A delicious, home-cooked meal is the best way to celebrate with your loved ones. Whether you’re looking forward to Christmas, hosting a graduation party or welcoming family from out of town, a turkey could feed everyone with enough leftovers for lunch the next day. All you need is a trusted way to make it come out of the oven ready to eat. Try Martha Stewart’s turkey recipe to improve your cooking skills without breaking a sweat.

Special Occasions That Are Perfect for Turkey Dinners

Although Thanksgiving is the quintessential night to make a turkey, you can roast a bird for all kinds of other occasions. If you have any of these coming up in your future, it could be the perfect opportunity to pair your favorite sides with fresh turkey:

• Christmas night
• New Year’s Eve
• Birthdays
• Graduations
• Anniversaries

It’s really never a bad time to try out a new turkey recipe. And your grocery store will never run out, given how the meat industry processed 218 million turkeys in 2024 alone. All you have to do is find a recipe people have tried and loved. That’s where Martha Stewart’s never-fail cooking process comes in.

Make New Memories With Martha Stewart’s Turkey Recipe

Even someone who’s a beginner in the kitchen can make Martha Stewart’s turkey recipe. She simplifies the process, so you don’t need a multi-day preparation process. Just get a defrosted turkey out of your fridge and start cooking.

Ingredients

• One whole, thawed turkey (any bird between 16-24 pounds will work, but 20-21 pounds is best)
• One 750-ml bottle of pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
• 3 sticks (1.5 cups) of unsalted butter
• 1 extra stick of unsalted butter (½ cup) for rubbing
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Your preferred stuffing (optional)
• 1 cup of dry white or red wine for gravy (optional)
• Cheesecloth
• Giblet stock

Instructions

1. Remove the plastic wrap or bag from your turkey and place it in a roasting pan with a metal rack inside. Pat down the turkey with paper towels and leave the pan on your kitchen counter for two hours. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agrees that two hours is the time limit for leaving food unrefrigerated. Any longer and you’ll risk bacteria growing on your turkey.
2. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit when your turkey has 30 minutes left on the counter.
3. Melt your butter and mix it with white wine in a large bowl.
4. Press the cheesecloth into the mixture and let it soak while you prep your turkey.
5. After the two hours pass, ensure your turkey is breast-side up on your pan’s metal rack.
6. Remove any pop-up timer that came in your turkey.
7. Fold the wings under the turkey and cut the legs open if they arrived tied with twine.
8. Remove any giblets left inside the bird.
9. Fill the body cavity with stuffing so it covers the entire floor. You’ll cook the rest of your stuffing as you prefer and eat only the stuffing that cooks separately. Eating the stuffing inside your turkey could lead to cross-contamination since the stuffing will cook more slowly within your bird. Putting some inside your turkey just helps your bird absorb more flavors.
10. Use new twine to tie the legs back together, but tighter than before. They should overlap like the turkey is sitting with one leg over the other.
11. Fold the neck flap beneath the breasts, if possible.
12. Melt an extra stick of butter just enough in the microwave to make it soft. Spread it by hand over the outside of the turkey to coat it in a thick layer of butter.
13. Remove your cheesecloth and squeeze it lightly. It should remain damp, but not drip heavily.
14. Save the butter and wine mixture in your fridge.
15. Wrap the cheesecloth around the outside of your turkey and tuck the corners underneath the bird. It should cover the breasts and legs. The area tied together with twine will stick out.
16. Bake your turkey for 30 minutes. Generally, it’s safe to estimate your cooking time by multiplying the weight of your turkey by 13-15 minutes per pound.
17. After 30 minutes, use a baster to drench your turkey in more of the butter and wine mixture. 
18. Bring your oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for another 2.5 hours. 
19. Baste every 30 minutes while it cooks.
20. After the 2.5 hours pass, remove the cheesecloth. 
21. Cook for one more hour, basting halfway through the final hour.
22. Check your turkey’s internal temperature with a meat thermometer after the last hour of cooking (or after it’s cooked for a total of four hours). You should insert the thermometer into the breasts, legs and wings. Each should reach at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit before your turkey is ready to eat. You can put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes if needed.
23. If every part of your turkey is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, leave it on your stove and turn your oven off.
24. If you’d like to make homemade gravy, pour the juices from the bottom of your roasting pan into a pot. Give it ten minutes to sit on your stove so the grease rises to the surface.
25. Skim the grease off of the juice mixture and add the extra cup of white or red wine.
26. Scrape any crispy bits off of your pan and add them to the gravy as well.
27. Bring the gravy to a boil and add your giblet stock.
28. Turn the temperature down to just below a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes or until half the liquid is gone.
29. Pour the gravy through a strainer and into a serving bowl. You could also pour it back into the pot and mix a roux in to thicken it as desired.

Your turkey will be delicious, but your meal won’t feel complete with turkey alone. Consider serving it with butternut squash mac and cheese or glazed carrots to turn this traditional comfort meal into one that’s packed with vitamins.

Supplies You’ll Need to Make This Recipe

If you’re going to make Martha Stewart’s turkey recipe, you’ll need some supplies. Check out these household staples to have everything you need for turkey dinners all year round.

Turkey Roasting Pan With Metal Rack

A heavy-duty roasting pan doubles as the cookware you can use to cook gravy after your turkey finishes cooking. Don’t skip out on the metal rack, either. Lifting your turkey off the bottom of the pan allows the heat to reach all sides of the bird, facilitating more thorough cooking in less time.

$27 from Amazon

Cheesecloth

Cheesecloth soaks up all that buttery goodness and keeps it in place while your turkey bakes. If you get a long run of cheesecloth, you can cut it to the exact amount you need to wrap your bird in a single layer and tuck it underneath the legs.

$5.45 from Amazon

Meat Thermometer

The outside of your turkey might look golden brown, but that doesn’t mean the meat cooked all the way through. A waterproof digital thermometer ensures you can check the meat deep within your bird before it’s time to eat. You can also use it to check pork and beef in future meals.

$15.99 from Amazon

Baster

You can use a silicone brush to cover your turkey in butter every 30 minutes, but they drip liquid all over ovens. A baster ensures it carries liquid to your meat without making a mess. This baster even comes with a miniature brush to clean every inch after your meal ends.

$21.33 from Amazon

Have Fun Trying the World’s Best Turkey

Anyone can make Martha Stewart’s turkey recipe. If you have all the necessary supplies and a trusty timer, you’ll have dinner ready in four hours. Pair it with sides your guests will love to serve a meal they’ll never forget.