Thanksgiving Roast Turkey Breast | Best Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe (2024)

This Thanksgiving Roast Turkey Breast is perfect if you don’t want to cook the entire bird this year. Done in 90 minutes and packed with amazing Thanksgiving flavor!

Thanksgiving Roast Turkey Breast

Thanksgiving turkey made easy! If you are cooking for a smaller crowd or don’t want to mess with the whole bird, this roast turkey is the perfect option for you. Let’s be honest, you’ve also got to make the mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and no bake cheesecake! Let me save you a little time 🙂 Be sure to follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration!

How To Roast a Turkey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set aside two 9×13-inch baking dishes.
2. Place turkey breast halves onto parchment paper and season both sides with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Heat oil over medium heat in two large skillets or pans. When hot place turkey into each of the pans. Sear/brown on both sides until golden, about 3 minutes per side. The last couple minutes of searing, add your butternut squash and onion to the pans, stirring to combine. Transfer breasts and vegetables to both pans. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth to bottom of both pans.
3. Add fresh rosemary and thyme, cover lightly with foil and bake for 75 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes, covered before plating and carving.
4. Garnish serving plates with more fresh rosemary, thyme and a handful of fresh cranberries or sliced citrus. Serve warm.

Check your local grocery store butcher for bone in, skin on turkey breasts. They’re massive, but roast nice and quick. Pick up some fresh herbs, I love rosemary, thyme and sage is lovely!

Before you roast the meat, first you want to season. You can get as fancy as you want here. I prefer just some good old fashion kosher salt, pepper and garlic salt. I did use a little garlic pepper too.

To get that gorgeous golden crust, I sear the turkey breasts before going into the oven. Don’t skip this step.

This step only takes a few minutes on each side and you get this gorgeous color and crust.

Transfer your turkey breasts to two baking dishes along with the butternut squash, onion and fresh herbs.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 75 minutes, losely covered with foil.

How To Plan Amount of Turkey Per Person

This could be different for every party really. My crew doesn’t gobble turkey quite as much as they do all of the sides, however I still like to make sure we have enough. The golden rule is 1 pound per person. I feel like that is a bit much, but I do love leftovers. Some people like to offer to-go boxes with leftovers, so decide what works best for your party and go with it. I will say, it’s always nice to have a little extra than run short.

How Do I Know When My Turkey is Done?

When cooking turkey, it’s recommended the temperature of the turkey should be 165 degrees F. For the best results, you want to check the turkey’s temperature in three different locations: the deepest part of the breast, the joint between the thigh and the body, and the joint between the drumstick and the thigh.

How Do I Garnish My Thanksgiving Turkey?

There are lots of simple ways to garnish your turkey platter!

1. First things first, you’ll need a Large serving platter. I recommend keeping it simple with white. TJ Maxx always has great options that are also affordable.
2. Use roasted vegetables, fresh herbs, citrus, cranberries, and nuts look awesome too!

Carve the breasts into 1/2 inch slices and garnish plate as desired. Simple and beautiful!

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