Foolproof Spatchcocked Turkey With Garlic-Thyme Butter

If you’re looking to get your Thanksgiving main dish cooked in a flash—and tasting its best—this foolproof spatchcock turkey recipe is your golden ticket. Spatchcocking, or butterflying, is a technique commonly applied to chicken, but it’s also the key to cooking your Thanksgiving turkey evenly and quickly (we’re talking just over an hour of cooking time—and even less prep).

Allow us to explain: When roasting a whole turkey in the traditional manner, the lean breast meat is exposed to more heat and has a tendency to go dry (and nobody likes dry turkey breast). Once you know how to spatchcock a turkey, you may never go back to that old method. When you remove the backbone and press down on the breastbone, the turkey flattens, promoting evenly cooked light and dark meat and golden, crispy skin. Instead of a roasting pan, cooking the turkey on a wire rack set inside a sheet pan encourages the skin to crisp all over the bird while the drippings collect in the shallow pan below. 

For the most flavorful turkey meat, dry-brine the bird with a simple mixture of salt, black pepper, and brown sugar. It may seem like a lot of salt; as it dissolves and penetrates the meat, the excess will drip into the bottom of the pan to be disposed of before the roast hits the oven. Be patient and let the turkey brine for at least 12 hours—this allows the skin to dry out and the seasoning to permeate the thickest part of the thighs and breasts. If any condensation has collected on the turkey’s skin, dab it dry with a paper towel, taking care not to rub off any remaining dry brine.

Rubbing seasoned butter underneath the skin before roasting adds flavor and eliminates the need for basting the turkey. We flavor the butter with thyme leaves, but feel free to add the fresh herbs of your choice.