This Bacon Wrapped Turkey recipe will be the only way you’ll ever make your turkey again. With a homemade garlic butter, fresh herbs, lemons and bacon, you will have a perfectly moist turkey every Thanksgiving.
A few years ago when we moved into our new house my husband made his first real turkey on his own and every year since, he has perfected his recipe so now, I decided to share it with the world.
And just so you know, my husband calls this “The Perfect Turkey”.
This turkey is tender, moist and absolutely delicious. It has the perfect blend of herbs and spices but the best part has to be the bacon, it just gives the turkey that extra bit of tastiness.
So, if you are ready to take Thanksgiving to the next level, give this bacon wrapped turkey a try. You won’t regret it!
Bacon Wrapped Turkey
Ingredients needed:
- Turkey – We typically get a 13 lb. turkey for our family of 5
- Bacon – Thick cut bacon is best
- Onion – Yellow or white onion
- Lemons
- Bay leaves, Thyme, Sage, Rosemary, Parsley – We typically use fresh but if you can’t find it, dried herbs is fine too
- Butter – We typically use salted butter but you can use unsalted butter as well if you are trying to watch your sodium intake
- Garlic – We use fresh garlic cloves
- Olive oil- We typically like the extra virgin olive oil but any kind is fine
- Salt and pepper
- Grated Parmesan
- Paprika
How to Make A Tender Bacon Wrapped Turkey:
Step One: The first thing to do is, ensure your turkey is thawed and cleaned out. Once your turkey is cleaned, prepped, and patted dry, stick it inside a turkey roasting pan.
Step Two: Prepare the ingredients you will stick inside the cavity of the turkey. You will be using your lemons, onion, half of your herbs and salt and pepper for this.
Cut up your onion and lemon in half and gather a few sprigs of your fresh herbs. You are going to stuff these inside the turkey cavity.
Step Three: Now, prepare the garlic herb butter by combining the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Mix until well combined.
Step Four: Once your herb butter is made, you want to lather your turkey in it. You are going to start by sticking some of the butter under the skin. This helps keep the turkey moist.
Step Five: Spread the remaining butter on the outside of the turkey covering it entirely. Again, this helps add flavor and keep the turkey moist during baking.
Step Six: Season the outside of the turkey with paprika, salt, pepper and the grated parmesan cheese. Drizzle olive oil on top.
Step Seven: Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for half an hour.
Step Eight: Remove the turkey from the oven and place bacon strips on top of turkey and season with grated Parmesan and pepper, cover with tin foil and place back in oven.
Step Nine: Remove foil 1 hour before turkey is done. Baste turkey with drippings to keep meat moist and flavorful.
Step Ten: When fully cooked at 170 degrees (or when timer pops up) remove from oven, cover with foil let sit for 1-2 hours.
Step Eleven: Place back in oven right before carving on broil for 5-10 minutes without foil.
Step Twelve: Remove from oven, carve, and enjoy!
Things to Note:
- Cooking times are based on a 13 lb. turkey. Adjust the cooking times as necessary based on the size of turkey you are using to ensure it is cooked throughly.
- You want to cook your turkey for a half hour before applying the bacon to keep it from burning.
- You can add additional butter sticks to the outside of the turkey pan to help baste and keep the turkey moist and tender.
- Keep the turkey drippings to use for stuffing and gravy
- Store any leftovers in the fridge for several days
Bacon Wrapped Turkey
Ingredients
- Turkey
- Bacon
- 1 Onion
- 3 Lemons
- 3-6 Bay leaves
- 2 sticks butter softened
- ½ tablespoon Thyme
- 1 tablespoon Sage
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary
- 1 tablespoon Parsley
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Grated Parmesan
- Paprika
Instructions
- The first thing to do is, ensure your turkey is thawed and cleaned out. Once your turkey is cleaned, prepped, and patted dry, stick it inside a turkey roasting pan.
- Prepare the ingredients you will stick inside the cavity of the turkey. Cut your lemons and onion in half, gather the sprigs of half of your fresh herbs (use all of the bay leaves in the cavity) and salt and pepper. Stick these inside the cavity of the turkey.
- Now, prepare the garlic herb butter. Finely chop the rest of your herbs (except the bay leaves) and mince the garlic. Combine the herbs, garlic, butter, juice from half of a squeeze of a lemon, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and salt and pepper. Combine the ingredients in a bowl.
- Once your herb butter is made, you want to spread it on your turkey. You are going to start by sticking some of the butter under the skin. Make sure to push the butter under the skin as far as possible. This helps keep the turkey moist.
- Spread the remaining butter on the outside of the turkey covering it entirely. Again, this helps add flavor and keep the turkey moist during baking.
- Season the outside of the turkey with paprika, salt, pepper and the grated parmesan cheese. Drizzle olive oil on top.
- Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for half an hour.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and place bacon strips on top of turkey and season with grated Parmesan and pepper, cover with tin foil and place back in oven.
- Remove foil 1 hour before turkey is done. Baste turkey with drippings to keep meat moist and flavorful.
- When fully cooked at 170 degrees (or when timer pops up) remove from oven, cover with foil let sit for 1-2 hours.
- Place back in oven right before carving on broil for 5-10 minutes without foil to make the bacon crispy. Keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn or get dry.
- Remove from oven, carve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is a rough estimate only; actual values will vary based on the exact ingredients used and amount of recipe prepared.