by Jessica | November 27, 2025 7:07 am
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Posted by Sarah | November 2024
okay so this happened to me three years ago and I literally almost cried in my kitchen at 6am.
Woke up Thanksgiving morning. Excited to start cooking. Went to grab the turkey from the fridge and… it was a solid ice block. Like completely frozen. My mom was arriving in 5 hours with her famous sweet potatoes and I’m standing there holding what’s basically a 14-pound turkey popsicle.
Called my aunt in a panic. She laughed at me for like a full minute before helping lol.
But here’s the thing. This happens to SO many people. You think you moved it to the fridge early enough but apparently a 15-pound bird needs like 4 days to thaw and nobody tells you that until it’s too late. Or you did move it but your fridge is too cold. Or your roommate moved it back to the freezer because they needed space for their LaCroix.
Trust me. You’re not alone and you’re definitely not ruined.
For the cold water method:
For the oven method:
Remove all the packaging. Important.
Put turkey in your sink or a big container.
Fill with cold tap water. Make sure the whole bird is covered.
Change the water every 30 minutes. Set a timer because you WILL forget while you’re trying to make everything else.
Takes about 30 minutes per pound. So a 12-pound turkey needs like 6 hours.
Check if it’s thawed by wiggling the legs and pressing on the breast. Should feel soft not rock hard.
The year this happened to me I started at 6am and it was ready to cook by noon. Guests came at 2. We ate at 5. Nobody knew except my aunt who still brings it up.
This sounds insane but it works.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Unwrap the turkey. Try to get the giblets out but if they’re frozen in there don’t worry about it yet.
Put it in a roasting pan breast side up.
Tent some foil over the top.
Stick it in the oven. You’ll need to cook it like 50% longer than normal. Maybe more.
After about 2 hours check if you can remove the giblets. Use tongs. Gets messy.
Keep cooking until a thermometer reads 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and thigh. Check multiple spots.
The skin won’t be as crispy. Who cares. There’s gravy.
If your turkey is under 12 pounds and fits in your microwave…
Use the defrost setting. Check your microwave manual for times.
Rotate it every few minutes.
Stop if any parts start cooking.
Honestly I’ve never done this because my microwave is tiny but my neighbor swears by it.
Get a meat thermometer right now. Order it on your phone. Send someone to the store. This is not the day to guess if meat is done.
Remove the giblets as soon as you can reach them. My first year I forgot and they cooked inside the turkey in their little paper bag. It was fine but weird.
Don’t use hot water. It seems logical but bacteria or something. Also the outside cooks before the inside thaws which is bad.
If you’re doing cold water, put the turkey in a bag first. A garbage bag works. Otherwise your turkey gets waterlogged and tastes like sink.
Actually scratch that. I never use a bag and it’s fine. Just maybe rinse it after.
If by some miracle you have leftovers…
Let the turkey cool down first. Don’t just throw hot turkey in the fridge.
Store in containers or wrapped tight. Eat within 3-4 days.
Freezes okay for a couple months. The texture gets a little weird but it’s fine for soup or sandwiches.
My family fights over leftovers so storage has never been a real problem at my house.
Per 4 oz serving of turkey (white meat, no skin):
Obviously this changes if you add butter or eat the skin or drown it in gravy. Which you should because it’s Thanksgiving.
No don’t do this. Bacteria grows when the outside is warm even if the inside is frozen. My mom does it anyway and nobody’s died but officially no.
Just cook it frozen. Add extra time. Check the temp obsessively. It’ll be fine. Maybe not magazine-cover perfect but who cares.
You can’t really season a frozen turkey that well. Just brush it with butter or oil once it’s thawed enough and season the outside. Honestly everyone just tastes the gravy anyway.
Probably not. Everyone’s stressed about their own dishes. As long as it’s cooked through and not dry nobody’s going to interrogate you about your thawing methods. My uncle once served a turkey that was raw in the middle and we still talk about that one, so set a low bar.
Mine aren’t perfect. That Thanksgiving I mentioned? Turkey was fine but I burned the rolls because I was so focused on watching the turkey temp. My sister still gives me those frozen Rhodes rolls as a joke every year.
But here’s what I learned. Thanksgiving is chaotic for literally everyone. Your cousin is scrolling Instagram for how long to cook green beans. Your dad is panicking about the turkey temp same as you. Someone’s going to forget something or burn something or drop something.
That turkey I stress-cooked from frozen? People said it was the moistest one I’d ever made. Because I was so paranoid about it being done that I actually used a thermometer instead of just guessing.
So take a breath. Change that cold water. Check that oven temp. It’s going to be okay.
And honestly if it’s a total disaster there’s always pizza.
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