From moreish home-made gravy with caramelised onions to the perfect golden roasted turkey, this recipe from John Torode will guide you through the whole process step-by-step
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A simple, classic way to cook a turkey, to let the flavour really shine through.
John Torode's roast turkey is so simple to do, you only need four ingredients: just butter, onions, and seasoning, plus the turkey. Firstly you marinate the bird in seasoned butter the night before to bring out the best flavours. During the first part of cooking, the liquid keeps everything moist inside the foil tent you create for the bird, so there's no chance of dried-out turkey breast. Then, once you remove the foil, the skin crisps for the perfect tasty finish. A delicious, foolproof Christmas feast.
Ingredients
4.5kg turkey
100g salted butter
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
3 large onions
WEIGHT CONVERTER
grams
to
cups
Method
The night before roasting, soften the butter and add half the salt and half the pepper, mixing well. Remove the giblets from the bird and wipe it inside and out with kitchen paper. Remove any feathers – if there are a lot you can singe them over a gas flame. Open the cavity of the bird and season the inside with the remaining salt and pepper.
Rub the seasoned butter all over the turkey. Take a piece of greaseproof paper twice the size of the breast and fold to give a double layer. Lay this over the breasts (it will protect them during the cooking) and return the turkey to the fridge until morning.
Calculate your cooking times – allow 20 minutes at high heat, then 30 minutes per kilo after that. A 4.5kg turkey will therefore take approximately 2½ hours to cook in total. Heat the oven to 220°C/450F/gas mark 7. Use our turkey timer to see how long your turkey will take to cook.
Take the turkey from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature while the oven is heating up.
Cut the onions in half and place in the roasting tin. Sit the turkey on a trivet inside the tin. Bring a kettle of water to the boil and carefully pour around 250ml of the hot water into the cavity of the bird. Seal with a skewer. Pour another 500ml of hot water into the roasting tray with the onions. Cover the whole thing with foil (I use two layers) and make sure that it is well sealed around the edges.
Put the lot in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C/400F/gas mark 6 for the remaining cooking time. After 1½ hours, remove the foil and the greaseproof paper and close the door. Don’t open it again until the cooking time is up. To test whether the turkey is cooked, insert a skewer or knife blade into the point where the thigh joins the breast. The juice should run clear; if it is pink, then roast the turkey for another 20 minutes and test again.
Take the bird from the oven and leave it to rest in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. Strain the juice from the bottom of the roasting tin into a large jug to settle. The fat will rise to the top, leaving the aromatic turkey and onion juice beneath. Skim off the fat and thicken the juices if you wish, or serve them as is.
Top tips for making John Torode's roast turkey
To carve the turkey, the first thing to do is to cut a succession of long slices from the breast. The cutting of slices from the breast should begin as close to the wing as possible, and proceed upwards to the ridge of the breast bone, for an evenly sliced turkey.
Find out everything you need to know about cooking a turkey to perfection with our how to cook a turkey (opens in new tab) step-by-step guide - including easy to follow guide
John Torode is one of the UK’s most well known celebrity chefs, having been a judge on television cooking shows, Masterchef, Celebrity Masterchef and Junior Masterchef for oven ten years.
Originally from Australia, John began his cooking career at 16 years old after leaving school to attend catering college. In 1991 he moved to London where he soon began working at famous restaurant, Le Pont de la Tour and Quaglino’s as a sous chef. It was while working at the latter restaurant that John Torode first met Masterchef co-host Gregg Wallace.
Alongside his presenting work, John owns the Smiths (opens in new tab) franchise, which is located in the iconic Smithfields market in London. The Grade II listed building is set over four floors and promises to give diner a different culinary and drinking experience on each level.
He’s also no stranger to philanthropy work, combining his experience the food industry with a passion for helping those in need. Torode was one of the people behind the “Come…Eat Together!” project, as featured on BBC News. The campaign encourages the elderly to get together in the community and enjoy home cooked food together, facilitating better social connections and exploring new ways for the elderly to their food shopping.
John himself is a chef is best known for simple, family recipes. He once said, “My world as I know it started with my Nanna’s roasting tin, a chicken and a wooden spoon. The food she cooked was always simple but delicious. Her cauliflower cheese was awesome, her caramel slice was wonderful and I am still searching for a recipe to make her apple tea cake.”
While we might not have the recipe for John's Nanna's teacake, we do have plenty of his recipes designed for indulgent homecooking. Like this one for a hearty chicken casserole (opens in new tab), and baked apples and custard (opens in new tab) for dessert.
In 2019, John Torode married long-term girlfriend, fellow chef Lisa Faulker.
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