Roast Turkey Breast with Herbs is the answer if you want to downsize your holiday table this year. You still get that amazing turkey taste and texture, but on a smaller scale. Serve with Mom’s Thanksgiving dressing, the best mashed potatoes, and Southern-style green beans for the perfect feast.
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🦃 The Ingredients for the Brine
Brining is not 100% necessary; plenty of folks think it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Well, we’re not those folks.
We’ve tested numerous times, and for some reason, especially with a turkey breast, we find that brining produces a much more juicy and flavorful bird. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and variations) below.
🌿 The Ingredients for the Roast Turkey
The straightforward combination of fresh herbs, garlic, and seasoning in roast turkey breast delivers the classic, savory flavor that makes this dish a timeless favorite.
Expert Tip
After simmering the apple cider with herbs, be sure to add to water and additional apple cider. This will cool down the warm herbed cider. You don’t want to add hot (or even warm) brine over the uncooked turkey.
👉 Substitutions and Variations
- Turkey – You can also use a boneless turkey breast. The roasting will be reduced, depending on the size of the breast. You’ll need to reach an internal temperature of 165°F. If you want a larger turkey, look at our Perfect Roast Turkey, Spatchcock Turkey, or Southern Deep-Fried Turkey.
- Herbs – Fresh herbs are best, but dried herbs will deliver good taste, too. Other wonderful herbs include sage, marjoram, and basil.
- Wine – We use a dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. If you don’t want to cook with wine, substitute turkey stock or best chicken broth.
See the recipe card (with video) below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Roast Turkey Breast with Herbs
- Step 1: In a saucepan, simmer the apple cider, salt, allspice, and bay leaves.
- Step 2: Place the turkey in the brine bag in a cooler and pour in the cooled brine plus the chilled cider and water.
- Step 3: In a bowl, add the garlic, mustard, herbs, salt, pepper, oil, and lemon juice. Stir to form a paste.
- Step 4: Remove the turkey, pat dry, and then spread the paste under the skin and all over the breast.
- Step 5: Place on rack in pan and add chicken broth and white wine
- Step 6: Bake until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Tent with foil if browning too much.
🍽️ How To Carve and Serve
- We find that a whole turkey breast is so much easier to carve than a whole turkey.
- Simply use a large knife (preferably a carving one) and a large fork, and begin slicing layers of each side of the breast. The meat should easily fall right off.
- The sauce is an amazing accompaniment to the roast turkey breast and can be served as is right from the pan.
- Arrange slices on a platter and nestle fresh herbs and sliced lemon around the meat for a beautiful presentation.
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley are ideal for roasting turkey breast because they complement the mild flavor of the meat and add aromatic depth.
For maximum flavor, it’s best to season both under the skin and on top of the turkey breast, allowing the herbs and seasoning to penetrate the meat and keep it moist.
Roast the turkey breast at 320°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C), to ensure it’s juicy and safely cooked. A digital thermometer ensures a perfectly cooked turkey!
Ready to make a turkey breast that will rival any roast turkey in town? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Roast Turkey Breast with Herbs
Video
Equipment
- Brine bag
- Roasting pan with rack
Ingredients
For the Brine
- 8 cups apple cider chilled
- ¾ cup salt
- ¼ cup allspice ground
- 4 bay leaves
- 8 cups water
- 1 6 lb turkey breast whole
For Roasting the Turkey Breast
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon sage fresh, chopped
- 1 tablespoon rosemary fresh, chopped
- 1 tablespoon thyme fresh, chopped
- 2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice usually from 1 lemon
- 2 cups turkey stock or chicken stock, plus more for basting
- 1 cup white wine
Instructions
Brine the Bird (Start 12 to 24 hours in advance)
- Add 2 cups of the apple cider to a medium-sized saucepan. Stir in the salt, allspice, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently and simmer for 15 minutes.8 cups apple cider, ¾ cup salt, ¼ cup allspice, 4 bay leaves
- In a pot, add the remaining chilled apple cider, all of the water, and the simmered salt mixture.8 cups water
- Line a vessel just large enough to hold the turkey breast with a brine bag. Place the turkey breast in the bag and then carefully pour in the brine liquid and twist the top of the bag, and secure with twine or a knot. Try to make sure the turkey breast is fully submerged. Placing a heavy object on top can help. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or preferably, overnight.1 6 lb turkey breast
Roast the Turkey Breast
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Make the paste by adding the garlic, mustard, herbs, salt, pepper, oil, and lemon juice to a small bowl. Stir to form a paste3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon dry mustard, 1 tablespoon sage, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1 tablespoon thyme, 2 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- Use your fingers to gently pull the skin away from the top of the turkey breast. Rub about three-quarters of the paste into the meat under the skin. Rub the rest all over the top of the turkey breast.
- Add the turkey (or chicken) stock and wine to the pan.2 cups turkey stock, 1 cup white wine
- Roast until an internal temperature of 160 to 165°F is reached, anywhere from 1½ to 2½ hours. You'll want to add small pieces of foil to the top of the turkey breast if it starts to brown too much. Add more stock (increments of ½ cup) if it starts to evaporate. We recommend basting the turkey breast occasionally (every 30 minutes), if possible.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Pour the au jus sauce into a gravy boat. Carve and serve with sauce on the side.
Karen says
Hi, Kris and Wesley!
Wishing you both a wonderful Thanksgiving!
My husband and I are empty nesters, and we bought 3 pound boneless Turkey breast for thanksgiving dinner.
Could you please develop a recipe for that, and consider also developing some recipes for just two people? Thank you so much!
And have a joyous and blessed Christmas to come!
We appreciate all you do! Hugs to you both!
Kris Longwell says
Hi Karen! We hope you have a nice (and probably quiet) Thanksgiving! We will work on developing a boneless turkey breast recipe for the future. Unfortunately, recipe development, and then the entire content creation for that recipe takes weeks to complete. I can recommend this: Leave the netting on the breast, but loosen it up somewhat, which will make it easier to remove later. If desired, make slits over the top of the breast and then insert garlic slivers (from a couple of large garlic cloves). Rub the breast with olive oil and then sprinkle salt, pepper, dried thyme, and dried rosemary. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the breast in an oven-safe pot or dish that will help hold it in place. Add about 1/2 cup broth (chicken or turkey) to the dish. Bake for about an hour and 15 minutes (or until the internal temp reaches 160 to 165°F). Let rest for 15 minutes, cut away the netting, carve and serve at once.
Hope this helps! Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas!!!
xo Kris & Wesley
Paula says
Another amazing recipe! So juicy and flavorful that I had a loved one say that it was the *best* turkey he had ever had. Thank you for such delicious recipes!
Kris Longwell says
Hi Paula! Woo hoo! That is quite an amazing compliment to get from a loved one on your turkey! Sounds like you prepared it perfectly! No doubt your holiday feast was perfection. We hope you all had a beautiful Christmas. Cheers to a spectacular 2023!! xoxo Kris & Wesley
Claire Magnolo says
My whole family and guests loved the flavor of the turkey breast. I did do the brine for about 6 hours. It was absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Kris Longwell says
Thank you so much, Claire! We are thrilled you had such great success with the turkey breast and we hope you and your family had a glorious day. Thank you for sharing and for the wonderful review. WE are very thankful for that!!! Kris & Wesley
Judy Palmer says
Great recipe…. Can you repost your gravy recipe again? it is the best!!
Kris Longwell says
Thanks, Judy! Sure…here you go: https://howtofeedaloon.com/turkey-gravy/.