Thanksgiving Turkey with Stuffing and Gravy

Jeff the Chef
"Thanksgiving Turkey," from Make It Like a Man!

This is an all-in-one set of recipes for a 14-lb. Thanksgiving turkey, with stuffing and gravy, laid out in a timeline. Just the stuffing and gravy. Obviously, you’ll want sides; you can work them in around this timeline. You’ll see that the timeline includes plenty of downtime that can be filled with other work.

This is a straightforward, mainstream, from-scratch recipe for the chassis of a truly beautiful, homemade, all-American turkey. You’ll love it as-is, but you can also use it as a well-made baseline from which you could launch all sorts of exotic additions or modifications. I’ve laid out the work in a schedule that won’t leave you (too) exhausted.

Thanksgiving Turkey with Stuffing and Gravy
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Thanksgiving Turkey with Stuffing and Gravy

Servings

6+

people

These directions are timed to have you sitting down to eat by 3 PM.

Ingredients

  • For the Turkey

  • 1 turkey (14 lbs), thawed if frozen

  • 1 stick of butter

  • 1½ cups white wine, room temperature

  • 1 large white onion, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 3 large carrots, halved and cut into 2-inch chunks

  • 1 Tbs black peppercorns

  • 1 sprig fresh sage (about five leaves)

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 tsp chicken stock reduction or bouillon

  • Salt and pepper, to taste

  • For the Stuffing

  • 1 large loaf of Italian bread, cubed

  • 1 red onion, peeled and finely diced

  • 1 cup thinly sliced celery

  • 2 generous Tbs minced garlic

  • 1 Tbs olive oil

  • 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

  • ½ cup chopped Italian parsley

  • 2 Tbs minced fresh rosemary

  • Salt and pepper, to taste

  • 4 oz. dried cherries

  • ¾ cup chicken stock

  • For the Gravy

  • 2 cups gelatinized, defatted chicken stock, rendered from a rotisserie chicken

  • 3 Tbs flour

  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

  • 8:00 AM – Place the turkey in the sink, remove it from its wrapper, remove the neck and giblets, (rinse the bird inside and out), place it on a rimmed baking sheet, and let it sit at room temperature for two hours. Periodically drain any liquid that may accumulate, including in the cavity.
  • Place the neck into a small saucepan, cover it with water, bring it to a boil, cover, lower to a simmer, and cook for an hour. Discard the giblets, or see notes, below.
  • Prep all the veg.
  • 9:00 AM – make the stuffing: preheat the oven to 400°F. Spread bread evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet, and toast in the oven, tossing every five minutes until the cubes begin to show a golden, toasted color, about 15 minutes total. Remove from oven and set aside.
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over a medium flame. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions soften, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside ½-cup of the sausage. Clear a large circular area in the middle of the onion mixture in the skillet. Place the remaining sausage into this clearing, and scramble it until no pink remains. Add the parsley and rosemary, mix the contents of the skillet together, and continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes. Off heat. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  • Remove the neck from the saucepot (and discard). In your (two) largest mixing bowl(s), toss the contents of the skillet with the bread and cherries. Toss in enough of the neck broth (and chicken stock, if necessary) to moisten the bread, to taste. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  • Prepare a baste for the turkey: melt the butter. Mix it with the wine. Cut a piece of cheesecloth so that you can fold it over twice, and it will be large enough to cover the turkey’s breast. Submerge it in the wine mixture, and soak it.
  • 9:45 AM – preheat the oven to 425°F. Stuff the reserved sausage into the turkey’s neck cavity. Scatter the onion, carrots, peppercorns, sage, and bay leaf into a large roasting pan. Stir chicken stock reduction into 2 cups of water and pour it into the pan. Place a rack into the roasting pan. Stuff the turkey and place it on the rack. Pat it dry with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper the turkey. Squeeze excess wine mixture out of the cheesecloth, and lay it over the turkey breast. Insert a temperature probe into the thickest part of the turkey’s thigh, being careful to not hit bone.
  • Place excess stuffing into a baking dish, cover with foil, and refrigerate.
  • 10:00 AM – slide the turkey into the oven. Every 30 minutes, baste the turkey with wine mixture. Add water to the pan if necessary, so it doesn’t go dry.
  • Watch the parade on TV while eating oranges and cracking mixed nuts.
  • 11:30 AM – reduce the temperature to 350°F. Remove and discard the cheesecloth. Baste the turkey. Return it to the oven, and continue basting every 30 minutes.
  • 12:30 PM – sprinkle the stock over the refrigerated stuffing. Then, sprinkle 2 Tbs of the basting liquid over it. Cover with foil.
  • 12:45 PM – place stuffing into the oven along side the turkey, for 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue to bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cover, and keep warm.
  • 1:35 PM – heat rotisserie stock (for gravy) and keep warm.
  • 1:45 – 2:15 PM – the turkey should come to temperature during somewhere in this window – probably in the early part. Baste every 15 minutes until it does. Measured at the thickest part of the thigh, the temperature should reach 165°F. The stuffing should also reach this temperature. However, if the bird is done before the stuffing, you can remove the turkey, and remove and microwave the stuffing. Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes on a cutting board (with drainage grooves) before carving.
  • 2:15 PM – or whenever the turkey comes out of the oven: remove the sausage from the neck cavity. Chop it, and in a very large mixing bowl, toss it with the baked stuffing and the turkey’s stuffing. Check seasoning. Keep warm.
  • Make the gravy: strain the pan drippings into a fat separator, and pour it into a small saucepot. Keep hot. Pour 3 Tbs of the hot drippings into a medium-sized saucepan. Add the flour, and use a sturdy whisk to beat if furiously until combined into a paste. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and continue whisking until the mixture turns a deep golden brown, about 9 minutes. Add the remaining drippings in small increments, whisking until they’re fully incorporated before adding more. Make each addition slightly larger than the last. Add the rotisserie stock, and simmer until the gravy is as thick as cream, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Strain into a serving container.

Notes

  • If your turkey is frozen, move it to the refrigerator as much as a week in advance, but no less than 3.5 days. Any less time than that, and you’ll need an alternative thawing method.
  • You can boil the giblets along with the neck, but giblet gravy isn’t quite the same as straight-up turkey gravy. It’s delicious, but different. You can also add the neck and/or giblet meat, chopped, to the gravy.
  • Feel free to experiment with different types of sausage for the stuffing. I think breakfast sausage would be an interesting alternative.
  • You want the stuffing bread, once everything’s mixed and fully prepped, to be moist, but not “wet,” not soaked through … certainly not soggy.
  • To baste the turkey, it’s easiest to remove it from the oven temporarily. Shut the oven door as you do this, to help maintain temperature. Baste the side facing you, then turn the pan around and baste the other side. Slide it back into the oven. Rotating the pan in this manner will promote even cooking.
  • Once you’ve whisked all your turkey drippings into the roux, take note of how much gravy there is. You may be able to get by with what you have. It should be flavorful enough that a little will go a long way. If there is enough, this would be ideal, because it’s the best-tasting gravy. Adding rotisserie chicken stock is primarily meant to stretch it out, not make it better.
"Thanksgiving Turkey," from Make It Like a Man!

Social Learning

Temperature

I am the last person in the world from whom you should take food safety advice. Well, maybe the not the last person, but certainly too far down the list to be thought of as an authority in any sense at all. So when I tell you that a temperature probe is surely the coolest way to monitor your turkey, I mean that in a literal sense. It is cool, and though I may or may not be cool, I know cool when I see it. That said, a temperature probe is certainly not the only nor even the easiest way.

It should take 3¾ – 4½ hours to roast a 14-lb turkey. Once you’re close to or inside this window, you can use an instant-read thermometer every time you baste. In some ways, an instant-read thermometer is better than a temperature probe. You don’t have to worry about the cord as you’re putting the turkey in and out of the oven and rotating the pan. And, you wind up shoving the instant-read thermometer in and out of the turkey in multiple locations, which gives you a better shot at finding the “right” location and a true temperature. You want the thermometer to go as deep into the thigh as you can, without running into a bone. If you do run into a bone, just pull out a little and reposition.

Advance Prep

There’s not getting around it: this is a big job. But it shouldn’t be an exhausting one. The key to this is advanced planning. Many of the prep items: from cubing the bread to slicing the veggies, can be done days if not weeks in advance. The bread cubes, for instance, freeze beautifully, and chopped herbs and veggies keep well in the fridge. And hey, your everyman, workaday grocercy story, before Thanksgiving, may sell bags of toasted, cubed bread. If they do, definitely consider it! Anykway, you can do some of the prep as you go along, but committing yourself to doing all of it day-of will almost certainly leave you drained.

Workarounds

You may not have a roaster. Don’t fret. What you may have, though, is a half-sheet pan (sometimes just called a “sheet pan,” or a “jellyroll pan” or a “rimmed cookie sheet.” It will work well as a roasting pan for your turkey (and has more day-to-day usefulness). Scatter your onions into the pan, place a cooling rack on top of them, and put the turkey on top of the rack. Tuck your carrots into the crevice in between the rack the the edges of the pan. There’s not very much room for the liquid and vegetables, but there’s enough room.

Once the turkey’s done, get a friend to help you: each of you, using a fork in each hand, will hook the tines under the rack, and you can move the rack with the turkey atop it to another sheet pan or a cutting board.

The sheet pan is going to look like a f***ing mess, and you’re going to think you’ve ruined it. Two things: 1) you haven’t, and 2) a good sheet pan should look well used. Park that thing on the stove so that it’s occupying two burners, turn them to medium, and transfer a cup or so of your chicken stock to the pan. Use a sturdy spatula or pancake flipper to gently scrape at the hard, crusted-on bits. They’ll loosen up as the liquid comes to a simmer; let the simmer do a lot of the work, and don’t scrape too hard. Add more stock if the level gets low. Eventually, you will have rehydrated all those crusty bits, and you’ll have a rich, delicious stock for your gravy.

The veg that you cook with the turkey, you will ultimately discard. Its purpose is to leech flavor into the drippings. However, those carrots are insanely delicious, even if they may not be suitable for serving. Nosh on them in secret as you’re making the gravy.

If you think your gravy needs a little something, it’s probably salt. But if you still think it needs zhuzhing, try a dollop of Dijon. Not so much that the gravy tastes mustardy in any way … but just enough to give it a fuller backdrop if you feel it needs it. Don’t tell anyone you’ve done this. It’ll be our little secret.

Consider adding any leftover basting liquid to the stock that you use for your gravy.

As you’re cooking the gravy, you’re going to think it looks too thin. Don’t let youself come to a definitive conclusion until it’s come to a gentle simmer. At that point, if you do feel it needs to be thicker, try a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons of cold water. Stir it in. The sauce should thicken almost instantly.

It may be difficult to get your extra stuffing – the portion that’s not inside the bird – into the oven with the turkey. Before you get started, while the oven is cold, experiment with rack positions. If you bake the stuffing in a sheetcake pan, you may be able to get it on the bottom rack, underneath the turkey – but you need to leave at least a few inches of room between the top of the turkey and the top of the oven! As an alternative, you might fill two 8-inch-square baking dishes with the stuffing, and bake them off one at a time in a toaster oven, if you have one.

"Thanksgiving Turkey," from Make It Like a Man!
Thanksgiving Turkey with Stuffing and Gravy

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man!, unless otherwise indicated. Thank you, Kesor and Proper Circle. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. In prepping this post, I relied on: Stewart, Martha, and Sarah Carey. 2008. “Perfect Roast Turkey.” In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, 150. New York: Clarkson Potter. Stewart, Martha, and Sarah Carey. 2008. “Sausage and Sour-Cherry Stuffing.” In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, 158. New York: Clarkson Potter.

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38 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Turkey with Stuffing and Gravy”

    • Thanks, Mimi! Honestly, it comes from wanting to know something quite simple: what time does the turkey go into the oven, if guest are coming as X o’clock?

      Reply

  2. I’m getting excited for turkey day! Yours looks delicious. We do a cornbread stuffing that is quite tasty.

    Reply

  5. This looks incredible! A little late for our thanksgiving but lots of time for Christmas. Love the timeline too, thanks for laying it out. I’ve been brining my turkeys lately but that’s easy to squeeze in.
    Eva Taylor recently posted…Jalapeño Jack Scones

    Reply

  6. I admit, I don’t eat turkey for Thanksgiving, but give me all the stuffing and potatoes! However, your turkey would be gobbled in in a hurry by my family. I may have to host this year as my mil is in her 70’s now and big dinners are starting to be too much for her to prepare anymore, so I appreciate you laying the recipe out in an easy to follow manner. Should I have to cook the turkey, I’ll be following your recipe to the T.
    Theresa recently posted…Pear and Cranberry Tartlets

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  7. Although I usually stuff a pumpkin not a turkey for Thanksgiving, I can appreciate how important it is to plan step by step how to get it organized on the big day. This is a really helpful post with a great recipe. I will pass it on to the my adult kids who do make a turkey for Thanksgiving. Thanks Jeff
    Judee recently posted…In My Kitchen (November)

    Reply

  8. What a great looking bird, Jeff! I for one really appreciate that you broke this one down by time – I do the same thing when it comes to Thanksgiving Day. It’s like a well-timed dance to make everything come together at the same time! However, I do have a bone to pick with you (no pun intended). Where is the “pour yourself a cocktail so you can deal with the in-laws” in the timeline?
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Sugar Cream Pie

    Reply

    • If I poured myself a drink, next thing I’d be laying on the couch, yelling for someone to finish the gravy!

      Reply

  9. Your very precise post is perfect timing for me as Eva has a colleague that just ask if we had a menu for American Thanksgiving we could share with them. I’ve forwarded this to her so she can share it.
    Take care…

    Reply

  11. What a wonderful gift to the Thanksgiving cook! Having a timeline like this really makes a huge difference… your turkey looks absolutely perfect… Better than any I’ve seen on magazine covers. My only issue is that I don’t have turkey… So, every Thanksgiving, I cook the turkey for everyone else and then for me a side of steak, salmon, pork, or – once – tofu!

    Reply

    • That is really generous of you! That’s a lot of work for something that you don’t eat yourself.

      Reply

  13. This timeline will be invaluable to so many! The timing of everything is always the trickiest part of the holiday. The skin on your turkey is gorgeous — what a centerpiece! I’m hungry. Is it Thanksgiving yet!? 😉 ~Valentina

    Reply

  15. I love this timeline, jeff! You’ve taken the most difficult part of Thanksgiving and drawn a diagram of it. I used to make a different and unique stuffing every year, but it turns out, my family prefers the “traditional” sage stuffing – So no more experimentation for me😉 – but I’m loving your addition of dried cherries – I may have to try that this year! And, your turkey looks gorgeous! My spatchcocked turkey – not as pretty, but makes room in the oven for everything else!
    Laura recently posted…Pumpkin Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

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    • Thank you! I love a spatchcocked turkey! There’s a Julia Child recipe that has you go even further and completely debone the bird – which is quite fun – and then you lay it over the stuffing in a baking pan and eventually cut servings as if you were cutting a sheet cake! Turkey on top, stuffing on bottom!

      Reply

  16. You’ve gotten putting together a real Thanksgiving dinner down to a real science, Jeff! Too many people these days resort to catering, which is real shame if you ask me. I bet you have guests battering down the door to your house around holiday time…
    Frank recently posted…Soffritto napoletano

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  17. There is absolutely nothing more delicious than stuffing that’s actually been cooking inside the turkey. My mother always did that and it was the best. Since my husband usually smokes it’s turkeys, kind of hard to stuff. 🙂 I might just have to show up to your house. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
    mjskitchen recently posted…Slow-Simmered Bolognese

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  18. I’ve never been a big fan of turkey, mainly because it’s not something we’re familiar with in Australia (compared to people from North America). I’ve experienced tender, juicy turkey once when a friend cooked it for Christmas, and I could see how much attention she put into it with lots of basting and attention to details before the bird got to the oven.
    Living alone, I can’t imagine cooking a whole bird. I might try a drumstick, though. I love stuffing, and I think I could eat just stuffing alone 🤔

    Reply

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