Roast Turkey Breast

Name: Roast Turkey Breast
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 to 10 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1 3- to 6-pound turkey breast; 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter; Salt and freshly ground black pepper

By Mark Bittman

Updated Dec. 16, 2024

Roast Turkey Breast — Melina Hammer for The New York Times

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 4(1,425)
Comments: Read comments

Roasting a whole turkey breast for Thanksgiving, rather than an entire bird, offers a few clear advantages. It cuts roasting time at least in half, reduces the hassle of carving, and frees you to create more interesting side dishes. But perhaps the best argument for roasting a breast is that you can produce white meat that is truly moist, as opposed to the dried-out white meat that results from roasting a whole turkey until the legs are cooked through. A breast of about three pounds is fine for a party of four, while one weighing six pounds or more can serve about 10. And yes, there are usually enough leftovers for sandwiches.

Featured in: THE MINIMALIST: The Ideal Turkey? Well, It All Depends; For Ease, Roast Only the Breast

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 10 servings

13- to 6-pound turkey breast
2tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place turkey in roasting pan; brush with oil or butter, and season with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Place turkey in oven, and roast for 40 to 60 minutes, depending on size, basting with the pan juices every 15 minutes or so. Begin checking every few minutes with an instant-read thermometer; turkey is ready when the thermometer reads 155 degrees. Remove the turkey from the oven, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes (during which time its internal temperature will rise to about 160 degrees) before carving and serving.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,425 user ratings

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Comments

Jack Hays7 years ago

Do not do this. It amounts to bringing the breast to the "done" temp as quickly as possible. You won't like the result. Turkey, like many other meats, needs time to gain flavor and texture. Cooking at 450 degrees will give you stringy, tough-seeming turkey. Cook turkey breast at 325 or 350 for two hours, give or take, depending on the size of the breast. You can find many recipes along those lines with cooking times.

DM7 years ago

Would you share your "dry brine" recipe?

LH7 years ago

I make two of these each and every Thanksgiving, exactly as Bittman describes, except that I dry brine the breasts in the fridge for 24 hours before roasting. With this method, we get lots of moist, delicious white meat effortlessly. When my mother-in-law is here, I simply order one turkey drumstick ahead and roasted on the side for her. The rest of us prefer white meat.

you must clean your oven completely the day before you roast the breasts, or your kitchen will fill with smoke.

k5 months ago

For anyone else roasting a turkey breast for the first time, you can do it. Mine was just an Aldi three-pounder that drank up the copious butter and olive oil with which I painted it, along with salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, and sage. I will say that I took advice from others here and gave it 15 min at 450, then took it the rest of the way at 350. I pulled it when it temped at about 160, rested it under foil for about 10 min, then sliced it thinly and marveled at the moistness. It tasted delicious, too. I’ll do it again.

Frances6 months ago

Dry. Dry. Dry. Not a keeper. Do not bother.

kzmurphy6 months ago

Turns out perfectly every time!

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