Melinda is cooking a 15-17 lb turkey, a turkey breast and 4 1/2 lb beef roast for Christmas Dinner. To coordinate the cooking process with minimal stress and great results, let us recommend the following.

Today
If brining your turkey, today’s the day! See our turkey help page for a great recipe.

Night before
Prep all vegetables and herbs for your dishes. Dry well and place in Ziploc baggies.

Prepare a red wine or beef stock for beef gravy. See our recipe for a cabernet au jus if you are feeling ambitious.

Prepare all side dishes that can be do-ahead such as mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, etc. Place in refrigerator.

Early morning Turkey.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Rub inside of turkey with salt and pepper and stuff with onion, garlic and herbs.

Roast at 325 degrees for 4 hours.

At 3 1/4 hours, check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.

Remove turkey from oven when it reaches and internal temperature of 170 degrees. Turkeys can certainly rest and be reheated.

After removing your turkey from the oven, also remove your vegetable stuffing. Have turkey rest in pan on a rack and cover with foil to collect juices (ideally). Or, take turkey from pan and wrap tightly in tin foil. Your turkey is safe left out (not refrigerated) for around 2 hours or until the temperature of the meat stays above 140. You have just the window you need here but if you are concerned, you can always place your carved turkey platter in the refrigerator. (See below) Put roasting pan aside to save the drippings to make gravy.


At Countdown 3 Hours to Dinner
At about hour 3, remove beef roast from refrigerator. Season with salt and pepper.

Place oven racks at top third and bottom third for a small oven. If your oven is wide enough, place rack in center for placing roast and turkey breast side by side.

A reliable meat thermometer should be placed in the roast. An instant read thermometer will come in very handy.

Roast Beef and Turkey Breast in Oven at the Same Time.

After removing whole turkey from oven, raise temperature of oven to 450.

Place beef roast on top rack.

Sear beef roast at high temperature for about 12-15 minutes. Keep roast in.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Place turkey breast in bottom third or next to beef.

Finish roasting beef. After 30 minutes, check your meats. Use this opportunity to baste your turkey breast if you like.

After checking your meats, begin carving your turkey. Perhaps someone can assist you? Place piece on a platter that can be warmed in the oven.

Total cook time for beef will be approximately 1 hour. Your beef is ready to be removed from oven when it reads….Rare (135 degrees internal), Medium Rare (140 degrees), Medium (155 degrees), and Medium Well (160 degrees). FYI, as your roast rests, the temperature will rise by 5 degrees -10 degrees. The beef will be finished first.

Turkey Breast - we assume you will be preparing a boneless turkey breast. Roast at around 15-18 minutes per pound, unstuffed. Assuming a 6 pound breast, roast for 1 1/2 hours max. Remove from oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees. Remove and wrap loosely in foil. Begin slicing after 20 minutes or so.

Reheat Side Dishes and Turkey

These should be brought to room temperature (countdown: 45 minutes before beef and breast come out of oven). Place hardier side dishes (like mashed potatoes) in oven, covered, with the turkey breast. After removing turkey breast, lower oven temperature to 350. Then, reheat other dishes in oven while finishing your gravies and slicing your turkey breast.

To reheat turkey, perhaps add some of your turkey juices, a bit of broth, or water to platter. Cover with foil and reheat at 350 degrees. About 20 minutes or until temperature of turkey reaches 165 degrees.

If you have any questions while cooking, do not hesitate to call the culinary hotline at 1-800-977-1224. That’s why our chefs are here!