Elevate your turkey feast with our simple, yet seriously delicious garlic herb roasted turkey breast. Juicy, flavorful, and so easy to make, it’s the ultimate centerpiece that’ll leave your guests craving more.
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This recipe is…
Y’all, this herb roasted turkey breast is delicious. In fact, it’s so delicious that I want to make it all year round. Let’s be honest, roasting a whole bird is an undertaking, BUT you can usually find bone-in, skin-on turkey breast at most butcher counters.
Bone-in, skin-on turkey breasts cook up much faster than whole turkeys, are considerably simpler to carve up, and make the very best leftovers. Because the turkey breast assumes flavor really well, the garlic herb flavor combination really makes it incredibly delicious.
The finished herb roasted turkey breast is moist on the inside, crispy on the outside, and bursting with bright flavor, plus, this recipe is as healthy as healthy gets!
Looking for more turkey recipes that’ll knock your socks off? We’ve got you. If you’re feeling SUPER ambitious, try roasting a whole turkey, if you want to go easy but no-fail, try the baked turkey tenderloin, and if you want to try something deliciously different, try the pumpkin turkey chili.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s easy – this recipe could not be easier. You’ll make a garlic herb butter, rub it on the turkey, and then roast it over onion and citrus slices. That’s it!
- It’s super tender – because you use a meat thermometer for this recipe, you can rest assured that your turkey breast will come out perfectly juicy and tender every single time.
Herb Roasted Turkey Breast Ingredients
You’ll need a turkey breast, plus a few ingredients to make the fresh, flavorful herb rub. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Turkey breast – you’ll need a bone-in, skin-on turkey breast (4-5 pounds should do) for this recipe. Be sure it’s completely thawed before starting this recipe.
- Butter – we used butter for this recipe, but bacon fat or ghee work great here too!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Make a gravy – if you want to make a gravy with the turkey drippings, skip the orange and lemon slices and cut extra onion slices for the bottom of the pan. The citrus slices leave the gravy really bitter!
How to Roast a Turkey Breast
This recipe is super easy, takes very little hands-on time, and yields a REALLY delicious end product! Here’s how you’ll whip up a roast turkey breast:
Step 1: Thinly slice the orange, lemon, and onion. Spread the slices out in the bottom of a baking pan.
Step 2: In a small bowl, whisk the melted cooking fat (butter, ghee, or bacon fat) with the garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper to combine.
Step 3: Once combined, massage the butter mixture over the entire turkey breast, and place it on top of the citrus slices.
Step 4: Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil, and bake at 325°F for 1 hour.
Step 5: After an hour, take the foil off of the pan, turn the oven up to 400°F, and return the turkey to the oven, uncovered, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165°F. When the turkey is at temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest on the counter covered loosely with a foil sheet for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Tip
We can’t stress this enough: use a meat thermometer! This in-oven thermometer is our go-to. We use it multiple days a week in the Fed & Fit office and it makes SUCH a difference in the way we cook meat. It’s fairly inexpensive and will be a tool that use over and over again!
How to Serve
If you’re making this for Thanksgiving, serve it as the main dish alongside all of your favorite Thanksgiving sides!
- Main: this delicious herb roasted turkey breast, of course!
- Starchy Side: Creamy Mashed Potatoes (topped with traditional gravy)
- Stuffing: Gluten-Free Old Fashioned Stuffing
- Sweet Starchy Side: this YUMMY sweet potato casserole!
- Veggie Side: Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
- Dessert: Easy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
How to Store and Reheat
Store your leftover turkey breast carved up in an airtight container in the fridge. Stored this way, it’ll last for up to 4 days.
To reheat and eat as-is, simply microwave a serving for 1-2 minutes or heat a couple of slices at a time in a skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re cooking for others, it’s important that you have enough food for everyone (especially the protein, as it’s typically the star of the show). When it comes to bone-in turkey breasts, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve got about 1¼ pounds (24 ounces) of raw bone-in turkey breasts per person.
Most turkey breasts are between 4-8 pounds, so if you’re cooking for just a few people, you’ll want to stick to a smaller, 4-ish pound breast, and if you’re cooking for more (say 6 or so guests), you’ll want to stick to a larger, 8-ish pound turkey breast.
This turkey breast will roast covered for an hour and then uncovered for the rest of the time (about 30 minutes, but really, when the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 165°F.)
The BIGGEST key to moist turkey breast is using a thermometer to cook it. This allows you to cook the turkey to the perfect, juicy temperature, which obviously results in moist, delicious turkey that is less likely to dry out even when reheated.
Letting the turkey rest for a solid 15 minutes before carving it also helps the bird absorb the moisture rather than it seeping out onto the cutting board.
More Favorite Turkey Recipes
If you tried this Herb Roasted Turkey Breast or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 1, 4-5 pound bone-in turkey breast thawed
- 3 tablespoons melted butter bacon fat, or ghee
- 6 fresh sage leaves
- 2 cloves garlic omit for low-FODMAP
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from one lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper omit for AI
Instructions
- Pat the turkey breast dry with paper towels.
- Thinly slice the orange, lemon, and onion. Spread the slices out in the bottom of a baking pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk the melted cooking fat (butter, ghee, or bacon fat) with the garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper to combine.
- Once combined, massage the butter mixture over the entire turkey breast, and place it on top of the citrus slices.
- Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil, and bake at 325°F for 1 hour.
- After an hour, take the foil off of the pan, place an in-oven meat thermometer in the thickest part of the turkey breast, turn the oven up to 400°F, and return the turkey to the oven, uncovered, until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 165°F.
- When the turkey is at temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest on the counter covered loosely with a foil sheet for 15 minutes.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Give the turkey breast about 2 days to thaw completely in the refrigerator.
- If your turkey starts to brown too quickly, just cover with a loose sheet of foil.
- If the bottom of your roasting pan starts to smoke, add a few tablespoons of cooking fat.
Nutrition
