Here, you will find not only the recipe for my irresistible bacon-wrapped roasted turkey. But also all you need to know for roasting a flavorful and super juicy turkey that will be the star of the holiday season, perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas celebration.
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Why you will love this recipe?
If you’re a bacon lover, this recipe is for you! We know a strip of bacon can make magic! Just imagine a bacon weave! I had this turkey in mind since I roasted my last Thanksgiving turkey.
I thought: if you can wrap a turkey with bacon, why not wrap it? After all, life tastes better with bacon! So, the main reason you’ll love this turkey is because it’s bacon-wrapped! That means it’s flavorful, moist, and super easy to make.
If you feel artsy or want to play the food stylist game, make a lattice pattern with bacon slices, and your family and guests will be in awe!
Ingredients
What kitchen tools do I need to make this turkey?
Trust me, this is the easiest and most flavorful turkey recipe ever. To make it, you will need a couple of kitchen utensils, including:
3 Tips to Roast the Perfect Turkey
Let’s be honest. Except for dark meat, everybody complains about turkey meat because it’s dry and flavorless. I’m not a big fan of poultry, but to guarantee a juicy, flavorful roasted turkey, I follow three rules of thumb:
- I season it with garlic-herb compound butter. This butter mixture with fresh garlic and fresh herbs makes magic in my kitchen.
- I place an oven bag in a roaster and make a “nest” of chopped carrots, celery, and onion in the bottom of the bag.
- I place my bird inside the bag, secure it, and roast it. Oven bags are safe; they keep your roasting pan perfectly clean, and more importantly, the final product is a super moist and juicy turkey.
How do I roast a bacon-covered turkey?
The answer to the previous question is simple: follow the abovementioned steps, but cover it with sliced bacon before placing the turkey inside the bag. The only prerequisite is to ensure the strips of bacon cover the whole turkey, whether you make a bacon lattice or not.
Then, you roast your bird in a preheated oven at 325°F according to the weight of your turkey:
- 3.5 to 4.5 hours for a turkey 8 to 12-pound, serving 8 people.
- 4.5 to 5.5 hours for a turkey 12 to 16-pound, serving 10 to 12 people.
- 5.5 to 6.5 hours for a turkey 16 to 20-pound, serving around 12-14 people.
Bacon is so salty and flavorful that technically, you don’t need to add the compound butter to season your turkey. However, I use unsalted compound butter medallions between the skin of the turkey and the meat and in the cavity to add more complexity and another layer of flavor and take my turkey to the next level.
How do I get crispy bacon on an oven bag?
That’s a good question because bacon gets cooked but not crisp inside the oven bag. So, once the turkey is done, you should open the bag, put your oven to broil, and broil your turkey for around 4-5 minutes until the bacon gets crispy.
Again, this is it! This bacon-wrapped turkey tastes as good as it looks. It’s juicy and moist, with a subtle bacon flavor and crunchy bacon on top of that. What can be better than this?
To stuff or not to stuff a turkey
That’s the question. And the answer to that question is a very personal one. The turkey in the pictures is stuffed with my rice, apple, cranberries, and bacon stuffing. However, more recently, I prefer to serve the stuffing aside.
If your choice is to stuff the turkey, then follow the US Department of Agriculture’s advice, including:
- Avoid cross-contamination by not doing the stuffing in advance (once you stuff your whole bird, go ahead and roast it.)
- Facilitate the cooking process by stuffing the cavity of the turkey loose.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the turkey and stuffing are adequately cooked. The internal temperature must reach 165°F so have your instant-read thermometer handy.
If you decide not to stuff your turkey, fill it with apples and onions to keep its form during roasting. Once the turkey is done, discard the apples and onions.
Whether you stuff it or not, it’s critical to let the roasted turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving it.
How do I pair this turkey?
This turkey pairs perfectly with cranberry sauce like my fresh cranberry, pineapple relish, and mashed potatoes. Here, you’ll find a complete guide on Thanksgiving recipes, including side dishes, condiments, salads, desserts, and drinks.
How do I store the leftovers?
Carve and slice the leftover turkey, place turkey pieces in an airtight container, and refrigerate. It will last for a week. You can also freeze it for future use.
Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Turkey Recipe
Following is the printable version of my recipe. I hope you like it as much as we do.
Thank you for subscribing to my Youtube channel and visiting my Amazon store. Happy Holidays!
Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 10 pounds turkey, unfrozen, washed and dried with paper towels
- ½ a recipe of herbs and garlic butter, in a log and sliced into 1/8 inch medallions
- ½ a recipe of the Wild and Basmati Rice Turkey Stuffing with Cranberries, Apples, Herbs and Bacon
- 1 ½ pounds bacon, sliced
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup carrot chopped
- 2 cups celery stalks chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Put an oven bag on a roasting pan.
- Place the onions, carrots and celery on the bottom of the bag.
- Put the butter medallions between the turkey skin and meat, and then in the cavity.
- Stuff the cavity with the rice mixture.
- Secure the turkey with twine in both legs.
- Wrap the turkey with the bacon slices and carefully place it in the bag.
- Tie the bag and roast the turkey, inside the bag, for 4.5 hours.
- Open the bag and carefully drain the juices into a container.
- Cut the bag and place the roasting pan back in the oven.
- Broil on high for 4 minutes.
- Wait at least half hour to place the turkey o n the serving plate.
- Reserve half a cup of the drippings for the gravy.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @enrilemoine on Instagram and hashtag it #byenrilemoine. Thank you!
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