Enter your turkey's weight, whether it's stuffed, and your oven temperature to get an estimated roasting time based on USDA's official Thanksgiving turkey timing guide. A timer gets you in the right range — a food thermometer is what actually tells you it's done.
| Weight | Unstuffed | Stuffed |
|---|---|---|
| 8–12 lb | 2¾ – 3 hr | 3 – 3½ hr |
| 12–14 lb | 3 – 3¾ hr | 3½ – 4 hr |
| 14–18 lb | 3¾ – 4¼ hr | 4 – 4¼ hr |
| 18–20 lb | 4¼ – 4½ hr | 4¼ – 4¾ hr |
| 20–24 lb | 4½ – 5 hr | 4¾ – 5¼ hr |
Source: FoodSafety.gov turkey roasting chart.
| Weight | Unstuffed 325°F | Unstuffed 350°F | Stuffed 325°F | Stuffed 350°F |
|---|
Stuffed rates use USDA's midpoint of 16.5 min/lb at 325°F and 14.5 min/lb at 350°F (USDA publishes a 16–17 and 14–15 min/lb range). All times rounded to the nearest 5 minutes and assume a fully thawed bird — a frozen or partially frozen turkey takes considerably longer and isn't covered by this chart.
USDA's "Let's Talk Turkey" roasting guide publishes roasting times as minutes per pound because it's the only practical way to give home cooks a starting point before the turkey goes in the oven — there's no way to know in advance exactly how your specific oven, your specific bird's shape, and your altitude will interact. For an unstuffed turkey, USDA's guide gives roughly 15 minutes per pound at 325°F, or about 13 minutes per pound at the slightly hotter 350°F. A stuffed turkey needs longer at the same temperature — about 16 to 17 minutes per pound at 325°F, or 14 to 15 minutes per pound at 350°F — because the stuffing packed inside the cavity insulates the center of the bird and slows down how fast heat reaches it. This calculator uses the midpoint of each stuffed range (16.5 and 14.5 minutes per pound) for a single estimate, but treat any of these numbers as a planning tool for when to start checking, not a guarantee of when the turkey is actually done.
The only number that actually confirms a turkey is safe to eat is 165°F (74°C), read with a food thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the thigh without touching bone, and — if the bird is stuffed — the very center of the stuffing itself. All three spots need to hit 165°F, because uneven shape, oven hot spots, and how tightly a turkey is trussed can all make one part of the bird cook faster than another. Start checking with a thermometer about 30-45 minutes before the calculated time above is up, and keep checking every 15-20 minutes after that until every spot reads 165°F. See our full meat and poultry doneness temperature guide for the safe minimum temperatures of every other cut and food type, in case you're also cooking sides that involve meat, like sausage stuffing or a ham.
Once the turkey is out of the oven, let it rest, loosely tented with foil, for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. During roasting, the intense heat pushes the turkey's juices toward the center of the bird; resting gives those juices time to redistribute back out through the meat. Carve immediately and you'll see far more liquid run out onto the cutting board, leaving the meat drier than it needs to be — the 20-30 minute wait costs you nothing but time you'd be using to finish side dishes anyway, and the turkey stays warm enough to serve well within that window.
If your oven only displays Celsius or Gas Mark, use the oven temperature converter to find the equivalent of 325°F or 350°F before you start — USDA's times above are calibrated to those two Fahrenheit settings specifically.