Roast Turkey with Stuffing
Submitted by bmartha
Whole roast turkey stuffed with sausage, crouton, and giblet broth stuffing. A step-by-step guide from thawing to carving for a traditional holiday centerpiece.
YIELD
6 peoplePREP
15 minCOOK
8 hrsREADY
8 hrsThis is the full-commitment holiday turkey: a whole bird stuffed with a sausage-crouton stuffing moistened with homemade giblet broth. It’s the kind of recipe you follow once and then pass down.
The stuffing gets its backbone from crumbled breakfast sausage fried with celery and onion, then tossed with croutons, melted butter, poultry seasoning, and that rich giblet stock. The key is stuffing the cavity loosely. Packed-in stuffing expands during roasting and traps moisture, which means the turkey cooks unevenly and the stuffing never reaches a safe temperature.
Basting every 15 minutes during the last 2 hours builds up layers of golden, lacquered skin. If the skin starts getting too dark before the thigh registers the right internal temperature, tent it loosely with foil and keep going.
Chef Tips
- Start thawing a 20-pound turkey a full week ahead in the refrigerator. There are no shortcuts here that are food-safe.
- Use an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone. The breast should also read the same.
- Tuck the wing tips behind the bird’s back. This holds the neck skin in place over the neck stuffing and prevents it from drying out.
- Line your roasting pan with foil and coat with oil. Cleanup goes from a 30-minute scrub to a quick toss.
Variations
- Replace breakfast sausage with Italian sausage for a more herbed, peppery stuffing.
- Add dried cranberries and chopped pecans to the stuffing mix for sweetness and crunch.
- Use chicken broth if you prefer to skip making giblet stock.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 325℉ (160℃).
Thaw turkey (20 pound turkey will thaw in approximately 7 days in refrigerator).
Remove wrap.
Unhook turkey legs from retainer down by tail, then remove neck from body cavity.
Remove giblet packet from neck cavity.
Put these in saucepan, cover with 2 to 3 cups water and simmer for 1 hour or more.
Rinse turkey well and drain, returning to refrigerator until needed.
After ½ hour of giblets cooking, dice celery and onion.
Fry sausage, crumbling, until completely done.
Add celery and onion and ½ cup water to fry pan and let simmer 10 minutes.
Using your roasting pan, empty 2 boxes of croutons into it.
Add sausage/celery/onion mix.
Melt ½ cup butter and add.
Add teaspoon of poultry seasoning.
Add 2 cups of giblet broth.
Stir well until croutons are evenly moistened.
Rinse turkey again, shake out excess water.
Stuff body cavity with stuffing loosely (do not pack in or turkey will explode) and put legs back into retainer to hold together.
Stuff neck cavity.
Fold wing tips behind bird’s back, use to hold neck skin down so stuffing won’t fall out from neck.
Rinse out roasting pan and line with foil.
Coat foil with vegetable oil.
Coat turkey, all over, with vegetable oil.
Place in roasting pan.
Add any excess stuffing that will fit on top of turkey legs at body cavity opening, laying on top.
Put in oven and roast for approximately 6½ to 7 hours, depending on oven.
Roast to 180 to 185 degrees internal temperature at thickest part of thigh without touching thermometer to bone, and same at thickest part of the breast.
Baste turkey with baster last 2 hours, about every 15 minutes.
If skin is getting too dark, tent with foil.
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