Bring a new twist to your Thanksgiving table by making this delicious no-brine Persian style roasted turkey recipe. It's juicy, tasty and filled with aromatic spices that will take your Thanksgiving dinner to a whole new world!
If you're looking for delicious and tasty Thanksgiving recipes or holiday main dishes, you're in the right place! From homemade stuffing to cheesy scalloped potatoes and an easy turkey gravy recipe, you'll find everything you need to have a great Thanksgiving. And this Persian spiced turkey is going to be a showstopper!
Table Of Contents:
Why this recipe works
This roasted turkey recipe is my family's favorite and we've got good reasons for it:
- Flavors: This is not your classic Thanksgiving turkey recipe. It's packed with flavors that are so perfect together such as cinnamon, cumin and paprika.
- A twist on the classic: This Middle Eastern turkey recipe is one of a kind and it's bursting with amazing flavors such as saffron and turmeric. These spices give the turkey a wonderful flavor.
- Simple and easy: This turkey is so easy to make. I mean, if I can make it, I bet you can make it! It's a good recipe for those of us who are making a Thanksgiving turkey for the first time.
Ingredients
What makes this roasted turkey special is the combination of several different elements that would add layers of flavor to the bird. All the ingredients are also included in the recipe card.
- The bird: The fist element is the turkey which needs to be enough for your party, and it should be thawed and cleaned. You also need to separate the skin from the meat since you're going to use compound butter.
- The butter: Then comes the compound butter made with unsalted butter and a combination of spices. We are going to spread this under the skin of the bird.
- The spice mix: In addition to the compound butter, this recipe also uses an olive oil spice mixture that'll make the skin super crispy and flavorful in addition to keeping the bird moist and juicy.
Warm spices such as turmeric, paprika, saffron and cinnamon compliment the flavor of turkey and also pair well with the side dishes that are served on Thanksgiving. You can also use Persian spice mix called Advieh for this spiced turkey recipe. - Vegetables: We're also going to stuff the bird with vegetables such as carrots, celery, tomatoes, lemons, onion and garlic. This would add a lot of flavor to the bird and the gravy.
- Finishing touches: Last but not least, we have caramelized walnuts with barberries which makes a nice addition to the platter. The crunchiness of the walnuts and the tartness of the barberries go very well with the juicy turkey.
How To Make Roasted Turkey Persian Style
Prepare the turkey
- Make sure that the inside of turkey is completely clean.
- Make the compound butter by mixing butter, chili pepper, cumin and cinnamon.
- Pat dry the skin completely using paper towels. This will result in a nice crispy skin.
- Rub the compound butter under the skin all over the turkey, especially the breast. This will keep the meat nice and juicy.
- Next, stuff the turkey with chopped carrots, onions, bell pepper, garlic and celery and sew the opening completely or just seal it using toothpicks.
Roast the turkey
- Place the turkey in the roasting pan on a roasting rack.
- Add the rest of the vegetables in the pan around turkey. These vegetables add a lot of flavor to the juice of the turkey which you can use later to make some delicious gravy.
- Then make a mixture using olive oil, turmeric, bloomed saffron (I personally like Mehr Saffron the best in the US. The flavor, aroma and color is just on point and how I like saffron to be) and paprika.
- Brush the turkey with this mixture which will give the turkey a natural beautiful golden color and will make the skin super crispy. Roast at 350ºF until it's completely cooked and ready.
Caramelize the walnuts
This makes a delicious side for the roasted turkey. Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté chopped walnuts for a minute or two. Then add the barberries with spices and the pomegranate molasses. Cook for a couple of minutes. Serve it alongside the turkey.
Finishing touches
Place the turkey on a large platter and fill the platter with the caramelized walnuts, pomegranate arils, olives, tomatoes and herbs.
How long should I roast the turkey?
I cooked this delicious Persian style turkey for about 3 ½ hours. Cook it uncovered for the first hour. Then cover it with an aluminum foil for the rest of the cooking process. This is to keep the turkey from browning too much and also to keep it moist.
To keep the turkey moist during roasting process, brush it with spiced olive oil every 1 ½ hours and baste it with pan juices every hour. Basting the turkey will keep it very moist and juicy through the cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
This depends on a few factors. If you are planning to not have leftovers, then aim for one pound per serving, so if you are making turkey for 10 people, a 10 pound turkey would be enough.
If you're planning to have leftovers, plan to have 1.5 pound turkey per person and you will have some leftovers for a meal or two.
The turkey is done and ready to serve once the thermometer inserted into the thigh (close to the bone but not touching) reaches 170 degrees F.
Once the turkey is completely cooked, take it out of the oven, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. This will help the juice to stay inside the turkey.
There are so many ways to keep a turkey moist such as making two small turkeys instead of one large or buying fresh turkey instead of frozen. What I always do to keep turkey moist and it has always worked is to make compound butter and generously rub it under and on the skin. For this Persian spiced turkey recipe I also made a spice paste with olive oil which also gave great color to the turkey as well has great flavor and kept it juicy.
It depends whether you're planning to buy fresh or frozen. If buying fresh turkey, then you can purchase it up to 2 days prior to cooking. Make sure to call your local supermarket and have them keep one for you just to be sure.
However, if you're buying frozen turkey, then you can buy it any time between 6 months to 5 days before cooking day.
I always thaw turkey in the fridge and it takes 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds. So for an eleven pound turkey you would probably need about three days to thaw completely and be ready to cook.
Read more about turkey and how to keep it on Washington Post.
Serving suggestions
While the turkey is resting, get the juices and make some homemade gravy, and if the drippings are not enough, follow my recipe for gravy without drippings. You can serve this roasted turkey with usual thanksgiving side dishes such as homemade stuffing, apple cranberry sauce, garlic butter mashed potatoes or oven roasted brussel sprouts.
Of course, a delicious sweet potato casserole or mashed sweet potatoes is always a good addition and if you're looking for a salad to serve, I suggest you try my favorite roasted butternut squash salad or beet salad with feta and zaatar. This Persian style roasted turkey is a showstopper at any Thanksgiving party and gathering.
A small tip: If you're cooking for a small party, you might want to try our herb roasted turkey breast recipe. It's perfect for a small Thanksgiving gathering.
Notes and tips
- If you cannot find barberries, use chopped unsweetened dried cranberries.
- Give yourself ample time to prepare the turkey. It takes about 4 hours for a 12-pound turkey to cook and rest and about 40-60 minutes to prepare it. So make sure you start on time. It's best to start preparing the turkey first thing in the morning.
- Dry the inside and outside of the turkey very well before you start. This will give you crispy skin and tasty juice.
- Don't stuff this spiced turkey with stuffing. Vegetables work best for this particular recipe. You can make the stuffing/dressing separately and serve it with the turkey.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
More Thanksgiving recipes
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Step-by-Step Recipe
Aromatic Spiced Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 turkey About 11 pounds
Compound Butter:
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
To stuff the turkey:
- 3 large carrots cut into chunks
- 6 celery stalks cut into chunks
- 2 tomatoes cut into chunks
- 3 lemons cut into quarters
- 3 onions cut into quarters
- 10 cloves garlic peeled
Olive oil Persian Spice Mixture:
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup bloomed saffron See notes
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Persian Caramelized Walnuts:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- ½ cup barberries see notes
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare your roasting pan.
- Pat dry inside and outside of the turkey completely.
Compound butter:
- Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, using your hands, create space between the meat and the skin on the turkey and rub the compound butter everywhere under the skin and on the meat, especially the breast.
Stuff the turkey:
- Mix the carrots, celery, tomatoes, lemons, onion and garlic in a large bowl. Stuff the turkey and sew it completely or seal it using toothpicks. Spread the rest on the vegetables at the bottom of the roasting pan.
Olive oil spice mix:
- In a small bowl mix the olive oil with turmeric, paprika, bloomed saffron and salt. Brush it all over the turkey completely.
- Place the turkey in the roasting pan and roast in the oven for one hour. Then cover it with aluminum foil and roast for another 2 ½ hours. Brush it with olive oil mixture and baste the turkey every 30 minutes.
- Insert a thermometer into the thigh, it should reach 170°F and then the turkey is done.
- Cover with aluminum foil for 30 minutes and then carve.
Persian Caramelized Walnuts:
- Heat olive oil in a pan, saute onion until translucent. Add in walnuts and stir for a minute. Add in the barberris, turmeric, salt and pomegranate molasses and cook for two minutes. Turn the heat off and add pomegranate arils.
- Serve the turkey with Persian Caramelized Walnuts.
Notes
- Cooking time may vary depending on the size of the bird. The turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the thigh (close to the bone but not touching it) reaches 170 degrees F.
- To make bloomed saffron, sprinkle ¼ teaspoon ground saffron on 3 ice cubes and let the ice melt at room temperature. Use this saffron water in the recipe.
- If barberries are not available, use chopped unsweetened dried cranberries.
- Give yourself ample time to prepare the turkey. It takes about 4 hours for a 12-pound turkey to cook and rest and about 40-60 minutes to prepare it. So make sure you start on time. It's best to start preparing the turkey first thing in the morning.
- Dry the inside and outside of the turkey very well before you start. This will give you crispy skin and tasty juice.
- Don't stuff this spiced turkey with stuffing. Vegetables work best for this particular recipe. You can make the stuffing/dressing separately and serve it with the turkey.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
BEHJAT Bakhtiar
Most delicious Turkey ever
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thank you!
Mark
thats what i figured. Thanks for confirming. Mark
Mark
Maybe this is a silly question, but are the vegetables inside the body cavity viewed as aromatics to be disposed of, or do they come out suitable for serving along with the vegetables cooking in the bottom of the pan? Plan to make this soon, eager to hear back!
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Hi Mark, The vegetables inside are mostly for making the turkey aromatic and delicious, so I would discard them. You can always add more vegetables to the bottom of the pan 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Reza yousefi
I definitely will try this this year for thanksgiving day
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Hope you enjoy it!
Mary @ Fit and Fed
Hi Shadi, I like how you are making your Thanksgiving feast your own by making a Persian-style turkey! I love the Persian caramelized walnuts and want to try them-- where do you get your barberries? Are they fresh or dried?
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Hi Mary! Thank you so much! I got dried cranberries from a Middle Eastern market. You can also get them online!
Natalie Dicks
This looks delicious! Definitely way more flavorful than the traditional turkey!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
We love this turkey! Turmeric makes everything better!
Kristen Chidsey
I am dying over the Friends clips--such a classic episode! This turkey sounds fabulous!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Can't finish a day without watching Friends 😀
Megan @ MegUnprocessed
Those flavors sound amazing!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Thanks Megan!
Dini @ The Flavor Bender
This looks phenomenal Shadi!! I'm still not big on making a full Turkey for Thanksgiving, although I have a couple of times... but with all those spices I would love to give this a try! 🙂
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Thanks Dini! I bet the recipe would work perfectly on only the breast too!
Spencer
This legitimately sounds delicious. I'm not in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey this year, so I'll adapt it for a post-Thanksgiving chicken. The compound butter alone sounds fantastic.
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
I hope you like it! The cumin gives a great flavor!