This is our Maranao version of Halal No-Butter Roasted Turkey. Soy sauce marinated, with no buttering required, it’s a cost-effective alternative to traditional turkey roasting. No fancy ingredients, just good, old-fashioned cooking. It’s crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, it’s halal and it’s delicious!
Litson pabo, sarap!
Are Turkey Halal?
In general, all domestic birds are halal so is Turkey, Just keep in mind that animal meat except for those harams will only be considered Halal when they are slaughtered according to the Shariah guidelines. For additional info read more about what is Halal and Haram.
Can a turkey be roasted without butter without ruining it?
Roasting this free-range turkey is not difficult at all. No butter? While ruining that beautiful turkey bird is the last thing you want, marinating it in soy sauce is an excellent alternative. Maybe you’re thinking turkey marinated in soy sauce? What are you thinking? However, butter is much more expensive here in Marawi, given that the Philippines is a third-world country, especially in Mindanao. Hence, we omit butter.
Are you looking for a unique turkey recipe?
Look no more, easy and delicious halal no butter roasted turkey is here. You can’t beat the classics, but you can also spice them up! This unique turkey recipe will spice up your Thanksgiving menu. We’ve also tried Abodong Turkey.
Ingredients for Halal Roasted Turkey
- Turkey (Free-range, Weight Unknown)
- Salt (1cup)
- Garlic (1 bulb, crushed)
- Onion (3 bulb, minced)
- Soy sauce (3 cups)
- Vinegar (1/2 cups)
- Ground black pepper
- Dried rosemary (3 Tbsp)
- Lemon
- Lemon Grass (3 leaves)
- Water for marinating
Slaughtering and Prepping
As long as the turkey is slaughtered according to Islamic rules, it is considered halal. The tricky part is finding the right source – you need to verify that the supplier slaughters the meat in a halal manner. Thus, we encourage you to research and vet suppliers before purchasing a turkey, or any halal product in general.
- The first is the animal you are slaughtering.
- The second is a person who is slaughtering the animal.
- The last bit is the knife you are using to slaughter.
As for this turkey, we raised it free-range. It was well-fed and halal. I do remember my father saying: Bismillah, Allahu Akbar, Bismillah during the slaughtering process and He sharpened the knife beforehand and it happened quickly. It is done in a halal slaughtering process, Insha Allah. Allah knows best.
Preparing and marinating the turkey
- Brining the turkey 24 hours in advance is necessary because freshly slaughtered halal turkeys are not pre-salted to preserve their juiciness. In our case, we marinated the turkey in soy sauce. This recipe calls for soy sauce, rock salt, black pepper, rosemary, garlic, and onion.
- Put the marinade in the refrigerator for a day or two and turn the turkey every four hours to make sure it is completely covered with the marinade.
Roasting The Turkey
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Stuff the cavity with a bunch of lemon grass, a halved lemon, a quartered onion.
- Tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey and tie the legs together.
- Roast the turkey at 400°F for about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you pierce between the legs and thighs.
- After about an hour, turn the turkey upside down and cover it with aluminum foil after 2 hours have passed to prevent it from burning.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and keep it covered with aluminum foil and let it rest for 20 minutes on a cutting board.
Whenever possible, avoid opening the oven door. As a result, you will have to increase the cooking time a lot since the oven temperature drops so much. The temperature can be increased before opening to remedy this situation.
The final step is to let the turkey cool and then slice and enjoy!
One of our struggles is that we lack a big enough roasting pan because our turkeys are a little too big for a small pan. I guess we haven’t given it much thought. ?
In the end, it’s up to you how you want your turkey to be done, either you marinate it in soy sauce or you butter it up and season it how you like, then you stick that plump bird in the oven.
Have you tried one yourself? Check out our other halal recipes they are great too and visit us on Instagram.
