Whole Oven-Roasted Turkey with Herbs and Lemon with homemade chicken stock – Dairy-free version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 4
   Take the chicken out of the fridge 1 hour before baking.
2. 5
   Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Mix the butter, garlic, smoked paprika, lemon juice, salt and black pepper and rub the mixture into the chicken, including under the skin.

   💡Dry the chicken before seasoning so the mixture clings to the skin; a longer marinade gives deeper color and flavor.
3. 6
   Put the onion, the rosemary sprigs, the thyme sprigs and The squeezed lemon halves into the cavity of the chicken.
4. 7
   Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
5. 8
   Place the chicken in the center of the pan, breast side up.

   Baking pan
6. 9
   Pour the chicken stock into the bottom of the pan.
7. 10
   Bake uncovered 210–240 minutes, until a thermometer in the thigh reads 75°C (165°F). While baking, baste the chicken with the pan juices every 60 minutes.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
8. 11
   Take out the chicken and let it rest 20 minutes, and only then carve.

   KnifeCutting board