Herb Butter Baked Turkey Thighs

Roasting buttery herb baked turkey thighs in the oven is super simple! If you're a dark meat lover, why not skip the whole turkey and just cook your favorite piece? It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!

 

Roasted Turkey Thighs are so good!

If I had to pick, I'd eat turkey over chicken most of the time. For me, it just has a lot more flavor. This is why around Thanksgiving, we stock up on turkey parts and vacuum seal them for our freezer to enjoy year-round.

And if you're a dark meat lover, roasted turkey thighs are where it's at! So meaty with so much flavor, the secret is to loosen the skin and season under the skin AND on top of the skin (both sides of course) for the most flavorful juicy meat.

Serve the baked turkey thighs with our shaved Brussels sprouts salad and air fryer Hasselback potatoes.

For a different spin on the seasoning, use our turkey seasoning rub instead of dried herbs, or perhaps soak them overnight in our simple turkey brine for even more flavor. This would also work for our air fryer turkey thighs if you have an air fryer or roasted half turkey breast.

Ingredient list

• 2-4 turkey thighs bone in - our recipe uses bone-in turkey thighs, this process would also work for boneless, just reduce the baking time.
• butter - for extra flavor we love a mix of butter and oil, but you can also just use one or the other if preferred.
• extra virgin olive oil
• garlic salt - you can also use a mix of salt with garlic powder
• ground black pepper (use less if fine ground)
• Herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning

** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **

Kitchen tools

• Glass or ceramic baking pan, or an aluminum half sheet baking pan.

How to Cook Turkey Thighs in the Oven

Assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl combine softened butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence.
3. Pat the turkey thighs down with paper towels.
4. Spread the mixture under the skin, on top of the thighs, and on the bottom side.

Bake

1. Bake in a pan for 45-50+ minutes until the internal temperature of the turkey thighs reaches 165 F when tested with a meat thermometer. We especially love a probe meat thermometer that you keep in the turkey and it displays the internal temp on the counter.
2. Remove the turkey thighs from the oven, tent the pan with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

Recipe notes

• Before cooking any meat, remove it from the fridge 20-30 minutes before cooking to start bringing it up to room temperature. The meat will cook more evenly this way.
• Turkey thighs come in a variety of weights, ours were just under 1.5 lb, if yours are larger we'd recommend doubling the seasoning butter mix and cooking the baked turkey thighs for even longer.
• As an alternative to herb butter turkey thighs, we also love to use our turkey rub seasoning too for a smokey flavor. You'd use 1-2 tablespoon of rub, mix it with an equal amount of oil, and spread it under the skin and on both sides of the thighs.

What to Serve on the side

You can serve baked turkey thighs with any side dish as you'd typically serve with baked chicken such as rice, roasted veggies, potatoes, and a simple green salad. Or you can go Thanksgiving style by skipping a whole bird and serving the turkey thighs in oven recipe with mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy.

More Turkey Recipes

• Baked Half Turkey Breast
• Smoked Turkey Breast (Bone-In)
• Seasoning for Smoked Turkey
• Air Fryer Turkey Thighs