Roast Turkey with Olive Oil

Roasting a turkey with olive oil is easy and delicious. Although roast turkey isn’t a common practice in Italy, it is here in the US for us Italian-Americans that celebrate Thanksgiving as an annual holiday. Regardless of the occasion, this traditional and simple roast turkey is easy to cook and tastes great!

Recipe Summary

This recipe is for a 12 lb turkey which serves about 8 people.

It’s important to remember that cooking times vary greatly based on the size of the turkey, the weight of the turkey, and the oven itself. So the cooking time I used for this recipe may be different from yours.

I do not stuff my turkey. Stuffing will increase the cook time, so make sure to accommodate for that if you do choose to stuff your turkey.

Ingredients

For this recipe you just need a few simple ingredients.

• Turkey
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt (for cleaning)
• Kosher salt (for seasoning/dry brine)
• Carrot – chopped in 3″ pieces and halved.
• Celery – chopped in 3″ pieces.
• Onion – sliced in 1/2″ slices.
• Cracked black pepper – optional for seasoning.

For additional seasoning ideas, see further down below.

Step by Step Instructions

For a printable recipe, and for exact measurements, see the recipe card below.

Step 1. Start by cleaning the turkey. Remove the gizzards and anything else in the cavity of the turkey. Then rub table salt all over it and then rinse all the salt off.

Step 2. Pat dry the turkey with paper towels.

Step 3. At this point, if you plan on using a brine, place the turkey in the wet brine or use a dry brine. Check out my video (also below) about the dry brine to see how that works. Let the brine do it’s thing for 8-18 hours, although I recommend more like 12 hours.

Step 4. When done, do not rinse off the brine, even the dry brine. Let the turkey warm up a bit about an hour at room temperature. This helps the turkey cook more evenly.

Step 5. Season the turkey by rubbing the olive oil and a little black pepper (if using) all over it and some inside.

Step 6. In a roasting pan, place the carrot, celery, and onion on the bottom of the pan, along with 1-2 cups of water. As the drippings fall from the turkey, they’ll create a stock with the vegetables which you can use as part of your gravy and for basting.

Step 7. Place the turkey in the turkey roasting pan and tie the legs together if you can with cooking twine.

Step 8. Place turkey in the preheated oven at 350F on the Lowest rack. Baste it every 30 minutes once there are enough juices. For me, this was after 1 hour.

PRO TIP: If the turkey starts to get too brown, loosely place foil on top for the remainder of cooking.

Step 9. Cook the turkey according to package instructions. It is recommended to remove the turkey when the thickest part (thigh) reaches 165F to 170F. It will continue to cook. You want it ideally to be no more than 180F.

For my 12 lb turkey it was done in 2 hours. In fact, it could have been taken out sooner as some parts were reading above 180F, while other parts were at 175F when I took it out. Fortunately, my dry brine kept it moist!

Step 10. Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes. This is critical. You need to let the meat relax so the juices can redistribute throughout. Don’t worry, your turkey won’t get cold. You can keep foil loosely on top to trap some of the heat.

That’s how I cook my turkey using olive oil. I hope yours turns out well too!

Dry Brine Video

Here’s the video I made for dry brining the turkey. You can also check out the written post here.

Turkey Recipe Video

Here’s my youtube video for the turkey for those who like video. The written recipe is below.

Recipe Tips & Modifications

Here are some additional seasoning methods you can try.

• Place fresh rosemary sprigs under the turkey skin or inside the cavity of the turkey (about 3-4 sprigs)
• Place garlic cloves or a whole head of garlic cut in half in the cavity along.
• Place the vegetables in the cavity.
• Place rosemary, lemon, and garlic all in the cavity.
• If you don’t want to use olive oil, use butter.

What Goes with Roasted Turkey

Here are some ideas for what to serve this with.

• Garlic Italian bread
• Roasted cauliflower
• Roasted red potatoes

I hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe! If you’ve tried and made any changes to make it your own (or kept it all the same), let me know in the comments below!

Liz

Recipe Card for Roast Turkey

Roast Turkey with Olive Oil

This roast turkey recipe uses olive oil and is a traditional simple way to cook a turkey.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Recipe Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 823kcal

Author: Liz

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 lb Turkey
• ▢ 3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ Salt for cleaning
• ▢ 1 Tbsp Kosher salt for seasoning/dry brine
• ▢ 2 Carrot chopped in 3" pieces and halved
• ▢ 3 Celery chopped in 3" pieces
• ▢ 1 Onion sliced in 1/2" slices.
• ▢ 1 tsp Cracked black pepper – optional for seasoning.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Start by cleaning the turkey. Remove the gizzards and anything else in the cavity of the turkey. Then rub table salt all over it and then rinse all the salt off.
  12 lb Turkey, Salt
• Pat dry the turkey with paper towels.
• At this point, if you plan on using a brine, place the turkey in the wet brine or use a dry brine. Check out my video (also below) about the dry brine to see how that works. Let the brine do it’s thing for 8-18 hours, although I recommend more like 12 hours.
• Do not rinse off the brine, even the dry brine.
• Season the turkey by rubbing the olive oil and a little black pepper (if using) all over it and some inside.
  3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp Cracked black pepper
• In a roasting pan, place the carrot, celery, and onion on the bottom of the pan, along with 1-2 cups of water. As the drippings fall from the turkey, they’ll create a stock with the vegetables which you can use as part of your gravy and for basting.
  2 Carrot, 3 Celery, 1 Onion
• Place the turkey in the turkey roasting pan and tie the legs together if you can with cooking twine.
• Place turkey in the preheated oven at 350F on the lowest rack. Baste it every 30 minutes once there are enough juices. For me, this was after 1 hour.
• Cook the turkey according to package instructions. It is recommended to remove the turkey when the thickest part (thigh) reaches 165F to 170F. It will continue to cook. You want it ideally to be no more than 180F.
• For my 12 lb turkey it was done in 2 hours. In fact, it could have been taken out sooner as some parts were reading above 180F and other parts were at 175F when I took it out. Fortunately, my dry brine kept it moist!
• Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes. This is critical. You need to let the meat relax so the juices can redistribute throughout. Don't worry, your turkey won't get cold. You can keep foil loosely on top to trap some of the heat.

Video

Notes

Nutritional data are estimates based off API calculations. 

1. This is a simple recipe. Feel free to modify seasonings as needed. See my post for additional ideas. 
2. Remember that cooking times vary. Follow instructions for your turkey and check the temp closely. Take it out when it hits between 165F and 170F. It will continue cooking for a bit and should get to about 180F after it’s out of the oven. 
3. Let it rest for 20 minutes before serving. This is critical for juices to redistribute. 

Nutrition

Calories: 823kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 154g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 456mg | Sodium: 1698mg | Potassium: 1710mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2821IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 6mg