Spice up your holiday bird with an easy homemade spice rub in this recipe from chef Tom Douglas.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the turkey: In a small bowl, combine sugar, 4 1/2 teaspoons salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin, sage, and 2 1/2 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl. Set aside about one-quarter of the seasoning mixture for the pan-roasted onions.
Trim turkey's tail fat and set aside. Trim and discard any remaining fat and remove and discard giblets. Place orange, onion, and sage sprigs in cavity of turkey; season cavity with salt and pepper. Generously pat remaining rub over turkey. Set aside.
Make the pan-roasted onions: Place sliced onions in the center of a large roasting pan to make a bed for the turkey; season with reserved spice mixture. Mince reserved tail fat; add to roasting pan along with butter. Set turkey directly on top of onions.
Transfer roasting pan to oven, legs first, and roast turkey until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 to 165 degrees, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove roasting pan from oven and transfer turkey to a carving platter; tent turkey with foil and let stand 10 minutes.
Transfer onions to a serving dish; squeeze orange over onions and add any drippings that have collected under turkey on carving platter. Carve turkey and serve with onions.