5 Smart Ways to Cook Your Turkey Faster This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turkey is the star of the holiday table but it’s also one of the most time-consuming dishes to prepare. A full-size bird can take up to 4 hours to roast in the oven leaving many home cooks stressed about timing everything just right.

Luckily, there are some simple tricks you can use to significantly cut down the roasting time for your turkey. Follow these 5 tips to get your perfectly cooked, juicy and delicious turkey done faster.

1. Don’t Stuff the Turkey

Cooking stuffing inside the turkey adds a good hour or more to the cooking time The inside has to reach a safe 165°F, so by stuffing it you are adding a huge heat sink into the middle of the bird

Skip stuffing the turkey entirely to slash roasting time. Cook your stuffing in a casserole dish on the side instead. It will brown up nicely and cook through more quickly.

You’ll get all the great turkey flavor into the stuffing by simply spooning over some of the pan drippings after cooking. Letting the turkey cook undisturbed cuts the time down while still giving amazing results.

2. Cook Turkey Parts Rather Than a Whole Bird

Cooking an entire 12-15 lb. turkey takes significantly longer than just roasting a turkey breast or other pieces. If you have a smaller gathering or limited oven space stick to parts.

Turkey breasts, drumsticks, thighs and wings will all cook much faster than the entire bird. Pound them thin for even quicker cooking. The white and dark meat can be cooked in about 1 hour this way.

You can also roast 2 bone-in turkey breasts instead of a whole turkey if you want that classic whole bird presentation without the cook time. Parts are a great way to speed things up!

3. Don’t Truss the Turkey

Trussing the turkey may give it a nice presentation, but it also slows down the cooking. Tying the legs and wings close to the body insulates the meat and prevents oven heat from circulating evenly.

For faster cooking, skip trussing altogether. Simply tuck the wings underneath and turn the legs inward onto the body before roasting. Keeping the turkey untrussed lets heat move around for quick, even cooking.

4. Avoid Opening the Oven Door

Every time you open the hot oven door, the temperature inside drops significantly. This slowing down the cooking time for your turkey.

Try to avoid peeking in the oven unnecessarily while the turkey roasts. Only open the door when absolutely needed to baste, turn or check temperature. The less you open it, the faster your turkey will cook.

Use your oven light and a remote thermometer to monitor doneness if you can. Limiting oven door openings helps the bird roast faster and more evenly.

5. Spatchcock the Turkey

“Spatchcocking” is a great technique for drastically reducing turkey roasting time. It involves removing the backbone and flattening the bird for quick, even cooking.

A spatchcocked turkey cooks in about half the time of a traditional roasted whole turkey. The breast cooks faster when flattened and the dark meat speeds up with greater oven exposure.

Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone, then flatten the breastbone. Roast at 450°F and your juicy, perfectly cooked spatchcock turkey will be ready in under an hour and a half!

Handy Tips for Extra-Fast Turkey Cooking

If you’re really pressed for time, you can combine these techniques for lighting-fast turkey cooking:

Spatchcock just the breast or other parts rather than the whole bird
Pound the turkey to an even thickness or slice into cutlets
Rub the skin with oil and salt for quick crisping
Cook at higher heat, up to 500°F for parts or 450°F for spatchcock
Roast on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet for greatest air circulation
Use herbs, spices and compound butter under and on top of the skin for great flavor
Monitor temperature early and often to prevent overcooking
Let rest only 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving

Delicious Side Dishes That Pair Well With Turkey

A perfectly cooked, moist and delicious turkey is only one part of a great Thanksgiving meal. Here are some classic holiday side dishes that pair fantastically with turkey:

Savory Sides:

Fluffy mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes
Rich turkey gravy or giblet gravy
Herb-roasted root vegetables like carrots, parsnips and Brussels sprouts
Green bean casserole or roasted green beans with almonds
Cranberry sauce – try orange or ginger flavors too
Cornbread stuffing or wild rice stuffing
Dinner rolls or biscuits

Crunchy, Fresh Sides:

Tangy cranberry relish with orange and ginger
Crisp salad with lettuce, pears, pecans and pomegranate arils
Roasted butternut squash or pumpkin soup
Quinoa salad with kale, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds

Sweet Endings:

Spiced pumpkin pie, pecan pie or apple pie
Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or cinnamon gelato
Gingersnap cookies or snickerdoodles

Master Faster Roasting for a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Turkey

There’s no need to spend all day babysitting the turkey this Thanksgiving. With smart tricks like spatchcocking, cooking parts and avoiding oven peeking, you can slash the roasting time significantly.

Combine these turkey cooking tips to get a perfectly cooked bird on your holiday table in just an hour or two. Then relax and enjoy time with your loved ones, with one less thing to stress over on Thanksgiving Day!

how can you speed up cooking a turkey

Ingredients For 2-hour turkey, really.

1 thawed, whole turkey (from 10 – 24 pounds)
2 Tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
1 to 3 tsp coarsely ground salt (Kosher or sea)
freshly ground pepper

How To Make 2-hour turkey, really.

1 PREHEAT OVEN TO 475 degrees F (240-250 degrees C). This is what youll roast it at for the ENTIRE time. Since this employs the use of a VERY hot oven, make sure your oven is CLEAN before you start, AND put about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the roasting pan to reduce the risk of smoking your family out of the house. NOTE: Even WITH a pristine oven, I still smoked out my house last Thanksgiving… so a tip to cut down on the smoke issue is to add about an inch of water (or broth) to the roaster pan…and keep replenishing it as needed. By doing this, not only was the smoking problem eliminated, but I had terrific drippings for gravy! Place oven rack on LOWEST or SECOND-TO-LOWEST position in oven. The lowest position may be too hot in some ovens since its directly above the heating elements.
2 Remove all giblets, neck, pop-up thermometer (if there is one), and any trussing (like the plastic thing that holds the legs together). Rinse turkey THOROUGHLY, inside and out with cool water, letting all water drain out of neck and body cavities. Pat dry, inside and out, with paper towels.
3 Place on V or U-shaped wire rack in roasting pan, so that turkey doesnt rest on the bottom of the pan. The first time I made this I didnt have a rack, so I just slapped it in my grandmothers old-fashioned blue-enamel roaster pan and it turned out FINE. If you dont have a rack…take a long piece of aluminum foil and wad it up into a long rope, then coil it in the bottom of the pan and rest your turkey on that. NOTE: I STRONGLY RECOMMEND KEEPING 1-2 INCHES OF WATER IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR ROASTING PAN DURING COOKING. This will GREATLY reduce smoking (which can be brutal). The first year I made this, I didnt put water in the bottom of the pan…and I smoked out my house. The turkey was fabulous, but the house was SO smoky.
4 Rub the entire outside of dried-off turkey with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. I use Kosher salt because it has large, coarse grains.
5 Pull wing tips AWAY from the body, twist them and tuck them, backward, under the bird… up by its neck.
6 Using aluminum foil, form caps over the end of each drumstick. If any parts of the turkey extend beyond the pan rim, make a foil “collar” underneath to make sure drippings flow back into the pan. Do NOT tie legs together, do NOT add stuffing, do NOT close body cavity. Its probably okay to put a little seasoning in the cavity (herbs, lemon, onion) but dont fill up the cavity.
7 Pour 2 inches of water into the bottom of the pan.
8 Bake on the 2nd to lowest rack in the oven.
9 Halfway through cooking time, turn the roasting pan around 180 degrees to ensure even cooking. Do NOT flip the bird over.
10 Its done when the internal temp (in the thickest part of BOTH the THIGH and BREAST is 160 degrees. Make certain they are BOTH at temp. Sometimes the thighs take a bit longer. When done, remove from the oven. Approximate Cooking Timing: 10-13 lbs. = 50 minutes to 1 1/4 hrs. 13-16 lbs. = 1 1/4 hrs to 1 hour 50 minutes. 16-19 lbs. = 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hrs. 19-22 lbs. = 1 3/4 hrs to 2 1/4 hrs. 22-24 lbs. = 2 hrs to 2 1/2 hrs. 25+ lbs. = 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 hrs…or a bit more depending on how humongous it is. Are you sure its not an ostrich youre roasting? If not, call the Guinness Book of Records.
11 Cover completely with foil and let rest 30-45 minutes before carving. The internal temp will continue to rise to the recommended 165 degrees. After resting, transfer to a platter for carving. NOTE: There will likely be a lot of juices in the cavity. Drain them before transferring the bird to a platter. Save the juices to make gravy or moisten dressing.
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How can I speed up cooking a turkey?

FAQ

How do you reduce the time of cooking a turkey?

I tried the spatchcock method of roasting a turkey and it cut the cooking time down to 75 minutes. Spatchcocking involves cutting out the backbone and roasting the bird flat. The turkey was delicious, beautiful, easier to carve, and not that hard to make.

Does covering a turkey with foil cook it faster?

Want to ensure your bird is juicy and delicious yet speeds up the cooking time so everyone can watch the game? Foil wrapping is the answer! This technique helps speed the cooking process and locks in the turkey’s natural juices. It helps prevent turkeys from drying out without basting, especially those over 24 pounds.

How quickly can you cook a turkey?

The most straightforward approach is to roast an unstuffed turkey, breast-side up, for 13 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°. That works out to approximately 3 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird (a 12-pound turkey is pretty standard).

How can I Make my Turkey cook faster?

If you fall behind schedule on the big day, don’t panic (we’ve all been there) — here are five smart ways to help your turkey cook faster, so you can get it on the table in time. 1. Don’t stuff the bird. Skip cooking the stuffing in the bird.

How do you slow down a Turkey?

It will only slow down the cooking time. Add aromatics to the turkey cavity, such as garlic cloves, celery, carrots, bay leaves, and herbs. Add broth or water (about 1/4 inch) to the bottom of the roasting pan to avoid any burning.

How do you cook a Turkey in the oven?

Here is a turkey for when time and oven space are at a premium. The bird is butchered before cooking, its backbone removed (a technique called spatchcocking) and its legs separated, increasing the amount of surface area exposed to the oven’s heat and decreasing the amount of cooking time dramatically.

Why should you cook a Turkey in the oven?

The turkey will cook faster and more evenly. Since the turkey is divided into smaller pieces, the meat will cook more evenly and quickly (compared to hours for a whole turkey). Now, you won’t have to wait as long before enjoying your juicy turkey. Your oven will have more space.