Yes, it’s true…you can have a perfect turkey in just two hours! And, I’m not talking small turkey, I’m talking big enough to feed the family turkey!

I’ll be totally up-front that the origins of this recipe are unknown, and I am in no way taking credit for this recipe, or claiming it as my own. That’s not stopping me from sharing it though because frankly it’s brilliant! I’ve done the turkey two years in a row. Last year it was the biggest bird I could find, and this year it was smaller, like 10 to 12 lbs (we are visiting out of town family and not cooking the turkey this year so I decided to do my turkey early this year for girls movie night last weekend), and both birds were done to perfection!

Fair warning, you will be on the hook for cooking turkey forevermore! 🙂

Here’s what I love most about this process…it leaves me free to do whatever I want Thanksgiving morning (hello turkey trot…finally I can race on turkey day!), and it’s so quick and easy that turkey is no longer an ordeal only worth going through for Holiday’s. Any afternoon you have two hours can become turkey day!

Two Hour Turkey

Serves: a lot 🙂  Prep Time: 10 -15  minutes  Cook Time: 2 Hours (maybe a bit less depending on size of turkey) plus 10 minutes of resting time Heat: 400

Ingredients: 

8-20 pound turkey, completely thawed

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Oil (I use Olive Oil)

Directions:

Cut the “crop skin” at the neck of the neck of the bird off, and cut wings off at second joint. Also, cut off the tail.

Salt and Pepper the turkey inside and out. Sprinkle a generous amount of paprika on the turkey (I sprinkle inside as well) and massage into the bird using 1 cup of oil, coating the entire bird.

Arrange the turkey on its side in a roasting pan, on the roasting rack. Roast bird at 400 for up to 2 hours, a little more or less may be needed depending on size of turkey. 3/4 of the way through cooking remove turkey from oven and turn on to its other side. Be careful not to pierce the skin as you do not want the juices running out. (I use two kitchen towels…make sure they are not nice ones as the paprika will stain them).

As the skin darkens and becomes crispy, the meat should be checked to see if it’s done. The skin should look like a new football. Make a small cut in the thigh joint and if juices run clear the turkey is done, you can also insert a meat thermometer and when it reads 165 the turkey is done.

Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with good company, yummy sides (for real the turkey is so easy you can get fancy with sides if you want to), and good wine!