Sous-Vide Turkey Breast With Maple and Rosemary

By Melissa Clark

Sous-Vide Turkey Breast With Maple and Rosemary
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
3¼ hours, plus marinating
Rating
4(290)
Comments
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Cooking a turkey breast using sous vide makes for especially tender meat that’s never dried out. You’ll want to bring the meat to 145 degrees, which leaves it delicately pink, very juicy and perfectly safe because the long, steady heat of the sous vide machine pasteurizes the meat. That said, if you like your turkey slightly firmer and well done — more like a traditional roast bird — cook it to 152 degrees. Lastly, make sure to take the skin off the meat before cooking; the moist environment of the sous-vide bag makes it irreversibly soggy. Fans of crisp, golden skin can bake it separately instead.

Featured in: Your Thanksgiving Helper? The Sous-Vide Machine

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • ¼cup maple syrup
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3large rosemary sprigs
  • 1tablespoon kosher salt
  • 3pounds boneless, skinless turkey breast, cut into halves, skin reserved if desired (see Note)
  • Crisp turkey skin, optional (see Note)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a small saucepan, simmer maple syrup, butter, rosemary and salt until the butter melts and the maple syrup thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

  2. Step 2

    Place the turkey in a large bowl and pour the cooled maple mixture over it, turning to coat pieces with syrup. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

  3. Step 3

    Using a sous-vide machine, heat a large pot or heatproof container of water to 145 degrees. Transfer turkey to a reusable silicone sous-vide bag or resealable plastic bag, laying breasts end-to-end so the thin side of one is against the thick side of the other. Discard marinade. Slowly lower the bag into the water, allowing any air to escape. Weigh down the bags; an upside-down metal steamer basket or a metal bowl work well for this, topped with a metal spoon or tongs for extra weight, if needed.

  4. Step 4

    Cook until the turkey reaches 145 degrees when checked in the center with a meat thermometer, 2½ to 3 hours. Once the turkey is at 145 degrees, leave it in the bag in the water for an additional 15 minutes to pasteurize it. Serve immediately with crisp turkey skin, if you like, or leave turkey breast in the water at 145 degrees for up to 12 hours total.

Tip
  • If want to make the crisp turkey skin, ask your butcher to save you the skin when you order the breast (or be sure to save it if you’re trimming your own turkey breast). Scrape any visible lumps of fat off the skin. Heat oven to 325 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Pat skin dry with paper towels, then spread it out flat on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and bake until skin is golden and crisp, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1½ hours.

Ratings

4 out of 5
290 user ratings
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Comments

Klynn

Do you add the maple rosemary marinade to the bag with the turkey when you cook it sous vide or discard it?

Krysten Chambrot, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking

Thank you so much for flagging! We've updated the recipe: You discard the marinade.

Steve

Your comment, "Cook until the turkey reaches 145F...", is not correct and not safe. Pasteurization requires that the meat stay at the designated temperature for a minimum time. Granted, at 145F, that time is around 10 minutes for poultry, but to suggest removing the meat precisely when it reaches 145F could lead to an unsafe practice with other meat using sous vide. As you say, the meat cannot get higher in temperature than the set temp.

Becca

I marinated for only a few hours and then dumped the turkey and marinade into a vacuum seal bag and cooked the turkey right in the marinade and it was perfect. Great salt and sweet balance.

Justin

I made this twice with turkey breast from Whole Foods. Both times, it came out as rubbery and we threw most of it away.

Not Following Instructions

After cooking I fried the breasts for a couple of minutes in browned butter. It gave them a nice brown colour and added a wonderful nutty taste which complemented the maple marinade perfectly.

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