This Mayonnaise Turkey is self-basting, just one of the reasons it is the best turkey you will ever make. Even the juicy leftovers will have you wondering why you’ve made your turkey any other way.
Brined Lemon-Herb Aioli Style Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey Recipe
My family says this is THE BEST TURKEY they have ever eaten…even my pickiest, pickiest eater-child. And you know what? They are right. This mayonnaise method turkey is so full of flavor, so juicy, so moist, it really is off the charts delicious. The beautiful color is also a bonus from the turmeric used in the aioli. My family begs insists I make it again every Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.
I have experimented with cooking turkey so many ways. I do like the deep frying method because it frees up your oven and keeps the men busy outside! I think the guys actually enjoy working with dangerously hot oil, while cooking meat and drinking beer. I also like cooking my turkey in an electric roaster, it also turns out great. However, the mayonnaise method is still the best road map to the juiciest turkey.
And while we all cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, how many of you also make one for Christmas? Apparently 22 million Americans have turkey on their Christmas table, as opposed to 46 million for Thanksgiving. Who else is surprised by that number? That is a lot of turkey served on Christmas. Who knew?
The Perfect Thanksgiving Menu
- Pumpkin Pie Martini
- Fall Harvest Appetizer Board
- Pumpkin Sage Drop Biscuits
- Pretzel Bread, Bacon and Apple Stuffing
- Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots
- The Best Cranberry-Tangerine Chutney
- Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy
- Brined Lemon-Herb Aioli Style Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey
- Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue
- Easy Pecan Pie Cobbler
Why Brine a Turkey? ~ It’s Science, not Quackery. Just Do It.
- Regardless of what method you choose to make your turkey, you need to pinkie swear with me right now, you will always brine your bird. Brining makes such a difference in flavor and how juicy your turkey will be. You are going to spend so much time cooking this piece of poultry, why have it turn out less than awesome?
- If you have a science background you’ll likely remember the processes of osmosis, diffusion and the denaturing of proteins. Those processes are basically what’s happening when we brine.
- With osmosis in play, the high salt solution (brine) passes through permeable meat cells when you soak your turkey overnight. Diffusion creates a balance of the salt and water in the meat and the salt and water from the surrounding brine. This results in a higher concentration of salt and water in the meat and less water loss during cooking. Pretty amazing right?
- The salty concentration also denatures protein strands found in the meat, taking them from a tightly wound shape to an unwound and tangled state. It is this tangled up structure that traps the water molecules and holds on to them while cooking. The result…a very juicy bird and many happy eaters. This is the real deal and it works!
What Size Turkey Should I Buy ~ Is Bigger Better?
I find hens (about 12-16 pounds) are much more tender and flavorful. The larger Tom turkeys are much bigger and will obviously feed a much larger group. However, they are never as juicy. I will always buy a young hen in the 12-16 pound range…preferably fresh and never frozen.
If you can, stick with a young, fresh hen for best results.
The Mayonnaise Method For Roasting a Turkey
- Mayonnaise helps keep the turkey moist and browns the skin nicely. Rubbing your turkey with mayonnaise stops you from continually opening the oven door to baste the turkey. The mayonnaise is a layer of fat, similar to slathering it with butter, except the mayo stays in place and browns nicely.
- Mixing the mayonnaise with fresh herbs from the garden, turmeric for color and the juice from a lemon, results in an herb infused-mayo similar to an aioli dip. The lemon juice lends the turkey a great tang and flavor; it smells amazing in the oven almost immediately.
- Make your aioli the day before or early in the morning so flavors can meld together.
- Rub the turkey down with the mayo mixture, inside and out. Coat the inside of the turkey with a stick of butter and stuff the cavity with onions and celery.
- Liberal amounts of freshly ground pepper on the outside and your turkey is ready for the oven.
- This whole method would work well for roasted chicken.
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Brined Lemon-Herb Aioli Style Mayonnaise Roasted TurkeyThis Mayonnaise Turkey is self-basting, just one of the reasons it is the best turkey you will ever make. Even the juicy leftovers will have you wondering why you’ve made your turkey any other way.
Servings: 14 people
Calories: 475kcal
IngredientsBrine
Lemon-Herb Aioli
Turkey
InstructionsBrine
Lemon-Herb Aioli (you can make this a day ahead)
Turkey
NotesTake the nutrition facts with a grain of salt for this recipe and use it as a guide. There is just no real accurate way for me to gauge exactly how much you are going to consume with so many variables like brine, white/dark meat, skin etc.
If you decide to use a throw away roasting for this recipe you will still need to set the turkey on a roasting rack inside the pan for the best results. NutritionNutrition Facts
Brined Lemon-Herb Aioli Style Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey
Amount Per Serving
Calories 475
Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31% Cholesterol 245mg82% Potassium 800mg23% Carbohydrates 7g2% Fiber 1g4% Sugar 7g8% Protein 30g60%
Vitamin A 215IU4% Calcium 57mg6% Iron 3mg17% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Patty says
That is one gorgeous, perfectly browned, turkey!
I like your unique recipe, it’s a beauty;-)
Cathy says
Thank you Patty!
pam says
This sounds fantastic. I usually do a ham a Christmas, but this is making me think…maybe a turkey!
Cathy says
You should try it Pam, you would love it.
Sara Tetreault says
Cathy, this looks delicious! I’m with you on keeping the husbands out of the kitchen which is why I love that our turkey gets grilled on our charcoal Weber grill. Dry brined is my favorite way to do it. No messy clean-up.
Hope you had a good holiday!
Cathy says
I’ve always wanted to try the BBQ method, but we don’t have a Weber, only a grill. It’s on my list of turkey methods to try. And yes…men outside with the dangerous fire and frying oil…ha-ha.
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
I’ve seen a mayo roasted turkey once before and thought it looked good, but yours…WOW! I’m positively trying this with the next turkey I cook. And I can’t wait for it!
Cathy says
I know, it’s really good and keeps the skin from getting too crispy, which can be an issue.
kristy @ the wicked noodle says
I have NEVER heard of this method!! I’m soooo excited to try it though – I can imagine that it would make for a nice, juicy bird! We don’t ever have turkey on Christmas – it’s either ham or a prime rib or crown pork roast for us (but then I made prime rib on Thanksgiving this year, too…I know…blasphemy!). Had I known about your turkey recipe I may have been swayed though!
Joan says
Sounds good~Looks like a lot of work. I have never cooked a dry turkey. I simply rub the bird with shortening, put about a cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan and cook. Every half hour or so I use a turkey baster and squirt the juices over the bird. I get a nice brown turkey with no burning, and no dryness.
Ashley says
If I left my husband alone to deep fry a turkey, our house would surely burn down.
But I most certainly brined my turkey this year- and I always will. I could think of nothing better to do to it until now, that bird looks simply delectable.
Chef Katie Chin says
This does look delicious. My husband made the turkeys (yes two, we had a large crowd) this year and and he brined them both. One was roasted in the oven and the other smoked on a Komado grill. Both juicy and moist. I love the idea of an aoili coating and am thinking of trying it with some ginger to give in an Asian flair. I will let you know when I try it!
Chef Katie Chin says
What a delicious looking bird. My hubby made both turkeys this year ( we had a large crowd) and they were brined. One was smoked on a Kamado grill and the other Roasted in the oven, both juicy and delicious. Brining is the best! I love your aioli idea method and am thinking of trying it with Ginger to give the turkey an Asian flair. I will let you know how it turns out
Yum Yucky says
holy heaven of deliciousness!! that turkey looks so tasty…
bellini says
It does sound flavourful Cathy and perfect for that holiday bird.
Dave says
Looks delicious! I did something similar with a wet rub using olive oil, but I bet mayo would work eve better. I’ve already added this to my Thanksgiving recipes ideas for 2013. Thanks!
Winnie says
I want to try this with a whole turkey breast. We just ate turkey for a week (only 3 of us) so I am thinking this would be perfect. Looks so delicious!
Rachel @ yourtablecloth.com says
This is such a perfect turkey for Christmas and totally unique – love it thank you so much for this recipe!
Robert says
Cathy,
I love your recipes and the photography is marvelous. If you really want to take your Turkey to the next level, you need to get a Big Green Egg. Once you had food cooked over natural lump charcoal, you will not want to use your oven again.
Keep up the great work,
Robert
Kim in MD says
That is one gorgeous turkey, Cathy! I love everything about it…the brine, the mayo instead of butter, etc. I always serve beef tenderloin and ham for Christmas, but this recipe is making me re-think the ham! Maybe a whole turkey breast cooked per your recipe instead? Hmmm…I’m thinking yes! 🙂
Jackie @ The Beeroness says
Your turkey looks gorgeous! I bet this would make an amazing roast chicken as well.
scott says
Lemon Thyme Turkey Bath Brine Concentrate can cut your prep down to 0.
After brining the bird, strain and use the herbs and spices to season the aioli.
Lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, ginger, white pepper, tumeric, onion, garlic, black pepper, brown sugar, etc. Very similar ingredients to your recipe.
Stacey K says
Cant’ wait to try it!
Rongee says
Great recipe. I have tried this for thankgiving this year 2015. I am cooking it again for December for leftovers. Brining makes a big difference!
Linda says
Has anyone tried brining a Cornish game hen? Would the same techniques from this recipe apply to the smaller bird?
Cathy says
Yes you can use the same method, but brining and cooking time would be much shorter.
Faith says
This was the first turkey I have ever made and it was a hit. Thank you thank you!
Faith Foley says
I looked up this page to just post my input after making this recipe ..:) People, this is by far the best turkey recipe you will probably ever come across. When I made this a year ago, I was scared to be honest. I had no idea what the word “brine” meant. I had no idea how to cook turkey but I followed the directions and this turned out to be the best turkey I have honestly ever had in my life. I will make this for future Thanksgivings and Christmases. Thank you to whoever came up with this recipe!!
Cathy says
It’s my recipe, so thank you and glad it turned out great.
Susie Carpanini says
Cathy, have you ever cooked a turkey overnight on really low?
I am working on Christmas morning and wondered if anyone has done it – I would love to be able to put it in on Christmas eve and leave it to cook slowly…any thoughts?
Cathy says
Hmmm, I mean turkey is cooked to 165 and then it’s done…regardless of low/high…lots of variables to consider…temperature of the bird at starting, your particular oven.
Samantha says
This looks delicious and I’m so tempted to try it but I have one question – are we sacrificing the crispy skin?!
Cathy says
No.
Cathy says
You will not get the crispy skin on the breasts with this method so you have to decide what’s more important, a dry turkey with crispy skin or a juicy turkey?
Jackie says
Hi
What’s the purpose of the one stick of butter in the cavity?
Cathy says
This seeps down into the breasts and keeps them juicy.
Jerri says
You said breast side down. Then you said to rub the turkey with the aioli. How do you rub the breast if in is face down? Do you turn it over, then rub the breast? Do you then turn it over again breast side down and cook? If it is breast side up when cooking, do you put foil on the breast so that it doesn’t dry out during the cooking of the dark meat to temp?
Cathy says
Turkey is placed in the roaster, on the roasting rack breast side down. The whole turkey is rubbed with the aioli mixture, which is used as a self baster. Only add a sheet of foil over your turkey if you notice the skin or the legs burning.
nish says
I have made this several times over the years and it’s my go-to poultry recipe now. I’ve done both turkeys and chickens depending on the size of the crowd I’m feeding and it always comes out amazing. The only change I’ve started making is using paprika in the aioli instead of tumeric, and personally it’s just an aesthetic thing because the highlighter-yellow drippings tend to make some pretty strange-looking gravy. 🙂
LAUREN KELLY says
All of the best flavors! Roasting is the best way to cook a turkey and the mayonnaise turkey always turns out the best.
Cathy says
I agree, if I’m going to roast a turkey, the mayonnaise method is the best.
wilhelmina says
This really makes a juicy and succulent turkey! I also used this mayonnaise turkey method on a small turkey breast I had and it worked great!
Cathy says
So glad you loved it!!
mike metelitsa says
do you leave the turkey breast down the entire time its cooking?
Cathy says
Yes!