A roast turkey breast is the perfect size for a small gathering. This one is easy and also has a bonus recipe for Homemade Roasted Garlic Sauce!
If you don’t want to have leftover turkey for weeks, it may be better to just cook a portion of a turkey.
In this recipe, we just cook the turkey breast, bone and skin, and make a rich, creamy gravy with gravy from a few turkey wings.
Why Roast Turkey Breast is a Winner
As my brother Eddie tells it, he and a college friend decided to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving a year from now.
The day before Thanksgiving, Eddie went out and bought a 25-pound turkey, frozen, and put it in the fridge to thaw. (See where this is going?)
When it came time to cook the turkey, he took it out of its plastic wrapper only to find the bird was still completely frozen.
rock hard.
Undaunted (either because of the boundless optimism that accompanies this period in life, or because of his beer-confused judgment, and probably a little of both), Eddie set about cooking the turkey anyway. Heck, what’s a little frozen meat that a hot oven can’t overcome?
The turkey went into the oven.
When it came time to eat, my brother pulled out of the oven a beautifully roasted, well-browned turkey.
Success! thought my brother, now hungry for the bird that had roasted for several hours and filled the house with that wonderful Thanksgiving scent. A few friends had also gathered and were waiting for the coming festival.
Then it was time for the carving.
Ed pulled out his longest and sharpest chef’s knife and aimed at the chest, cutting into it. Or tried. As he recounts, he got in about an inch before the knife struck a rock-hard, ice-cold, frozen turkey.
Or maybe it was half an inch.
Anyway, as far as I know, they gave up and went to Chinese.
Why cook a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey?
The obvious moral of this story is too Give your bird enough time to thaw. A 15 pound turkey will take about 3 days to thaw in the refrigerator, and a 25 pound turkey about 5 days.
The less obvious moral of this story, and the point of the following recipe, is why cook a 25 pound turkey when you can only feed 4 to 5 people?
How to reheat turkey breast
After about a day in the fridge, the leftover turkey breast may start to dry out. Follow these tips to reheat it and add some moisture.
oven method
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Heat slices, not large chunks. If you haven’t already sliced the entire turkey breast, do so before reheating.
- Place the slices in a casserole dish. Drizzle over some turkey or chicken broth.
- Cover the casserole dish with foil.
- Heat until turkey reaches 165°F, about 20 minutes.
- Serve with leftover sauce that has been reheated by bringing it to a boil.
microwave method
- Place turkey breast slices on a microwave-safe plate.
- Drizzle with turkey or chicken broth.
- Cover with a microwave-safe cover.
- Warm up on medium power. The time depends on how many slices you reheat. After about a minute and a half, start checking the doneness. Turkey is fully warmed up when it reaches 165°F.
What else can you use for the sauce?
If you can’t find turkey wings, try one of these. Note: Make sure you buy fresh poultry parts and not smoked ones.
- turkey legs
- turkey legs
- chicken wing
- chicken legs
- chicken thighs
Will this recipe work with boneless turkey breast?
This recipe will not work with a boneless breast. The bones and skin add a lot of flavor that is lacking in a boneless breast. If you’re looking for a good boneless turkey breast recipe, try turkey breast stuffed with chard and prosciutto or stuffed turkey breast stuffed with bacon, cranberries, and breadcrumbs.
5 side dishes for a small round
- Perfect mashed potatoes
- Waldorf Salad
- Crispy Hasselback Potatoes
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Honey Chipotle Roasted Brussels Sprouts
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Roasted turkey breast with roasted garlic sauce
A 6-7 pound bone-in turkey breast will take about 2 days, a full 48 hours, to thaw in the refrigerator.
ingredients
Roasted Garlic Sauce:
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2 fresh (unsmoked) turkey wings
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2 all heads garlic
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2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt, to taste
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Freshly ground pepper (preferably white pepper), to taste
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3 tablespoon butter
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2 tablespoon flour
Turkey Breasts:
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1 with bones, with skin turkey breast (with 2 breast halves), approx 6 up to 7 pounds
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2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt, as needed
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Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
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1 teaspoon dried thyme
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1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
method
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Preheat Oven and Prepare Turkey Wings:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a hatchet or heavy kitchen knife, chop the turkey wings into chunks (or have your butcher do this).
Brush the wings with a little olive oil and salt well. Arrange in a single layer in a frying pan.
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Fry the Garlic and Minced Turkey Wings:
Cut off the top 1/4 of the garlic heads and discard. Place the heads in some aluminum foil and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the garlic. Close the foil and place in the roaster with the turkey wings.
Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Remove the garlic (do not unwrap), turn the turkey pieces and roast for another 15 minutes.
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Remove the moisture from the turkey breast and let it rest:
While the turkey wings are cooking, remove the turkey breast from the packaging and pat the outside dry with paper towels. Place on a plate or board that will catch the spilled juice until you need it in step 5.
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Make the turkey wing stock:
When the turkey wings are done, remove them from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425F. Place the cooked wings in a medium saucepan and cover with water.
Add a cup of water to the skillet and use a wooden spoon to scrape off any browned bits. Add this to the pot with the turkey wings. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour.
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Roast turkey breast:
While the wings are simmering, brush the turkey breast with more olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Sprinkle with black pepper, thyme and sage.
Place the turkey breasts, skin-side up, in the oven at 425°F on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Pour 1 cup of water on the bottom of the pan (this will prevent the oven from smoking).
Place the turkey in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and cook until the thickest part of the breast reads 155°F with a meat thermometer, about 80-90 minutes for a 6 to 7 pound breast. To be on the safe side, check the internal temperature of the turkey after 1 hour to avoid overcooking the turkey.
Note: USDA guidelines recommend cooking chicken to 165°F or until no longer pink in the center. However, we prefer to take the turkey breast out of the oven at 60°C. The turkey should reach 165°F when it is resting; check with an instant read thermometer.
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Make the gravy while the turkey breast is roasting:
Pour the turkey stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook the butter and flour mixture over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is the color of coffee with cream.
Add the hot turkey broth to the butter and flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Stir in enough broth to make a thin sauce, about 2-3 cups. Squeeze all the garlic from the garlic bulbs into the sauce.
Simmer gently while the turkey breast cooks, adding more turkey broth or water if the sauce gets too thick.
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Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest:
When the turkey breast is done, remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest 15 minutes before carving.
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End of sauce:
Place the sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce back into the pot and season with salt and pepper. Finally, stir in 1 tablespoon of butter.
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Carve turkey breast:
Cut straight down from the sternum (the sternum separates each half of the breast) until your knife hits the sternum. Cut the meat open and loosen the meat from the bone with short knife movements.
If you wish, peel off the tender under the breast and cut open this piece separately; It tends to fall away from the rest of the chest if you cut it open anyway. Slice and serve the deboned breast.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 693 | calories |
| 23g | Fat |
| 5g | carbohydrates |
| 111g | protein |
