This simple Lavender Honey Turkey is flavoured with fresh herbs, dried lavender buds, and sweet honey. Delicious from the first bite to the last, this recipe is to serve at your next gathering!
This Lavender Honey Turkey recipe post is in paid partnership with ThinkTurkey. All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the businesses and brands that make Cashmere & Cocktails possible!
Less is More
A great recipe doesn't always require a long list of ingredients to be delicious and this Lavender Honey Turkey recipe is the prime example. With only nine ingredients, you can serve this tasty meal to your loved ones on any occasion.
Keep it Simple
This dish is also super easy to accomplish. There is very little skill involved, which is always a bonus in my opinion. Aside from whisking a handful of ingredients in a small bowl and heating the herb mixture on the stovetop, there's nothing to do but pour it over the bird and roast it. Seriously, it's such an easy recipe.
Herbes de Provence, Is That You?
The short answer is no: this recipe doesn't use Herbes de Provence.
So what are Herbes de Provence anyway, you may ask? Traditionally, Herbes de Provence is comprised of dried thyme, basil, tarragon, rosemary, savory, oregano, marjoram and bay leaf.
You'll quickly see that this recipe only uses two of the eight herbs listed. You may also notice that this recipe calls for fresh herbs (aside from the dried culinary lavender, of course). I love fresh herbs, especially in the summer months when it's simpler for me to grow them.
This being said, if you are interested in trying Herbes de Provence (which are awesome in their own right), add it to your spice cabinet! If you aren't able to find a jar in any of your local grocery stores, here are a few brands that I recommend:
Pro Tip
Fresh herbs can be used in more ways than you may realize! In addition to savoury dishes, I love garnishing cocktails with fresh thyme leaves like in this Blackberry Tequila Lemonade. Also, if you grow your own fresh herbs over the summer months, they can be dried out and stored in a jar. All you need is a spice grinder and some spice jars and you're good to go! The same goes for fresh lavender if you grow it. Simply pick when the lavender blossoms. As long as you harvest them as soon as they open, they will be perfect and flavourful.
Special Equipment
Like the ingredients, there isn't a long exhaustive list of special equipment needed for this recipe.
- Shallow roasting pan
- Small to medium saucepan
- Meat thermometer
- Roasting rack
- Aluminum foil
- Sharp knife
- Serving board
Ingredients
As promised, this turkey recipe keeps it simple. Keeping the ingredient list short also helps keep the costs down, which is great especially with the price of groceries nowadays.
- Whole turkey
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Dried culinary lavender
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh rosemary
- Honey
- Balsamic vinegar
- Garlic cloves
- White wine
One Bird, Unlimited Options
Aside from it being delicious, I love Turkey because of the versatility it offers. I'm going to level with you here: I'm an ultra busy mom of three. Any protein that I can cook once and stretch for three or four meals is a huge win.
With one large turkey, I'm usually able to serve the dish as is to our family of five, then make a pasta dish, sandwiches, and soup with leftover turkey breast or thighs. When I say 3-4 meals, this is an understatement. Think about it: one pot of soup can go a long way. So can a large pasta casserole. If there are leftovers of either, off to school they go the next day.
Whatever you do, don't toss the bones! With the help of a handful of herbs, carrots, onion, celery and water, you can make a super tasty broth with the leftover bones. This broth can be the base for soups, sauces and more. There are lots of different ways to use it!
Turkey is honestly such an awesome economical option once you realize how far one whole bird can go!
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Recipe
Lavender Honey Turkey
Equipment
- 1 meat thermometer
- 1 roasting rack
- 1 roasting pan
Ingredients
- 1 Turkey Whole, 20-22lbs
- ½ teaspoon Salt and Pepper To taste
- 3 teaspoon Lavender Dried
- 2 tablespoon Thyme Fresh
- 2 tablespoon Rosemary Fresh
- ¾ cup Honey
- ½ cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 3 Garlic cloves Minced
- 1 cup White wine Dry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F and set the oven rack to the lowest shelf. Season the turkey with salt and pepper, then transfer to the oven for 30 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, combine lavender, fresh herbs, honey, balsamic vinegar, garlic and white wine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer 2-3 minutes then remove from heat.
- Pour ¼ of the lavender mixture over the turkey. Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Reduce the oven to 350°F and transfer the turkey back into the oven.
- Continue cooking, basting every 40 minutes with additional lavender mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 170°F.
- Add an additional 1-2 cups of water to the botton of the roasting pan halfway through cooking if needed.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and tent the turkey loosely with foil. Allow to rest 20-30 minutes.
- Carve the turkey and serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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