AIP Turkey Dinner
Well Christmas came this year despite the Grinches of the world, myself included, doing their best to avoid the whole thing. Without a doubt, for me, one of the hardest parts about MCTD is when I am forced into a situation like a group dinner where there is just no way I am going to risk cross contamination. The chances of me eating something with gluten is far too high so I had to make my own AIP safe turkey dinner this year...and it turned out absolutely amazing.
I was a little worried about stuffing a frozen turkey, and I think for many people it will be better to not stuff your turkey with dressing as this opens the door for the potential of bacteria from the turkey not reaching a high enough temperature during cooking. If you do stuff yours like I did, for maximum flavor in the dressing, you had better be sure that you get the internal temperature to the minimum safe 165 degrees.
When I first heard of cooking a turkey from frozen I was apprehensive about it, but I have been cooking my turkeys from frozen for many years now and would prefer this to any other way. It is easier, and the meat stays more moist and juicy. This is especially important when using a regular, non-processed turkey. Butterball and other brined birds have ingredients that are not AIP safe so you should not be using these. Unfortunately this means that the bird you do cook will probably be more tough than that tender Butterball you are used to. You could actually brine your turkey yourself if you wanted to defrost it in the refrigerator and then soak it in a giant tub of salt water brine for a day or two...but ain't nobody got time for that.
Is it safe to cook a turkey from frozen? - Absolutely. I think actually it is safer than any other method. First of all, you know that you should never defrost a turkey on your counter or in your sink, right? A turkey should be defrosted in your refrigerator over the course of a week or so...but how many people actually do this? Then you also have dripping raw turkey juices contaminating your entire kitchen, sink, and fridge. As long as you observe safe final cooked temperatures of over 165 degrees in all areas like near the bone in the thigh, or the thickest part of the breast, then you will be safe no matter what the temperature of the bird when it started cooking.
Prep time
40 minutes
Cooking time
6 hours
Recipe yield
4 to 6 servings (plus turkey leftovers)
Ingredients needed
15 lb frozen turkey (read ingredients - no brine!)
2 carrots
2 parsnips
5 large sweet potatoes
1 onion
1 cup of fresh cranberries
4 stalks of celery
1 head of cauliflower
1 crown of broccoli
4 teaspoons pink salt
1 package fresh sage
1 package fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons of ground sage
1/3 cup of coconut flour (or other AIP safe flour)
Turkey & Stuffing
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Step 2 - Put frozen turkey in deep, uncovered, roasting pan. If the pan is strong use a wire rack for the turkey to sit on top of
Step 3 - Cook turkey for one hour or until you can get inside the cavity to remove giblets and add stuffing
Step 4 - While turkey is getting started prepare stuffing by peeling carrots and parsnips (and one sweet potato)
Step 5 - Chop carrots, parsnips, celery and one sweet potato into bite sized pieces for the stuffing
Step 6 - Add cranberries, 1 teaspoon of ground sage, and 1 teaspoon of salt to stuffing mixture
Step 7 - When turkey has defrosted enough stuff the cavity with dressing as well as fresh sage and fresh rosemary
Step 8 - Put turkey back in oven and continue cooking at 325 degrees for about six hours (until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees)
Step 9 - When turkey reaches internal temperature of 150 degrees raise oven temperature to 400 degrees to help brown the skin
Step 10 - When turkey reaches 170 degrees remove from oven, tent with foil, and cover with a kitchen towel for 45 minutes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Step 11 - Peel, chop and boil the rest of the sweet potatoes. Once soft they can be drained, mashed, seasoned with salt and served
Broccoli & Cauliflower
Step 12 - Roughly chop broccoli and wrap in foil. Put in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes when the turkey comes out
Step 13 - Roughly chop cauliflower and add fresh rosemary and sage before wrapping in foil. Put in oven 15 minutes before broccoli
Gravy
Step 14 - Remove juices from turkey pan and save. When the oil and water separates use a turkey baster to remove the oil layer on top
Step 15 - Use 1/2 cup of the turkey fat along with 1/3 cup of coconut flour to make a roux for the gravy in a small saucepan
Step 16 - Cook roux over medium heat for five minutes, stirring continuously, before reducing to minimum
Step 17 - Add liquid stock from the turkey to gravy until desired thickness is achieved
Step 18 - Add 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon ground sage (or fresh sage) to the gravy and let simmer on low for ten minutes
Internal temperature - The turkey will rise in internal temperature by about five degrees or so as it is resting, tented with foil, and covered with a kitchen towel to keep it warm. Be sure to take temperature measurements from multiple places around the bird. If you are choosing to cook stuffing inside the turkey then there is risk for harmful bacteria if the temperature of the stuffing does not uniformly reach a temperature minimum of 165 degrees.
There is no one part of this recipe that is especially hard except perhaps the timing of getting everything to be done at the same time. This is the real benefit that experience provides and pretty much anyone who has prepared a Christmas day or Thanksgiving turkey feast knows that it can be a challenge to have everything cooked right, as well as being right on time. Depending on the size and weight of your turkey you may have to adjust the cooking time by an hour or more in either direction. Your meat thermometer, as with pretty much all of the recipes on this website, is critical for getting the timing and temperature just right.
Since you are cooking from frozen and this turkey is going to be in the oven for quite a while it will be even more important than normal that you baste the turkey often. I like to pull the turkey out about once per hour and go to town with the turkey baster both on, as well as inside, the turkey. Just be sure to minimize the time you have the turkey out of the over so as to avoid disrupting the cooking process too much.
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About the author - Steve Goodale is a blogger and technical specialist from Ontario Canada, winner of the 2018 Industry Leadership Award, who reaches over three million readers per year with his popular pool and spa blog. Steve started the www.CookForMeBaby.com blog about healthy eating after being diagnosed with a rare and incurable autoimmune disease. You can read more on his story about life with MCTD here. For more healthy cooking inspiration check out his other delicious recipes.
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