Trisha Yearwood shares her Thanksgiving turkey recipe that will 'change your life' (2024)

• Food

Check out the full recipe for Trisha's "no-baste, no-bother turkey."

Trisha Yearwood recently shared a Thanksgiving recipe that she says is "going to change your life."

While hosting ABC Audio's three-hour country music special, “Every Girl At Christmas,” she revealed the recipe for her "no-baste, no-bother turkey," which she says gives you the perfect holiday meal with minimal effort.

The recipe can be summed up pretty simply:

“You put the turkey in (the oven) and you turn it off after an hour. Through the night that hot heat is still cooking it as it cools down,” Yearwood told "GMA." “When you get up in the morning it’s fully cooked, it’s tender, it’s perfect.”

"It's not too juicy, it's not too dry, and you don't have to stay up all night basting your turkey," she said during the special. "I'm telling you, this is going to change your life."

If you want to make it yourself, here's the full recipe:

Ingredients:
1 12-pound turkey, completely thawed and all giblets removed
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 stalks celery, cut in lengths to fit turkey cavity
1 medium sweet onion, such as Vidalia, cut in half
1 large carrot
2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Adjust the oven racks so the covered roasting pan fits easily inside. Preheat the oven to 500 F.

Pour the butter on the outside and in the cavity of the turkey. A self-basting turkey will not require all the butter. Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the inside and outside of the turkey. Put the celery, onion and carrot in the cavity. Place the turkey, breast side up, in a large roasting pan. Pour the boiling water into the pan. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and put the pan in the preheated oven.

Start a timer when the oven temperature returns to 500 F. Bake for exactly one hour and turn off the oven. Do not open the oven door. Leave the turkey in the oven until the oven cools; this may take 4 to 6 hours. Reserve the pan juices and refrigerate the turkey if it will not be served soon after roasting.

Reprinted with permission from Trisha Yearwood/Trisha Yearwood: Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen.