Celebrate The Holidays With A Canadian Turkey Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links.

Dinner, Holidays, Recipes

Pin1

Yum

Buffer

1 Shares

Canadian Turkey

Can you believe Christmas is only 20 days away? TWENTY DAYS FOLKS!

I absolutely love this time of year. It is at this time of year, no matter what, that we set our busy lives aside and come together with our friends and family.

For the past few years we have hosted my partners family Boxing Day party at our home. I would say we host roughly 30-40 people on that day. We go all out from baking tons of desserts to roasting not one but two delicious turkey’s along with all the fixings.

This year I am a brave woman and took on hosting not only my partners family party but my mother’s side annual Christmas Eve party. This party will again host roughly 30+ people. I will have one day in between the two for clean up, prep, and celebrating Christmas with my children!

There is nothing better during the holidays than sitting down to an amazing classic roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Turkey is so versatile. It pairs well with so many different flavours, spices, seasonings, stuffings, and glazes.

Turkey is not only nutritious and delicious, it is extremely economical. A whole turkey will feed a big crowd and often leave you with leftovers. There are always so many great sales on turkey’s this time of year and a ton of delicious ways to use the leftovers for new meals!

Canadian Turkey has set out to inspire all of our holiday planning by helping us find the best meal solutions to create our perfect celebrations with our family and friends. Their variety of recipes, techniques, and tips are sure to help create a stunning meal that will satisfy and wow your hungry holiday crowd.

Glazes are an amazing way to give your bird an added flavour boost. The recipe I am sharing below includes 3 delicious glaze recipes as a source of inspiration!

Just watch this quick video to see how easy the 3 glazes are to make:

Making Canadian turkey the star of your holiday season is easy with so many options. You can choose to step outside your box and try a new recipe or stick to your roots with your traditional go-to method!

If you are looking for additional tips, recipes, and how to’s you can visit Canadian Turkey to get inspired. Their recipe section is filled with amazing recipes for everything from appetizers to full meals and even a bunch of inspiration for all those leftovers. If you are a first time bird roaster, their whole bird how to’s will help you get your turkey prepped, perfected, and on the table for your guests.

GLAZED ROAST TURKEY WITH APRICOT & PECAN STUFFING

Ingredients

For turkey:

1 whole turkey, 12-14 lbs.
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup white wine
1 cup turkey broth

For rub:

2 tbsp salt
1 ½ tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ground Italian seasoning
1 tbsp ground sweet paprika

For apple butter glaze:

1 cup apple butter
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp salt
4 branches fresh thyme
2 cloves finely minced garlic

For stuffing:

3 cups crusty bread such as sourdough or Italian, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup roughly chopped dried apricots
½ cup rolled oats
¾ cup turkey broth
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme

Instructions

Prepare Stuffing:

Spread the bread cubes out on a baking tray and place in your oven overnight
to dry out.
Place in a large bowl.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add the onions and celery and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the turkey broth over bread to moisten.
Add the onion and celery mixture.
Add the oats, apricots and dried herbs.
Season with salt and pepper.
Mix well and proceed to stuff your bird.

Prepare Glaze:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until glaze is thick and syrupy. Remove fresh thyme stems and discard. If you are using a chunkier style of apple butter and you want a smoother glaze, use a hand blender to blend the glaze until smooth. Glaze can be made up to 1 week in advance.

Prepare Turkey:

Make sure the turkey is thawed and the giblets and neck have been removed.
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Pat the bird dry with paper towels.
Rub the turkey with olive oil, inside and out.
Combine all spices to make a rub. Sprinkle generously onto the bird, inside and out.
Stuff the turkey, loosely, with the stuffing mixture.
Place the bird into your roasting pan. Add wine and turkey broth.
Roast the turkey for 4 – 4 ½ hours, until the juices run clear and an instant thermometer reads 170°F in the breast, 180°F in the thigh and the stuffing reaches 165°F.
Generously apply glaze directly onto the turkey, twice, every 15 minutes in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Return the turkey to the oven and then re-apply in the last five minutes of cooking.
Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Notes

NOTE: Cooking times are for planning purposes only – always use a digital meat thermometer to determine doneness.

Looking for some additional glaze inspiration? Here are a few other variations:

Cranberry Rosemary Port Glaze

1 cup cranberry jelly
½ cup ruby Port
½ cup orange juice
1 sprig rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a low simmer and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes or until glaze is reduced to a thick syrup-like consistency.
3. Can be made up to 1 week ahead.
4. To use on your roast turkey, generously apply glaze directly onto the turkey in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Return the turkey to the oven and then re-apply in the last five minutes of cooking. Rest and carve according to your turkey recipe directions.

Spicy Maple Bourbon Glaze

1 ¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup bourbon
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tobasco or hot sauce
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until glaze is thick and syrupy.
3. Can be made up to 1 week ahead.
4. To use on your roast turkey, generously apply glaze directly onto the turkey in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Re-apply in the last five minutes of cooking. Rest and carve according to your turkey recipe directions.

TIP:
You can change the flavour profile of your glazes by adding a variety of spices. Try adding a combination of one or more of the following: cloves, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon or five-spice blend to any of these glazes to add a hint of holiday spice and change things up.

CANADIAN TURKEY

Stay up to date with all things Canadian Turkey by visiting their website and following them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

Disclosure: Although this post is sponsored by Canadian Turkey, the opinions and language are all my own, and in no way do they reflect Canadian Turkey. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, company, provider or party in question.

Author
Recent Posts

Follow me

Aimee

Aimee is a suburban mom of 3 and resides in Richmond Hill, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, sewing, baking, DIY projects, and finding creative ways to save her family money.