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.
65 Comments on “How to Grill Your Turkey On Thanksgiving!”
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I thought my family was the only crazy one to have both a roasted and a smoked turkey! We soak the wood chips in bourbon which adds a nice flavor. :)
ahh that sounds fabulous!! we love doing both too, plus it leaves more for leftovers. :)
Yes finally someone who knows how to cut the breast meat! It’s so much better. I got a really nice Weber as a gift and I grill in the cold all winter, ha, ha, ha!
I used to grill in the winter with my old charcoal grill…… in the city…..in my driveway to boot! Ha, ha, ha!
i love it!!! you’re the best alicia!!
This is perfect for friendsgiving!!!
thanks chris!
I’ve made your butter and wine drenched turkey the last couple years but I guess this year I’m trying this! Sounds amazing!
thank you amanda!! xo i really love both!
Turned out great! Very easy, very forgiving recipe. Flavorful with moist meat and crispy skin. With the side burners on high and the center burner on medium high, my grill settled around 380 degrees and I didn’t have any issues. Will definitely do this again!
Ingenius!! I cannot wait to try this!
thanks so much ashlyn!!
One adjustment. I took the bird out of the pan, put the middle flame on high, kept the lid up and browned the bottom. Only took 7min, but I avoided the usual soggy bottom the pan yields.
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Looks amazing! I remember you talking about brining a turkey in other recipes. Do you skip that to make the skin more crisp? Or do you think brining it ahead would be a good idea? (Making my first turkey this Thanksgiving and I am trying to decide the best approach!)
Thank you for your advice!
yes it is amazing!! the last few years i have been more into a dry brine than a wet – i think it adds so much more flavor. if you want to dry brine (i am actually going to dry brine this turkey too on thanksgiving!), use this recipe! https://www.howsweeteats.com/2018/10/dry-brined-turkey/
My husband and I are going to try this but he had a question about the burners. You said to reduce the center burner but not the outer burners. Do those stay at medium-high? Hubby is jazzed about grilling on Thanksgiving!
hey steph! i’m going to update this in the recipe right now. basically, turn off the direct heat. the turkey is so big that it will most likely be on the center burner, so that’s the one i turned off.
i then keep the other two burners on – mine are around medium-highish – basically you want them on whatever they need to be to keep the grill around 425-450. let me know if this helps!!
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Hi – the link for the gravy goes to your Instagram page vs the recipe.
here you go!! https://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/11/exactly-how-my-mom-makes-her-awesome-gravy/
Thank you so much for replying on Thanksgiving morning! Our grill is heating up for our first grilled turkey…double kale gratin, pumpkin queso, the kale salad, and few thousand other sides all from you. Happy Thanksgiving. We are so excited.
Could you use a charcoal grill instead of propane? If so, would any of the directions change (or timing)?
unfortunately i haven’t tested this recipe on a charcoal grill so i really can’t say for sure!
With charcoal, I’ve wrapped the bird and pan entirely and then, put the pan directly on the lower grill encircled by the hot coals – no chicken stock needed. I use a layer of leeks split lengthwise (3) and lemons and when stewed in the turkey drippings, you can serve the leeks as a side dish with a fresh romesco dipping sauce. For a 20lb-er, 4 hours got me to 185.
Do you recommend putting the turkey on a rack inside the roasting pan?
i usually don’t, but if you have a rack that fits, you absolutely can!
Hi
I don’t have a gas grill. Wondering if I could use a charcoal grill? If yes how?
I’ve done this on my Weber charcoal kettle grill for years now. You can Google the instructions for indirect cooking. You just have to add charcoal every so often, and the timing is in the instructions. One thing we do is instead of putting butter on the top side we put bacon. It not only keeps the top from getting too crispy it adds moisture and flavor to the breast meat and drippings for an awesome gravy. After you remove the bird from the grill it has to sit for 20-30 minutes before you carve it and it has become a family tradition for us to gather in the kitchen and pick the bacon off the bird…consider it an appetizer.
Hi,
We’re going to try this! We have a smaller group so a much smaller turkey, hoping to get one closer to 8 lbs (we reserved the 8-12 lb category). Would you decrease the temperature for a smaller bird or just the cook time?
Thanks
just the cook time! if you find halfway through it seems to be getting too dark, you could slightly decrease the heat, but i think the cooktime should be okay! it will cook pretty quickly. :)
Why don’t you answer people’s questions about using charcoal versus gas grill?
hi carol – i didn’t write or test this recipe to be made on a charcoal grill so i cannot say how it would work on one!
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I want to try this. We always cover the turkey with aluminum foil when we cook in the oven. Should we cover with foil on the grill ?
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Hi! I am psyched to try this- You don’t stuff the bird in this, I am assuming you can, but adjust the cook time? Do you have recipe for stuffing that does not go in the bird, if stuffing it on the grill is not recommended? Thank you
Are you able to use oil ( Siri olive oil or coconut oil ) on the Turkey instead of butter??
This is by far the best turkey I ever made!! Had the whole block smelling turkey!!!
Do over for sure! It’s not fried or smoked but it is very yummy! Keeper!
Fantastic Recipe!At age 48 this was the first Turkey I have ever made and it was great! My 14 year old son that is extremely hard to impress said it was the best Turkey he ever tasted!
Never ever ever will I make a turkey another way. First time on the grill and followed instructions to a tee (except temperature adjustments for cold weather) and it was the best turkey I have ever had. Only did it as oven was broken. Best thing to happen. Thank you so much.
Used three lemons, I pulled the bird when the thigh was 165 and the breast was extremely dry. The breast was up to 190 when I pulled it. If I would have waited until 180 in the thigh would have been even worse. Guess that’s a problem with turkey in general though. Biggest complaint was that the lemons overpowered it a lot. Not able to use the stock and drippings as gravy because the lemons overpowered every thing else. I would stick to 1 lemon at the most.
Trying this for Christmas. Need some help – I have the 4 burner. Is this supposed to have an element of direct heat? Or should it be indirect?
I’ve been grilling turkeys for years. frees up the oven and tastes great. I like to butterfly the bird and grill it directly on the rack, indirect heat. done in about 2 hours
Excellent recipe Jessica! We grilled half of a thawed small turkey and had low expectations as it had been frozen. We used unsalted butter and some butter flavored EVOO in hopes to avoid it being dry from freezing. We changed up the spices to unsalted lemon pepper and a bit of a Cajun spiced called Slap Ya Mama. It was moist and delicious! Grateful.
Excellent! Was slightly nervous about not brining but this recipe did not disappoint! I did cover with foil when the skin browned up so as to not over-brown the skin. Definitely a keeper!
Hi
Do you use a rack to place the turkey on
Haven’t tried the grilled Turkey recipe
But trying to figure out how I’m going to cook a Turkey without an oven?
Why do you not put the bird on a rack in the roasting pan?
Hi, if I dry brine the turkey, do I still put on the same amount of salt and seasonings listed in this recipe just before grilling?
Thanks!
if you dry brine, you will most likely already have enough salt. i probably would not add more salt before grilling!
Hi! I can’t WAIT to use this recipe for my turkey this year! Feeding 37 people and I’m trying this out for the first time! Ha! Wondering if you think I can put the rack from my own roasting pan in the bottom of the disposable pans? I read a review that said the bottom can get soggy.
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving!
I have a 25 lb turkey this year and a good size gas grill. Should we still grill at 450 and how long would it take, most likely?
425-450 seems a little high. Most grilled turkey recipes I’ve seen are around 350. Thoughts? Also, do you think this is better than putting the turkey right on the grate with a drip pan under it?
I’m fretting over the temp of the grill… one reviewer said 425-450 was way too high and the meat was really dry. But none of the other reviewers mentioned it! Everyone said it turns out so juicy! I’ve looked up multiple recipes and it’s about a 50/50 split. I think I’m going to try 350 degrees…
I cook turkey on the grill every year just to keep the oven open for the sides but I ALWAYS have issues. The breast is usually overcooked and the thighs still undercooked. I usually cook at 375. Seriously thinking about spatchcocking (butterflying) it this year. Very nervous about it.
Thanks
Absolutely perfect!
By far, the best turkey recipe we have made. This is my first attempt at grilling a turkey. I am 82 years old and have been making turkey for well over 30 years. The breast and dark meat were the juiciest ever tasted. I did use wood chips to add flavor. And, I combined some recipe ideas with a Martha Stewart recipe (for basting using cheesecloth). I did not grill at 450 degrees based on earlier comments. Instead, I kept the temperature around 350 plus or minus as I was basting every thirty minutes. Took about 4.5 hours.
Let it rest for about 45 minutes. Our turkey was around 16 pounds, foster farms organic (first time as we always used Mary’s Turkey in the past). The trick now is to see if I can do a repeat performance!
Wow! I am not a big turkey fan, but this recipe was fabulous. We followed the recipe exactly and the cooked bird was magazine cover worthy. It was perfectly cooked, juicy and incredibly tasty. Thank you!
I forgot the five stars in my previous review.
If you want to have the wings and legs of your turkey be edible don’t follow these directions. Besides totally burning the legs and wings, the entire skin was totally black with burned, i.e. scrape off the black skin. . I was able to salvage the breasts and thighs to get through the meal. Don’t know why I didn’t follow the directions that Weber provides in it cookbook and grilling Apps. So I’m chalking it up to “Don’t believe anything you read on the internet.
This recipe worked perfectly and was delicious. Also the bbq saved me from all the messy clean up in the house.