Best Bites: Traditional Thanksgiving the perfect roast turkey

AOL.com Editors

Welcome to Best Bites, a twice-weekly video series that aims to satisfy your never-ending craving for food content through quick, beautiful videos for the at-home foodie.

One of the biggest challenges during Thanksgiving is cooking the roast turkey. In this episode of Best Bites, we share some tips on how to make the perfect Thanksgiving turkey! Check it out!

Ingredients:

  • 1 fresh turkey (10 to 12 pounds)

  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced

  • 1/3 cup rosemary

  • 1 cup salt

  • 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 whole lemon, halved

  • 1 Spanish onion, quartered

  • 1 head garlic, halved crosswise

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Add peppercorn to mortar and crush. Add 1/3 cup rosemary and salt, then add lemon zest into the salt blend.

  3. Season turkey inside and out

  4. Put onion, garlic and lemon halves into the cavity.

  5. Tie the legs. Put turkey in pan and tuck wings.

  6. Cook around 2.5 hours at 350F. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and confirm it has reached an internal temperature of 165F before removing from the oven to ensure doneness. After around an hour brush with some oil or butter.

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