A quick and easy Turkey Baste Recipe that’s full of melted butter and flavorful herbs to help make the perfect Thanksgiving turkey! Follow along as we cover everything you need to know about turkey basting for your next holiday dinner.
The Best Turkey Baste Recipe
Whether you are making a whole, large turkey in the oven, on the grill, or on the smoker, it is always a must to have a flavorful baste to make sure your delicious turkey doesn’t dry out. This easy turkey baste can also be used for a turkey breast or a spatchcock turkey! We love using this recipe for our turkey every year at our holiday meal and the whole crowd raves about how juicy and tender the turkey is.
Need help cooking the perfect turkey? Make sure you check out our Ultimate Guide to Cooking a Turkey!
What You Will Need
- butter – a delicious base for a classic turkey baste recipe.
- chicken broth – perfect for adding moisture plus flavor!
- lemon juice – this splash of acidity helps to amplify all the great flavors.
- garlic – everything is better with a little garlic!
- dried thyme leaves, dried sage, and dried parsley leaves – the perfect herb mixture that really compliments your turkey meat. Option to use fresh herbs too!
What Do You Baste Turkey With
The best way to baste your turkey is with a combination of melted butter, a splash of broth, and lots of herbs! Some people also like to use the pan drippings or pan juices on the bottom of the roasting pan to baste their flavorful turkey. Either way it is highly recommended to keep applying extra moisture to all parts of the turkey resulting in perfectly juicy meat on the inside and golden brown on the outside. We also use aluminum foil to cover the turkey while it rests after cooking.
How To Make An Easy Turkey Baste Recipe
You can begin by gathering all of your ingredients.
Now combine these ingredients in a small saucepan and let the butter melt over a medium heat.
Continue mixing your baste to fully combine the melted herb butter.
Remove the baste from the heat, let it cool slightly, and pour into a small bowl. Open the oven door and use your favorite basting brush to apply this simple baste to your roasted turkey every 30-45 minutes to give your turkey a nice, crispy skin while it is on the roasting rack.
When Should You Baste Turkey
A good rule of thumb is basting your turkey every 30-45 minutes, no matter the size of your delicious bird. Opening the oven, grill, or smoker will result in a loss of heat so you want to make sure you don’t baste more often than this. Make sure that you baste all parts of the whole turkey, the top of the turkey (the breast meat), turkey legs, turkey wings, etc.
How To Baste A Turkey
This is a very simple process. Once you have a bowl with this classic turkey baste recipe you can use a wooden basting brush, a silicone basting brush, or a turkey baster to easily apply the turkey baste over the entire turkey.
Other Ways To Season A Turkey
There are so many different methods for seasoning the perfect roast turkey that don’t involve basting. You could also use a wet brine or dry brine before cooking. Or if you don’t have the fridge space you can add a dry rub, turkey seasoning or turkey marinade as other ways to add moisture and flavor.
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Thanksgiving Turkey Baste Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 1/2 cup
- Category: Turkey
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Turkey Baste Recipe – a simple, flavorful, go-to turkey baste recipe that is perfect for your Thanksgiving turkey!
Ingredients
- 3–4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth (or turkey broth)
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced or grated
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley leaves
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan.
- Let butter melt; stir to combine.
- Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Use a basting brush or turkey baster to baste with basting mixture every 30-45 minutes, resulting in a moist turkey.
Notes
- Make Ahead: feel free to make the basting mixture ahead of time then place in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat before using.
- Basting too often: you don’t want to baste more than every 30-40 minutes as every time you open the oven you let quite a bit of heat out.
Hogan says
Hi Erin! This is Hogan(aka Charlie) & l am an Ironworker. One trait we have is always doing everything in a Big Way! l roasted a 22Lb. Turkey & put l your Recipe to work with a little “nice” change! First l Quadrupled the size, then used
Mandarin Orange juice in place of Lemon & l added 3 Tbs. of Honey! Not only did l Baste the Turkey, put the Flavor Injector to work & made it a lot more tas-tier! l’m curious as to your responce, hope ya like it, take care!!
Erin says
That sounds amazing, Hogan!! I love it!
Mike says
Brand new to making a turkey and thanks for making recipes for us newbies! Super easy
Erin says
So glad you liked it! And thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review – I really appreciate it!
EH says
This was perfect – thank you!