Roasted Turkey Breast

Roasted turkey breast is a great alternative to roasting a whole turkey. You can roast a turkey breast in about an hour, as compared with up to five hours for a whole turkey. And since there’s no dark meat to worry about, the breast comes out moist and juicy.

This also means it’s OK to baste, which adds nice flavor to the skin.

Our target temperature for white meat turkey is 160°F, but we take it out at 155°. It’ll hit 160° while it rests. Use an instant-read thermometer or a meat thermometer.

Finally, a whole turkey breast is a wonderful candidate for brining. Here’s a simple brine recipe.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 4-5 lb turkey breast, skin on (see note #1 below)

2 Tbsp melted butter

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup chicken stock or turkey stock for basting

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place the turkey breast on a rack in a roasting pan.

Brush turkey with the melted butter, then season generously with Kosher salt and black pepper.

Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, basting twice with stock — once after about 15 minutes and again about 15 minutes later.

When thermometer reads 155°F, remove the turkey from the oven. Cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Serves 6-8 people.

NOTE #1: If you want to cook a bone-in turkey breast, that would be a half-breast, i.e., a single breast. For boneless, you could do a half or a full (double) breast. Either way, just have your butcher roll and tie the boneless breast so that it cooks evenly.