Herb Roasted Turkey Thighs – A Thanksgiving Feast for Two

November 20, 2011 - Posted in Poultry - 12 Comments

This year, before spending a more hectic Thanksgiving with family, I decided to create a quiet feast fit for two. I loosely adapted this recipe from an article in the NY Times. I love the flavor and juiciness of roast chicken thighs, so I was thrilled to try turkey thighs for the first time. During the final half hour of roasting, I added potatoes, garlic cloves, pearl onions and whole sprigs of herbs to create a wonderful one-pot meal.

I used a nice free-range turkey from a local farm. A great way of keeping the turkey moist is to roast everything in broth, which I then made into a quick gravy. As an additional side dish I made mashed sweet potatoes topped with homemade herbed garlic butter (recipes to follow tomorrow).

Recipe below…

Finely chop some parsley, rosemary and sage. Add salt & pepper and chopped herbs to both sides of the turkey.

In a large deep pan, place turkey thighs skin side down and bake for about 30 minutes.

Prepare all your vegetables. Flip the turkey thighs skin side up and arrange the vegetables, herbs and broth in the dish.

For the gravy, simply strain the leftover broth into a small pan. On high heat, whisk in some flour to thicken gravy.

Herb Roasted Turkey Thighs Recipe

2 turkey thighs
a handful of garlic, peeled
a handful of pearl onions, peeled
4 small potatoes, cut into chunks
2 cups unsalted chicken broth
2 sprigs of sage
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of parsley
2 bay leaves
a sprinkle of olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. Let turkey thighs sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Gather a few leaves from each herb sprig and finely chop to make about 2 teaspoons each. Rub chopped herbs onto each side of the turkey thighs along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place thighs skin side down in a deep roasting pan. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Turn thighs over, then add potatoes, pearl onions, garlic, bay leaves and herb sprigs. Pour in broth and sprinkle all with a little more salt & pepper, then drizzle some olive oil on top. Roast for another 30-40 minutes, until thighs are done and potatoes are tender. Stir the potatoes once during roasting. Remove pan from oven, let thighs and potatoes sit covered with foil for about 20 minutes before serving. Place turkey and vegetables on a serving platter.

Turkey Gravy Recipe

strained leftover broth
flour
salt & pepper, to taste

Strain leftover broth into a small pan. Turn heat on high and whisk in flour a little at a time for desired thickness. If needed, season with salt and pepper. Pour into gravy vessel.

Total Time: 80 minutes
Yield: Makes 2 large servings
print recipe

[if you have leftovers, be sure to check out my turkey noodle soup]

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12 Responses to “Herb Roasted Turkey Thighs – A Thanksgiving Feast for Two”

Nancy Nordland February 26, 2012 at 11:23 am #

This recipe looks awesome….I can’t wait to try it today. Thanks

Reply
- Barb February 26, 2012 at 12:37 pm #
  
  Thanks for stopping by Let me know how it turns out.
  
  Reply
  - Nancy Nordland February 27, 2012 at 10:47 am #
    
    We loved it. Today I’ll try some turkey soup with the leftovers. )
    
    Reply
    - Barb February 27, 2012 at 11:00 am #
      
      Excellent, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thinking of making this too so I could have the turkey soup
      
      Reply
marianne November 21, 2012 at 9:40 am #

thanks for the recipe, I am going to make my first ever turkey breast and this sounded so good. Tommorow we are going to have this for Thanksgiving dinner, we are tired of a whole turkey for the two of us, so we just got the thighs. Cant wait, I can taste it already. Thanks again will let you know how it turns out.

Reply
- Barb November 21, 2012 at 9:58 am #
  
  Hi Marianne, thanks so much for your comment! Yes, I totally agree that whole turkey can be tiring and a bit much for just two people. Roasting turkey thighs are much more flavorful and juicier. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
  
  Reply
marianne November 22, 2012 at 10:30 am #

Barb I just put our thighs in, cant wait. Thanks again, will let you know later how our dinner was. I am sure it is going to be great.

Reply
- Barb November 22, 2012 at 10:55 am #
  
  Oooh exciting! Hope you’ll enjoy your meal
  
  Reply
marianne November 22, 2012 at 6:30 pm #

Barb, My dinner was excellent. The thighs were awesome, moist and tender. Now we are getting ready to have apple pie. I hope your dinner was wonderful too. Thank you again and this is not going to be just a Thnksgiving dinner.

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- Barb November 22, 2012 at 11:05 pm #
  
  Thanks so much for reporting back. Our dinner was wonderful and we also had apple pie for dessert I’m so happy the turkey thighs turned out well!
  
  Reply
Jared December 17, 2012 at 8:21 pm #

Amazing recipe! I loved the crispness of the skin and how juicy the turkey was. Perfect amount of spices. The only thing I did differently was add two slices of cut up bacon to the bottom of the pan. I will definitely do this recipe again!

Reply
- Barb December 18, 2012 at 4:41 pm #
  
  Hi Jared – Thanks so much for your nice comment I love the idea of adding bacon, I’m sure the flavor is great. I’ll have to try that next time I make it. Thanks for the tip!
  
  Reply