If you’re looking to get your Thanksgiving main dish cooked in a flash—and tasting its best—this foolproof spatchco*ck turkey recipe is your golden ticket. Spatchco*cking, or butterflying, is a technique commonly applied to chicken, but it’s also the key to cooking your Thanksgiving turkey evenly and quickly (we’re talking just over an hour of cooking time—and even less prep).
Allow us to explain: When roasting a whole turkey in the traditional manner, the lean breast meat is exposed to more heat and has a tendency to go dry (and nobody likes dry turkey breast). Once you know how to spatchco*ck a turkey, you may never go back to that old method. When you remove the backbone and press down on the breastbone, the turkey flattens, promoting evenly cooked light and dark meat and golden, crispy skin. Instead of a roasting pan, cooking the turkey on a wire rack set inside a sheet pan encourages the skin to crisp all over the bird while the drippings collect in the shallow pan below.
For the most flavorful turkey meat, dry-brine the bird with a simple mixture of salt, black pepper, and brown sugar. It may seem like a lot of salt; as it dissolves and penetrates the meat, the excess will drip into the bottom of the pan to be disposed of before the roast hits the oven. Be patient and let the turkey brine for at least 12 hours—this allows the skin to dry out and the seasoning to permeate the thickest part of the thighs and breasts. If any condensation has collected on the turkey’s skin, dab it dry with a paper towel, taking care not to rub off any remaining dry brine.
Rubbing seasoned butter underneath the skin before roasting adds flavor and eliminates the need for basting the turkey. We flavor the butter with thyme leaves, but feel free to add the fresh herbs of your choice.
Ingredients
8–10 servings
¼ cup Diamond Crystal or 2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Morton kosher salt
1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 12–14-lb. turkey, neck and giblets removed, patted dry
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup thyme leaves
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation
Step 1
Mix ¼ cup Diamond Crystal or 2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper, and 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar in a small bowl; this is your dry brine.
Step 2
To spatchco*ck the turkey, place one 12–14-lb. turkey, neck and giblets removed, patted dry, breast side down, on a cutting board. Using sharp kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone to remove it. Using a chef’s knife, make a small incision down the long oblong bone in the center of breast. Turn turkey skin side up and press down on breastbone to flatten—you should hear a crack.
Step 3
Place turkey, skin side up, on a wire rack set inside a large rimmed baking sheet. Rub dry brine all over turkey, pressing to adhere, and chill, uncovered, 12–18 hours. (The skin should look tight and dry.)
Step 4
Place a rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°. Remove wire rack with turkey from baking sheet; set aside. Rinse off excess salt from baking sheet and dry. Place a few layers of aluminum foil on baking sheet (this will make clean up much easier) and return rack with turkey to baking sheet. Tuck wing tips behind breast to prevent then from burning in the oven. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes.
Step 5
Mix ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, ¼ cup thyme leaves, from 8–10 sprigs, and 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, in a small bowl. Using your hands, carefully separate skin from meat as best as you can and rub butter mixture under the skin. Rub turkey all over with 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil.
Step 6
Pour ½ cup water into baking sheet and roast spatchco*ck turkey, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers 150°, about 1 hour 25 minutes. (Start checking temperature after 1 hour, or use meat thermometer with a probe that you can leave in the breast while it roasts.) Transfer cooked turkey to a cutting board. Let turkey rest 15–20 minutes before carving.
Now onto the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner. Sweet potato casserole, roasted veggies, and more of our favorite Thanksgiving side dishes await →
