Our keto roast turkey with garlic herb butter recipe makes an elegant dinner for your holiday meal or any year-round dinner. With this low carb and gluten-free recipe, you can make this dish, better than any store-bought roast.
This ultimate keto roasted turkey recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or buffets. It comes out moist, juicy and tender every time. Make it, serve it, and eat it!
Roast turkey can be dry and bland but this recipe gives you a moist and flavorsome bird. The Chief Taster was so delighted with this, it made me want to roast another one! It sliced so well and smooth, I knew it would be a hit before I plated it.
If you are looking for an alternative to roasting turkey, we recommend you try a smoked turkey. This recipe packs a lot of flavor and is easy to make too.
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Jump to:
- CAN YOU EAT TURKEY ON A KETO DIET?
- HOW TO DEFROST A TURKEY
- CAN YOU COOK A FROZEN TURKEY?
- HOW LONG PER POUND DO YOU ROAST A TURKEY?
- BRINING A TURKEY
- INGREDIENTS
- WHAT HERBS GO WELL WITH KETO ROAST TURKEY?
- HOW TO MAKE A KETO ROAST TURKEY
- MAKE AN EASY KETO TURKEY GRAVY
- STORAGE
- WHAT TO SERVE WITH KETO ROASTED TURKEY
- HOW TO USE TURKEY LEFTOVERS
- Keto Roast Turkey with Garlic Herb Butter
CAN YOU EAT TURKEY ON A KETO DIET?
Turkey is a great meal to enjoy on a keto diet. It's low in carbohydrates and high in protein. A 3oz serving of roasted turkey (without the skin) is:
| Calories | 145 |
| Protein | 25 grams |
| Fat | 0 grams |
| Fibre | 0 grams |
| Net Carbs | 0 grams |
Turkey is also a low glycemic index (GI) food and won't give you a blood sugar spike. If you have diabetes, including turkey in your diet can help you to keep your blood sugar under control.
HOW TO DEFROST A TURKEY
Preparing a turkey is a quest in terms of time and you need to plan ahead! If you are using a frozen turkey it will need to be defrosted thoroughly before use. The USDA recommendations are to allow one day per 4-5 lbs per of weight. A 15lb turkey can take up to 3 days to safely defrost.
The best way to defrost a turkey is in the refrigerator as this allows the turkey to thaw and a constant temperature. If you thaw the turkey at room temperature, bacterial growth can occur, so please avoid it!
Once the turkey has defrosted, it can be stored safely for another one or two days in the refrigerator.
CAN YOU COOK A FROZEN TURKEY?
If you are in a panic on the day of roasting the turkey and it's still frozen, don't panic as it can still be cooked, it will just take up to twice as long. Use a food thermometer to check the temperature and when your turkey measures 165˚F in the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast, it is ready.
HOW LONG PER POUND DO YOU ROAST A TURKEY?
Roasting times for a turkey will vary between an unstuffed and stuffed turkey. For this recipe, we have not stuffed it. It's recommended that roasting a turkey at 350 degrees F takes 13 minutes per pound for an unstuffed turkey.
| Turkey Weight | Cooking Time |
| 10-12 lbs | 2 ¼ to 2 ¾ hours |
| 12-14 lbs | 2 ¾ to 3 hours |
| 15-18 lbs | 3 ¼ to 4 hours |
| 18-20 lbs | 4 to 4 ¼ hours |
| 20 - 22 lbs | 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours |
BRINING A TURKEY
We make this keto roast turkey after brining it in a citrus and herb brine. It's entirely optional but very recommended.
If you want to brine your turkey before roasting, the key is planning! First, you need to defrost the turkey, that can take a couple of days, then brine it for up to 24 hours. Then, finally you can roast it!
INGREDIENTS
We use simple and fresh flavors for this herb and citrus butter roasted turkey. The lemon and herbs give the turkey a light citrus flavor without overpowering the meat.
- Lemons - ensure that they are unwaxed and zest them before cutting into quarters.
- Herbs - we prefer to use fresh herbs but if you can only use dry, increase the amount as fresh can have a stronger flavor.
- Butter - everything tastes better with butter! We use unsalted.
WHAT HERBS GO WELL WITH KETO ROAST TURKEY?
Turkey pairs well with many herbs and the fresher the better. Parsley is a very popular herb but try these others too:
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Tarragon
- Oregano
- Marjoram
HOW TO MAKE A KETO ROAST TURKEY
Once your turkey is brined, you are ready to roast (brining optional though).
The fresh herbs are chopped and mixed with lemon zest and butter, and spread over and under the turkey skin. This makes the skin crispy, and also gives a great flavor to the turkey breast. Pat the turkey skin dry, and carefully separate the skin and the turkey breast. Using your hands, massage the butter mix all over the turkey. (I used gloves as this was not my favorite part!)
Mix the ingredients into the butter
Slather the butter inside and outside the turkey skin
Baste towards the end of the cooking.
Allow to rest before carving
MAKE AN EASY KETO TURKEY GRAVY
Once you have roasted the turkey and it is resting, you can make our keto turkey gravy with the turkey pan drippings. Or use your own recipe!
STORAGE
Place the leftover turkey in the fridge and keep it in air tight containers. It will last up to 4 days.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH KETO ROASTED TURKEY
The side dishes can be the second best part of the meal (after the turkey of course!). A few you might want to serve with this delicious keto turkey recipe are:
Pumpkin Feta Salad with Pecans
HOW TO USE TURKEY LEFTOVERS
Enjoy your turkey the next day or two with our leftover turkey recipes. For us, Boxing Day is leftover turkey day! You can enjoy it simply with a salad or can create other low carb left over turkey recipes with it.
15 Leftover Turkey Keto Recipes
Turkey Brie Cranberry Quesadillas
Turkey Enchiladas
Keto Roast Turkey with Garlic Herb Butter
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Ingredients
- 1 whole turkey used a 13 pound (6kg) turkey
- 4.5 oz butter softened
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons thyme, fresh chopped
- 3 tablespoons rosemary, fresh chopped
- 3 tablespoons parsley, fresh chopped
- 1 whole lemon
- 1 medium onion peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Remove the turkey giblets, neck etc from the turkey cavity.
- Zest the lemon and cut into quarters.
- In a small bowl, mix butter, garlic and herbs, lemon zest, salt, pepper and lemon juice
- Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and place the onion and lemon quarters inside.
- Carefully separate the turkey skin from the turkey breast. Pat the turkey skin dry. Using your hands, spread the herb butter between the turkey breast and skin, and slather the outside of the turkey.
- Loosely cover with foil and place turkey in the preheated oven.
- Cook the turkey for 15 minutes per pound (or 30 minutes per kilogram). Remove the foil when the turkey is ⅔ of the way cooked, and baste with remaining butter while it finishes cooking. Using a meat thermometer, check the internal temperature. The turkey is cooked when it reaches 165°F/75°C in the deepest parts of the turkey.
- When turkey is cooked, remove from oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving.
- Carve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
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