Food Holidays & Occasions Thanksgiving 26 Showstopping Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 13, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Marcus Nilsson If turkey is going to be the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving table, you want to have an impressive recipe in your back pocket. Luckily, we have plenty of different variations you can try, including Dry-Brined Spatchcocked Turkey and Vinegar-Brined Roast Turkey. Want to try smoked turkey? We've got recipes for that, too. Read on for even more of our best Thanksgiving turkey recipes. 01 of 26 Citrus-and-Butter Turkey Nicole Franzen Food & Wine's Justin Chapple soaks cheesecloth in citrus butter and drapes it over turkey while roasting, yielding super juicy, delicious meat and skin. Get the Recipe 02 of 26 Salt & Pepper Spatchcocked Turkey Barrett Washburne Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this turkey from F&W's Justin Chapple. Salt and pepper are all you need when the meat is juicy and tender. Because it's spatchcocked (the backbone is removed and the bird is flattened before cooking), the skin is supremely crisp and it roasts in nearly half the time as traditional versions. Get the Recipe 03 of 26 Simple Smoked Turkey Marcus Nilsson Smoking a turkey yields juicy and tender meat. The keys to success are seasoning the bird with a dead-simple saltwater brine, then controlling the temperature of the smoker for even cooking. The added bonus of smoking the Thanksgiving turkey? It frees up the oven for sides and pies. Get the Recipe 04 of 26 Dry-Brined Spatchcocked Turkey Greg DuPree A dry brine is not only an easier technique, but it also results in crispier skin and more flavorful meat than a classic wet brine. Those final six to 12 hours of drying will ensure crackling, crispy skin. Get the Recipe 05 of 26 Spatchcocked Smoked Turkey Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer & John Somerall / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Rodney Scott's smoky dry rub and spicy mopping sauce makes for a sweet, tangy, and succulent bird. While Scott swears by the thermal qualities of a ceramic grill, this turkey also can be cooked in a kettle grill or smoker (or even the oven) at 225°F. Get the Recipe 06 of 26 Ballotine-Style Whole Roast Turkey Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Stuff a whole deboned turkey, roulade-style, with nuts, speck, and bitter greens for this flavorful, juicy, and jaw-dropping main course. Get the Recipe 07 of 26 Salt-Crusted Turkey Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Banish any chance of a dry bird with this salt-crusted turkey breast. Salt-roasting is a technique that is often employed to keep lean fish moist while roasting; the mixture of salt and egg whites forms a nearly airtight crust when baked, locking in moisture and flavor. It works the same magic with turkey. Get the Recipe 08 of 26 Turkey Leg Roulade Victor Protasio Dark meat fans know that the leg is often the most flavorful part of the bird. This preparation isolates the leg and ensures a perfectly cooked bird with a crackling bronze skin. The process can be started several days in advance, needing only a quick blast in a hot oven to crisp the skin before serving. Get the Recipe 09 of 26 Deep-Fried Turkey Brined in Cayenne and Brown Sugar Petrina Tinslay Cooking a deep-fried turkey for Thanksgiving isn't as hard as it sounds (though it does require caution). There's a great payoff: an exquisitely moist, crispy turkey, and many people never go back to a roasted bird. Get the Recipe 10 of 26 Roast Turkey with Chestnut-Apple Stuffing © Con Poulos For this classic recipe, the turkey is rubbed with an aromatic shallot-sage butter, then stuffed with a nutty chestnut-apple stuffing. Get the Recipe 11 of 26 Anthony Bourdain's Business Turkey © Bobby Fisher To make this simple recipe from Anthony Bourdain, all you need is unsalted butter, kosher salt, pepper, and of course, a turkey. Get the Recipe 12 of 26 Chipotle-Butter Turkey © Nicole Franzen Food & Wine's Justin Chapple soaks smoky chipotle butter in cheesecloth and drapes it over turkey while roasting, yielding super juicy, delicious meat and skin. Get the Recipe 13 of 26 Porchetta-Spiced Turkey with Pan Gravy © Con Poulos Porchetta, the fennel-scented, crackly skinned Italian pork roast, is the inspiration for this spiced turkey. Get the Recipe 14 of 26 Simplest Roast Turkey John Kernick The trick to this minimalist roast turkey is allowing it to air-dry overnight in the refrigerator, resulting in super crispy skin. Get the Recipe 15 of 26 Apple-Brined Turkey Apple-Brined Turkey "Brining introduces flavor that penetrates to the bone," says chef Ken Oringer. "And, because brining adds moisture, the turkey can handle high heat." Get the Recipe 16 of 26 Herb-Roasted Turkey with Wild Mushroom Gravy For maximum flavor, David Tanis rubs the bird with butter seasoned with sage, thyme and garlic. Dried porcini give the wild mushroom gravy a woodsy flavor boost. Get the Recipe 17 of 26 Roasted Beer-Brined Turkey with Onion Gravy and Bacon Adding Guinness, or any dark beer, to the brine gives the turkey a toasty flavor and helps give the skin a dark brown color. Get the Recipe 18 of 26 Ancho-Scallion Roast Turkey Breast Toasted ancho chiles, garlic and scallions flavor the butter that's rubbed all over the turkey breast and bastes it as it roasts. Get the Recipe 19 of 26 Cider-Glazed Turkey with Lager Gravy Lots of people brine their turkeys. Not Michael Symon, who thinks brining makes the bird a little rubbery. He salts his bird well and refrigerates it overnight to season it. Before roasting, he covers the breast and legs with cheesecloth that's been soaked in a cider-infused butter. For his beer-spiked gravy, Symon recommends the German-style Dortmunder Gold, made by Great Lakes Brewing Company, from his home state of Ohio. Get the Recipe 20 of 26 Soy-Sauce-and-Honey-Glazed Turkey "We never had turkey on Thanksgiving," says Joanne Chang, "only duck. I love turkey with sage and butter, but I crave the flavors I grew up with." Here, she marinates and bastes the bird with soy, sesame, honey and ginger, giving it superb flavor and a beautiful mahogany color. Get the Recipe 21 of 26 Citrus-Marinated Turkey © Petrina Tinslay Chef Jose Garces prepares this turkey in the same style as a traditional Yucatán dish called cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted pork marinated in citrus and annatto paste (made from achiote seeds, the condiment adds an orange hue to foods). Brining and marinating the bird make it especially succulent. Get the Recipe 22 of 26 Paprika-Glazed Turkey with Pumpkin Seed Bread Salad © Frances Janisch Make sure the turkey is completely dry before rubbing its skin with the paprika butter. Get the Recipe 23 of 26 Spice-Rubbed Turkey © Gentl & Hyers This simple, salt-based sage, pepper and paprika rub produces a turkey with crisp, golden-brown skin and incredibly moist and tender breast meat. Get the Recipe 24 of 26 Bourbon-Glazed Turkey with Pearl Onion Giblet Gravy Chef Tanya Holland's secret for a turkey with juicy meat and nicely lacquered skin: Brine the bird overnight, and then baste it frequently with a bourbon-brown sugar glaze as it roasts. Get the Recipe 25 of 26 Vinegar-Brined Roast Turkey Eva Kolenko There are thousands of brine recipes out there, and this one from Top Chef winner Kristen Kish uses cider vinegar, giving the turkey a little bit of tang. Get the Recipe 26 of 26 Mustard-and-Rosemary Roast Turkey © John Kernick Because so many people are hesitant to make a whole turkey, cookbook author Melissa Clark suggests roasting the turkey in parts, separating the dark meat from the white meat to guarantee a perfectly cooked bird. 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