I am SO excited about this post because if I’m being completely honest, I never cook the turkey for Thanksgiving. Josh is super passionate about brining, roasting, blah blah and I just let him do it and I concentrate on the sides and desserts.
BUT, when ALDI reached out about hosting a Friendsgiving with some of my bestest blog friends–Geri, Teri + Jenny, Naomi, Jeanine, Ashley and Claire–I decided that it was time to figure out how to make a proper Thanksgiving turkey.
One of the most popular recipes this fall has been this Mojo Sheet Pan Chicken and there’s good reason for it! It’s so flavorful and the lemon/orange and heavy garlic flavors work so well together. I thought that maybe it would be delicious on turkey and boy was I right!
If you’re unfamiliar, mojo is a Cuban marinade that is wildly simple but oh so good. In Cuba they have sour oranges, which are sort of a cross between a lemon and an orange. They aren’t readily available in the United States and most Cubans/people trying to achieve mojo, simply combine lemons and oranges—it’s a good solution!
I went to ALDI where I picked up a gorgeous, hormone-free turkey at a super affordable price, along with the organic dried oregano and organic lemons and naval oranges. I also stocked up on baking ingredients (like I always do) because they’re super amazing quality at really great prices.
I made this turkey sort of sheet-pan-like because Billy convinced me to cut out the back bone and lay it flat on the baking sheet a.k.a spatchcocking a turkey.
I completely believed Billy because he was super passionate about it but when it came out of the oven looking like a queen, I was permanently converted.
Taking out the backbone a.k.a. spatchcocking the bird does a few amazing things:
1. It gives you bones to make broth for silky smooth gravy (recipe coming soon!).
2. It makes it so you don’t really need to brine it at all. I didn’t brine this. I added the flavoring underneath the skin, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and that’s it!
3. The turkey roasts in an hour and a half (no four hour turkeys!).
4. I set it on a sheet of lemons and naval oranges and it provided a delicious base.
5. The breast meat was moist—not dry! The entire turkey cooked evenly. It’sbasically magic!
And then I carved it beautifully and arranged some olive branches and slices of lemon and orange around it.
In a few days (Wednesday, actually!), my friends will be coming over for a Friendsgiving with all of the dishes they’re making! I can’t wait to eat all the things with my friends! Be sure to check my Insta Stories for more updates.
To help bring more food to more people this holiday, ALDI is teaming up with Venmo and Feeding America® to encourage people to add a new tradition of giving to their Friendsgiving celebrations by using the very first, custom-designed Friendsgiving Turkey Hand emoji. Every time the Turkey Hand is shared on Venmo this November, ALDI will donate 10 meals to Feeding America to help people in need, up to one million meals. Learn more about the ALDI meal donations to Feeding America here.
Here are a link to all the recipes:
Naomi from Bakers Royale
Teri + Jenny from Spoon Fork Bacon
Geri from Because I’m Addicted
Claire from Kitchy Kitchen
Ashley from Sugar + Cloth
Jeanine from Love and Lemons
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Carlini Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Stonemill Sea Salt
- Zest from 2 lemons
- Zest from 2 naval oranges
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon Stonemill Dried Oregano
- 1 (12-pound) Butterball Turkey, thawed in the fridge
- 2 lemons, sliced (I used the lemons that were zested)
- 2 oranges, sliced (I used the oranges that were zested)
- Stonemill Salt
- Stonemill Pepper
- Juice from 2 lemons
- Juice from 2 naval oranges
- 1/4 cup Carlini Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Stonemill Salt
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, lemon zest, orange zest, crushed garlic and oregano.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the gizzards from the cavity of the turkey. Using a pair of kitchen shears, slice the backbone out of the turkey (I used this video as assistance). Removing the backbone should allow you to lay the turkey completely flat onto a half baking sheet. Separate the skin from the breast meat all the way around. Rub the breast meat (under the skin) with the mojo mixture. Sprinkle the top of the turkey with about a teaspoon of salt and pepper. Add a few slices of lemons and oranges underneath the turkey.
- Transfer to the oven to roast for 1 1/2 hours. This will depend on the size of your bird. You really know it’s done when a thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 170 degrees F.
- Remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. While the turkey is cooking and/or resting, make the mojo sauce.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the ingredients and transfer to a serving dish.
- I carved this turkey and decorated the plate with more lemons and oranges. After it was carved, I brushed the mojo onto the turkey and served the rest on the side.
(This post is sponsored by ALDI. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep A Cozy Kitchen cozy.)
11 Comments
[…] Gratin over to a little Friendsgiving gathering in just a couple days at Adrianna’s house, (from A Cozy Kitchen blog!) and we can’t wait. We love celebrating Friendsgiving, especially for the more relaxing […]
This looks like an all year round appropriate turkey to me! Love all the zest!!
It totally is!!
Beautiful! Thank you. Can not wait to try.
Awesome recipe! I will definitely try making this dish. Thanks for sharing.
[…] Half and Quarter Baking Sheets – I actually roasted my turkey on a baking sheet and it worked great AND it’s so much cheaper than one of those fancy turkey roasting […]
Naval is for anything pertaining to the navy. Navel is for bellybuttons and oranges. Navel oranges were named for their bellybutton resembling stem end.
Yes, I am a grammar nerd and a voracious recipe reader and maker!
Peace
Haha you know what, I appreciate you! Thank you for the correction. And all the information. I love learning new things like this! Haha.
This weekend I made this recipe. It was the first turkey I’ve ever cooked! It was fantastic. I used some rosemary in the mixture too. I was worried that the citrus would be overpowering but it was not at all. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh yeah! That’s so wonderful to hear!
[…] of course, I made my Mojo Turkey using a Butterball Whole Turkey! It was flavorful and tasty as ever and when I made it again, it reaffirmed my internal decision to […]