Roast Turkey Breast

By Mark Bittman

Updated Dec. 16, 2024

Roast Turkey Breast
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(1,490)
Comments
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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
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

392 calories; 20 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 50 grams protein; 603 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place turkey in roasting pan; brush with oil or butter, and season with salt and pepper.

  2. 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.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,490 user ratings
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Comments

Jack Hays

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.

DM

Would you share your "dry brine" recipe?

LH

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.

yunsong

This was FAB!!! My house didn't smoke up!! Lots of delicious, moist meat (I added smoked paprika). Make Julia Moskin's turkey gravy to go with it. It's a little time consuming but not technical. https://body-change.today/recipes/1018432-turkey-gravy-from-scratch?algo=cooking_search_relevance_metric_ios_and_web&fellback=false&imp_id=7908828938749924&req_id=3504669081848267&surface=cooking-search&variant=0_relevance_reranking</a>- - it's more time-consuming, but delish!

Nadine

I used an ALDI 7# turkey breast. Applied dry brine of kosher salt, ground pepper, lemon zest and thyme after spraying with olive oil. Marinated for 2 days in fridge. Set out on counter for 30", set breast on a bed of sliced lemon, carrot and celery. Cooked @ 425 for 30", reduced to 350 for 1.5 hrs while tented with foil, basted and turned pan, added dry white wine to pain, reduced to 325 for 20" and removed. Rested for 30 minutes - it was moist and flavorful! Wow

Jon Hill Wordle 846 3/6

A perfect Turkey. Proving all that time over the years following ‘the secret to a world class Turkey’ would have been better spent sharpening your knives and making a better gravy.

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