This Herb Butter Roasted Turkey with White Wine and Citrus yields an incredibly flavorful, juicy bird with notes of sage, rosemary, thyme, orange, and white wine. The cavity gets filled with wine soaked oranges and sage, and the simple gravy is filled with all of those amazing flavors! It's a fantastic, low-stress, easy turkey to make for Thanksgiving, or any special holiday!
An hour before you're ready to start the turkey, place oranges in a bowl with the white wine. Let sit for at least an hour before you're ready to prep everything else. Mix up the herb butter. Add softened butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Set aside while you prep the turkey.
Remove the turkey neck from the turkey and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with water (2-3 cups or so) and bring to a simmer (You're going to let this simmer all day while the turkey cooks, and just keep adding water to it.) Rinse the turkey inside and out with cool water, and throuroughly pat dry. Season the cavity of the turkey generously with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Preheat the oven to 350℉ and position the oven rack to the lowest position.
Rub the herb butter all over the turkey, as well as underneath the skin. Stuff the turkey with the wine-soaked oranges and handful of sage. Place turkey on a rack set inside a large roasting pan. Pour the wine from soaking the oranges inside of the cavity (it's ok if some of it seeps out!) Season the turkey all over with a few more pinches of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Tent turkey loosely with foil. Roast for 2 hours and 45 minutes - 3 hours, or until juices frm the thigh run clear and the temperature in the thickest part of the breast and thigh reach 170℉ and 180℉, respectively. Remove the foil tent during the last hour of cooking. Let turkey rest while you make the gravy.
For the gravy, heat the roasting pan on the stove (you'll need to use two burners) with all of the pan juices over medium-medium/high heat. Once hot, add the flour, whisking to combine. Let cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute, whisking constantly to prevent flour from burning. Slowly whisk in the broth from the turkey neck (should be about 2 cups), and increase heat to high. Keep whisking until it thickens - this can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Once the gravy has thickened, add 3 1/2 - 4 cups broth, whisking to combine. If you like a thicker gravy, start with 2 1/2 cups and go from there. Bring to a simmer again, and cook until gravy has thickened, another 5-10 minutes. Add the white wine, and simmer for another 3-4 minutes or until alcohol has cooked off. Stir in the butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you want a super smooth gravy, you can strain it at this point. Carve the turkey, and serve with gravy!
If you're looking to prep this guy ahead of time, this is how I do it:
-Mix up the herb butter up to two days in advance, and keep it in the fridge. When you're ready to use it, take it out a few hours ahead of time so it has time to soften. Or, if you forget, just stick it in the microwave to soften a bit!
-Soak your oranges the night before. Put your oranges in a glass bowl, pour the wine over them, cover, and let them infuse with white wine goodness in the fridge overnight!
-Measure out your gravy ingredients (minus the turkey neck broth) and keep them in the fridge, so that the gravy can come together super quickly once the turkey is done!