Learn how to cook turkey legs in the oven, then serve them in a divine sauce with vegetables. This turkey leg recipe makes a perfect festive meal despite being easy to cook. Great for any time of the year, actually!

How to cook a turkey leg in the oven? This task is more straightforward than you might think. A turkey leg (either whole or only the thigh or the drumsticks) is the best part of the bird. It makes for the most beautiful roast, flavorful and juicyโฆ and then that crispy skin on top. Wonderful!
Featured comment:
Mona: Just wanted to let you know that our roasted turkey leg turned out fantastic! Thank you for your inspiration and great ideas.ย
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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 doesnโt 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 3โ3.5 lbs (1.3โ1.5 kg) works just as well.
Vegetables: For the sauce (so good it could be a meal with mashed potatoes), youโll need shallots and a carrot. If you donโt 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. Thereโs 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.
- Transfer: Lift the turkey leg from the dish and place it on a rimmed baking sheet, skin side UP. Continue roasting at the same oven temperature until the skin is nicely browned and crispy. Keep an eye on it, I left mine a few minutes more than necessary, and it turned a bit too brown in some places.
- Check after 4-5 minutes already.
- Another great thing about this recipe is that you will not need a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. You can make a small cut in the thickest part of the leg to ensure that the meat is not bloody or pink, but usually, after almost two hours in the oven, the meat should be cooked. Unless you have a giant turkey leg, in which case, you should check.
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 riceโa completely new main course. Make Cream of Turkey Soup.
More roasted turkey recipes
Recipe
How To Cook Turkey Legs in the Oven
Ingredients
- 1 whole turkey leg Note 1
- fine sea salt and pepper
- sweet or hot paprika or a mixture of both
- 1 lb shallots Note 2
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 tablespoon clarified butter ghee, Note 3
- ยพ cup dry white or red wine
- 1 cup chicken or turkey stock preferably low sodium
- 1 heaped tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare the meat: Dry the turkey leg with kitchen paper. Sprinkle it generously on both sides with salt, black pepper, and paprika powder. Rub the spices into the meat with your hands. Set aside.1 whole turkey leg + fine sea salt and pepper + sweet or hot paprika
- Prepare vegetables: Peel the shallots and halve them. If using smaller regular onions, peel and cut them into thicker wedges or quarters. Next, peel and slice the carrot. Set aside.1 lb shallots/ 450 g + 1 medium carrot
- Sear meat: Heat the clarified butter Dutch oven large enough to fit the leg comfortably. Sear the meat at high temperature on both sides until nicely golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pot and set aside.1 tablespoon clarified butter
- Saute vegetables: Add the prepared vegetables, lower the temperature to medium-high, and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add wine, stock, honey, thyme, and a pinch of salt. Stir well. ยพ cup dry white or red wine + 1 cup chicken or turkey stock + 1 heaped tablespoon honey + 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Roast: Place the meat on top of the vegetables, skin side DOWN first. Cover with the lid and roast for 1 hour.
- Turn the turkey leg in the pot, skin side UP, cover again, and continue roasting the meat for another 30-40 minutes. The meat should be really soft at this point.
- Crisp the meat: Remove from the oven, lift the turkey from the sauce and place it on a regular baking sheet. Return it to the oven and let it there until the skin is nicely browned and crispy. Check after 4-5 minutes already and make sure that the skin doesn't turn too dark.
- Rest: Remove from the oven, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and rest for 8-10 minutes.
- Carve the turkey leg and serve as suggested above.
Notes
- Turkey leg: One whole turkey leg of about 3.7 lbs (1.7 kg) OR one turkey thigh of about 3-3.5 lbs (1.3 โ 1.5 kg)
- Shallots: Substitute with smaller regular onions.
- Butter: If you don't have clarified butter or ghee, replace it with ยพ tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon canola or olive oil. Or use rendered fat (lard) instead.
Mona says
Dear Adina,
just wanted to let you know that our roasted turkey leg turned out fantastic! Thank you for your inspiration and great ideas. However, I would like to ask you about carving the roasted turkey leg ... I just could not figure it out so the esthetical impression was not as meticulous as in your pics .... any suggestions? ๐
Wishing you a happy New Year 2020 with good health and happiness and great recipes ๐
Adina says
Hi Mona, so happy to hear you liked the turkey leg. I really don't know what to say about carving... I suppose if you've done it a few times, you will get the hang of it. And I try more when taking pictures, the every day food doesn't always look so pretty. ๐ Happy New Year to you too!
Monika says
This is exactly what we are going to make for Christmas Day festive lunch this year... We have a 1.8 kg turkey thigh which I'm gonna roast according to your recipe with lots of root vegetables - carrots, parsnip, Brussel sprouts, celery, and some apples as well and serve it with either creamy mashed potatoes or butter potatoes .... and maybe some extra liver stuffing ... can't wait ๐ Merry Christmas and happy cooking ๐
Adina says
Merry Christmas to you too, Monika. Enjoy the turkey, we love it!
mjskitchen says
This is something I definitely need to do. My husband and I both end up going for the dark meat of the turkey and leave the breast to others. To just roast up the leg is brilliant and really something that could be done year round, not just during the holidays. Yours looks perfect with the crispy skin. Thanks!!!