Herb Roasted Turkey Legs

5 from 32 votes

An oven roasted, flavorful and juicy herb roasted turkey legs for days when a whole turkey is just too much food or you are cooking for a smaller party.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2

Course: Main

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Servings: Turkey Legs

Calories: 352kcal

Author: Joyce Lee

Ingredients

4 turkey legs

Turkey Brine

3 tablespoons salt
8 cups water
3-4 bay leaves
4-5 garlic cloves (roughly crushed)
2 black cardamom (optional)

Herb Glaze

1 tablespoon soy sauce (light or low sodium)
½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
½ onion
2 tablespoons oil (to make the onion paste)
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup oil (any oil except olive oil)
1 teaspoon lemongrass
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon rosemary
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon dill
½ teaspoon basil

Instructions

Brining the Turkey

In a large bowl, combine the water and salt together and stir until the salt has dissolved
Add in the the bay leaves, crushed garlic cloves and black cardamoms (optional)
Add in the turkey legs and brine it for 24 hours in the fridge.

Making the Herb Glaze

In a food processor, blitz half an onion with 2 tablespoons of oil until it becomes a paste. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the onion instead)
Melt the butter and combine the onion paste, ¼ cup of oil, soy sauces, and herbs into 1 bowl and mix well. Set aside for later to glaze the turkey. (Note: the glaze may thicken, as the butter cools - not to worry, it will melt back into a oil once you brush it on the hot turkey!)

Roasting the Turkey

Pre-heat the oven to 350F (177C)
Use a roasting pan and put a rack in it to suspend the turkey, so there is air flow between the pan and the bottom of the turkey. If you don't have a rack, you can take tin foil and roughly press it together to create a rough and bumpy texture and place the turkey legs on top so it is not sitting completely flat against the roasting pan.
Once the oven is up to temperature, place the turkey legs in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes
Once 30 minutes is up, we can start to glaze the turkey with the herb glaze every 15-20 minutes
The turkey legs should take between 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes but use a meat thermometer to be sure.
My oven doesn't run very hot, so yours may take less time to fully cook.
The internal temperature should be 165F (74C). When you cut into the turkey, the juices should be clear and not bloody.
Enjoy! :)

Notes

The dark soy is used to give the turkey a bit of colour and a bit of sodium. If you do not have it, you can use regular soy sauce.
The herb glaze can be doubled or tripled with no issues if you would like to use this on a whole turkey! :)
I like to use the turkey drum for this recipe, but you can definitely use the thigh or breast as well. You can also substitute chicken in place of the turkey legs as well but you will need to adjust the cooking time and cook it for less time.

Nutrition