Garlic and Herb Sous Vide Turkey

A sous vide cooks the juiciest, most flavorful turkey of all time! With a garlic herb butter, this recipe will quickly become a family favorite. This surprisingly hands-off method yields perfectly cooked turkey every time – crispy skin and all!

What Makes Recipe So Good

• It’s extra moist with a ton of flavor throughout! By cooking the turkey in a bag full of seasoning and savory liquid, the bird soaks up as much moisture and flavor as possible. Over are the days of choking back dry turkey, because this bird is quite literally bursting with delicious juices.
• It’s impressively simple, with less effort than most turkey cooking methods! The traditional roast turkey requires hours of hands-on work. Though for this recipe, you simply place the turkey in the sous vide for 12 hours. No need to touch or mess with anything!
• It includes a delicious garlic herb butter that makes it the best whole turkey recipe ever! Softened butter, minced garlic, and fresh thyme are rubbed underneath the skin of the turkey. This better infuses it with even more flavor!

Chef’s Tips

• I highly recommend double bagging your turkey before dropping it into the sous vide bath! Turkeys may have some sharp points (I’m looking at you, turkey wings) that can poke a hole in your bag. Therefore, to avoid risking the entire sous vide process – place an extra layer of protection around your turkey.
• Feel free to switch up the seasoning any way you’d like! Some fresh rosemary would make a delicious addition to the garlic herb butter in this sous vide turkey recipe. You can even ditch the butter altogether, and instead rub the turkey in your favorite dry rub before placing it in the bag.
• If you’d like, you can reserve the cooking liquid from the sous vide bag and turn it into gravy! Use this leftover liquid in any gravy recipe, such as this keto one, where it calls for “pan drippings.” Though keep in mind this liquid might be a bit saltier than your typical pan drippings, so simply avoid adding any extra salt to your gravy!

Other Delicious Sous Vide Recipes

• Sous Vide Ribs
• Sous Vide Corned Beef
• Crispy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
• Sous Vide Ribeye with Garlic-Herb Butter
• Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes

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5 from 3 votes

Garlic and Herb Sous Vide Turkey

Prep:20 minutes minutes

Cook:12 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total:12 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

With a garlic herb butter, this juicy, flavorful turkey recipe will quickly become a family favorite – especially around the holidays!

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12 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 whole turkey 8-12 pounds, see Notes
• ▢ ½ cup butter softened
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 6 tablespoons fresh thyme
• ▢ 2 quarts chicken stock or turkey stock
• ▢ 1 cup kosher salt
• ▢ 3 tablespoons avocado oil or melted butter

Equipment

• Large pot or other large, heat-resistant container
• Sous vide immersion circulator
• Small bowl
• mixing spoon or silicone spatula
• Cutting board
• 2-gallon vacuum sealing bag or other 2-gallon sealable food-safe storage bag; see Notes
• vacuum sealer optional, see Notes for alternative
• Paper towels
• Basting Brush
• Oven
• roasting pan

Instructions 

• Set sous vide to 150° Fahrenheit.
• Mix the softened butter, garlic, and fresh thyme in a bowl then carefully peel skin away from the turkey breast and rub butter mixture under the skin.
• Place turkey in a large zip-top freezer bag along with the salt and chicken or turkey stock.
• Seal bag and remove as much air from the bag as possible before dropping turkey into the sous vide water bath. Cook for 12 hours.
• Remove turkey from bag, pat dry with a paper towel then leave to rest on the counter for 30 minutes before brushing with avocado oil or melted butter.
• Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit then transfer turkey to the oven to roast for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Notes

• Anything smaller than a 2-gallon bag likely won’t hold the whole turkey. You need to be able to remove all the air from the bag and seal it tight, so when in doubt, size up!
• Not sure what size turkey you’ll need? We’ve got a handy formula and conversion chart in our How Much Turkey Per Person? post.
• Water Displacement Method: Place your ingredients in an appropriately-sized sealable food-safe bag (not a vacuum sealing bag) and seal the bag halfway across the top. Heat the water with the sous vide immersion circulator as instructed, then slowly lower the half-sealed bag into the heated water. The temperature difference will force the air out of the bag – you should see the plastic cling to the food. Once the food is entirely submerged and all the air is out of the bag, seal the bag completely and continue with the instructions.
• Make it Paleo: Use ghee instead of softened butter.

 

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 615kcal, Protein: 74g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 257mg, Sodium: 654mg, Potassium: 917mg, Total Carbs: 7g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Net Carbs: 6g, Vitamin A: 588IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 59mg, Iron: 4mg

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Sam Guarnieri