Fig-Spiced Turkey
A super simple, super easy recipe for roasting a beautiful turkey this Thanksgiving with a flavorful sweet and spicy fig preserve with bold flavors that remind me of autumn.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 3 hr
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 turkey (12 to 14 pounds)
- 1 medium onion (coarsely chopped)
- 1 crisp apple (chopped)
- 1 jalapeño pepper (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 medium carrots (coarsely chopped)
- 1 rib celery (coarsely chopped)
- 0.66 ounce poultry herb blend
- ½ cup fig preserves
- 3 tablespoons butter (softened)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 32 ounces chicken broth
Instructions
- 1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- 2
Remove turkey from packaging.
- 3
Locate and set aside neck and giblets package from inside the turkey cavity.
- 4
Rinse turkey with cold water and completely pat dry with paper towels.
- 5
Place the turkey on a rack set in a large roasting pan. Tuck the wing tips under the turkey body. Place the giblets and half of the onions in the pan.
- 6
Fill turkey cavity with remaining onion, apple, jalapeño, garlic, carrots, celery, and herbs.
- 7
In a bowl combine fig preserves, butter, oregano, and paprika.
- 8
Rub half of the fig mixture all over the turkey working some of it between the breast and the skin. Season the turkey generously with salt and pepper.
- 9
Add broth to the roasting pan and roast turkey, basting every 30 minutes with broth and drippings, for 1 hour (rotating the pan every 30 minutes).
- 10
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- 11
Continue roasting the turkey until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours longer.
- 12
Cover the turkey loosely with foil if it begins to brown.
- 13
Transfer to platter and brush remaining fig mixture. Let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.