Last updated on September 29th, 2018 at 02:46 pm
These Maple Mustard Roasted Turkey Thighs are super juicy, delicious and a great alternative for roasting a whole turkey.
Are you a dark meat or a white meat lover when it comes to your Thanksgiving turkey? I, personally, love my dark meat, whether it’s turkey or chicken. While I still like breast, I love a nice juicy turkey thigh. Since it’s just me and my husband, unless we’re hosting Thanksgiving at our house, I hardly ever make a whole turkey. I prefer just roasting a couple thighs, drumsticks or just the breast. Hubs is the breast fan when it comes to his poultry but this time I won and made some turkey thighs.
Turkey thighs really are a great alternative to having to cook a whole turkey, especially when there aren’t a lot of people you’re planning on feeding. My thighs here were quite big, so they generously fed 4 people, but you could always cook more if preferred. You could even mix it up and buy the drumsticks as well, or a breast.
But these turkey thighs here are all about that maple mustard glaze which is really simple to make and so good, plus they give your turkey thighs a nice sheen and color.
I added a bunch of celery, onions and carrots to the roasting pan so as it cooks, you baste your turkey with all those great flavors, making your turkey thighs nice and juicy and super flavorful.
In the end we actually ended up eating the carrots because we love roasted carrots, plus we strained all the liquid through a sieve and drizzled it over the turkey thighs. You could also make some gravy with it, but I found it wasn’t necessary to add flour to it and butter, it was just as great as it was.
I served this with the harvest rice I shared the other day.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Maple Mustard Roasted Turkey Thighs
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter unsalted
- 1 tsp rosemary fresh, chopped
- 1 tsp thyme fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 turkey thighs bone in w/ skin, washed and dried (about 2-3 lb)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1 large onion chopped
- 5 stalks celery chopped
- 5 carrots chopped
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a small sauce pan add the butter and melt over medium high heat. Add the rosemary, thyme, smoked paprika, dijon mustard, maple syrup and stir. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
- Score the skin of the turkey thighs. Season your turkey thighs with salt and pepper. Pour about 3/4 of the maple/mustard mixture over the thighs and toss.
- Add the water to a roasting pan, then add the onion, celery, carrots, rosemary, and thyme. Place a roasting rack in the pan.
- Place the turkey thighs, skin side up, on the rack and brush with remaining maple/mustard glaze.
- Roast for 2 hours or until the internal temperature reads 175-180F, basting every 30 minutes with the juices from the pan.
- Remove from the oven and cover the thighs with aluminum foil. Let them rest for 10 minutes before slicing them.
Watch How To Make It
Notes
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Marianne says
July 2, 2019 at 2:35 pmThank you very much for such an awesome and easy recipe. My fiance says it’s like coming home to a gourmet meal. I’ve tried this recipe with turkey thighs, breast, and drumsticks and rate them in that order as well. I would love to try this with an entire turkey…any thoughts on that? Much appreciated. Again, super delicious!
Sue says
May 14, 2019 at 2:22 pmGreat recipe. Makes lots of sauce–can easily double the meat to 3+ lbs.