Butter Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Turkey breasts are a great alternative to a huge turkey for a smaller group for Thanksgiving, especially if your group favors white meat.
To begin, make a DIY roasting pan by simply taking a shallow 9 X 13 dish. Instead of a metal rack, we’re going to use vegetables instead. They will serve to add some flavor and moisture as well to the turkey breast.
Chop up two carrots and 2 celery and one large onion making sure to keep the sizes similar. Sprinkle them in the bottom of the pan. Also chop 2-3 garlic cloves in halve and scatter them around.
Lay 2-3 sprigs of rosemary, thyme, parsley or any other savory herb around the vegetables.
Now let’s mix up our herbed butter mix.
Measure four tablespoons each of butter and olive oil into a bowl. Make sure the butter is room temperature and mash these together with a fork. Next add in some spices. Add in 1/2 teaspoon of sage and thyme and a 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper Mash again with fork until it’s all mixed up well.
Make sure your turkey breast its thoroughly dried.
And rub the entire thing inside and out with the herbed butter mixture.
Make sure you lift up the skin wherever you can and rub some of the mixture underneath the skin as well.
Also make sure you rub some of the butter mixture inside the cavity of the bird.
Once you get the bird coated, place it gently on top of the vegetable herb bed you made for it earlier.
Pop this into a 325º oven for an hour. At the end of an hour, take it out and baste it with the glorious juices that will be gathered underneath it.
Return your pan to the oven and let it go another hour to hour and a half, depending on the size of your bird. See below for time suggestions.
- Breast, 4 to 6 pounds ……. 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 hours
- Breast, 6 to 8 pounds ……. 2 1/4 to 3 1/4 hours
HOWEVER, the best bet to getting a perfect and safe roast is to stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast (not too close to the bone), and take it out when it reaches 160º.
Place a tinfoil “tent” over it and let it rest for 20 minutes or so.
Then plate it up and let everyone admire its loveliness before you carve it up.
If your group is quaint and small this Thanksgiving, try a turkey breast….it’s a beautiful thing.
- 1 (6=8 poundd) turkey breast, bone in and skin on
- 4 T. butter
- 4 T. olive oil
- ½ t. pepper
- ½ t. dried sage
- ½ t. dried thyme
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- Fresh herbs of choice like sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme
- Preheat oven to 325º.
- Cut up carrots and celery and onion into same size chunks.
- Cut garlic in half
- scatter all vegetables over bottom of 9 x 13 pan
- Mix butter and olive oil together with fork.
- Add spices and mix again
- Rub with hands all over turkey, under skin and inside cavity
- Place turkey breast on vegetables
- Place uncovered in oven and roast one hour
- Baste with juices
- Return to oven one more hour checking every 15 minutes until meat thermometer inserted into breast measures 160º.
- Loosely tent with foil and let rest 30 minutes before carving.
