Let’s talk turkey! With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re already thinking about what to do for dinner. I know first-hand that roasting an entire turkey can seem intimidating though. What size turkey do you need? Fresh or frozen? If you buy frozen, how much time will it take to thaw? How long do you need to roast it? How do you carve the turkey?
Luckily, Canadian Turkey has all the info you need, helpful resources, and how-to videos gathered in one place with their Whole Bird How-Tos. Easily figure out what size you need, thawing time, and cooking time with the simple to use Whole Bird Turkey Calculator.
Many families do the big traditional get together and roasted turkey dinner with all the fixings, but of course this isn’t always the case. What do you do when you’re celebrating the holiday with just one or two friends or family members? A whole turkey makes sense for a large family dinner, but when you’re planning a smaller celebration, even the biggest turkey fan can have a hard time polishing off an entire bird with leftovers on their own. For smaller families, roasting a half turkey is just as delicious and festive as serving a whole bird.
The simplest way to do this is to buy one whole fresh or frozen turkey and ask the butcher to cut it in half for you. If you buy fresh, freeze the other half for next time, or if it’s already frozen, just defrost the half you need and leave the other half in the freezer for next time.
Classic Roasted Half Turkey
Ingredients
For turkey
- ½ turkey 3-4kg
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions
- 6 large carrots
- one bunch fresh rosemary
- 3 large garlic cloves unpeeled
- ½ cup white wine optional
- ½ cup chicken broth 1 cup if omitting wine
For rub
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp pepper
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp ground sage
- 1/2 tbsp ground rosemary
- 1/2 tbsp ground thyme
Instructions
- If your bird is frozen, place it in the refrigerator overnight to defrost.
- Pat the bird dry with paper towels.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Rub both sides of the turkey with olive oil.
- Combine all spices to make a rub. Sprinkle generously onto both sides of the bird.
- Slice your onions roughly into 1-inch rounds. Peel and wash the carrots.
- Pour wine and chicken broth into your roasting pan. Line the bottom with onions, whole carrots, unpeeled garlic cloves, and rosemary sprigs. Place the bird on top of all the vegetables, cut side down.
- Cook the turkey for 1 ½ - 2 hours until cooked through. Test for doneness with a meat thermometer. Turkey should reach an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C) in the breast and 180°F (82°C) in the thigh.
- Remove turkey from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Wondering what to do with leftovers? Canadian Turkey has you covered there too! Check out their Recipe Page for unique turkey recipes and delicious ideas for leftovers.
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Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own. Your experience may differ.
It works for us because I LOVE leftovers 🙂 One basic roast turkey becomes so many other things!
http://www.canadianturkey.ca/recipes/turkey-nicoise-salad-with-sundried-tomato-dressing/ I love salads, so this is a nice choice for me, without the dressing.
I think the TURKEY, BROCCOLI & ALMOND SALAD sounds delicious! I may have to make it for my family.
the SWEET POTATO SHEPHERD’S PIE recipe sounds fantastic. I used to make shepherd’s pie with ground beef and normal potatoes. Now that I know that beef has so many hormones and antibiotics I’ve switched to using turkey. I also know that sweet potato is not only better for you than normal potatoes but they also taste better!
Turkey broccoli almond salad would provide healthy protein and green vegetables. It sounds very tasty and easy to make.
I would love to try the BBQ Whole Turkey!
The turkey croque monsieur with cranberry apple chutney sounds amazing!
The Turkey recipe that would provide a great meal for my family is BBQ TURKEY CLUB WITH SPICY MAYO because it’s going to be filling enough with the 2 pieces of bread and the large amount of turkey plus its got tomato, avocado and cheese which has the other necessary food groups.
I would love the butter turkey
Our favorite turkey recipe is just plain roasted turkey dinner and turkey potpie and homemade turkey soup. After looking at all the potential recipes that sound delicious, I may have to venture a little more in my culinary skills!
Turkey provides us with the lean protein that we need. I am trying to eat cleaner and turkey is a great option especially when I have increased my workouts. My son needs extra protein so I think I will definitely be trying the nugget recipe for him!
Thanks for the opportunity!
My family would enjoy Sweet Chili & Lime Turkey Meatballs!
The BBQ TURKEY CLUB WITH SPICY MAYO would fill any lunch..a couple could be any meal..and it is so easily made
Turkey Pot Pie is a favourite turkey recipe provides a great meal solution for my aging in-laws. I can easily make two small Pot Pies, one for my husband and I and the other to give to my Parents in-law
the BEST thanks giving I’ve ever had was the one in the city at my sons apt. He was in secondary school and the WHOLE family went, we all brought tons of food, a big table, chairs etc !! My mom, sisters family (3), my family (3) plus my daughter bf..so it was a huge crowd and I know it was the best thanksgiving we ever had. These days we still head to the city for Thanksgiving but with my husbands parents instead.
The Sweet & Spicy Oven-Fried Turkey Drummettes are great for my family because we like a little bit of spice with our food.
The Sweet & Spicy oven-fried turkey drummettes are perfect for us – loaded with protein and nicely spiced to mix things up! thanks for the chance to win ?
The recipe for Turkey Spinich Cobb Salad (in a jar) is a great meal solution for my family b/c it can be prepared ahead of time and left in the fridge for each person to grab and eat on the days when our schedules have us eating lunch at different times. And it’s nutritious.
I did not realize how versatile turkey is until I visited the site! I only associated turkey to holidays !
Love the turkey on a stick with veggies on it…that can be very famiky meal
Smoked Turkey Wraps would be a great meal here as it contains the veggies my kids love and includes cream cheese, yummy!
The CURRIED TURKEY & APPLE SANDWICHES would be a great lunch solution as it would be quick to prepare and something the whole family would eat.
The Turkey Broccoli and Almond Salad looks like it would make the perfect family dish. Yum!
My favourite recipe is BBQ turkey club with spicy msyp. It’s simple, but sounds delicious!
SWEET & SPICY OVEN-FRIED TURKEY DRUMMETTES would be my choice as we like it spicy.
The turkey tortilla cone is a good fit for us because I could adapt it to each persons likes.
The Curried Turkey and Apple Sandwiches look really good!!!!
Cant go wrong with butter turkey, or spicy mayo or anything with bacon or… you get my drift.
Turkey is my husbands favourite!!!
Besos, Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
Turkey Yakitori is a great meal for my family because it’s easy and fast to cook up!
My favorite turkey recipe, Sweet and Spicy BBQ’d ½ Turkey on the Grill, provides a great meal solution for my family because we love to grill and we love Sweet & Spicy tastes. Thanks for the giveaway!
I would definitely want the Bacon-wrapped Turkey Bites with Cranberry-Chipole BBQ Sauce. Sounds really delicious!
I would love to try the BBQ TURKEY CLUB WITH SPICY MAYO. It looks delicious and provides a quick easy meal idea!
We enjoy Moroccan Spice-Rubbed Turkey Wraps as the flavours are so good from the different spices that are in this recipe. Our family like to have these
The smoked turkey wrap would be great for our family because it would be quick and I can get in a lot of veggies for the kids.
The Batch Turkey Meatballs make a great meal solution for my family as the kids love it and it’s easy to make in batches and freeze for future quick meals.
The BBQ TURKEY CLUB WITH SPICY MAYO would be great for us. It is simple and something everyone in my family would love . I am not the best cook in the world but even I could make this
I am going to try the Sweet & Spicy Oven-Fried Turkey Drummettes
Turkey Taco Pizza is great for our family since we all already enjoy pizza. For this reason this will definitely be one of our most liked recipe for sure.
the smoked turkey wraps are great, because they’re easy to put together!
The shredded turkey tacos make for an easy to make dinner that everyone loves.
I really like the Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Recipe; my life is quite harried and busy, so anything that helps me save time and still provide a healthy, wholesome meal is a favourite in my book!
My family loves pot pies! The Turkey Pot Pie would be perfect for my family- a great way to use up leftovers!
The CHEESY TOMATO AND TURKEY BAKE sounds delicious and I love that it’s a one-pot meal!
The Warm Turkey and Root Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing looks absolutely amazing. I will for sure be making this with the leftovers this weekend.
I must make the Chipotle Sweet Potato Turkey Chili, it sounds so good
Turkey soup recipes are my favourite part of leftovers. Lunch ideas from the site were good too.
Twice Baked Turkey Dijon Baked Potatoes combines all my favourite ingredients and ensures there’s no left overs!
I love turkey! Always a fabulous dinner and great leftovers for days!
I really like the sounds of the shredded turkey tacos as they are very versatile in what you add in with them – everyone can enjoy
The TURKEY, BROCCOLI & ALMOND SALAD would be the best for my family. Since we truly enjoy these healthy
ingredients so very much.
Sweet and spicy oven fried drummettes looks neat
The SWEET & SPICY OVEN-FRIED TURKEY DRUMMETTES make a great change from chicken!