Ina Garten’s Best Turkey Recipes: All 7 Ranked for Thanksgiving

Updated November 2026

Ina Garten knows her way around a roast turkey, which makes perfect sense since she’s the Queen of Roast Chicken! As Ina often says, roasting a turkey is just like roasting a chicken, only it takes a little longer.

After cooking all seven of Ina’s roast turkey recipes, I can confidently say you can’t go wrong with any of them. Every single one earned a 5/5 rating, but each bring something unique to the Thanksgiving table.

As a lifelong dark-meat fan, Ina taught me that when you prepare the breast properly, it can be every bit as juicy and flavorful. In fact her breast-only Turkey Roulade has graced four Thanksgiving tables since first making it in 2017.

With Thanksgiving only a couple weeks away, I’m ranking all 7 of those recipes them based on flavor, effort, make-ahead potential, and which ones I’ve returned to over the years. Since they all earned perfect scores, even the recipe in last place is one I’d happily make again! So you can’t go wrong.

Whether you’re hosting a large crowd, cooking for a small gathering, or just trying not to lose your mind on the big day, Ina’s got you covered!

7. Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

Last place might seem a little harsh for a recipe I gave a 5/5, but something had to come in seventh! And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Ina’s Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast.

It’s probably the easiest recipe on this list. You rub a bone-in turkey breast with garlic, dry mustard, rosemary, sage, thyme, olive oil, and lemon juice, then roast until the skin is golden and the meat is juicy. Not much more to it than that!

This is a great option if you’re hosting a smaller Thanksgiving, don’t want to deal with a whole turkey, or have a table full of people who prefer white meat. You still get a delicious Thanksgiving turkey without nearly as much work.

But as someone who will always choose dark meat over white, a turkey breast is already at a disadvantage in my ranking! Still, it’s easy, flavorful, and a great choice for when you don’t need (or want) an entire turkey.

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com

6. Tuscan Turkey Roulade

I was so excited to try this recipe from Modern Comfort Food! I love the idea of a turkey roulade, especially for smaller Thanksgiving gatherings.

Instead of the sausage, cranberry, and fig stuffing, this version goes in a more Italian direction with sautéed onions, garlic, sage, rosemary, fennel seeds, and prosciutto. Ina also adds grated butter inside the roulade to help keep the turkey moist as it cooks. And like the original, it makes for a beautiful presentation when sliced!

I loved the flavors, especially the prosciutto, but I found myself wishing for a little more contrast. I missed having something sweet or tart to balance everything out.

Still, if you’re looking to give your Thanksgiving an Italian twist, this is a delicious alternative to the traditional roast turkey!

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com

5. Roast Turkey with Truffle Butter

As someone who will happily add truffle butter to just about anything, I had high expectations for this one! It was actually the first Ina roast turkey I ever made, so I have a bit of a soft spot for it.

The recipe is pretty straightforward. You loosen the skin of the turkey, spread white truffle butter underneath, and roast it with thyme, onion, and garlic. As the turkey cooks, the butter melts into the meat, keeping it moist and adding plenty of richness.

And while the turkey was absolutely delicious, I was a little disappointed by how subtle the truffle flavor was! I was expecting a much bigger hit of that truffle flavor. Instead, it tasted more like a really good, buttery roast turkey with just a hint of truffle.

That’s what puts this one at number five. It’s still a great turkey, but for the price of white truffle butter (and the effort of tracking it down!), I wanted a little more truffle flavor. I’d much rather save it for Ina’s Truffled Mashed Potatoes, where you can really taste it!

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com

4. Perfect Roast Turkey

Sometimes you don’t need anything special to make a delicious turkey, and Ina’s Perfect Roast Turkey proves that! It’s essentially her famous roast chicken recipe applied to a much bigger bird, and it works just as well.

The turkey gets generously seasoned with salt and pepper, stuffed with thyme, lemon, onion, and garlic, and brushed with melted butter before going into the oven. That’s it!

No need to start days in advance, track down any special ingredients, or mess around with stuffing and rolling a turkey breast. It’s a classic roast turkey without much fuss, which is especially appreciated when you’ve got a million other Thanksgiving dishes to worry about!

It lands at number for because the final three take a few extra steps that make that puts them over the top.

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com.

3. Accidental Turkey

Ina’s Accidental Turkey was her first dry-brined turkey recipe, and after making it, I completely understand why she stuck with the method! A few days before Thanksgiving, you rub the turkey all over with salt, fresh rosemary, and lemon zest and let it sit in the refrigerator. When it’s cooking time, you begin roasting at a very high temperature before lowering the heat to finish. For all that time spent dry-brining you’re rewarded with incredibly moist, flavorful meat and golden, crispy skin.

This is a pretty straightforward recipe as long as you remember to thaw your turkey (if needed) in time and salt a couple days in advance.

After years of only being able to stomach dry meat with a GENEROUS amount of gravy poured over it, I was amazed at what this simple step could do.

This earned its spot because it’s an uncomplicated recipe for a traditional turkey that really delivers. The two recipes ahead of it have a couple of advantages, but for flavor and simplicity alone, this one is pretty hard to beat.

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com

2. Make-Ahead Roast Turkey

This recipe forever changed how I roast a whole turkey! It was my first time dry-brining, and after one bite, I was officially converted.

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, you rub the turkey all over with salt, fresh thyme, and lemon zest, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. The day before, you uncover it to let the skin dry out. The skin will start to look a translucent and a bit odd, but trust the process! The result is beautifully golden, crispy skin and incredibly moist, flavorful turkey because the salt has had time to work its way into the meat.

What gives this the edge over her Accidental Turkey is how Ina serves it. You carve the turkey ahead of time, arrange it on a platter with gravy, and reheat it right before dinner. Not having to carve an entire turkey while everyone is waiting to eat is reason enough for me to love this recipe!

And the accompanying Onion and Sage Gravy is so good that it’s become my go-to for Thanksgiving, regardless of which turkey I’m making.

This lands at number two because it’s hands down my favorite way to make a traditional whole turkey. You still get that beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece, but with a lot less stress when it’s time to sit down and eat.

Recipe on BarefootContessa.com

1. Roasted Turkey Roulade

If I had to choose only one turkey recipe to make for the rest of my life, it’d be this one. Ina’s Roasted Turkey Roulade has made an appearance at four Thanksgivings over the past 11 years and is hands down my favorite, which, as a dark meat fan, is saying something!

The stuffing is what makes this one so special. Sweet and hot Italian sausage, dried cranberries, figs, and fresh herbs are the perfect combination of sweet and savory. It’s so good I had to adapt a version to make when the roulade wasn’t on the menu! The stuffing is rolled up in a boneless turkey breast, ensuring you get a delicious bit in every bite. Meanwhile, the turkey stays moist and the skin gets golden and crispy.

Boneless turkey breast can be harder to find, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can always debone one yourself, something I’ve had to do once or twice. While this requires a little more work upfront, it makes up for it by making Thanksgiving Day cooking way less stressful. It cooks faster and saves you the hassle of carving a whole turkey minutes before you’re sitting down to eat. Plus, it makes for a beautiful presentation.

And this is where the Tuscan Turkey Roulade falls short for me. That version is delicious, but the combination of sausage, sweet cranberries, and figs in this original recipe is just unbeatable.

While I’d happily serve any of Ina’s seven turkey recipes, this one feels the most special. It delivers more flavor in every bite than any traditional roast turkey I’ve made, and it’s become a Thanksgiving tradition in our house.

After four Thanksgivings, I still can’t imagine anything knocking it out of the number-one spot!

Recipe on FoodNetwork.com