A deboned turkey is easy to carve and makes an impressive looking roast that will wow your Thanksgiving guests. The idea of removing pesky bones before your bird makes its grand holiday entrance may not be one you’ve thought of, but it is definitely worth considering! Don’t be worried about sacrificing flavor — a deboned turkey tastes virtually identical to one with bones, and this technique works on any size bird. So skip the fuss of table-side carving and enjoy all of the flavor with none of the bones! Stuff with your favorite stuffing.
Chef John’s Boneless Whole Turkey
A deboned turkey is easy to carve and makes an impressive looking roast that will wow your Thanksgiving guests. The idea of removing pesky bones before your bird makes its grand holiday entrance may not be one you've thought of, but it is definitely worth considering! Don't be worried about sacrificing flavor — a deboned turkey tastes virtually identical to one with bones, and this technique works on any size bird. So skip the fuss of table-side carving and enjoy all of the flavor with none of the bones! Stuff with your favorite stuffing.
Ingredients
- 15 pound whole turkey neck and giblets removed, and bones removed (see video and footnotes)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste
- 3 cups prepared stuffing or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Lay deboned turkey, skin-side down, on the cutting board and even out the meat as much as possible. Slice through the thicker areas of breast meat as needed and rearrange over thinner parts to create an even thickness of meat all over.
- Season turkey with salt and black pepper. Press stuffing all over the surface of the meat.
- Fold long edges of the turkey around stuffing into the center of the bird and carefully turn turkey seam-side down. Tie the leg-end of the turkey with kitchen twine to cinch the turkey together. Repeat ties at 2-inch intervals along the length of the turkey, ending with a single tie along the length of the turkey. Season with salt and transfer turkey to a large roasting pan.
- Roast turkey in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the turkey reads 155 degrees F (68 degrees C), about 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove from the oven and transfer turkey to a platter. Remove and discard twine. Let rest until internal temperature increases to 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 20 minutes.
- While the turkey is resting, place the roasting pan over medium-high heat and stir cream into the pan drippings. Cook and stir until sauce thickens and reduces, 3 to 7 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a gravy boat or bowl.
- Slice turkey crosswise and top slices with gravy.
