How to Grill Your Turkey On Thanksgiving!
[This grilled turkey post is sponsored by The Home Depot! I’ve been working all year with their Weber Genesis II E315 grill and I absolutely adore it. It would make a fantastic gift for the holidays! p.s. right now, The Home Depot! is offering free delivery on all grills purchased online and free assembly on all grills purchased in-store!]
I’m about to change your Thanksgiving game with this grilled turkey!
If you’re anything like me and feel that Thanksgiving is 99% about the sides dishes and the pie, and you could possibly take a plate WITHOUT turkey? Well, this is for you. A grilled turkey that tastes incredible, is super moist and loaded with flavor. Buttery, herby goodness.
So you guys know that every year, we roast a turkey and also smoke a turkey. They both turn out incredible and everyone loves having the two options.
YES!
But, this year I’m going the grill route. All year I’ve been working with The Home Depot, using the Weber Genesis II E315 grill and it has changed the game for me. Grilling this turkey was about 50 times easier than using our smoker and now there is no looking back.
Not to mention, it’s a fantastic way to switch up your traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Without going too untraditional.
First, the turkey only took about 3 hours total. The prep is super simple. The ingredients are all things you most likely have on hand.
Second, it has SO much flavor. Super smoky and delicious. The skin is ridiculously crispy and irresistible, just like it is when you roast it in the oven. And! You can still make gravy with the drippings. You can even make the gravy right on the grill if you’d like!
Here’s a peek at the turkey below when it’s about halfway finished cooking.
I like to stuff the turkey with some onions and lemons and herbs – all of the aromatics for increased flavor. I don’t stuff the bird with stuffing on the grill (though guess what? An incredible grilled stuffing (!!!) recipe is coming up next!), but I do fill the pan with a bit of stock and more aromatics.
Also! The key is to use a disposable roasting pan and double it up. This prevents your quality roasting pan from discoloring and warping on the grill and it makes clean-up easy on the holiday when you have the most dishes!
Speaking of, can we talk about why this is the best idea ever for turkey?
IT FREES UP YOUR OVEN SPACE!
Oh yes. On a day where you have a million dishes going at once, we’ve just eliminated the one that tends to take the most time. This way, you can have space to make sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, brussels gratin, kale gratin and homemade parker house rolls. Even all at once!
Grilling your turkey is a must at this point.
It seriously blows my mind how effortless this is. I do recommend checking on the bird every 20 to 30 minutes, as well as your grill, to make sure you don’t run out of propane. But if you start with a full tank, you’ll be golden! And you’ll just be dyyying over how incredible the turkey looks and smells and tastes.
In my kitchen gift guide earlier this week, I shared my Weber Genesis II E315 grill. Sure, I know it doesn’t go IN your kitchen, but it has become my outdoor kitchen. If you follow along on instagram, you know that we grill ALL THE THINGS and this grill is perfect. It’s easy to use and makes the process work seamlessly.
It would make such a fantastic gift for the holiday season! Especially because The Home Depot is offering free delivery for online grill orders and free assembly for in-store grill purchases! Go go go grab the Weber Genesis II E315!
I’m obsessed.
Now go make all the plans for this beautiful bird to appear on your table.
Best Grilled Turkey Recipe
The Best Grilled Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (15 to 18 pound) whole turkey
- 2 onions, halved
- 2 to 3 lemons, sliced
- 1 bulb of garlic, top sliced off
- 1 large bunch of fresh herbs, including sage, thyme, rosemary
- 8 to 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (enough to cover the entire bird)
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- dried herbs, like sage, thyme and rosemary
- 2 cups chicken stock, plus more if needed during cook time.
Instructions
- The night before grilling your turkey, remove any giblets and the neck and pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place the turkey in a large baking dish. At this point, I stick it in the fridge overnight, uncovered – away from anything that it could touch. I’ve been doing this for a few years and it makes for amazing crispy turkey skin!
- Remove the turkey from the fridge one hour or so before grilling. Before grilling, make sure your propane tank is full and that you have a backup!
- Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, about 450 degrees F. I preheat all burners. Prepare a stack of disposable foil roasting pans (about 2 or 3 pans) stacked together.
- Place the turkey in a roasting pan, breast-side up. Fill the cavity with 1 halved onion, 1 lemon, the garlic bulb and a bunch of fresh herbs. Tie the legs loosely together with kitchen twine. Tuck the wings under the turkey.
- Rub the turkey all over with the softened butter. Sprinkle it with the salt and the pepper. I also like to add a sprinkling of dried herbs, like thyme, sage and rosemary.
- Pour 1 to 2 cups chicken stock in the bottom of the roasted pan. Add the other lemon wedges and onions.
- Place the roasting pan on the grill and turn the center burner to medium-low. Close the grill. Ideally, you want the temperature to be about 425 to 450 degrees F during cook time, so adjust accordinging with your grill.
- Grill the turkey for 2.5 to 3 hours, checking the bird every 30 minutes or so. You want to be sure you don't run out of propane and that the grill is holding it's temperature. You can baste it with the juices in the bottom of the pan, but only keep the grill open for a minute or so at a time.
- Halfway through cook time, rotate the roasting pan and add more stock to the bottom of the pan if needed.
- After 2.5 hours, check the turkey - you want to cook it until the the temperature taken in the thigh reaches 180 degrees F.
- Once the turkey is finished, let it rest for 30 to 60 minutes before slicing.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Ready to make a sandwich now.
76 Comments on “How to Grill Your Turkey On Thanksgiving!”
I have mine wrapped in foil and stuffd witeth celery onion carrot and injected it and my grill won close all the way
Just keep it to a paragraph or two. Then get to the recipie! Don’t need all the fluff. Good recipie though.
As a homesick American who moved to Australia, I made this for Thanksgiving and these Australians were IMPRESSED. I think they were prepared to humor me with my dry turkey breast but they thought it was so good that they asked me to make it again a year later.
Great recipe. For the past few years my family has 1 fried turkey and 1 grilled turkey. The grilled turkey takes more love, but it’s worth it . . . And the gravy is amazing if you do it right. The main trick is to put the turkey on a rack in the disposable pan. Baste every fifteen minutes with the stock and juices. I use homemade chicken stock, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, fresh thyme, rosemary, lemon and a touch of dry white wine. Also, use plenty of butter to rub over the turkey before cooking; makes for a nice crispy skin and flavors the drippings for the gravy. When the turkey is done, strain the juices in the bottom of the pan being sure to scrape the crispy bits on the bottom. Heat in a sauce pan and use a rue to thicken. Yum, yum.