Butterball's New Cook From Frozen Turkeys Will Make Thanksgiving Easier

We've all been there ... you or a loved one botched the go-to Thanksgiving bird by simply forgetting to take it out of the freezer early enough. Luckily, with an upcoming release from Butterball, the holiday will get a whole lot easier. The company's new Cook from Frozen whole turkeys can go straight from the freezer to the oven — no thawing, brining, or spicing required!

To prepare these innovative turkeys, you just have to remove the outer bag and run the wrapped bird under some cool water, so you can easily separate the plastic from the meat. It will not contain any stray giblets in the cavity, so just place the whole bird in a roasting pan with a rack insert. Give it a brush of oil and bake it at 325 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 to 5 hours, or until a thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast and thigh reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The centerpiece of your stress-free Thanksgiving feast is now the easiest component of your entire spread.

You can buy these Butterball birds at stores such as Publix, Walmart, Ralph's, and Kroger. They range from 10 to 14 pounds each, and depending on your exact location, they will be priced somewhere around $2.49 to $2.99 per pound.

Butterballs' Cook from Frozen turkeys have already been seasoned with a brine that contains salt, as well as unspecified spices and natural flavors. In a press release shared with Food Republic, Butterball said that the "specially-formulated brine ensures that the turkey remains moist throughout the roasting process, resulting in a flavorful and juicy turkey every time." These particular turkeys also do not require basting.

If you like, you can bake your Butterball turkey as-is, and it will certainly come out of the oven delicious — but you can also add your own flavorful flair. Just avoid adding a lot of salt, since the brine already contains sodium, and stick to extra spices and herbs instead. Because the bird is fully frozen, you will not be able to get anything under the skin, so choose ingredients that can be easily sprinkled on top. Granulated garlic, onion powder, cumin, paprika, and chili powder are all nice, as are dried or fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and oregano.

Halved lemons (used in Gordon Ramsay's lemon overload turkey), whole garlic heads, and bay leaves can all go into the cavity for extra flavor, but for the sake of food safety, you should not cook stuffing in there. Instead, bake it off separately or make a stove-top version. Now that your turkey is effortlessly taken care of, you can spend some creative energy on elevating your Thanksgiving stuffing game.