Roast Turkey with Stuffing

Roast turkey usually forms the centerpiece of Thanksgiving in the United States. There are many recipes and methods for cooking whole turkeys. Below is one of the simplest and therefore one of the most traditional.
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 4 cups crumbled cornbread
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried/rubbed sage
- 1 cup dried apples, diced
- ¾ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup dried cherries, stemmed and finely chopped
- 8 egg yolks, beaten
- 1 stick butter, softened and whipped
- 2 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
Turkey
- 1 ea. (18 pounds) whole turkey
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ quarts turkey stock or chicken stock
- Salt to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Steps
- Combine the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Place the rack in the lowest position.
- Remove the neck and giblets.
- Rinse the turkey. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the turkey breast side up on a rack in the roasting pan. Rub the skin with softened butter. Season with salt and pepper.
- Fill the body cavity with stuffing.
- Insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part of one thigh.
- Tent with aluminum foil.
- Place in the oven. Pour 2 cups stock into the bottom of the roasting pan.
- Roast 2½ hours. Baste the whole turkey with pan juices every 30 minutes. Add 1–2 cups stock at a time as drippings dry.
- Remove the foil tent.
- Roast until the meat reaches 185°F and the stuffing reaches 165°F, about 4 hours total.
- If the stuffing is not done when the turkey is, scoop it out. Bake it alone until it reaches 165°F.
- Serve immediately.
Notes from the original
- If you can't find pre-made stock in a store then you'll have to make it. You should know, however, turkey stock requires four hours of simmering. So make your stock the day before you make the turkey and stuffing. If you don't have the time to make turkey stock then use pre-made chicken stock which all supermarkets carry. Here's a great recipe for turkey stock from the Food Network.
- Cooking turkey and stuffing involves the risk of salmonella poisoning. To prevent this, cook the turkey to 185 degrees Fahrenheit and the stuffing to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, avoid cross contamination by keeping raw turkey away from all foods and wash your hands thoroughly after handling it.
- The most effective way to measure food temperatures is with a digital meat thermometer.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Roast Turkey with Stuffing” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. RoastTurkey.jpg by Photo by M. Rehemtulla, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






