Slow-Roasted Turkey Breast

Slow-roasted turkey breast – a basic method for boneless breast with crispy skin and moist, tender meat. Make a delicious sauce made with the roasting juices.

The simplest method of slow-roasting turkey breast in the oven. The result: crispy skin and moist, tender meat. A quick sauce made with the roasting juices and you’re done.

After roasting the turkey drumsticks last week, it was the breast’s turn in the oven. I still had a frozen one belonging to the last turkey I bought from a farm in our village, a nice and large piece with its skin still on.

Normally, supermarket turkey breasts have all their skin removed and although generally, I cannot say that’s such a bad thing, I have to admit that the skin definitely keeps the meat moister and gives it lots of extra flavor.

Internal temperature for roasted turkey breast

• The breast sizes can differ very much from bird to bird. I usually roast only half of a large one, it is more than enough for our family. It normally weighs between 1,2 and 1,7 kg/ 2.6 – 3.7 lbs.
• Always defrost the meat in the refrigerator. Allow at least 10 hours in the fridge for a large piece, even more for bone-in breasts.
• Take the meat out of the fridge about one hour before you start cooking and allow it to come to room temperature.
• Start checking the internal temperature using a meat thermometer about 1 hour after starting the cooking process (depending on the size) and continue checking regularly until the meat reaches the required internal temperature, 71 degrees Celsius/ 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Rest the meat for about 10-15 minutes before slicing it, the internal temperature will rise to 73 degrees Celsius/ 165 degrees Fahrenheit during this time and that is the recommended internal temperature of a turkey.

• This is the simplest way I know to roast turkey breast. I mean, roasting a piece of meat is not particularly difficult, still, you have to take care not to overcook the meat, for me that’s the biggest challenge.
• I always worry about serving unsafe food to my family (especially when it comes to poultry) and it does happen that, from sheer fear of serving raw poultry, I end up having a dry roast.
• But not anymore, not since buying and learning how to use a meat thermometer and taking the time to search for the internal temperature of various types of meat.
• When it comes to the internal temperature of turkey I found this site United States Department of Agriculture – Food Safety and Inspection Service to be very useful.
• They provide quite detailed information not only regarding the above-mentioned internal temperature of properly cooked turkey but also information on thawing and roasting a turkey or turkey parts, including timetables and other cooking tips.
• So, if you do not own a meat thermometer yet and don’t intend to buy one, those timetables on roasting the meat can be very useful.

Using a meat thermometer:

• The best part about using the thermometer is that you don’t have to calculate the cooking times when it comes to different bird parts weighing more or less than what a particular recipe states.
• Sticking the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and reading the inner temperature allows you to end up the process in time and to ensure eating safe yet still moist and juicy meat.
• My turkey breast weighed about 1,5 kg/ 3,5 lbs and I needed a total roasting time of 1 hour and 30 minutes by 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature which was lowered to 75 degrees Celsius/ 167 to finish the cooking process.
• Of course, the cooking time depends on your oven as well, not all ovens are very precise when it comes to the exact temperature. You have to know your oven and adjust the times accordingly.
• If you don’t use a meat thermometer, check the meat after about 1hour and 10 minutes by inserting a long stick in the thickest part of the breast. The juices should run clear, if they are still red or pink continue the cooking process checking again every 5 minutes or so.

Variations on the recipe:

This recipe for slow-roasted turkey breast is very basic. It involves only basic seasoning, just a few ingredients. But like the way things are with basic recipes, they do allow a lot of changes according to your taste. For instance:

Cooking liquid:

• I used chicken stock, but you could either mix that with some wine, use only wine or only water, if you wish.

Spices:

• You could use any spices you like, for instance, curry mixtures or other Indian spices, anything you like actually.

Vegetables:

• You could enrich the dish with some carrots, parsnips, peppers, and so on.

Sauce:

• When making the sauce, puree all or only some of these vegetables and serve the rest of them on the side.
• I thickened and enriched the sauce with smetana, but you could use heavy cream or sour cream instead or you can leave these milk products out of the equation. The sauce is delicious even if you do not add any milk products.
• In case the sauce is too thin, you can thicken it with some cornstarch.

How to serve?

Serve with potatoes in any form you like and vegetables or salad of choice.

Potato side dish ideas:

How to Make Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Best Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes

Crispy Baked Cornmeal Potatoes

Vegetable side dish ideas:

Braised Fennel with Apples

Green Beans Almondine – French Style Green Beans

Fried Cabbage with Bacon and Balsamic Vinegar