Oven Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast is a traditional Thanksgiving recipe. This perfectly cooked turkey, topped with butter and herbs, has a beautiful crispy skin and juicy tender meat.
Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays because you can eat all of my favorite food in one day! Starting with roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and finishing with delicious desserts, like apple pie or a chocolate mousse pie.
And of course, the star of the show is a perfectly roasted turkey!
Since it can be tricky to roast the whole turkey (for a number of reasons), I prefer to roast a Boneless Turkey Breast. First, it cooks faster. Second, you always will have a beautifully crispy skin outside, while having juicy and tender meat inside.
This is a foolproof recipe that comes out perfect every single time!
Important notes about this recipe:
- CHOOSE YOUR TURKEY. For this recipe, I like to buy 4-5 pounds of BONELESS SKIN-ON TURKEY BREAST. Here is why:
- It’s easier to cook because it doesn’t have bones.
- The skin will be perfectly crispy.
- Because it has skin on top, it helps the meat under it to stay tender and juicy.
- THAW THE TURKEY BEFORE COOKING. It will help the meat to cook more evenly.
- BASTE THE TURKEY. Pour pan juices over the turkey 4-5 times while cooking. It will help the meat to stay moist.
- LET THE TURKEY REST! Easy to forget about this step (especially when everyone is hungry!). But it’s very important to let the meat rest before slicing it, so the juices have enough time to redistribute.
How to make it
I like to take the turkey breast out of the fridge 30-40 minutes before cooking. That will help the meat to get to an even room temperature inside and outside.
While the meat is defrosting, we can prepare the butter/herb coating.
In a small mixing bowl, put together softened unsalted butter, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and onion powder. Using a fork, mix it all together until the seasoning is evenly distributed.
NOTE: For thyme and oregano, you can use either dried or fresh leaves. If you are using fresh leaves, just finely chop them before adding to the butter.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Then when the turkey breast is defrosted, rinse and pat dry the meat.
Rub salt evenly all over the turkey.
Using the back of a spoon of fingers, carefully lift the skin from the turkey breast and spread ½ of the butter mixture inside. Use the rest of the butter/herb mixture and spread it on top of the skin, the sides, and the bottom of the meat.
Place the turkey in a baking pan with skin side up.
Place the baking pan with turkey in the oven and bake uncovered at 350˚F for about 90-100 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
NOTE: I like to rotate the pan and pour the pan juices over the turkey a few times while the turkey is cooking. That will help the meat to cook evenly and stay juicy.
When done, take it out of the oven, cover with foil, and let sit on the counter for about 10-15 minutes. This will give enough time for the juices to redistribute to keep the meat moist.
Tips for best results:
- Get the meat to the room temperature. It will help it to cook evenly.
- Internal temperature. To make sure the meat is fully cooked and safe to eat, check the internal temperature with a food thermometer. Insert it in the center of the meat, it should read at least 165˚F.
- Let it rest. When it’s done and the meat reached safe temperature, take it out of the oven. Cover with foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This step is essential and helps the meat to redistribute the juices to keep it moist and juicy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
This is a tricky question because they are so many variables in roasting the meat (like oven temperature, how much the turkey weighs, how cold the turkey is, etc). For boneless skin-on turkey breast, 4-5 pounds, that is fully thawed, it takes between 1 ½ to 2 hours while baking at 350˚F. The most important is the internal temperature should reach at least 165˚F (though I prefer 170-175˚F).
I found that 350˚F works the best for this recipe. It allows the turkey to slowly roast in the oven, while making the skin crispy and the meat tender and juicy.
I like to baste the turkey with pan juices 4-5 times while its cooking. It helps the meat to stay juicy.
After the turkey breast is cooked, take it out of the oven, place on a counter, loosely cover with foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. It will help the juices evenly distribute throughout the meat.
MORE HOLIDAY RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Orange Cranberry Sauce
- Mac and Cheese
- Brown Sugar Maple Glazed Ham
- Roasted Vegetables
- Potato Salad with Bacon and Eggs
- Whole Roasted Chicken
- 3 Ingredient Cranberry Bites
- Gruyere Potatoes au Gratin
- Instant Pot Lamb Shanks
MORE HOLIDAY DESSERTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Classic Apple Pie
- Chocolate Mousse Pie
- Orange Pound Cake
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Almond Spritz Cookies
- Snickerdoodles Cookies
- Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries and White Chocolate
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Oven Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 boneless skin on turkey breast 4-5 pounds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- In a small mixing bowl, put together softened unsalted butter, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and onion powder. Using a fork, mix it all together until the seasoning is evenly distributed.
- NOTE: For thyme and oregano, you can use either dried or fresh leaves. If you are using fresh leaves, just finely chop them before adding to the butter.
- Then when the turkey breast is defrosted, rinse and pat dry the meat.
- Rub salt evenly all over the turkey.
- Using the back of a spoon of fingers, carefully lift the skin from the turkey breast and spread ½ of the butter mixture inside. Use the rest of the butter/herb mixture and spread it on top of the skin, the sides, and the bottom of the meat.
- Place the turkey in a baking pan with skin side up.
- Place the baking pan with turkey in the oven and bake for about 90-100 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
- NOTE: I like to rotate the pan and pour the pan juices over the turkey a few times while the turkey is cooking. That will help the meat to cook evenly and stay juicy.
Do I use the same amount of herbs if I have fresh or dried?
Hello, I have a boneless skin on butterball turkey breast that is 3lbs. The back of the package says cook with the netting on. If I follow your receipt should I take it off? This is my first year making turkey for my family. Please help LOL.
This turkey came out so moist and tender! Thank you for the recipe.
This turkey breast comes out PERFECT! So much flavor… and so moist! We loved it.
My turkey breast came out so tender and juicy, thanks it is nice to have a recipe for a smaller turkey dish during the holidays.
Making a turkey is so intimidating to me! However, your post makes it seem so simple to make! I think I am just going to have to give it a try this year!
Perfect for this years Thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing. I have it bookmarked ready for my busy week.
I made this oven-roasted turkey breast as a trial run for our upcoming, low-key Thanksgiving dinner. The family agree that they preferred it over a big turkey, so I think this will be the star of our holiday table.
Absolutely delicious! I couldn’t believe how good this turned out and now we plan to make it again for Thanksgiving!
Seriously for decades, I cooked the whole bird. It has been the last several years I have only been cooking the breast. If I have a large crowd I cook 2. Always a hit.
Would this recipe work with a bone in turkey breast?
Hi Glenna! Yes, it will work, but the cooking time will be different. You will need to bake it longer and make sure the internal temperature is 170-175F.