A 12 lb turkey roasted straight from frozen needs about 4 h 10 min to 4½ hours at 325 °F. USDA’s rule is to take the timetable time for a thawed bird of that size, here 2¾ to 3 hours, and add at least 50%. This page opens with the thawing method set to “Roast straight from frozen” and a 12 lb bird; type your own weight and it scales the time and works out when the bird must go in.
Why it takes longer
A frozen turkey spends the first part of roasting thawing in the oven. Heat works slowly from the outside in, so the center lags far behind the skin. That’s also why stuffing a frozen bird is out: the stuffing would sit in the slow-heating middle for hours.
Roasting from frozen, step by step
Unwrap the turkey and set it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan; there’s no need to remove anything yet. Once it has thawed enough, partway through, take out the neck and the giblet bag with tongs or a fork. Push in a food thermometer when the thigh is soft enough to take one, and keep roasting until the innermost thigh, the innermost wing and the thickest part of the breast all read 165 °F. The time above is an estimate: begin checking well before the end.
Only partly frozen?
If you started thawing too late and the bird is half thawed, it will be done somewhere between the thawed and the frozen time. The calculator can’t measure how frozen your turkey is, so plan with the frozen time and let the thermometer decide. Finishing early is the better mistake: the plan already leaves a cushion and a rest before carving.
Roasting from frozen vs thawed
| Turkey | Thawed | From frozen (+50%) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 to 12 lb (3.6–5.4 kg) | 2¾ to 3 hours | 4 h 10 min to 4 h 30 min |
| 12 to 14 lb (5.4–6.4 kg) | 3 to 3¾ hours | 4 h 30 min to 5 h 40 min |
| 14 to 18 lb (6.4–8.2 kg) | 3¾ to 4¼ hours | 5 h 40 min to 6 h 25 min |
| 18 to 20 lb (8.2–9.1 kg) | 4¼ to 4½ hours | 6 h 25 min to 6 h 45 min |
| 20 to 24 lb (9.1–10.9 kg) | 4½ to 5 hours | 6¾ to 7½ hours |
USDA FSIS, "Let's Talk Turkey" and "Turkey: Alternate Routes to the Table": roasting from frozen takes at least 50% longer than the timetable for a thawed, unstuffed turkey at 325 °F. Never stuff a frozen turkey, and only the oven works: don't smoke, grill or deep-fry one.