Name: Bacon Fat Roasted Turkey
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 carrots, cut in thirds; 2 stalks celery, cut in thirds; 2 onions, cut in quarters; 1 turkey (mine was 17 pounds of turkey but this recipe can be used for most sizes); 1/2 cup bacon fat; Small bunch sage; Small bunch oregano (can add in rosemary, thyme, basil); 1 lemon; Salt and pepper, to taste

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I love this Bacon Fat Roasted Turkey recipe. Its an amazingly easy idea for how to cook a turkey and gives it a uniquely fun bacon flavor that is so awesome.

No amount of turkey coated in herb butter can ever replace this delicious bacon-covered turkey recipe. And I just can’t wait to serve this mouthwatering turkey for Thanksgiving. Looking for different ways to cook a turkey? We have you covered.

Now, if you’re ready for this wonderful recipe, grab your bacon fat and let’s get it going!

This is my favorite turkey roaster!

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What You Need to Make Bacon Fat Roasted Turkey

2 carrots, cut in thirds
2 stalks celery, cut in thirds
2 onions, cut in quarters
1 turkey (mine was 17 pounds of turkey but this recipe can be used for most sizes)
1/2 cup bacon fat
Small bunch sage
Small bunch oregano (can add in rosemary, thyme, basil)
1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
You’ll also need a roasting pan

How to Roast a Turkey

If you’re working with a frozen turkey, you’re going to want to thaw it to room temperature on the counter for a several hours or in the fridge for 24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and wash your turkey, if you wash your poultry. Remove the giblets and save for making some awesome turkey gravy for later.

Place all of the cut vegetables in a single layer in the bottom of your roasting pan.

Set the turkey in the roasting pan over the vegetables. When you do this, you’ll not only get all those yummy roasted vegetable elements working themselves up into the turkey, but those veggies will also serve as a roasting rack. Two birds, one stone. Ha!

With a spoon, separate the skin of the turkey breast side from the breast meat, as shown in the pictures.

Place several tablespoons of the bacon fat underneath the turkey skin and rub it around, spreading it out a little, then rub the outside of the turkey skin with the remaining fat. If you put some between the wing and the breads, be sure to tuck the wing back into the breast snugly so that area doesn’t crisp too much.

Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the turkey, to your personal preference, and rub it in.

Scatter sage leaves all over the turkey.

Cut your lemon in half or quarters and place it inside the cavity of the turkey, along with your chosen assortment of herbs. I like to use fresh rosemary, thyme and sometimes some more sage.

Cover your turkey and roast it in the oven for 2 hours. If you don’t have a lid for your roasting pan, you can just use aluminum foil to make a lid.

Remove the lid from the turkey and continue roasting for 1 hour, or per the cooking directions designed by the size of your turkey–just cook until your turkey reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This should get you a golden brown, crispy skin that tastes like bacon.

If you want, you can baste the turkey every 15 minutes while roasting it, but I find that unnecessary with this method.

Remove the turkey from the oven and allow the turkey rest on the counter for 10 to 30 minutes after removing it from the oven before carving and serving.

How Long Will Cooked Turkey Last in the Fridge?

It’s a meat, not just that, but turkey is a poultry, so I tend to err on the side of caution, just in case. Although I know that the rule of thumb for most things is 5-10 days in the fridge, with turkey, I stick with 3-5 days. You just don’t want to have a problem…you know.

And something I find to be super important with keeping turkey or other things good in the fridge is keeping them in airtight containers. If you don’t, your turkey runs the risk of drying out–and no one likes dry turkey.

So, I like to either pull out some large Tupperware, or, if it’s more convenient, just take the carved turkey and pop it in a zipper baggie then into the fridge.

To use up all that turkey, I then get creative and make some creative leftover turkey meals–yum!

Some of my favorite leftover turkey recipes are:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie (but made with turkey)
Leftover Turkey Meatloaf
Quick Turkey Rotel

Can Cooked Turkey Be Frozen?

Well, sure. If you’re either saving leftovers from your Thanksgiving turkey or you’re wanting to prepare it beforehand, sure. You can absolutely freeze your roasted turkey inside an airtight container. If you do that, you can expect your turkey to last from 3-5 months, depending on how well your airtight container keeps freezer burn out.

A couple of things to think about before freezing turkey though:

If you freeze it in one big piece, you’re going to have to let it sit out on the counter for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight again before you can expect to slice some off for a serving. So I recommend going ahead and carving the turkey and storing it in smaller containers so you can thaw it in smaller portions.
Speaking of smaller containers, although I’m sure it might be awesome in some situations to freeze a whole turkey, you might have a little trouble finding an airtight container to put it in–and when you freeze anything, I strongly recommend airtight containers to keep the freezer burn down to a minimum.

So, as long as you understand that, you’re ready to go!

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