How To Cook Turkey Legs in the Oven

Advantages of roasting only a turkey leg or thigh

Suitable for small families: One whole leg, a thigh, or a few roasted turkey drumsticks might be a more suitable festive dinner, either Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas, than an entire turkey. A whole bird is excellent, but if your family is small, you will end up eating it until New Year. You could also try these Slow Cooker Turkey Legs.

Fewer leftovers: You will probably still have some leftovers when cooking only a leg, but they will not be so overwhelming. One more meal (two tops), and you will be done with them. You could try this fantastic leftover turkey fricassee, for instance, or make a nice buckwheat soup. Or a hearty lasagna with leftover turkey.

Great for any time of the year: Why have turkey only at a certain time of the year? We love it, and we want to eat more often than that. This roasted turkey leg recipe makes everything possible. There is no need to buy, thaw, and roast an entire bird for hours; just get those smaller pieces and roast them any time of the week.

More dark meat: Most people I know prefer the flavorful meat of the leg or thigh. White meat is excellent, but dark one is juicier, so this recipe is perfect for any dark meat lover!

Recipe ingredients

Pot: I used a large, long cast-iron casserole pot, the only dish I have that fits such a big piece of meat. A round cast-iron Dutch oven works well if using just the turkey thigh as long as it fits comfortably.

• Choose a dish with a lid as the turkey cooks covered. If using a roasting tin without a lid, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, ensuring the foil doesn’t touch the skin to prevent sticking.

The turkey leg I used weighed about 3.7 lbs (1.7 kg), but a bit more or less is fine since it cooks for a long time. If possible, use a whole leg; otherwise, a large thigh weighing 3–3.5 lbs (1.3–1.5 kg) works just as well.

Vegetables: For the sauce (so good it could be a meal with mashed potatoes), you’ll need shallots and a carrot. If you don’t have shallots, substitute with small regular onions, quartered or sliced into wedges.

Stock: You will need some chicken or turkey stock for the sauce. I always use homemade stock (like in Romanian Chicken and Dumpling Soup) or turkey bone broth, but if you don't want to cook stock yourself, use a good quality commercial stock, preferably low sodium, so that the sauce won't be too salty.

Wine: You can make the sauce using either dry white wine or dry red wine.

Fat: Use clarified butter to sear the turkey leg; its high smoke point makes it ideal for high heat. If unavailable, substitute with melted butter and a splash of oil, or use rendered fat like pork, chicken, or goose lard.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to cook a turkey leg in the oven?

• Prepare the leg: Bring the meat to room temperature; about a half-hour to one hour on the counter should do it. There’s no need to rinse turkey legs, but make sure to pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides generously with salt, black pepper, and paprika (sweet, hot, or a mix), then rub the spices into the meat. Set aside.
• Prepare the vegetables: peel and halve the shallots, and cut the carrots into thin slices. Set aside.

• Sear: Heat some clarified butter in the pot. Sear the meat at high temperature, about 2 minutes of cooking time on each side. Remove it from the pot and set it aside.
• Add the prepared vegetables to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes at medium-high heat, stirring often.

• Add wine, turkey or chicken broth, honey, thyme, and salt. Stir well.
• Roast: Place meat, skin side DOWN, into the sauce. Place the lid on and roast for 1 hour at 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Turn the meat, skin side UP. Place the lid back on and continue cooking for 30-40 minutes.

How to serve?

Serve with the sauce and vegetables from the casserole dish. The sauce and the vegetables should not need any seasoning anymore but check, just in case.

We had the oven-baked turkey leg with these amazing roasted Brussels sprouts and potatoes, but other cooked or roasted vegetables would be great as well. You could try some roasted carrots and garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes, for instance. German bread dumplings would be perfect as well.

What about leftovers?

Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and reheat well before serving.

Reheat on the stovetop, oven, or microwave.

Stovetop: For quick reheating, strip the leftover turkey meat from the bones. Mix it with the leftover sauce. Use a nonstick saucepan to reheat the food. Add a small splash of water if the sauce is too thick, and stir often.

Oven: Place leftovers in a suitable dish, add a splash of water, and stir with the leftover sauce. Place meat on top, cover, and reheat at 160 degrees Celsius/ 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until hot. For quicker reheating, strip the meat off the bones and mix it with the sauce.

Leftover serving ideas: Chop the meat, mix it with sauce, and reheat. Serve with noodles or rice—a completely new main course. Make Cream of Turkey Soup.

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