This is the Thanksgiving turkey that your guests will praise and ask for the recipe. And best of all, this Thanksgiving turkey recipe is super easy: you put the turkey in the oven and forget about it until it’s ready. No dirty mixing is needed! This Thanksgiving turkey recipe uses the brown paper shopping bag. Yes, the brown paper bag from the grocery store, the kind you get when you choose paper over plastic 🙂 Don’t confuse it with the oven bag: I’ve tried making the turkey in the oven bag before, and it wasn’t as good as the one made in the brown paper bag! If you are worried about the paper bag catching fire, make sure it doesn’t burn in the oven 🙂

This turkey is made without the filling inside. I make the filling separately from the bird. I do not stuff the turkey because the filling affects the cooking time: the filling causes the turkey to cook longer, resulting in overcooked meat.

I found my perfect recipe for Thanksgiving turkey, this is it! I will never make roast turkey any other way, simply because this is the best Thanksgiving turkey recipe.

<img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.melaniecooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/turkey-brown-bag-ready.jpg" alt="Roast

Thanksgiving turkey in a brown bag” />

Thanksgiving turkey in a brown paper shopping bag

Preparation time:

10 minute(s) Approximate cooking time: 3 hour(s) Number of servings: 12

Ingredients:

1 turkey (10 to 20 pounds), brought to room temperature Salt and pepper 1 onion, peeled and cut into large pieces 1 celery stick, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1 lemon, quartered 6 tablespoons butter, softened 1 cup chicken broth Brown paper shopping bag (you may need 2 bags)

Instructions How to make Thanksgiving turkey in a brown bag:

The first thing you need to do is make sure that the turkey fits completely in a bag. This step is best done while the turkey is still packaged, so you don’t have to deal with the mess of moving the raw turkey in and out of the bag 🙂 The turkey should go in the bag and the bag should be closed and closed with staples. So place the packaged turkey and see if there is enough paper left to close and seal the bag. If the bag is not long enough, you will need to make it longer by placing the second bag in it.

My turkey weighed 13 pounds, and I needed the second bag. First, cut off the handles of both bags. To place the second bag, cut off the top half of the second bag, then attach that piece (the part without the bottom) to the first bag with a stapler or simply saw it with a needle and thread. Basically, you need to make the brown paper bag long enough so that the end can be closed once the turkey is inside.

For turkey, I recommend buying it fresh (not frozen) the day before and storing it in the refrigerator. Fresh turkey is more expensive than frozen turkey, but you don’t have to deal with thawing it and it also tastes better. If you are buying frozen, make sure the turkey is completely thawed.

To bring the turkey to room temperature, take it out of the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking. It is important to bring the turkey to room temperature so that the cooking time is not affected (the cold turkey will cook longer).

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sprinkle the turkey generously with salt and pepper outside and inside, and rub the salt and pepper over it. Do not forget to take out the giblets, sometimes they are packed inside the turkey in plastic bags 🙂 Put the onion, celery, carrot, and lemon inside the turkey, and put the offal and neck there as well. Rub 4 tablespoons of butter all over the turkey.

Butter the inside of the brown paper bag with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Place the turkey inside the brown paper bag. Put the brown paper bag with the turkey in a roasting pan. Pour chicken broth into the turkey cavity. Fold the closed paper bag and staple it with a stapler so that it remains closed.

Put the turkey in the oven. Calculate cooking time: It’s 2.5 hours for the first 10 pounds, plus 12 minutes for each extra pound (for example, the cooking time for 12 pounds of turkey is 2.5 hours + 12 minutes + 12 minutes = 2 hours and 54 minutes). Set the timer for cooking time and forget about turkey until the timer rings!

When the timer rings, take out the turkey and leave it in a bag for 15 minutes. Then open the bag and take out the super delicious turkey, perfectly brown and wet! Enjoy your Thanksgiving party!

Here’s the photo

of the turkey inside the shopping bag, before entering the oven:

Enjoy this turkey recipe and have a great Thanksgiving!