How To Roast A Thanksgiving Turkey Breast

Are you cooking for a small crowd, or do you and your family and guests prefer white meat turkey? 

Consider a roast turkey breast instead of messing with a whole turkey. Not only are oven space and roasting time cut by at least half, there is a huge reduction in the hassle of carving and plating turkey meat.

Tips for Preparing a Thanksgiving Turkey Breast

-Pat turkey dry before placing in pan

-Use parchment for easy cleanup

-When seasoning, use something acidic like apple cider vinegar to give flavor and make the turkey tender

-Use herbs like rosemary and sage

-Use olive oil on the skin instead of butter – It will make for better browning on the skin because olive oil has no water, compared to butter, which may be up to 18% water, plus milk solids

-Place oven rack below center for even cooking

-Use convection roast for browning

-Rest your breast tented with parchment for at least 15 minutes for a juicy bird

Which Turkey Breast is Best?

I prefer a full double breast with the rib cage, as in the recipe below. Other options are a bone-in half breast, or boneless turkey breast. Choose what fits your crew, tastes, oven space, and time constraints. Note that the full double breast has a cavity, so you could put stuffing, herbs, and other aromatics underneath it, and if you want to make gravy, a bone-in breast is the way to go because the flavor of the bones will impart into the dripping.

Often poultry is injected with a sodium solution to help keep it juicy. I avoid these because they are full of chemicals and salt, and other synthetics, so you are basically paying for water weight and other unhealthy additives. The USDA requires labeling of percent of sodium solution to appear on the front of the label. It is sometimes small and hard to find, but it is there. Avoid turkey breast that is labeled as “enhanced,” or “self-basting.”

If the packaging says “Retained Water,” that is not injected. It means it sopped up some water in the chilling process.

How Many People Can I Feed with a Turkey Breast?

An uninjected turkey breast will shrink to about 70% of what you started with, plus there is some bone weight to the bone-in breast, and some guests will not want to eat the skin. Plan on about one pound per person, and more if you want leftovers.

What Should I Serve with Roast Turkey Breast?

Stick with your classic sides, or try something new. Here are some of my go-to sides:

Thanksgiving Sides to Wake Up Your Plate

Traditional Cole Slaw

Broccolini Recipe and Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Hasselback Potatoes

If you find yourself with leftovers, and are looking for some fun ways to transform them into new meals, check out these Asian Flare Turkey Recipes

Wishing you, your family, and friends a Healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

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