With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to share our family’s favorite oven roasted turkey breast recipe.
This is my mom’s recipe, and she has used this method for many, many years. It is just tradition for us to make it this way!
Note: This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. See my full affiliate disclosure policy here.
This recipe uses a bone in turkey breast, which is all white meat. The boneless turkey breast varieties will have a different cook time and different texture. We prefer the bone in turkey breast, which you can find at most grocery stores – WalMart, Publix, etc.
This works for a smaller group to medium crowd, especially with all the side dishes! For the years we hosted a large crowd, my mom would make two of these bone in turkey breasts, rather than a whole bird.
And side note: if you are wanting to make turkey for an even smaller crowd, check out my air fryer turkey breast tenderloin recipe.
Heads up: Be sure and give your frozen turkey breast plenty of time to thaw. For a Thursday meal, I would take mine out of the freezer on Sunday morning, and let it thaw in the refrigerator.
How to make oven roasted turkey breast
First, gather your ingredients. For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to.
Ingredients
For this recipe, you will need the following:
- 1 bone-in turkey breast, about 6 pounds
- 1 oven bag with included closure/ bag tie
- garlic salt (or you can sub half garlic powder, half salt)
- black pepper
- paprika
- onion powder
- olive oil
- all purpose flour
- celery
- onion
Feel free to include any of your favorite fresh herbs. That being said, we make this exact recipe listed as is every Thanksgiving and love it!
Why turkey breast?
Why use a turkey breast versus a whole turkey? I really like the simplicity of turkey breast. You don’t have to worry about trying to cook the dark meat enough while not drying out the white meat, which is the case cooking a whole bird. There is no basting in this method either, so no fuss!
Plus, there are a LOT of other things needing your attention on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is basically the kitchen olympics at our house. The simpler, the better! This simple recipe is the easiest way to make juicy turkey breast.
And don’t worry, this recipe is so very tasty, full of flavor, tender and juicy. You are not sacrificing any taste to get that simplicity!
Prepping and seasoning
Rinse the turkey breast, remove any giblets from the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels. It a small bowl or ramekin, mix all the spices and the oil, and stir to combine.
Rub that mixture all over the turkey, inside the cavity as well as outside for maximum flavor. I even go up under the skin of the turkey breast with mine. Use your hands to gently pull the skin away from the meat a little, as you go up under it with the spice and oil mixture. Place the onion and celery in the cavity.
Take the flour, and add it to the oven bag. Use your hands to clamp the opening (so that flour doesn’t go everywhere!), and shake the bag to distribute the flour.
Place the bag in your roasting pan, and open it up.Place the turkey breast in it. Note: We sit ours right in the bag. There will be drippings that the turkey is sitting in after it is cooked. We love that! If you don’t want your turkey sitting in its drippings, add some extra celery and onion, and sit the turkey breast on top of that. Use the included bag tie to close the bag.
Use scissors to cut three small holes in the top of the bag to let steam release. (NOTE: My mom always does all of the steps up to this point the night before Thanksgiving, and puts the bag with the seasoned turkey in the refrigerator overnight. It saves tons of time, but is not required. I tested all steps done the day of, and it was still great!)
What temperature to cook turkey breast in the oven
We prefer a slow roasted turkey breast type situation. Here is our cooking process. Place the pan in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F, and make sure that the oven bag is not touching the top or sides of the oven. Adjust your shelves if you need to!
How long to cook turkey breast in the oven
Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, which turns out to be about 2 hours and 15 minutes for my 6 pound bone-in turkey breast. This is a general rule of thumb, and you should adjust if your turkey breast is significantly bigger or smaller than this.
Feel free to use and instant-read thermometer, if you want to make sure.
Rest
Let the turkey rest at least 30 minutes before carving. This helps to redistribute the juices, and it makes it taste amazing!
We usually let ours rest anywhere from an hour to 1.5 hours while we cook all of our side items in the oven. It will still be warm after this long, so no worries.
Carve on a cutting board with a sharp knife and enjoy! And don’t forget the cranberry sauce.
Roasting turkey in an oven bag
Sure, there are a few of you out there who will not like the fact that this recipe uses an oven bag.
I get it, and I almost did not publish this recipe because of it. But I decided to keep it real and share it anyway!
#NotPerfect #Tradition
This post explains the pros and cons of oven bags in a funny advice column format. I am not trying to convince you of anything, though.
My view: Maybe they’re not ideal, but we literally use them once or twice a year. Once at Thanksgiving and usually again at Christmas.
They make the turkey golden brown beautifully, while keeping it juicy without any basting. So I am okay with the risks since I am not using them all the time.
As an added bonus, it collects the pan drippings, which are great for making homemade gravy.
Maybe I’ll tweak mom’s recipe and play with the different cooking methods to make it apart from oven bags later on.
But for now, I just want to forever document my mom’s original tried and true method. It’s like our little family tradition, and it results in some really juicy, delicious turkey!
Storage and leftovers
Store leftovers in a covered container or sealable storage bag.
How long is cooked turkey in the fridge? 3 to 4 days is a safe bet, and my family has gone slightly longer than that.
Be sure and check out my leftover turkey recipes here.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Note: These are Amazon affiliate links.
- Oven bag – I use the Reynold’s ones (not sponsored). And yes, we use the ones for 8 to 24 pounds, even though a turkey breast is only around 6 pounds.
- Roasting pan. The one I am using is technically a lasagna pan, but it works great!
- Knife for carving
Pin and share this recipe
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This post originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy 11/9/2017.
