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Perfect Roast Turkey Breast Recipe

November 19, 2015 By Gwen Brown 13 Comments

roast turkey breast recipe (9 of 21)

A perfect roast turkey breast recipe is no small feat. With my smaller family of white meat likers, I really like the option of getting a turkey breast, and usually buy several for the freezer when they’re on sale during the holidays. But the drawback of a breast is that the meat is so lean that it can get very dry.

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No one should have to endure dry turkey. After years of serious study and experiments with turkeys, I came up with this recipe that truly is perfect. It’s flavorful and never ever dry, and best of all it’s SO very easy.

I’m sharing this today in conjunction with the Thanksgiving Recipe Swap…head over and check out all of the fun whole food holiday recipes! (FYI: Not all are Trim Healthy Mama friendly, but several are.)

ThanksgivingRecipeSwap-RealFoodGlutenFree

And I also have a VERY special announcement at the end of this post, just before the recipe printable. But first, let’s check out this beautiful bird!

The Perfect Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe

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We like turkey so much that I bake a turkey breast several times a year. So I’ve gotten lots of practice sessions in, and have read, researched, cross examined the great cooks that I know, and made several years worth of just OK turkeys before landing on this technique that I’m sharing with you today. roast turkey breast recipe (16 of 21)

I’ve tried so many different recipes with varied results, but THIS recipe is the way to go. It’s the winner-winner-turkey-dinner technique that I discovered by combining the slow roasting approach from Cook’s Country, and my own top secret technique to keep me from having to flip the bird halfway through cooking.

According to the people at America’s Test Kitchen (the folks behind the Cook’s Country magazine) the idea with flipping a bird over halfway through is that the fat from the dark meat travels down into the breast meat to keep it moist. But wrangling a hot greasy turkey is pretty low on my list of things I enjoy doing. And the breast looks a little like your bird has just had a Mammogram.

I wanted easy, and a pretty final product is a nice bonus. I figured if the fat from the dark meat does a nice job of keeping the white meat tender and juicy, that I could probably just cut out the middle man and avoid flipping big Bertha (am I the only one who names my birds?)

[bctt tweet=”My perfect turkey breast recipe-one easy trick to fork-turkey breast every time! #thanksgivingrecipe #turkey #gwensnest http://bit.ly/1LnsZBH” via=”no”]

So this was my moment of culinary genius. I thought, “Why not use butter?”

roast turkey breast recipe-1-2

HELLO! What could be better than butter to add flavor and joy and goodness to the world.

I bought this marinade injector to get the job done. You can usually find them where marinades are sold in your local store, or online here. (Amazon affiliate link) The cheapie plastic ones work just fine, but I just added a stainless steel version to my wish list. 🙂

Just a Tablespoon of melted and seasoned butter split between both sides of the bird makes all the difference in the world. I inject the seasoned butter deep into several areas on both sides of the turkey breast. Don’t worry…while the prep step looks a little gory, once it’s slow roasted no one will be able to tell. This is really ALL I have to do to get amazing results every time.
roast turkey breast recipe-2

The result? The BEST turkey that you’ve ever tasted. Seriously. It’s fork tender.

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Whether you’re hosting a large or small gathering, I’m a fan of the turkey breast. At a small gathering, it’s the perfect serving size to give you nice leftovers without turkey overwhelm setting in. Especially if your family is partial to white meat.

At large gatherings where it makes sense to have a whole bird, it’s also a great idea to roast an additional turkey breast as well. It gives you plenty of white meat. Plus, if you can carve it up just before dinner, you can do the Normal-Rockwell-whole-turkey-presentation moment, but you won’t actually have to wait for the carving to take place before passing around the platter of sliced meat. And you’ll be a hero if you’re able to send leftovers home with your lucky guests.

My Holiday Feast Cookbook

The Perfect Roast Turkey Breast recipe is one of the featured recipes in my very first book, Feast! I’m sharing the recipe here today to give you a little preview or taste of what my book is all about. It’s over two dozen of my very favorite holiday favorites, re-imagined to be carb conscious and THM compatible. (You can find a list of the recipes from the book and the THM meal types here.)

Feast is all about enjoying classic, traditional family recipes in a healthier way. And yes…EVERY recipe has nutrition info and Weight Watcher Points. You’ll find gorgeous full color images of every recipe, ranging from roasting a whole turkey to making your own beautiful whole berry cranberry sauce. And yes…there is even a recipe for sugar free “canned” cranberry sauce. But I think I’m MOST excited about the carb smart cornbread & cornbread dressing recipes. I can’t wait for you to see this book!

 

 

Perfect Roast Turkey Breast Recipe Printable & Pin

To Pin!

WOW! This is SO simple! A perfect roasted turkey breast recipe that turns out perfect every single time.

 

Perfect Roast Turkey Breast Recipe
 
Print
Prep time
25 mins
Cook time
2 hours 45 mins
Total time
3 hours 10 mins
 
No one should have to endure dry turkey. After years of serious study and experiments with turkeys, I came up with this recipe that truly is perfect. It's flavorful and never ever dry, and best of all it's SO very easy.
Author: Gwen
Serves: 7-9 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 7-7½ pound turkey breast, thawed
  • 1-2 Tablespoon butter, melted
  • ¼ teaspoon MSG free Season Salt, or herb blend of your choice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375*
  2. Remove giblets (don't forget to check under the skin at the neck too)
  3. Rinse your turkey with cold water inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels.
  4. Place in a shallow roasting pan.
  5. Melt butter and stir in herbs or spice blend.
  6. Depress plunger on a marinade injector, and draw up a Tablespoon of seasoned melted butter.
  7. Jab the injector deep into the breast meat and slowly press the plunger, injecting butter into the meat. Repeat 3-4 places on each side of the bird.
  8. Rub in any butter drips, and cover tightly with heavy duty foil.
  9. Place in oven & set the timer for 30 minutes.
  10. When your timer goes off, reduce the heat to 200*, and slow roast for 2 hours.
  11. Remove from oven, and turn temp up to 400*
  12. When oven is VERY hot, remove foil and place bird in to brown up skin, approx 10 minutes.
  13. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Notes
Expect your bird to take 2-3 days to thaw in the fridge if it's been in a deep freezer. I like to allow about 3½ to 4 hours to slow roast a turkey breast.
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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes, THM FP Main Dish Recipes, THM FP Recipes, THM Main Dish Recipes, THM Party & Holiday Recipes, THM Recipes by Meal, THM Recipes by Type, THM S Main Dish Recipes, THM S Recipes Tagged With: coconut free, dairy free, gluten free, grain free

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  1. Astrid says

    November 22, 2015 at 3:38 PM

    Where’s the best place to get just the turkey breast? I’m getting mixed comments about where to go

    Reply
    • Gwen Brown says

      November 22, 2015 at 10:53 PM

      Well, that depends on where you’d buy your turkey. 🙂 I have priced organic and free-range birds, and they’re out of my price range, so I just grab mine from the grocery store.

      Reply
  2. Jenny Leigh says

    November 26, 2015 at 3:40 AM

    This sounds like a nice recipe. I cook turkey only for my family as I never eat meat of any kind.

    Your recipe calls for frozen turkey breasts. I always use fresh. Would there be any change in the cooking time if I am using fresh turkey breasts?

    Reply
    • Gwen Brown says

      November 26, 2015 at 8:58 PM

      Nope! You can use fresh or frozen. 🙂 I include thawing suggestions since that part is pretty critical. Happy Thanksgiving!

      Reply
  3. Valerie says

    December 24, 2015 at 8:58 AM

    I notice this recipe says to roast for 2 hours but in the comments you say to allow 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Are you saying you find you need to roast it longer than 2 hours? Trying this for Christmas and I want it perfect. 🙂

    Reply
    • Gwen Brown says

      December 24, 2015 at 12:24 PM

      The cooking time is correct. It roasts for 2 hours, then you remove it to heat the broiler to brown it. So that ends up around 2 hours and 45 minutes.
      I usually start 3.5 hours before the meal start time, just to give time for browning and resting, carving, and for final baking or heating of other things that need the oven. 🙂 That’s why I mention it. If you start baking the turkey 2 hours before the meal, you’ll end up delaying your meal start.

      Reply
  4. Valerie says

    January 20, 2016 at 7:16 PM

    I am curious about the 2oo degree temperature that you roast this at for 2 hours. Is that correct? 200 is not very hot. I tried this at Christmas and it did not get done at all. I thought maybe it was because I had two turky breasts. Today I tried it with one. Its been roasting 3 hours at 250 and its still not done although its closer than the ones at Christmas. Is that a typo? My turkey breast is 7 1/2 lbs. I know all ovens are different but my oven temp is correct.

    Reply
    • Gwen Brown says

      January 21, 2016 at 7:38 PM

      Hi Valerie!

      I’m so sorry you’re having problems with the recipe.
      Did you start off in the 375* oven for 30 minutes? That higher temp gets the meat temp up quickly, and maintains a higher heat for a while even after turning down the oven to 200*. So you roast for a bit, and then go into slow roasting. Let me know…I’ve never had a breast not get fully cooked with this method, and have used it for years.

      Reply
  5. Audrey says

    September 24, 2019 at 10:21 PM

    Does the addition of the butter make the turkey breast an S food?

    Reply
    • Gwen Brown says

      July 13, 2021 at 12:44 PM

      It adds about 6 teaspoons of fat to the entire platter of meat, and some of that melts out as it cooks. So it does add a negligible amount of fat per serving. I still consider it neutral (although not entirely fat free…especially if you eat the skin.)
      For big, special meals, I’m usually in crossover mode. 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. THMing Your Thanksgiving - Mrs. Criddles Kitchen says:
    November 23, 2015 at 2:19 PM

    […] Of course turkey is always on the menu. But there is also ham. Or if you live on a coast there is seafood.  Or hey, if you are a hunter, venison!! These meats are all easy to keep THM!  Just spice them up with lots of seasonings.  One tip… always allow your meat to rest before cutting it. This keeps the moister in and keeps it from drying out.  No one likes dry turkey. Lay the meat out on a pretty platter and if you can surround it rosemary or other herbs. Here is a great link on how to NOT to dry out your Turkey: Perfect Roast Turkey […]

    Reply
  2. 100+ Trim Healthy Mama Fuel Pulls - Low Carb and Low Fat - The Encouraging Homeschool Mom says:
    May 18, 2016 at 9:57 PM

    […] Perfect Roast Turkey Breast – read her tip for MOIST white turkey meat – finally! […]

    Reply
  3. Trim Healthy Mama Holiday Recipes - Artful Homemaking says:
    December 14, 2016 at 2:10 AM

    […] Perfect Roast Turkey Breast, by Gwen’s Nest […]

    Reply

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