Yucatán Turkey Recipe - ¡HOLA! JALAPEÑO (2024)

This Mexican-inspired Yucatán Turkey recipe is rubbed with the classic savory annatto seed paste and citrus, which gives it amazing color and flavor, and then slow roasted to a beautiful red-orange bronze. {Last updated December 16, 2021}

Bring Mexico Home For The Holidays with this Yucatán Turkey Recipe

We all have our Thanksgiving favorites.

The dishes we never (okay, hardly ever) eat except during the holidays.

Maybe its green bean casserole, maybe cranberries from a can, who knows, nostalgia can be found in a lot of unsuspecting places.

For me it’s mashed potatoes made with starchy Yukon golds, buttermilk, white pepper, and salt and pumpkin piewith loads of freshly whipped cream.

These things are not worth messing with. But then there are others that could use a little update, a little make-over, maybe some spice.

I think the patron saint of the holiday table could use a visit to the warm Mexican beaches of the Yucatán. Who wouldn’t rather be lounging in the sand right about now?

So when the holidays roll around and you are staring at that toddler-sized beast in your refrigerator, just think how good it would taste if it had taken a nice long bath in a the deep red achiote paste of Yucatecan cuisine.

I can guarantee you no one will complain about this achiote roasted turkey having too much flavor.

What’s Achiote Paste?

We’ve used achiote paste several times before. Remember this Grilled Achiote-Lime Chicken recipe?

It is a dark red spice mixture made from achiote seeds, garlic, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and other spices and is used mainly in the Yucatán region of Mexico. You can find it at many grocery stores or online.

The achiote or annatto seeds are used as a food colorant in lots of foods, most notably, lending the orange color to Cheddar cheese.

When dried they become brown seeds with not a ton of flavor on their own. When ground, the achiote oil is mainly used as a coloring agent. It’s vibrant color is even used by native cultures as a body paint for spiritual reasons.

When combined with other herbs and spices, it is used to flavor all sorts of chicken, pork or fish dishes across Central and South America where the plants grow.

The most well-known is the pit-roasted pork popular in the Yucatán, Cochinita Pibil as well as many Tacos al Pastor recipes.

How To Make This Yucatán Turkey Recipe

This stunner of a turkey is sure to turn heads at your holiday table, and don’t worry the achiote paste is not spicy, so it’s safe for kids and grandmas alike.

However, there are two details to keep in mind when making this Achiote Roasted Turkey.

• The turkey will need a good 2 days in the marinade, uncovered in the refrigerator, for the achiote to do its magic, so plan accordingly.
• Secondly, the sugar in the marinade will burn at high temperatures, so you’ll have to cook the turkey low and slow, maybe even covering the wing tips, leg bones, and breast with foil to prevent it from burning. You can always turn the heat down in the oven. Even to as low as 225°F, if needed, it just will take longer until it is cooked all the way through—don’t forget your meat thermometer!

Other than that it is pretty straight forward. Here’s the play-by-play:

1. Make the marinade. Combine orange juice, orange zest, lime juice, achiote paste, salt, brown sugar, onion and tomatoes in the blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.
2. Marinate. Rub marinade all over turkey and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 days. I like to leave it uncovered in the refrigerator to get a super crisp skin but you can cover and refrigerate if you’d like, just leave the covering kind of loose.
3. Roast. Rub turkey all over with olive oil and roast turkey breast side up. The brown sugar in the marinade burns easily so cook the turkey at medium heat, 350°F is a good temp. If you like you can wrap the turkey in banana leaves to prevent from burning.
4. Carve. The turkey is ready when the temperature on a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F. Let rest 30 minutes and carve.

How To Keep Your Turkey From Drying Out

The number one complaint about turkey is that it always turns out dry and not juicy at all (cue this Christmas Vacation scene).

The nice thing about this Yucatán Turkey recipe is the marinade does a lot of the heavily lifting when it comes to keeping the turkey juicy.

The salt and seasoning in the marinade lock in moisture. But there are some basic turkey roasting tips to follow, no matter what marinade you’re using.

1. A dry brine is key. Whether you’re using this achiote marinade or just doing a simple salt mixture. Rubbing the turkey at least a day in advance with a dry brine and letting it sit uncovered in the fridge seals the skin and keeps the juices inside the bird as it roasts.
2. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour before roasting. It will cook more evenly throughout.
3. Use an Instant-Read thermometer. Insert it into the thickest part of the thigh and take the turkey out when it reads 165°F.
4. Put the turkey in the oven legs first. Since the back of the oven is hotter than the front the turkey legs (which take longer to cook) will do better back there.
5. Let the turkey rest after you remove it from the oven. It takes 30 minutes for the juices to fall from the surface of the meat and redistribute to the rest of the turkey.

What To Serve With This Achiote Roasted Turkey

Any of these holiday sides would go great with this beautiful bird:

• Jicama Slaw with Ginger Molasses Vinaigrette
• Cranberry-Walnut Jell-O Salad
• Coconut Quinoa with Roasted Squash
• Spicy Chorizo and Poblano Stuffing
• Cilantro Lime Rice
• Calabacitas
• Pumpkin Mole Sauce

Ready For A Turkey Transformation?

If you are full speed ahead in the Yucatán Turkey department I can’t wait to hear how it goes. Make sure you snap a pic of your beautiful bird and tag @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno on Instagram so I can see (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating)! Also, sign up for myweekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

Yucatan Turkey Recipe

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour

Marinating Time: 2 days

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 2 days 4 hours

This Mexican-inspired Achiote Roasted Turkey recipe is rubbed with the classic savory annatto seed paste and citrus—classic flavors of the Yucatan—which gives it amazing color and flavor, and then slow roasted to a beautiful red-orange bronze.

Ingredients

• 2 white onions, divided
• 2 oranges, divided
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tomato, cored and quartered
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup achiote paste
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 whole, fresh 12-14 pound turkey or thawed if frozen
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally

Instructions

1. Make marinade. Peel and quarter both onions. Add 1 onion to the blender along with the zest and juice of 1 orange, the lime juice, tomato, salt, achiote paste and brown sugar. Puree until smooth.
   
2. Marinate. Rinse turkey and remove the neck and giblets if necessary and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Place turkey in a roasting pan and pour achiote marinade all over the turkey, rubbing it into the skin on all sides. Let sit, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
   
3. Remove from refrigerator. Two hours before you plan to roast the turkey, remove from the refrigerator. Pour any liquid into a bowl for basting, wash the roasting pan and place turkey on a rack inside the clean roasting pan.
   
4. Let come to room temperature. Rub the olive oil over the turkey. Cut remaining orange into quarters and stuff the turkey cavity with the orange, remaining onion, and garlic, if it won’t all fit inside the turkey you can place it around the turkey in the roasting pan. Let turkey come to room temperature.
   
5. Roast. Heat oven to 350°F and arrange a rack on the bottom. Roast turkey for 15 minutes for every pound, so if you are dealing with a 12 pound turkey this should take you about 3 hours. Baste the turkey with the juices you saved, every 15 minutes or so. If the wing tips, legs, or breast are getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil.
   
6. Use meat thermometer to see if it is done cooking. Start taking the temperature of the turkey about an hour before it’s supposed to be done. Insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh and breast. The thigh should read 165°F and breast 160°F when it is done.
   
7. Carve. Transfer turkey to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest about 15-30 minutes before carving.

Did you make this recipe?

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