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My juicy, perfectly seasoned boneless turkey breast takes simple ingredients and transforms them into a hearty, succulent turkey dinner. It’s SO quick to make and my family’s favorite Thanksgiving main!
Looking for more oven-baked turkey recipes? Try my baked turkey tenderloin, turkey wings, and turkey drumsticks next.
No longer just for Thanksgiving, I use turkey in many dishes, and my boneless turkey breast recipe is a firm favorite.
It’s incredibly moist, juicy, and rich with aromatic garlic and herb flavor. I also love how effortless it is to make and how I can be in the kitchen for a few minutes and let the oven do most of the work. The best part? Thanks to the high heat I roast the meat with, it’s incredibly fast.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Perfect texture. The turkey turns out juicy and moist in the middle while getting a slight crust on the outside from roasting.
- FAST. Just like my air fryer turkey breast, the prep time is kept to a minimum, and the cooking time is capped at an hour!
- Easy to customize. I keep this recipe simple, so you can add spices, a fancy sauce, marinade, or whatever you prefer. I’ll be sure to list plenty of options later on.
- SO tender! Compared to bone-in turkey breast, it’s the most tender cut of the turkey. It takes well to the roasting method and makes for a fun alternative to chicken breast.
Ingredients needed
- Boneless turkey breast. Often called a boneless turkey breast roast, look for fresh, light pink meat. Note that they are slightly larger than chicken breasts. It may come in netting, depending on where you get the turkey from (in my experience, usually a butcher).
- Garlic. Peeled and cut into matchsticks.
- Olive oil. For the crisp, golden crust. You can also use butter but I found no difference in recipe testing.
- Dried thyme. For subtle aromatics, thyme pairs perfectly with turkey. When roasting meat, I prefer dried herbs over fresh ones because the latter burn much more quickly.
- Kosher salt and black pepper. To taste.
How to roast boneless turkey breast
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep the turkey: Pat dry the turkey with a paper towel and place it into a large roasting pan or Dutch oven.
Step 2- Season: Using a paring knife, cut small slits in the turkey and slide the garlic matchsticks into the flesh. Rub the turkey with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Step 3- Bake: Bake the turkey breast in the oven for 1 hour, covering with foil after 15 minutes. Once the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 165F, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Know when the turkey is fully cooked. As succulent as turkey breast is, it can become tough and chewy if overcooked. Look for an internal temperature of 165F to know when it’s ready to come out of the oven (for my 2-pound turkey, I start checking around the 50-minute mark).
- Don’t skip the resting. Resting is a must when it comes to getting juicy meat, as this lets the juices redistribute so they don’t leak out when the meat is sliced. Also to the above note, you can remove the turkey from the oven once it reaches 160F IF you rest it first.
- Save the drippings! Just because this isn’t a whole bird does NOT mean there are no drippings left! Save them in the roasting pan and transform it into a gravy.
Variations
- Switch up the spices. Play around with a combination of different spice blends, like taco seasoning, Italian seasoning, or blackened seasoning.
- Soak the turkey in marinade. Skip the seasoning altogether and soak the turkey in this 4-ingredient chicken marinade (it’s usually for chicken but works perfectly for turkey, too!) for 30 minutes before roasting.
- Add pan-roasted veggies. Toss in chopped root vegetables into the Dutch oven for a bonus side dish.
Storage instructions
To store: Keep the leftover turkey breast in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
To freeze: Store cooled leftovers in a freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow frozen leftovers to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
To reheat: Reheat in the microwave or a 350F preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Cover the turkey breast with foil before reheating in the oven.
Serving Suggestions
This turkey breast is seasoned simply, so it’s best paired with hearty and flavorful sides. These are some of my family’s favorite pairings:
Frequently asked questions
The exact amount of time will depend on the thickness of the turkey breasts. For a 2-pound turkey breast, it usually takes me less than an hour. Of course, larger turkey breasts will take longer.
It’s important to remember to cover the turkey with foil about 15 minutes into roasting to prevent any scorching or over-cooking of the top.
Again (sorry for sounding like a broken record!), do check the internal temperature using a meat thermometer (look for 165F).
I have two secrets to the juiciest turkey ever! Firstly, roast at a high temperature for a reduced cooking time. The second, as I’ve already said in the post, is to rest the meat for 20 minutes before serving. The juices redistribute throughout, and you’ll never have to worry about a dry turkey.
More delicious turkey dinners
Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast
Video
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C/450F.
- Pat dry the turkey and gently reposition the nest, as it will be easier to remove it later.
- Place the turkey roast into the large baking dish, roasting pan, or Dutch oven. Using a paring knife, make small slits in the turkey, and slide in garlic matchsticks into the holes. Rub the turkey with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Roast the boneless turkey breast for 15 minutes, loosely cover with foil, and continue baking for another 45 minutes, or until the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and cover it with a lid or tent with aluminum foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes before removing the netting and carving into slices.
Christmas is soon now, so I want to ask my parents to prepare this for lunch. I will copy paste to them link.