Low Sodium Apricot Mustard Glazed Roast Turkey

Low Sodium Apricot Mustard Glazed Roast Turkey

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings! Who doesn’t love that? A roast turkey is a staple of many holiday meals; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s to name a few. It also makes for a great Sunday night dinner. The Holidays are especially hard on those of us who strive to live the low sodium life. We are encouraged to eat and eat alongside our relatives and friends. After many attempts, I have perfected our new traditional bird – a low sodium apricot mustard glazed roast turkey.

Holidays Can Ruin A Low Sodium Diet!

The typical American consumes between 3,300 and 4,000 mg of sodium a day. Thanksgiving dinner alone can easily blow past those limits. Turkeys being smoked, brined, and/or fried, can come in at over 500 mg per 3 oz.  Then add up to 300 mg. for gravy. Stuffing can hide up to 600 mg of sodium a serving.  A biscuit or dinner roll can add over 300 mg each. Pumpkin pie doesn’t seem salty, but salt can hide in the filling, crust, and cream topping that can add another 350 mg to the pile. That doesn’t even cover the sweet potatoes with marshmallows, the green bean casserole with french fired onion sticks on top. I could go on and on.

Cooking from scratch can help hack the salt.  I knew to succeed at a low sodium life, I would have to perfect a Turkey that I could cook and serve to friends and family and not have them know it was low sodium from the taste. I took a few stabs at different styles of cooking and seasonings, but I really hit it out of the park when I tried a glaze for the Turkey.

Glazing For A Perfectly Moist Turkey

Chef friends have told me that glazing is a perfect way to help keep moist any protein that tends to dry out easily in the cooking process. It is a great technique to use on fish, pork, chicken, or in our case turkey. The sugars in a glaze quickly caramelize and creates a “seal” around the skin to keep in the moisture. I love the combination of sweet and tangy. The Apricot and Mustard in this glaze provide it perfectly. The bonus is that the Mustard is one of the best tasting stone ground mustards I have ever found. You can read more about it here.

You Have To Read The Nutrition Labels

When shopping for turkeys, make sure you check each label carefully. Many turkeys are soaked in a salt-water brine to plump them up, and then dipped in another saltwater bath prior to being frozen. Try to find a turkey with the lowest sodium content possible. This means looking for words like fresh, organic, and free range. Do not just go by those words though. Sadly they don’t guarantee low sodium. The best turkey I have found so far is the Nature’s Rancher Brand that I found at my local Whole Foods.

 The Recipe For Low Sodium Apricot Mustard Glazed Roast Turkey

Low Sodium Apricot Mustard Glazed Roast Turkey

Christopher Lower

Perfect Low Sodium Roast Turkey for the Holidays or any Family Meal

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 12 hours hrs

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 16 hours hrs

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Calories 285.2 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1 14 lb Turkey use the lowest Sodium you can find
• 1 8 oz Jar of Apricot Preserves Smuckers has lower sodium than most other brands
• 1 8 oz Bottle of Westbrae Stoneground Mustard
• 3/4 cup Low sodium Chicken Stock for pan sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp Corn Starch for pan sauce
• 1/2 cup Bourbon (for pan sauce optional, you can use apple cider as well)
• 1 Whole shallot minced for pan sauce
• 2 T Unsalted butter for pan sauce

Instructions

 

• Thaw your Turkey to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Remove the giblets and neck from the turkey.
• Rinse the turkey under cold water and place in a large roasting pan.
• Mix all of the mustard and apricot preserves in a bowl
• Using a sauce brush, coat the entire bird liberally with the glaze. Get it into all the nooks and crannies.
• Cover the turkey with foil and roast for 3 1/2 to 4 hours (Apply a second coat of glaze at the 1.5 hour mark), or until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180°F as read by a meat thermometer.
• Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of baking to create a crisp crust.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
• Use the drippings at the bottom of the pan to make a low-sodium pan sauce.
• Place the pan on a stove top burner.
• Add the Shallots to the pan and saute over medium-high heat until they are softened.
• Add the rest of the glaze and the bourbon (or cider) to the pan and heat it to the point of simmering (note, all of the alcohol burns off in this if you are worried about alcohol in the dish).
• As the pan is heating up, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to incorporate the drippings, shallots, and liquid.
• Allow to simmer or until the liquid reduces by half.
• Increase the heat to achieve a full simmer, whisk in the stock, butter, and corn starch (to your desired thickness).
• Allow final liquid to reduce by half then serve in a sauce tureen to pour over the turkey.

Nutrition

Serving: 4ozCalories: 285.2kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 26.2gFat: 5.3gSaturated Fat: 1.9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gTrans Fat: 0.7gCholesterol: 81.2mgSodium: 92.7mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 19.2g

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