Gordon Ramsay Turkey

Gordon Ramsay's turkey is the one with the lemon, parsley and garlic butter pushed under the skin and a blanket of smoked bacon laid over the breast. It roasts hot for a quarter of an hour, then low until a thermometer says it is done, and it rests for a full 45 minutes before anyone picks up a knife. Every one of those choices is doing a job, and once you know what the job is, the bird stops being a gamble.

This guide covers what makes Ramsay's version different, why the butter goes under the skin and the bacon on top, the temperatures that matter, and how to plan the day so the turkey is the easy part.

What Makes Gordon Ramsay's Turkey Different

Four things set Gordon Ramsay's turkey apart from a standard roast: a compound butter of lemon zest, lemon juice, crushed garlic and flat-leaf parsley worked under the breast and leg skin; smoked streaky bacon draped over the breast after the first blast of heat; a two-stage roast that starts at 428°F and finishes at 350°F; and a long rest, 45 minutes minimum, before carving. There is no brine and no injection. The cavity holds only aromatics, halved onions, a halved lemon, a halved head of garlic and bay leaves, which perfume the meat without slowing the cook the way stuffing does.

The result is a turkey that tastes of lemon and garlic all the way through the breast, with skin that crisps under rendered bacon fat, and gravy built from drippings that already carry all of that flavor. It is a Christmas recipe in Ramsay's hands, and it works exactly as well for Thanksgiving.

The Lemon, Parsley and Garlic Butter Goes Under the Skin

The butter goes under the skin, not just on it, because that is the only way to get fat and seasoning onto the breast meat itself. Turkey breast is lean, fast-twitch muscle with almost no fat of its own, so it dries out long before the thighs are done; a layer of butter sitting directly on the meat bastes it from the inside as it melts and carries the lemon and garlic into the first half-inch of flesh. Ramsay's rule is to season early, and this is the same idea: you cannot season a breast once the skin has set.

Loosen the skin with your fingers from the neck end, working slowly so it does not tear, and push the butter in with your hand, then smooth it out from the outside so it sits in an even layer. Tuck a bay leaf or two under the skin on each side and pull them out before serving. Spread the rest of the butter over the outside, season the skin well, and drizzle with olive oil. The butter can be made a day ahead and refrigerated; let it soften before you use it, because cold butter tears the skin.

One thing the butter does not do is travel. Flavor molecules in a rub or marinade are too large to move more than a few millimeters into meat; only salt penetrates, which is why the salt in this butter matters more than most people think. Season the cavity generously before the aromatics go in, and salt the skin, not just the butter.

Why the Bacon Goes Over the Breast

The bacon is a self-basting shield. Streaky bacon is mostly fat, and as it renders in the oven it drips over the breast continuously, which is what basting with a spoon tries and mostly fails to do. It also physically shades the breast, the part of the bird that overcooks first, from the direct heat of the oven, so the thighs can catch up without the breast turning to sawdust. Lay it on after the first 10 to 15 minutes at high heat, once the skin has started to color, and baste it as you put it on.

Under the bacon, the skin still needs to be dry to crisp. Nothing browns until its surface dries out, because water cannot get hotter than 212°F and the browning reactions do not start until about 284°F. Pat the turkey dry inside and out with paper towels before the butter goes on, and if you have room, leave it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight to dry the skin further. That one step does more for crisp skin than any amount of basting.

Roast Hot, Then Low: 428°F, Then 350°F

Ramsay starts the turkey at 428°F (220°C) for 10 to 15 minutes to set and color the skin, then drops the oven to 350°F (180°C) for the rest of the roast. The high heat is short on purpose: it gets the browning started while the surface is still dry, and any longer would scorch the butter and start drying the breast. The low stage cooks the bird through gently, so the outside and inside finish closer together.

For a 12-pound bird, expect roughly 2½ hours at 350°F after the blast, and begin checking with a thermometer at the 2-hour mark. Bigger birds run about 13 minutes per pound at that temperature, but the thermometer, not the clock, decides when it comes out. Put the rack in the lower third of the oven so the top of the bird is not close to the element, and if the bacon and skin are getting too dark before the thigh is done, tent the breast loosely with foil.

Baste two or three times during the low stage, not every 20 minutes. Basting does not moisten the meat; the muscle is already saturated and is being squeezed as it cooks. What basting does is brown and crisp the surface with fat, and every time the oven door opens it loses heat and adds time. The bacon is doing most of that work for you.

Cook Gordon Ramsay's Turkey to Temperature, Not Color

The turkey is done when a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, reads 165°F, the minimum the USDA sets for all poultry. Ramsay's television version tests with a skewer and looks for clear juices, and that test is unreliable: juice color depends on pigments and the bird's age, not on temperature, so a turkey can run pink at a safe temperature and clear before it gets there. The University of Illinois Extension recommends checking the innermost thigh, the wing joint and the thickest part of the breast, and if you stuff the bird, the center of the stuffing has to reach 165°F too.

Two readings are better than one. The breast finishes first, and the thigh needs to go higher to be pleasant to eat, because its connective tissue does not soften until well past the safe point. ThermoWorks sets its probe alarms at 157°F in the breast and 175°F in the thigh, pulling the bird when the breast hits that number so that carryover takes it to 165°F during the rest. If you have one probe, put it in the thigh and pull at 165°F; the breast will be past safe by then, and the butter and bacon are what keep it juicy anyway.

Rest It for 45 Minutes

Ramsay rests the turkey for at least 45 minutes, and it is not optional. A roast carved straight from the oven bleeds its juices onto the board; the same roast rested loses only a fraction of that. Resting does not "relax" the muscle, which is a myth. What it does is let the hot, thin juices cool and thicken enough to stay in the meat when it is cut. A whole turkey is a big piece of meat, and 45 minutes is what it takes for that to happen through to the center.

The temperature keeps climbing while it rests, by about 5 to 10°F according to Michigan State University Extension, which is why pulling the breast just under 165°F works. Move the bird to a warm platter, tent it loosely with foil, and use the time to make the gravy from the pan. It will still be hot when you carve.

The Pan Gravy

The gravy is built on what is in the pan: lemon-garlic butter, bacon fat, roasted onion and the turkey's own juices. Pour the drippings into a jug, let the fat rise, and spoon about 4 tablespoons of it into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook it for a minute or two until it smells toasty, then add the stock and the skimmed pan juices slowly, whisking, so it stays smooth. Simmer until it coats a spoon, then taste before you salt it; the bacon and butter have already seasoned it.

Ramsay's Christmas version adds a splash of dry cider and a handful of chopped walnuts to the gravy, and squeezes the roasted lemon from the cavity into it. Both are worth doing. Crush the roasted onion and garlic from the cavity into the pan too, then push the gravy through a sieve; the softened aromatics thicken it the way a roux does, which is the same trick he uses for a pan sauce.

Thawing, Buying and Timing the Day

Buy about 1½ pounds of turkey per person, which covers a 12-pound bird for eight with leftovers. A frozen turkey needs a full day in the refrigerator for every 4 pounds, per Butterball, so a 12-pound bird goes into the fridge three days before you cook it; in a pinch, cold-water thawing runs about 30 minutes per pound with the water changed every half hour. Do not rinse the bird in the sink, which only splashes bacteria around; the oven takes care of the rest. The National Turkey Federation keeps a plain roasting reference if you are cooking a different size.

Get organized before the oven goes on, Ramsay's first rule for any big dish. The butter can be made a day ahead, the aromatics halved in the morning, and the bird buttered and bacon-ready an hour before it roasts, sitting at room temperature to take the chill off. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour before it goes in; a fridge-cold bird roasts unevenly. Count backward from serving: 45 minutes of rest, about 2¾ hours of roasting, an hour on the counter first.

What to Serve With Gordon Ramsay's Turkey

Serve it with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and honey-glazed carrots with thyme and orange, both Ramsay sides that hold well while the bird rests, and rosemary garlic dinner rolls for the gravy. If you want a second centerpiece for a bigger table, his beef Wellington is the other holiday showpiece on this site. Browse the recipes collection and the holiday and seasonal guides for the rest of the menu.

Gordon Ramsay's Roast Turkey with Lemon, Parsley and Garlic Butter

A 12-pound turkey with lemon, parsley and garlic butter pushed under the skin, onion, lemon, garlic and bay in the cavity, and smoked bacon laid over the breast, roasted at 428°F then 350°F to 165°F in the thigh, rested 45 minutes, and served with a gravy built from the pan drippings.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 170 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 8 servings

Calories 480 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole turkey, about 12 lb, thawed, giblets removed
• 2 onions, peeled and halved
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
• 6 bay leaves
• 8 slices smoked streaky bacon
• 1 2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 1/3 sticks)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more to drizzle
• 2 small lemons, zest and juice
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Tbsp fat from the roasting pan (or unsalted butter), for the gravy
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for the gravy
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, plus the skimmed pan juices
• 1/2 cup dry cider (optional) and 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional), for the gravy

Instructions

 

• Take the turkey out of the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Heat the oven to 428°F (220°C) with a rack in the lower third. Pat the bird dry inside and out with paper towels.
• Make the butter: mix the softened butter with the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, a good pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper.
• Season the cavity with salt and pepper and fill it with the halved onions, the halved lemon, the halved garlic head and 2 bay leaves.
• Loosen the skin over the breast and the tops of the legs with your fingers, keeping it intact. Push half the butter under the skin and smooth it into an even layer from the outside. Tuck the remaining 4 bay leaves under the skin, two per side.
• Set the turkey breast side up in a large roasting pan. Spread the remaining butter over the skin, season well with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
• Roast for 10 to 15 minutes at 428°F. Take the pan out, baste the bird with the pan juices, lay the bacon slices over the breast, and baste again. Lower the oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Roast about 2½ hours more, basting two or three times, until a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, reads 165°F (begin checking at 2 hours). If the breast reads 157°F to 160°F at that point, it will finish at 165°F while it rests. Tent the breast loosely with foil if the bacon darkens too fast.
• Move the turkey to a warm platter, tent loosely with foil, and rest for at least 45 minutes. Pull the bay leaves from under the skin before carving.
• Make the gravy: pour the pan juices into a jug and let the fat rise. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the fat into a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook 1 to 2 minutes until it smells toasty. Whisk in the stock and the skimmed pan juices a little at a time, then the cider if using. Crush the roasted onion, garlic and lemon from the cavity into the pan, simmer 5 minutes until the gravy coats a spoon, then push it through a sieve. Stir in the walnuts if using, taste, and season.
• Carve the turkey, removing the legs at the joint first and slicing the breast across the grain. Serve with the hot gravy.

Notes

Cook to temperature, not to clear juices: 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh. Pat the skin dry before buttering; dry skin is what crisps. The butter can be made a day ahead; soften it before use so it does not tear the skin. Do not cut the rest short. For a bigger bird, allow about 13 minutes per pound at 350°F after the blast and check with a thermometer from 2 hours.

Build the holiday table: Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, honey-glazed carrots, and Ramsay's beef Wellington.

Gordon Ramsay Turkey FAQs

The questions that come up most: whether Gordon Ramsay brines his turkey, how long to roast it per pound, what temperature it should reach, why the bacon goes on the breast, and how long to rest it.