the interior bags of the turkey, rinse it with cool water and then put it into a brining bag. Alternatively, you can use a pot but it needs to be large enough. Take the brine mixture and pour it on the turkey. Add more water if it is needed so that the turkey is covered completely. Seal the bag that you used or simply cover your pot so that the turkey is left to brine. This happens in the refrigerator for around 16 to 24 hours, as much time as you have available.
Make sure that you rinse your turkey again and that you soak it in the sink together with fresh water for around 25 minutes. Pat it till it dries. You do this to avoid the possibility of ending up with gravy that is too salty. Your oven next has to be preheated to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use a large roasting pan and put the turkey in with the breast up. Cover it with the use of suitable foil and make sure that it is properly covered in its entirety. You need to roast your turkey for 10 minutes for every single pound. In our case we have to wait for 3 hours and 30 minutes (20 pounds).
Take out the turkey and take the temperature up to 375. The foil has to be removed and you then take the softened butter, mix it with orange peels and rosemary. Rub the resulting “paste” all over the turkey. Use a meat thermometer to control temperature. The turkey can now be put back in the oven. Roast it and add butter every half an hour. When the meat thermometer shows 170 degrees and all juices change color, you are done. Remove the turkey and you are ready to serve.

Extra Recommendations About Turkey Recipes For Thanksgiving
We just presented 2 turkey recipes for thanksgiving. Literally hundreds of others exist. Keep in mind that no matter what you decide to cook, what counts the most is having the necessary time to cook. As you easily noticed, recipe 2 lasts over 1 day while the first recipe is a lot faster. Make sure that you take into account how much time you actually have available. After all, during thanksgiving we also need to do other things and if we do not have enough time to cook our turkey, a lot of people will be disappointed.
It should also be mentioned that you need to follow all indications exactly as they are presented. Alternatively, the quantities of the ingredients can be modified based on the weight of the bird. Not everyone wants to look at turkey recipes for thanksgiving with a bird of 20 pounds but you can still use the same recipe with other quantities.