Your Yummly-est Thanksgiving Ever! Our Most Popular Turkey Recipes, Dressed to Impress

Your Yummly-est Thanksgiving! Our Most Popular Turkey Recipes, Dressed to Impress

The recipes that follow are our most-Yummed Turkey-Day eats, so whether you’re cooking for the family or hosting a big Friendsgiving, a delightful turkey can be yours. Sponsored by Shady Brook Farms and Honeysuckle White.

Thanksgiving is a holiday about togetherness, whether you’re surrounded by a big rowdy family, a few close relatives, or an exuberant circle of pals determined to celebrate a delicious Friendsgiving. But whether your menu sings with family recipes handed down through generations or an eclectic symphony of dishes from your friends’ different backgrounds, one high note is constant: the gorgeous turkey at the center of it all.

Turkeys from sister brands Shady Brook Farms and Honeysuckle White are raised by independent family farms and free of growth-promoting antibiotics. You can even find out exactly where your turkey is from by entering the Meet Your Farmer code at their website. Honeysuckle White turkey is available throughout the Midwest and western United States and Shady Brook Farms turkey is available in the Northeast and along the East Coast.

Sides are great, but it’s the turkey that everyone oohs and ahhs over, the showstopper that shines on your Instagram. And while a big bird can seem intimidating, the truth is, it’s one of the easier Thanksgiving dishes to prepare — IF you have the right recipe. Well, here they are: Our readers’ favorites! The recipes below are the ones most often "yummed" by Yummly users last year during the November run-up to Thanksgiving. They found them worth saving last year, and we're delighted to share them with you this year! So gather together and count your (delicious) blessings — your perfect turkey (and gravy, and brine) recipe awaits below.

A Juicy, Juicy Bird

On Thanksgiving, we all share the same goal: to prepare a turkey that’s succulent, moist, and doesn’t need to swim in an ocean of gravy to make it tasty. It’s a very lean protein: great for everyday eating, but especially good news on a day when Americans consume thousands of calories in one sitting! Thankfully, turkey is genuinely flavorful when you treat it right; it’s ultimately about ensuring the breast meat doesn’t dry out while the dark meat of the thighs reaches a food-safe temperature.

To that end, our most popular turkey recipe takes a novel approach: Wrapping the herb-butter stuffed turkey in a cheesecloth that’s been infused with white wine, stock, and melted butter before popping it in the oven. The bird is basted methodically, then unwrapped for the final half hour to brown the skin. The result is a beautifully tender, juicy turkey with crunchy, golden-brown skin. (Basting tip: Each time the oven door is opened the temperature drops, so feel free to baste twice an hour instead of three times for a slightly speedier cook time). This recipe has been yummed 5,000 times (and counting!) and has a 4.5-star rating from Yummly users.

Super Moist Turkey

Super Moist Turkey

Runners Up For Favorite Roasted Recipes

Below are the other most-Yummed recipes for roasting a luscious, tender turkey in the oven. Most are simple, and one uses onion dip packets for a fast flavor boost. The favorites that follow also include instructions for roasting a few turkey breasts: Roasting a breast instead of a whole bird is an excellent solution for feeding a smaller group, or for pleasing the "white meat please!" crowd.

Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey

This one has 3,000 Yums and features both a whole orange and a bottle of Champagne.

Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey

Roasted Turkey Breast

Roasted Turkey Breast

Homestyle Turkey

Homestyle Turkey

Juiciest Turkey Recipe Ever

Juiciest Turkey Recipe Ever

Super Moist Roast Turkey Breast

Super Moist Roast Turkey Breast

Out Of The Oven: Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Favorites

Sometimes there’s not enough room in the oven for a big bird and host of sides. A slow cooker frees up your oven and guarantees juicy results with minimal fuss. As for the Instant Pot, is there anything it can’t do? Why not Thanksgiving too? With the pressure cooker function, two juicy breasts are done in a flash. Seriously: They’re ready to serve in under an hour.

Instant Pot Turkey Breast

Instant Pot Turkey Breast

Slow Cooker Maple Herb Butter Turkey Breast with Apple Cider Glaze

Slow Cooker Maple Herb Butter Turkey Breast with Apple Cider Glaze

Spicy Sage Slow Cooker Turkey

Spicy Sage Slow Cooker Turkey

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Brine It!

Brining is the process of soaking your turkey in a salted, seasoned water bath for 12 to 24 hours before roasting. The meat absorbs the saline solution (and any other flavors you add) without becoming too salty, yielding breast meat that retains its moisture beautifully in the oven. The resulting meat is delicious and tender.

Be careful making gravy from the drippings of a brined turkey, however, as they can be quite salty. Use water, wine, or unsalted turkey stock (made the night before from the neck) to balance out any saltiness from the reduction, and you can’t go wrong. This beautiful brine is our most Yummed, for guaranteed success.

My Favorite Turkey Brine

My Favorite Turkey Brine

The Gravy Train (We Promise!)

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a decadent swirl of gravy across picture-perfect slices of juicy turkey. And on top of the stuffing … and to build a happy mashed-potato volcano … OK, the gravy is really important! And it can be hard to cross that final finish line; gravy usually gets made after the bird comes out of the oven, right when the kitchen is in the final hectic push to get all the dishes out in time for the meal to start. Sometimes the haphazard result is way too watery or weirdly pasty.

But fear not! Our two most-Yummed gravy recipes make it a snap: One can be made the day before so you simply reheat it while the turkey rests, and the other is a mere five ingredients that come together in about 10 minutes. Forks up! Thanksgiving is served.

Perfect Turkey Gravy

Perfect Turkey Gravy

Make Ahead Turkey Gravy

Make Ahead Turkey Gravy