For a golden, flavorful Thanksgiving turkey, a compound butter for a turkey is your secret weapon. With butter, fresh herbs, citrus zest, and garlic, it infuses the turkey with incredible taste while keeping it moist and tender. Prep it in minutes and use it while roasting your bird. Make sure your Thanksgiving dinner is a success with this simple yet delicious compound butter recipe for a perfectly roasted turkey.
For years I've made an herbed compound butter for my turkey. Using a compound butter helps give it a golden, crispy skin, thanks to the fat content in the butter. It infuses flavor, keeps the meat juicy, so that beautiful bird elicits ooo's and ahhh's when you pull it from the oven. Sounds good right? It is, and it's easy to make.
Why You'll Like This Recipe
- It's simple easy recipe.
- Make compound butter for turkey ahead and refrigerate or freeze.
- Adds flavor, moisture, and color as the turkey roasts.
- Make it with or without salt and pepper.
Add a slice of compound butter to each of the roast bone-in chicken breasts while they are finishing in the oven.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, especially if you dry brine your turkey. If the turkey is not brined, I still use unsalted butter. Salt the bird first for more control, then use the compound butter. If you want to use salted butter, reduce salt elsewhere.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves are best for that punchy flavor.
- Herbs: Choose herbs such as fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and rosemary, sage, chives and marjoram. You don't need all of them, choose your favorite combination of herbs.
- Citrus: I love to add lemon zest to my turkey butter. Orange zest is another good option, or even both. The zest is where the aromatic oils are and it gives fresh flavor to the butter.
Please see the recipe card for measurements, salt and black pepper. Note salt and pepper are optional.
For the best turkey, brine baby brine, and then use your compound butter. If you've never done it, here's my turkey dry brine tutorial. It's super easy and way easier than wet brining giving you a flavorful turkey.
Chef's note: What is a compound butter? It’s any butter blended with herbs, spices, citrus zest, garlic, honey, and many other flavoring possibilities. They are sometimes called infused butters or flavored butters. Using them is a great way to add extra flavor to food and can be used almost anywhere you'd use plain butter. Compound butters can be made savory (as in this compound butter for turkey) or sweet compound butter, as in this maple vanilla butter. There are also speciality butters such as blue cheese butter, truffle butter, and this miso butter which is terrific on fish and seafood.
Substitutions and Variations
- Vary the herbs and citrus, or skip the citrus.
- Substitute garlic powder for fresh garlic. Use ¼ teaspoon per clove of garlic.
- Make a lemon, parsley, dill butter.
- Make a compound butter with Southwestern flavors adding cumin, coriander, and chili powder, paprika, or smoked paprika.
- If you have no fresh herbs, use half of the amount of dried herbs. Compound butter made with dried herbs needs to time to stand for the herbs to rehydrate and soften a bit before using.
Use a slice of this butter to dress up simple blanched green beans. They take 5 minutes!
Chef's tip on using fresh herbs: Wet herbs do not chop well, so wash your herbs ahead of time and let them dry on a clean kitchen towel on the counter. When they are good and dry, then chop them for the best results.
How to Make a Compound Butter
Start with very soft butter at room temperature for the easiest mixing. Do not melt the butter. Get out a piece of parchment paper, waxed paper, or plastic wrap and some kitchen twine (or rubber bands) to make the butter log. Do not use aluminum foil. It reacts with certain ingredients (like acidic ones) and also tears easily.
Chef's tip: How to get very fine garlic. Biting into a piece of raw garlic is not pleasant. Rather than simply chopping garlic, use one of three techniques: use a microplane zester and zest the garlic fine, chop fine and smear into a paste with the back of your chef's knife, or use a garlic press and chop it finer by hand. Either way, you're creating a fine garlic paste that easily incorporates into butter. No biting into a piece of raw garlic.
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How to Use Compound Butter
As a general rule, allow the turkey to stand unwrapped at room temperature for one hour to get the chill off before applying compound butter, then apply herb compound butter for turkey before roasting. The flavors from the butter melt in during roasting and self-baste the meat.
For best application, work with room temperature butter. Use it for a whole turkey or for a turkey breast.
With dampened hands, gently insert fingers between the turkey skin and meat to loosen the skin. Slowly work your fingers as far back under the breast skin and near the legs as possible. The skin stretches a fair amount but be careful not to tear it.
When skin is loosened, spread some of the compound butter in three places:
- Under the skin of the turkey.
- On top of the turkey breast and legs.
- A little inside the cavity of the turkey, rubbing it on the inside walls.
How much you use depends on the size of your turkey. You won't use it all (save the extra). Don't over-do it for delicious a golden, delicious roast turkey. Save the rest for more delicious dishes. Once applied, the turkey is ready to roast.
Serving Suggestions
There are many ways to use a compound butter for turkey beyond turkey!
- It's wonderful on roast chicken, grilled steak, or grilled or baked fish.
- Try it in riced mashed potatoes or whipped sweet potatoes.
- Add some to simple vegetables to elevate their flavor.
- Use it to butter rolls or toasted bread.
- In summer it's terrific on grilled corn on the cob.
- Smear it on a slice of this naturally gluten-free cornbread.
If the compound butter is cold and solidified, allow it to soften at room temperature to use for the best flavor.
Storage
Compound butter lasts 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator when stored properly rolled and wrapped or in an airtight container to keep it fresh and prevent it from absorbing refrigerator odors.
For longer storage, freeze butter for up to 3 months. Slice off just what you need when ready to use.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use salted butter but be sure to adjust salt in other areas to balance the saltiness.
If you smear some of the turkey compound butter under the skin of the breast meat as well as over the top before roasting, the turkey self-bastes.
Plant butters can work in place of dairy butter. Use a stick for, not a tub of whipped or light vegan butter.
Recipes to Use Compound Butter
Use compound butter for turkey for more than turkey! Add some to potatoes dishes. Place a sliver on chicken breasts before oven roasting. Use for a whole roast chicken. Use over simple steamed or blanched vegetables for flavor. It's really versatile.
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📖 Recipe
Compound Butter for Turkey
Ingredients
- 8 ounces unsalted butter or salted butter 2 sticks, half pound.
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 large fresh garlic cloves zested or chopped fine and smeared into a paste
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional
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Instructions
- Be sure the butter is very soft before you start blending. Allow it to stand at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Do not melt the butter if you try to speed up the process.
- Chop the herbs very fine so the blend into the soft butter well. Zest the garlic fine or chop fine then smear into a paste with the back of your chef's knife, into a paste. Add the butter and all herbs, garlic, and zest if using to a small bowl. Blend well with a flexible spatula until ingredients are evenly distributed.
- See photos in the post for help! To make a butter log, place the herbed butter on a full size (12"x16") piece of parchment paper or waxed paper. Using a spatula, spread it into a log shape in the bottom third of the paper with the short edge at the top. Fold the bottom of the paper over the top of the butter, then with your fingers or the spatula, gently pull the paper back against the butter to tighten it into a log. Roll the log the entire length of the parchment. Twist end the opposite way from each other and tie them to secure.
- Compound butter lasts 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. Wrap the log in plastic film for more protection if desired. Freeze for up to 3 months. Slice off just what you need to use.
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