Holiday turkey with keto stuffing and gravy

Holiday turkey with keto stuffing and gravy

Be prepared to wow family and friends with this turkey! It’s loaded with fresh citrus flavor, and the earthy tones of sage. And the orange butter makes the meat unbelievably moist and juicy. Best. Thanksgiving. Ever. Our low carb stuffing adds a double whammy of amazing deliciousness too! Happy Holidays!

Holiday turkey with keto stuffing and gravy

Be prepared to wow family and friends with this turkey! It’s loaded with fresh citrus flavor, and the earthy tones of sage. And the orange butter makes the meat unbelievably moist and juicy. Best. Thanksgiving. Ever. Our low carb stuffing adds a double whammy of amazing deliciousness too! Happy Holidays!
USMetric
12 servingservings

Ingredients

Stuffing
  • 5 oz. 140 g low-carb Holiday bread or any other low carb bread
  • ½ cup 120 ml heavy whipping cream
  • 1 lb 450 g ground pork or ground turkey
  • 7 oz. 200 g bacon, diced
  • 3 tbsp 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 (4 oz.) 1 (110 g) yellow onion, finely choppedyellow onions, finely chopped
  • ½ lb (2¼ cups) 220 g (500 ml) celery stalk, dicedcelery stalks, diced
  • 4 oz. 110 g pecans, chopped
  • 2 2 garlic clove, mincedgarlic cloves, minced
  • ½ tsp ½ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste
Orange and sage butter
  • 10 oz. 280 g butter, softened
  • 2 (2 oz.) 2 (60 g) shallot, finely choppedshallots, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp dried sage, finely chopped
  • 1 1 orange, zestoranges, zest
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp kosher or ground sea salt
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Turkey
  • 12 lbs 5.5 kg whole turkey
  • 10 oz. 280 g rutabaga, diced
  • 2 (413 oz.) 2 (120 g) carrot, roughly choppedcarrots, roughly chopped
  • 2 (8 oz.) 2 (220 g) yellow onion, wedgesyellow onions, wedges
  • giblets from the turkey
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1 orangeoranges
  • 2 tsp 2 tsp kosher or ground sea salt
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp ground black pepper
Gravy
  • drippings from the turkey
  • 2 cups 475 ml heavy whipping cream
  • 4 oz. (½ cup) 110 g (110 ml) cream cheese
  • salt or ground black pepper
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Instructions

Instructions are for 12 servings. Please modify as needed.

Stuffing instructions

  1. Crumble or tear the bread into pieces in a large bowl, and pour the cream on top. Let the bread absorb the cream for a few minutes.
  2. Fry the ground pork with bacon in half of the butter on medium-high heat in a large frying pan until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add onion, celery, pecan nuts, and garlic to the pan. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5-7 minutes. Season with nutmeg, salt, pepper.
  4. Stir bread into the mixture. Set aside and let cool.
  5. Butter a baking dish with remaining butter. Reserve about a third of the stuffing mixture to stuff the turkey. Place the rest in the prepared baking dish, and refrigerate until the turkey is done in the oven.
  6. Bake until browned and crunchy, about 20 minutes.
  7. Butter and turkey

  8. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
  9. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the orange butter ingredients.
  10. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Remove the giblets and reserve.
  11. Using your fingers, gently loosen the breast skin and push in the orange butter. A good place to start is around the neck and thighs. Spread butter under the turkey breast and thighs. Reserve a third of the seasoned butter.
  12. Stuff the stuffing mix into the turkey. Tie together the thighs with cotton cooking string. Place the turkey in a big roasting pan, breast up. Tuck the wings under the turkey so that they won’t dry out during roasting.
  13. Place root vegetables, onion, and giblets around the turkey. Salt and pepper the turkey and vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil.
  14. Smear the rest of the orange butter on top of the turkey. Squeezed the orange juice over the turkey and place them in the pan together with the vegetables.
  15. Cover the breast part with aluminum foil to protect it from drying out. Place on lower rack in the oven and roast the turkey for 3-4 hours depending on the size, about 30 minutes per 2 lbs (1 kg). Baste the turkey every hour with pan juices. One hour before the turkey is done, remove the aluminum foil to allow the breast skin to roast.

    A turkey should reach an inner temperature of 160°F (72°C) to be thoroughly cooked. It’s a good idea to use an oven-safe thermometer, and insert the probe into the middle of the inner side of the thigh, without hitting the bone.
  16. Remove from the oven. Transfer the turkey to a large cutting board or serving plate. Tent with aluminum foil for 15–20 minutes, before serving.
  17. Gravy

  18. While the turkey is cooling, remove the vegetables and giblets from the baking pan. Pour the cooking juices through a strainer into a saucepan.
  19. Add heavy cream and cream cheese. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Let simmer until desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tips

The best way to thaw a frozen turkey is to let it thaw slowly in the refrigerator. This will take 2–3 days, depending on weight. Remember that the turkey should not be refrigerated when you place it in the oven. It should almost be at room temperature, or there’s a risk that it won’t be thoroughly cooked.

For easier holiday prep, you can make the orange butter and the stuffing the day before baking the turkey. You can prepare the turkey up to 1 day before, or just a few hours before roasting.

Recommended special equipment

A large roasting pan and a zester.

Check out our Thanksgiving recipe collection page for more inspiration.

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5 comments

  1. 7 comments removed
  2. Rose M.
    Can you roast the turkey over night and if you can , at what temperature should you set it and for how long?
  3. Amanda
    My cream cheese stayed globby in the gravy. It tasted good, but was thin with globs in it. Suggestions?
    Reply: #10
  4. Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor

    My cream cheese stayed globby in the gravy. It tasted good, but was thin with globs in it. Suggestions?

    You can use a whisk or mash up the cream cheese bits with a spatula.

  5. Robin
    I'm guessing, since the stuffing recipe says to use 2 pieces of bread and references a recipe that makes 6 rolls, that I should use two of them, so that's my plan. Going to try this out today :-) Didn't find celery root at the store yesterday, so will kind of fake it with regular celery instead which is what I always used for my pre-keto stuffing. They were out of fresh sage, so will have to use dried - my standard substitution is about 1/3 dry to the fresh amount, so we'll see how that goes. I have never before made a stuffing where the bread gets soaked, so that will be a new experience for me. I'm also assuming that the gravy can be reheated but never on high heat - if using the microwave, I'd use 1/2 or 2/3 power to reheat something with that much dairy in it. Looking forward to checking out this recipe! As always, thanks to the whole DD team for all you do to help us succeed!

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