I think I blinked and missed October. I’m embarrassed to admit that my Halloween decorations never made it up this year. I was so focused on prepping for Dia de los Muertos that Halloween just came and went. And now, as we all know Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we all know what that means…turkey! A little over a month ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Austin, Texas to learn all about Honeysuckle White Turkey. As a foodie, I love learning where our food comes from, and was honored to learn all about turkeys. I had never been to a poultry farm and didn’t know what to anticipate.

honeysuckle-white-turkey

What I didn’t expect was meeting the incredible family of farmers dedicated to raising the turkeys with love, and without growth-promoting antibiotics. I have so much to share from that trip and I can’t wait to tell you more about it. But for now, I wanted to share a super simple, super easy recipe for roasting a beautiful turkey this Thanksgiving with a flavorful sweet and spicy fig preserve with bold flavors that remind me of autumn.

turkey

If I could give you one piece of advice when it comes to roasting a turkey it would be to remove the neck and the package of giblets before cooking it. Dig deep, sometimes those items might be a tad hidden. I may or may not have made this mistake in the past. Shhhh, don’t tell my mom, so embarrassing.

honeysuckle-turkey

Before you bake a turkey, I’d highly recommend you check out honeysucklewhite.com to learn step-by-step instructions to prep, cook, and carve a turkey. I’m excited to announce that I will share more turkey recipes as well as my experience visiting a turkey farm in upcoming posts, so please stay tuned.

fig-spiced-turkey

Gif spiced turkey served on a tray with apples on the side

Fig-Spiced Turkey

5 (1 rating)
A super simple, super easy recipe for roasting a beautiful turkey this Thanksgiving with a flavorful sweet and spicy fig preserve with bold flavors that remind me of autumn.
Print Pin Rate
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Resting: 20 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 turkey, 12 to 14 pounds
  • 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 crisp apple, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
  • 0.66 ounce poultry herb blend
  • ½ cup fig preserves
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 32 ounces  chicken broth

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Remove turkey from packaging.
  • Locate and set aside neck and giblets package from inside the turkey cavity.
  • Rinse turkey with cold water and completely pat dry with paper towels.
  • Place the turkey on a rack set in a large roasting pan. Tuck the wing tips under the turkey body. Place the giblets and half of the onions in the pan.
  • Fill turkey cavity with remaining onion, apple, jalapeño, garlic, carrots, celery, and herbs.
  • In a bowl combine fig preserves, butter, oregano, and paprika.
  • Rub half of the fig mixture all over the turkey working some of it between the breast and the skin. Season the turkey generously with salt and pepper.
  • Add broth to the roasting pan and roast turkey, basting every 30 minutes with broth and drippings, for 1 hour (rotating the pan every 30 minutes).
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
  • Continue roasting the turkey until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours longer.
  • Cover the turkey loosely with foil if it begins to brown.
  • Transfer to platter and brush remaining fig mixture. Let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Notes

If I could give you one piece of advice when it comes to roasting a turkey it would be to remove the neck and the package of giblets before cooking it. Dig deep, sometimes those items might be a tad hidden. 
Calories: 636.86kcal, Carbohydrates: 14.27g, Protein: 84.75g, Fat: 25.69g, Saturated Fat: 7.88g, Cholesterol: 287.28mg, Sodium: 811.95mg, Potassium: 1072.89mg, Fiber: 1.8g, Sugar: 8.9g, Vitamin A: 3190.64IU, Vitamin C: 12.11mg, Calcium: 71.79mg, Iron: 4.07mg
Author: Yvette Marquez
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

This post is in partnership with Honeysuckle White Turkey. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.