Chicken Dishes
Roast Turkey and Gravy
A juicy Christmas turkey the Raymond Blanc way: the bird roasts on its own browned wings and neck, starts in a very hot oven, finishes low with regular basting and then rests for up to an hour and a half, while the caramelised tin becomes a light, silky gravy thickened with arrowroot.
- Serves 10
- About 2 hrs plus 1 hr resting
- 5 kg turkey
- Probe thermometer recommended
- British
Method
Take the turkey (5 kg) out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking so it loses its chill; a cold bird cooks unevenly. Heat the oven to 230°C (210°C fan).
Set a large, heavy flameproof roasting tin on the hob over a medium heat and add the oil (1 tbsp). Brown the chopped wings and neck for 8–10 minutes, turning them every couple of minutes, adding the onion (1 onion), carrot (1 carrot), bay (2 bay leaves) and thyme (a little) for the last 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the butter (60 g) with a good pinch each of salt and white pepper (to taste). Gently loosen the skin over the breast and push in about a third of the butter, then brush or rub the rest all over the bird.
Sit the turkey on the browned bones and vegetables, which act as a trivet and the base of the gravy, and roast for 30 minutes until the skin starts to colour.
Baste the turkey all over with the buttery juices, turn the oven down to 160°C (140°C fan) and pour the water (200 ml) into the tin so the juices do not burn. Roast for about 1¼ hours more for a 5 kg bird, basting quickly every 20 minutes.
Check with a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone: it should read at least 72°C, with the breast around 65°C, and the juices should run clear. If not, give it another 15 minutes and check again.
Lift the turkey on to a large board or tray, cover loosely with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest for at least 45 minutes and up to 1½ hours. It keeps cooking gently and becomes juicier and easier to carve; use the time for the potatoes and vegetables.
For the gravy, tilt the tin and spoon off most of the clear fat (keep it for the roast potatoes). Set the tin over a medium heat, pour in the wine (150 ml) and boil for 2 minutes, scraping up every caramelised bit.
Add the hot stock (500 ml) and simmer for 10 minutes, crushing the bones and vegetables to release their flavour. Pour in the juices that have run from the resting turkey.
Stir the arrowroot mixture (2 tsp) into the simmering gravy and cook for a minute until it turns lightly thickened and glossy. Season (to taste), strain through a fine sieve into a warm jug and serve with the carved turkey.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
See also
Chef’s notes
- Timings: turkeys and ovens vary, so trust the thermometer. As a guide, allow 30 minutes at the high heat and then about 15 minutes per kg at the lower heat, and start checking 30 minutes early. A bigger bird (7 kg and over) can stay at the lower heat for longer.
- Frozen turkey: defrost it completely in the fridge, allowing about a day for every 2–2.5 kg, and cook it the same way.
- Cook the stuffing in a separate dish rather than inside the bird, so the turkey cooks evenly and the stuffing gets crisp.
- Make giblet stock the day before: brown the giblets (not the liver) with an onion and carrot, cover with water, simmer gently for 1–2 hours and strain.
- Leftovers: cool within 2 hours, chill and eat within 2 days, or freeze. Reheat once only, until piping hot.
How turkey became Christmas dinner
Turkeys came to Europe from Mexico in the 1520s and were being fattened for Christmas in England within a few decades, walked to London from Norfolk in their thousands. They only overtook goose and beef as the usual Christmas roast in the 20th century.
Raymond Blanc’s approach, a hot start, a gentle finish and a long rest, came from his insistence that resting is part of the cooking.
How this recipe was developed
Our main inspiration is Raymond Blanc’s perfect roast turkey (BBC Food, 4.6/5 from 39 ratings, and raymondblanc.com): we follow his method step by step, cross-checked with Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver and the best-rated versions from BBC Good Food and Allrecipes.
- Roast it on its own wings and neck (Raymond Blanc). Blanc browns the chopped wings and neck in the tin first and sits the bird on them, so the tray juices become the gravy without a separate stock.
- A hot start, then a gentle oven with water and basting (Raymond Blanc). He roasts at a high heat for 30 minutes, then turns it down, adds water and bastes every 20 minutes.
- A long rest (Raymond Blanc, Gordon Ramsay). Blanc rests the turkey for 30 minutes to 1½ hours; Gordon Ramsay rests his for at least 45 minutes and says longer is better.
- A light jus thickened with arrowroot (Raymond Blanc). Blanc deglazes the tin, adds the resting juices and thickens lightly with arrowroot; the white wine follows the Christmas plan on his own website.
- Butter under the skin (Gordon Ramsay, Allrecipes). Ramsay pushes herb butter under the breast skin, as does Chef John’s Roast Turkey and Gravy on Allrecipes (4.9/5, 387 ratings).
- Use a thermometer (Heston Blumenthal, BBC Good Food). Heston Blumenthal relies on a probe; Barney Desmazery’s Next level roast turkey for BBC Good Food (4.8/5, 22 ratings) aims for about 65°C in the breast and 75°C in the thigh.
- Stock made ahead (Jamie Oliver). Jamie Oliver’s get-ahead gravy takes the pressure off on the day; we give a quick giblet stock in the notes.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 31 October 2026):
- Raymond Blanc: The perfect roast turkey (main inspiration)
- Raymond Blanc: Raymond Blanc's roast turkey, BBC Food (4.6/5, 39 ratings)
- Raymond Blanc: Christmas Day plan (raymondblanc.com)
- Gordon Ramsay: Roast Turkey with Lemon, Parsley & Garlic
- Heston Blumenthal: Roast turkey and gravy, Gourmet Traveller reproduction
- Jamie Oliver: Get-ahead gravy
- BBC Good Food (Barney Desmazery): Next level roast turkey (4.8/5, 22 ratings)
- BBC Good Food (Sara Buenfeld): Classic roast turkey (4.9/5, 17 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Chef John): Chef John's Roast Turkey and Gravy (4.9/5, 387 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.