I’ve never tried spatchcocking a turkey before, but this Thanksgiving I wanted to give it a shot. The benefit of a spatchcocked turkey is that it cooks evenly and quicker, keeping your breast meat from drying out. Win-Win right?

In order to spatchcock a turkey, you need to cut out its backbone, then you’re basically butterflying it after that, laying it as flat as possible on a roasting pan.

I love how much faster it is to cook a turkey this way. My bird was about 12 lbs pre-spatchcocked, so I’m thinking closer to 11 lbs afterwards, and was done in a little under two hours. Which was perfect, becuase I”ve been constantly on the go lately and haven’t had much time to really slow down.

So a quick cooking bird is perfect!!1

And a spatchcocked turkey is so easy to carve. The legs come off with one quick cut at the joing, and carve the breasts as usuual. And there is twice the amount of crispy meat. My favorite part!!

Spatchcock Turkey With Fresh Herb Rub

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 10-12 lb turkey fresh or defrosted
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp kosher slat
• 1 tbsp coarse ground black peppeer
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
• 6 leaves sage chopped
• 4 cloves garlic chopped

Instructions

• With your turkey patted dry, turn over so the breasts are against the cutting board. With a cleaver or sharp cooking shears, cutt along the backbone along both sides, then remove. Turn the bird over and firmly press down on the breasts to split it open
• With your oven preheated to 350, place your turkey on a grate over a roasting pan, folding the wings behind the breast. Rub olive oil and season with salt and pepper thyme, rosemary, sage and garlic. Place in the oven.
• Cook for about an hour and 50 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 F. Enjoy!