Let’s not blame family members, friends—and most importantly, ourselves—for the sad roast turkeys of Thanksgiving dinners past. Learning how to season a turkey is much like seasoning anything: a skill perfected over time. The trouble is, most of us only cook a turkey once or twice per calendar year (and who can remember what seasoning tack they took 11 months ago?!). The perfect turkey requires more attention than an everyday roast chicken. That can come via a dry brine, compound butter, aromatics tucked into the carcass, and a glaze with something sweet—ideally, all of the above. And when in doubt, double down on the gravy.
If you’re majorly crunched for time, salt, black pepper, and high heat are all you really need for flavorful turkey. But with a bit more prep time, you can deliver a lot more oomph. Consider the steps below building blocks. Stack one on top of the next to build layers of flavor, but a word of caution: Be thoughtful when pairing ingredients across steps (more on this below). Before you get started, make sure your bird is thawed—this can take a few days—and pat it dry with a paper towel.
1. Begin with a brine.
Turkeys are big birds. Brining is essential to ensure the meat is seasoned throughout. While some cooks prefer wet brining, after years of testing—not to mention making turkeys for our own holiday celebrations—the Epicurious test kitchen team confidently recommends dry brining as a superior method. It’s far less messy, results in supremely juicy turkey meat, and delivers golden, crispy skin without waterlogging the bird. To do it, simply rub kosher salt (do not use table salt, which contains anti-caking agents that can lead to bitterness) over the whole turkey, inside and out, and let the bird rest in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least 24 hours. Consider a turkey brine your first line of defense against dry white meat. (Note: If you’re using a kosher turkey, which are pre-seasoned, don’t salt it.)
You’ll use about 2 to 2½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 to 1½ tsp. Morton kosher salt per pound of turkey, explains Zoe Denenberg in her guide to dry brining. For a 14-pound turkey, that’s around ½ cup kosher salt. But you don’t have to stop there:
2. Make it a dry rub.
Salt is key, but you can also add flavorings at this stage. Combining the salt with white or brown sugar will help the skin caramelize. Aim for ¼ the amount of salt, so 2 tbsp. sugar for a 14-lb. bird.
From there, create a spice blend of your choosing. This is not the time for soft, fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro. For a traditional poultry seasoning, mix dried thyme, sage, rosemary, marjoram, nutmeg, and freshly ground black pepper. Add umami punch with onion powder, ground dried mushrooms, tomato powder, asafetida, or straight MSG. Alternatively, you could borrow from this recipe for a turkey rub with garlic powder and smoked paprika or use a spice blend you love (baharat! Pastrami-spice! Trinidad curry powder!) to imbue the turkey with tried and true flavors. Unless you’re sure everyone at your table is a spice fiend, avoid bracingly spicy chile powders like Ancho and cayenne pepper. Add ¼ to ½ cup mixed ground spice; just combine it with your sugar and salt and then pack it all over the turkey, inside and out.