Roasted Spatchcock Glazed Turkey a tender and juicy Thanksgiving turkey that cooks quicker than a whole turkey. Made with a sweet and savory bourbon brown sugar glaze, this one is a total keeper!
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Why You'll Love This Bourbon Turkey
Thanksgiving Turkey is one of my very favorite things to make. There's nothing better than that delicious smell wafting through my home. Make your bird even more wonderful with a brown sugar and bourbon turkey glaze so that you can enjoy the most perfectly crispy skin with all the flavors to kick this classic oven roasted turkey up a notch. I love this because it:
- is quick and easy to make
- has minimal ingredients
- comes out evenly cooked and juicy
- has epic flavor
- ends up with crispy skin on the outside and tender meat on the inside
Helpful Ingredient Information
- Turkey- While you can use any size turkey you'd like, I wrote this recipe for a 12-14 pound whole turkey that has been spatchcocked.
- Glaze- Since the alcohol cooks off, there's no need to use super high-end bourbon, just choose one that's good enough to drink. I used light brown sugar for this recipe. You can also use dark if you prefer, it'll just give it a deeper caramelized flavor. And I know soy sauce sounds like a strange addition, but trust me, it really boosts the umami factor in the best way possible.
- Compound butter- I always use salted butter for this- a bit of brown sugar and fresh thyme add a tasty and traditional flavor combo.
How to Make Bourbon Glazed Turkey
Step 1- Make the compound butter
Use a food processor to process al compound butter ingredients until evenly combined.
Step 2- Prep the turkey and pan
Prep the pan by giving it a light coating of cooking spray. Spread some chunks of onions, smashed garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme on the bottom and add water and a little bourbon. Top this with a cooking spray-coated roasting rack.
Rub ⅔ of your compound butter under the skin of the turkey and the remaining ⅓ onto the outside of the turkey on all sides. Place the turkey breast-side-up onto the roasting rake of the pan. Place the turkey into a preheated oven.
Step 3- Make the brown sugar glaze
Combine all glaze ingredients except for the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly to a light boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Set aside- this will thicken as it sits.
Step 4- Glaze the turkey
When the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees, brush glaze over the entire turkey. Do this every 8-10 minutes until the turkey is fully cooked.
Step 5- Rest the turkey and carve
When the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, remove from the oven and rest for 25-30 minutes. During this time you will combine the pan drippings with turkey broth and thicken with a roux to make gravy. Then carve and serve!
Frequently Asked Questions
That's a matter of personal preference, but I don't bother brining a spatchcocked turkey because it already comes out really juicy since it cooks more evenly.
Because the turkey cooks faster and more evenly resulting in a more tender juicy turkey and less chance of overcooking. It's so easy to do that I wrote an entire post on how to spatchcock a turkey.
The safe temperature for consuming poultry is 165 degrees. I remove from the oven at 160 degrees, rest for 25-30 minutes (during which time the temperature will rise to 165) and carve for a perfectly cooked turkey.
I'll often give alcohol substitutions for most of my recipes that use it, but for this particular recipe the bourbon is a central part of it. For that reason, I wouldn't encourage you to make this without alcohol. I do have some other awesome spatchcock turkey recipes like Apple Cider Glazed Turkey and Lemon Herb Roast Turkey.
Tips For This Turkey Recipe
- Make sure you rest your turkey for 1 hour prior to roasting to bring it closer to room temperature for even cooking.
- Don't worry about serving bourbon to those who are too young to drink. The alcohol burns off as it cooks. If you don't want to use bourbon, you can always substitute with turkey or chicken broth.
- The cooking time for the turkey will vary based on the exact size of the bird and your oven. Mine took around 90 minutes, but go by temperature not time.
- Where to insert the thermometer probe- for this recipe we'll insert it into the thickest part of the breast, making sure not to hit the bone. Typically, people insert the probe into the thickest part of the thigh when making a whole bird because when you leave a turkey whole, the breast cooks quicker. But because the bird is spatchcocked and lays flat for this recipe, it cooks more evenly and the breast is the thickest part overall.
- Check the turkey periodically while it's in the oven to make sure it's not browning too quickly. If some spots are browning too quickly, cover those spots with foil until it comes time to glaze.
- To make a turkey gravy- make a roux by melting 5 Tablespoons butter and whisking in 5 Tablespoons of flour. Whisk together and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 quart of turkey broth along with pan drippings and cook over medium heat until thick.
- Don't skip the 30 minutes of resting time before carving- this allows the juices to redistribute within the turkey, resulting in nice, juicy meat.
- Don't throw out the bones and carcass, you can add them to a pot and cover with water- add vegetables and the herbs of your choice and after an hour you'll have a great broth for making turkey soup.
- Storage- These leftovers will last up to 5 days covered in the refrigerator.
- Leftovers- Some of my favorite recipes for leftover turkey include: Turkey Tetrazzini, Turkey and Wild Rice Soup, Shepherd's Pie and Tostadas. But honestly, most recipes that call for cooked chicken can be made with cooked turkey.
Other recipes featuring turkey
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Roasted Spatchcock Glazed Turkey with Bourbon
Equipment
Ingredients
Compound butter ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoons roughly chopped fresh thyme
Turkey ingredients
- 1 12-14 pound spatchcocked whole turkey, neck and gizzards removed (you can use these and the backbone to make stock)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions, cut into chunks
- 4-6 whole cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ cup bourbon
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 large pinch Kosher salt
- 1 large pinch ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
Glaze ingredients
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
Prepare roasting pan
- Remove turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to bring to room temperature.
- Drizzle oil onto the bottom of the pan. Place onions, garlic, thyme sprigs, water and bourbon into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a large pinch of salt and pepper onto the vegetables.
- Place rack into the pan and spray with cooking spray.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Make the compound butter and prepare turkey
- Combine all compound butter ingredients in the food processor and pulse to combine, scraping down the sides as you go. Store until
- Use your hands to go under the turkey skin and gently separate the skin from the meat over the breasts and legs.
- Rub ¾ of the compound butter under the skin onto the breast and leg meat. Rub remaining compound butter onto the outside of the turkey on both sides.
- Place the turkey into the prepared roasting pan onto the rack, breast-side up. Gently tuck the wing tips under the turkey breasts so they don't burn.
- Place an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the breast making sure you don't touch the bone (if you have a duel thermometer, stick the other into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful not to touch the bone).
- Roast, checking the bird every 30 minutes to make sure the skin doesn't burn- if it's getting too dark, cover that part with foil until it's time to glaze. If the water in the pan if getting too low, add an additional cup, but only if needed.
Make the glaze
- Once you've put the turkey into the oven, place all glaze ingredients EXCEPT for the butter into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Once boiling reduce heat slightly to medium (so it continues to boil without boiling over) and continue boiling for 10 minutes, whisking periodically
- Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter until melted. Set aside, it will thicken slightly as it sits.
- Once the turkey breast temperature reaches 130 degrees, take a brush and glaze all over the turkey skin every 8-10 minutes until the turkey breast reaches an internal temperature of 161 degrees.Rem
- Remove turkey from oven and place onto a large cutting board. Rest for 25-20 minutes.
- While the turkey rests strain turkey drippings to add to your gravy (this is optional but highly encouraged).
- Once rested, carve turkey and serve immediately.
Notes
- Make sure you rest your turkey for 1 hour prior to roasting to bring it closer to room temperature for even cooking.
- Don't worry about serving bourbon to those who are too young to drink. The alcohol burns off as it cooks. If you don't want to use bourbon, you can always substitute with turkey or chicken broth.
- The cooking time for the turkey will vary based on the exact size of the bird and your oven. Mine took around 90 minutes, but go by temperature not time.
- Where to insert the thermometer probe- for this recipe we'll insert it into the thickest part of the breast, making sure not to hit the bone. Typically, people insert the probe into the thickest part of the thigh when making a whole bird because when you leave a turkey whole, the breast cooks quicker. But because the bird is spatchcocked and lays flat for this recipe, it cooks more evenly and the breast is the thickest part overall.
- Check the turkey periodically while it's in the oven to make sure it's not browning too quickly. If some spots are browning too quickly, cover those spots with foil until it comes time to glaze.
- To make a turkey gravy- make a roux by melting 5 Tablespoons butter and whisking in 5 Tablespoons of flour. Whisk together and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 quart of turkey broth along with pan drippings and cook over medium heat until thick.
- Don't skip the 30 minutes of resting time before carving- this allows the juices to redistribute within the turkey, resulting in nice, juicy meat.
- Don't throw out the bones and carcass, you can add them to a pot and cover with water- add vegetables and the herbs of your choice and after an hour you'll have a great broth for making turkey soup.
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