

Roast turkey with traditional herb stuffing
Ingredients
- kitchen string
- 4 ½–5kg fresh or thawed turkey
- Traditional herb stuffing
- spray oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 cups fresh coarse breadcrumbs (made using day-old bread)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 lemon, zest and 1 tablespoon juice
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Instructions
1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a large frying pan with oil and place over a medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 more minute. Remove and place in a bowl.
2 Return frying pan to a medium-high heat. Add olive oil and breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until breadcrumbs are lightly golden. Remove and add to onion mixture. Add chopped herbs, zest and juice. Season with ground black pepper. Set aside to cool completely.
3 Discard neck and giblets from turkey and rinse turkey under cold water. Pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Spoon stuffing into cavity (see tip box, right). If necessary, use skewers to close cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen string.
4 Place turkey, breast side up, in a large roasting tray and spray with oil. Cover loosely with tinfoil and roast for 1 3/4 hours, basting every 20 minutes with pan juices. Remove tinfoil and roast for 45 more minutes or until golden brown and cooked through (juices will run clear). Remove from oven, transfer to a plate and loosely cover with tinfoil. Rest for 20 minutes before carving. Remove and discard skin and serve with roasted vegetables.
Variations
- Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free bread.
- Quinoa, craisin, parsley and pine nut stuffing
HFG tip
- We used a turkey with no added salt.
- The stuffing must be completely cooled before stuffing turkey to prevent bacteria growing. Don’t stuff the turkey too tightly, as the meat won’t cook evenly and the stuffing expands when cooked. If using a frozen turkey, place on a tray and defrost in the fridge. A 4-5kg turkey takes about 70 hours (3 days) to defrost.
- Check the ingredients list on your frozen turkey as many are basted in salty brine to tenderise, possibly with added flavour and thickener, which makes the turkey high in sodium.
Nutrition Info (per serve)
-
Calories 225 cal
-
Kilojoules 940 kJ
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Protein 30 g
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Total fat 8 g
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Saturated fat 2 g
-
Carbohydrates 10 g
-
Sugar 1 g
-
Dietary fibre 1 g
-
Sodium 150 mg
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Calcium 40 mg
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Iron 2.5 mg
© Healthy Food Guide All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission prohibited.
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