Garlic and Scallion Soy Sauce Turkey

No need to brine, baste, or butterfly

By
Kat Lieu
Kat Lieu, portrait
Kat Lieu
Kat Lieu, formerly a doctor of physical therapy, fell in love with baking and founded a global group, Subtle Asian Baking. She is currently a full-time author and recipe developer at modernasianbaking.com and the best-selling author of Modern Asian Baking at Home. Originally from New York City, she now calls Washington state her home.
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Updated on 02/13/24
Tested by Joan Velush
A garlic and scallion-soy sauce whole turkey served on a platter, with gravy and green salad on the side.

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 2 hrs 15 mins
Marinate: 4 hrs
Total: 6 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 8 to 10 servings
Yield: 1 (11 to 14 pound) turkey

A few years ago, a coworker asked me if my family and I celebrated Thanksgiving. Heck yeah we do, and we do it in style. Thanksgiving in my Chinese-Vietnamese-American family always had a unique flair, blending the traditions of East and West, catering to the tastes of all the younger generation, third-culture kids. 

Central to our feast was an umami-ful turkey infused with a marinade of garlic, scallions, soy sauce, a hint of honey, and the secret ingredient: a dash of fish sauce. And of course, we always had white rice on the side, along with blanched Chinese veggies. 

Flavorful Turkey, No Basting Required

My turkey recipe is steeped in family tradition, stemming from Ah Po, my Cantonese grandmother. She believed in extracting deep flavors from simple, quality ingredients. Hence, this recipe features a marinade that does all the work for you, allowing the turkey to absorb its savory-sweet flavors, making basting unnecessary and saving you precious time on busy Thanksgiving Day.

How To Prepare the Turkey

I understand the prospect of roasting a turkey can cause some anxiety. With this recipe, you’ll need a little patience, but the preparation is quite straightforward. The turkey, if frozen, is of course thawed first, then dry rubbed with chicken bouillon and garlic powder before being introduced to the marinade, trussed to keep the wings and legs close to the body, and then roasted to a perfect golden brown. The result? A juicy, flavor-packed turkey that's sure to impress your guests.

Serving Garlic and Scallion Soy Sauce Turkey

When serving, slice the turkey and pour over from-scratch gravy made from the pan drippings, turkey juices, and a bit more soy sauce, enhancing the overall savory profile. Pair this turkey with white rice and a sweet side dish, like my miso and marshmallow sweet potato casserole, to balance out the flavors.

Another dish the turkey goes beautifully with is a plate of braised shiitake mushrooms over a bed of blanched bok choy. 

Incorporating this garlic and scallion soy sauce turkey into your Thanksgiving feast not only brings a unique flavor profile to the table, but it also offers an opportunity to create fresh traditions. This recipe, handed down from my Ah Po, is a tangible piece of my family history that I'm deeply honored and excited to share with you. Each ingredient and step carries a memory, a story, a little piece of the love and care my Ah Po poured into her kitchen. And now, her culinary legacy can be part of your holiday celebrations too.

FAQs

  1. Should roast turkey be covered or uncovered? Roast the turkey uncovered for the first hour. After you lower the heat, you can cover the turkey with an aluminum foil tent, but only if it’s browning too quickly.  
  2. How do you keep a turkey moist when roasting? The dry rub and the oil-based marinade will lock in the turkey’s juices. The added veggies, fruit, and aromatics help too. Trust the process. Also, starting with the breast side down helps the bird retain its juices.

Tips for Making Garlic and Scallion Soy Sauce Turkey

  • Flipping is recommended but optional—If you’re worried about dropping the turkey or burns, you can roast the bird breast side down the entire way, just making sure to flip the pan around every half-hour of baking. Note, however, the surface of the turkey may have grid or other marks from the roasting rack, but they won’t be too noticeable once the turkey is done roasting.. 
  • Stuff the turkey with aromatic ingredients—If you don’t have a ripe pear, use an apple instead to stuff the turkey. I was inspired by fruits used in Korean barbecue marinades to stuff a ripe fruit into the turkey. 
  • Don’t have a roasting rack?—You can make one by adding an even layer of veggies, like celery stalks, carrots, and chopped onions, to the bottom of a roasting pan, then laying the turkey on top of the veggies. 
  • Use an immersion blender—You can use an immersion blender to pulse the marinade ingredients if you don’t have a food processor.
  • How to flip the bird—To flip the turkey midway through baking, I wore clean oven mitts. Silicone oven mitts are great for this task. If you don’t have oven mitts, use a clean kitchen towel on the neck side and use a wooden spoon or one side of a tong inside the turkey cavity for leverage. Everything will be hot, so be careful. 

Make Ahead

You definitely want to thaw the turkey ahead of time, for one. The marinade can be made the day before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. 

“This turkey is exceptionally moist and flavorful. I'm not a huge roasted turkey fan, but the flavors used in this recipe really take plain roasted turkey up a notch. The gravy made from the flavored pan drippings is outstanding.” —Joan Velush

Garlic and Scallion Soy Sauce Turkey/Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

For the Turkey

  • 1 (11- to 14-pound) young turkey, thawed if frozen

  • 1 teaspoon neutral oil, such as avocado

  • 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Marinade

  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as avocado, divided

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  • 8 cloves garlic

  • 2 large scallions, coarsely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

  • 1 tablespoon honey

  • 1 teaspoon fine salt

  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce, optional

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

  • Dash of MSG, optional

For Stuffing the Turkey:

  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces

  • 1 large celery stalk, cut into 3-inch pieces  

  • 1 medium ripe pear, quartered

  • 2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces  

  • 2 large scallions, cut into 3-inch pieces

  • 1 medium red or white onion, quartered

For the Gravy

  • Melted unsalted butter, as needed

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, more as needed

  • Low-sodium chicken broth, as needed

  • Dash of MSG, optional

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • Fine salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make a garlic and scallion-soy sauce turkey

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Prepare the turkey. Discard the giblets and neck from 1 (11- to 14-pound) young turkey, thawed if frozen.

    A thawed turkey on a baking sheet, with the neck and giblets removed

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Pour out any liquid in the cavity and pat dry all over with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast-side-up, on a rack set in a large roasting pan (or your makeshift roasting pan, see tips). 

    A whole turkey on a roasting rack, set in a roasting pan

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. In a small bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon neutral oil, 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder until a paste forms. Rub this paste all over the turkey, including inside the cavity. This will give your turkey an umami boost and a touch of irony—now it’ll taste like chicken! 

    A whole turkey on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan, rubbed with chicken bouillon-garlic paste

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Prepare the marinade. In a small saucepan over medium, heat together 1/3 cup neutral oil and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter until hot. Carefully add 8 cloves garlic and 2 large scallions, coarsely chopped. Cook until aromatic and the garlic is light golden, not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. 

    A small pot of oil, butter, garlic, and scallions

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Remove from heat and allow to cool before transferring the oil mixture to a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon fine salt, 1 teaspoon optional fish sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper, and a dash of optional MSG and pulse until a fine, runny mixture forms. 

    A food processor with a puree made from the garlic-scallion mixture, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, honey, salt, fish sauce, cornstarch, white pepper, and MSG

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Thoroughly cover the entire turkey with the marinade, including the inside of the cavity, rubbing the marinade into the turkey as if you’re giving it an oily massage. 

    A whole turkey on a roasting rack in a roast pan, covered with chicken bouillon garlic paste and the garlic-scallion marinade

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  8. Stuff the turkey with 3 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into 3-inch pieces, 1 large celery stalk, cut into 3-inch pieces, 1 medium ripe pear, quartered, 2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces, 2 large scallions, cut into 3-inch pieces, and 1 medium red or white onion, quartered as if it were a cornucopia. 

    A whole turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan, topped with marinade and stuffed with carrots, celery stalk, pear, lemongrass stalks, scallions, and onion

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  9. Tuck the wings under the bird and tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine (or tuck into the provided cut skin hole of the bird itself). Cover the turkey with foil or plastic wrap, refrigerate, and marinate 4 hours or up to overnight. 

    A trussed, whole turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan, seasoned and stuffed with vegetables, covered in plastic wrap

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  10. Before roasting, remove the bird from the refrigerator and place it on the counter, still covered, for 1 hour. This ensures the turkey won’t be cold when it goes into the oven. 

    A whole, marinated and stuffed turkey, on a roasting rack in a roasting pan

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  11. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 425 F. Remove the foil or plastic wrap. Pour any accumulated liquid out of the turkey into the bottom of the roasting pan with 1 cup water. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons neutral oil over the top of the turkey and flip it so the breast side is facing down. 

    A whole turkey, breast-side down, on a roasting rack in a roasting pan

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  12. Place the bird in the oven and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through cooking. Lower the oven temperature to 350 F. Carefully remove the turkey from the oven and flip it, breast-side-up (two silicone oven mitts or two pairs of tongs work well for this). Add 1 cup water to the roasting pan. 

    A partially roasted turkey, breast-side up, on a baking rack in a baking pan

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  13. Return to the oven and continue cooking, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until the skin is crispy and nicely browned, the juices run clear, and a thermometer registers 160 F in the thickest part of the thigh and breast, about 1 hour for an 11- to 12-pound turkey, and 1 1/2 hours for a 14-pound turkey. (If the turkey is browning too quickly on top, you can tent it lightly with foil.) Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through cooking time.  

    A roasted garlic and scallion-soy sauce turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  14. Transfer the turkey to a platter or carving board and let it rest for about 25 minutes before carving and serving. The internal temperature of the turkey will continue to rise by 5 degrees while it rests.

    A roasted garlic and scallion-soy sauce turkey on a platter

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  15. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Channel the pan juices into a gravy or fat separator, letting it settle until the fat separates to the top. Pour off the turkey juice into another vessel, leaving the fat behind. Measure about 1/2 cup of the fat, using melted unsalted butter to make up the difference, if needed.

    A small bowl of fat from the turkey drippings, and a small bowl of juice from the turkey drippings

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  16. Transfer this fat (and butter, if using) to a medium saucepan, warming it over medium heat. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. Whisk continuously to create a roux, about 1 minute. 

    A small pot of turkey fat and flour being whisked together to make a roux

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  17. Carefully whisk in about 4 cups of the reserved turkey juices, supplementing with low-sodium chicken broth as needed (and you will need to), stirring continuously until the gravy thickens and can coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes. 

    A pot of turkey gravy, with a wooden spoon coated in gravy

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  18. Stir in a dash of optional MSG and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. If you prefer a thicker gravy, add more flour, a teaspoon at a time. For a thinner consistency, introduce more broth. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.

    A pot of turkey gravy, with MSG and soy sauce being stirred in with a wooden spoon

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  19. Transfer the gravy into a serving bowl and serve immediately with the carved turkey.

    A whole garlic and scallion-soy sauce turkey served with turkey gravy

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

How To Store

Refrigerate the leftover gravy in an airtight container for up to four days. Reheat in the microwave in 30-second intervals or warm it over medium heat in a saucepan until it bubbles.


Store leftover turkey in an airtight container for up to 5 days. For longer storage, transfer the turkey slices to a zip-lock freezer bag and freeze them, where they'll keep for up to three months.


When it's time to enjoy the leftover turkey again, arrange the slices in a baking dish, moisten them with around 1/4-inch of chicken or turkey broth, dab with butter, and cover tightly with foil. Reheat in a 350 F oven for roughly 30 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Ensure the leftovers reach a minimum safe temperature of 165 F before serving.

Feeling Adventurous? Try This:

  • Add a little yogurt to the marinade—Add two tablespoons Greek yogurt to the marinade. The acidity from the yogurt will make the turkey even more tender. 
  • Use other vegetables for stuffing—Feel free to stuff the turkey with different fruits and vegetables. Be creative! 
  • Just serve with the juices—Instead of making the gravy, you can serve the turkey with its own juices instead, like an au jus, and drizzle chili crisp oil over the meat for added heat!
  • Add spices to the rub—You can add some five spice or cumin to the dry rub for a different spin and added flavor.
  • Eat the gravy for breakfast—The gravy, by the way, is amazing over white rice. For breakfast the next day, try drizzling leftover gravy over rice with fried eggs, and top with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
1399 Calories
64g Fat
11g Carbs
183g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 1399
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 64g 82%
Saturated Fat 18g 90%
Cholesterol 705mg 235%
Sodium 1467mg 64%
Total Carbohydrate 11g 4%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 183g
Vitamin C 2mg 9%
Calcium 105mg 8%
Iron 8mg 42%
Potassium 1599mg 34%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)