Perfect for small gatherings or meal prep, turkey breast is easy to make.
Roast turkey breast is seasoned and cooked with onion, herbs, and broth until tender and juicy!
Roast Turkey Breast Is A Favorite Because…
- The prep takes just a few minutes, and you only need a handful of ingredients.
- The turkey comes out tender and super juicy.
- Roast turkey breast is the perfect meal for a smaller crowd and is easy to slice and serve.
- You’ll have room in the oven for your fave sides, like green bean casserole and stuffing.
What Kind of Turkey Breast to Buy
You can roast either bone-in or boneless turkey breasts. I often buy a turkey breast wrapped in a net (photo above), but they do come without a net as well and can be tied with kitchen twine (photo below).
Buy a 2.5 to 3.5-pound boneless turkey breast or a 4 to 5-pound bone-in turkey breast for this recipe.
Seasonings: I love fresh herbs when possible—check the produce area for a pre-packaged fresh poultry herb mixture if you’d like. You can also skip the fresh herbs and used dried or try my turkey seasoning blend.
Variations
Besides onions, roast the turkey breast with sliced mushrooms, carrots, baby red potatoes, or cubes of butternut squash. The veggies will soak up all that flavorful broth and provide a bonus side dish.
How Much Turkey Per Person
Allow for ½ pound of boneless turkey breast per person. Make extra for larger appetites or leftovers.
How to Roast Turkey Breast
Juicy and tender roast turkey breast is easy and delicious.
- Brush the turkey breast with olive oil and season with herbs, salt, and pepper. Add onions to the dish.
- Roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Add broth and continue to cook until a meat thermometer reaches 165°F.
- Allow turkey breast to rest before slicing.
Cooking Times & Tips
- Allow enough time for thawing; it can take up to 2 days for a 3 lb turkey breast.
- Check the temperature early so it doesn’t overcook—the size and shape of the turkey breast can affect cooking time.
- Remove the turkey breast from the oven at 160°F; it will continue to rise to 165°F as it rests.
- Use those tasty turkey drippings to make gravy, and add extra storebought broth if needed.
Roast a turkey breast for 30-35 minutes per pound. Refer to the chart below:
Boneless Turkey Breast Weight | Cook Time |
---|---|
2 pounds | 60 to 70 minutes |
2 ½ pounds | 75 to 85 minutes |
3 pounds | 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours |
4 pounds | 2 hours to 2 hours 20 minutes |
My Favorite Sides for Turkey Breast
Here are our favorite classic sides to pair with a roast turkey breast!
Did your family love this Roast Turkey Breast recipe? Leave a comment and a rating below!
Herbed Roast Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds boneless turkey breast
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil or as needed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage or ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- salt and black pepper
- 1 small onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup chicken broth or as needed
Instructions
- Remove the turkey breast from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Tie the turkey breast (if it's not tied or in a net already). If it is already in a net, leave it in the net to cook. Dab the outside dry with a paper towel.
- Brush the turkey breast with olive oil. Generously sprinkle with herbs, salt, & pepper.
- Place the turkey breast in a small casserole dish and nestle onions (and extra herbs if desired) alongside the turkey.
- Roast the turkey breast uncovered for 30 minutes. Add enough broth to cover the bottom of the dish, about 1 cup.
- Continue roasting for 30 to 60 minutes or until the temperature in the thickest part of the breast reaches 165°F. Estimated cook times are listed below.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
Video
Notes
- 2 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 60 to 70 minutes.
- 2.5 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 75 to 85 minutes.
- 3 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 90 to 105 minutes.
- 4 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 2 hrs to 2 hrs and 20 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Will this recipe work for a 9 pound boneless turkey breast? And how long do you think I would have to cook it?
Hi Jill, when you roast a boneless turkey breast at 350°F, a rule of thumb is about 20 minutes for each pound. So, for a 9-pound turkey breast, it should take roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes. Just make sure to check the internal temp with a thermometer, it should read 165°F.
I’m thinking of making this for my Thanksgiving dinner this year. Was wondering if it would work well in a crock pot and if so how long you suggest?
I use this Crock Pot Turkey Breast recipe.
yummy!
Please clarify: One doesn’t add the broth until after the first hour?
In step 6 we roast the turkey breast for 30 mins and then add the broth and continue cooking for the remaining 30-60 minutes. Enjoy!
I Love trying different recipes and so does my family
We have so many delicious recipes to try, Debbie! Can’t wait for you to test them out.
Used this recipe to roast a 5# boneless Turkey breast. I appreciated the tip to put a bit of stock and sliced onions in bottom of roasting pan. It really kept the meat tender and moist. And nice reminder to tie up breast to create a more uniform size/shape for even cooking.
Easy and straightforward recipe. In my keeper box.
I am so glad you enjoyed this turkey recipe Sharon!
Will be making it tomorrow. Using those herbs it onus’s like a home run!! yummy!!
what if I can’t find a ‘poultry pack’ ? how do you measure out the individual herbs for this recipe?.
can this recipe use a roasting bag for the oven?
I haven’t tried a roasting bag so I can’t say for sure LuAnn. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi LuAnn, you will still want to use 3 tablespoons fresh herbs. So I would use approximately 3/4 tablespoon each of fresh parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme. I hope this helps!
The cooking time was spot on! Thank you! The key is bringing the turkey out of the fridge a minimum of 30 minutes prior to roasting. I admit I read some of the reviews, took to heart about undercooked etc and cooked an extra 10 minutes I now know I shouldn’t have.
So sorry to hear that, Jennifer. We found the cooking times to be accurate when we prepared it. Depending on the size of your Roasted Turkey Breast you may need to adjust the cook time accordingly.
We use an instant-read thermometer to ensure the turkey breast reaches 165°F in the thickest part of the meat and follow these cooking times:
2 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 60 to 70 minutes.
2.5 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 75 to 85 minutes.
3 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 90 to 105 minutes.
4 lb Turkey Breast – roast for 2 hrs to 2 hrs and 20 minutes.
Holly—I have a 7 lb boneless breast. I assume it would be best to defrost rather than put in oven frozen.
The turkey breast should be thawed first.
I’m super excited to try this recipe this year! I’m just wondering if you used a frozen turkey or a fresh one? I heard that all fresh turkeys should be bribed but frozen ones like butterball don’t need to be if you use a cheese cloth.
You can use fresh or frozen. The frozen turkey should be thawed first. You can brine the turkey breast if you’d like, we use this turkey brine recipe but it is not required. The key to tender and juicy turkey breast is to ensure it isn’t overcooked.
Do you roast your 3 pound turkey breast covered or uncovered?
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/roast-turkey-breast/
We roast the turkey breast uncovered. Enjoy!
Looks good
I used this recipe for a thawed 3 pound breast roast. It ended up taking over 90 minutes to cook, which threw off the timing of the side dishes. I’m pretty confident in my oven’s temperature and my own cooking skills, so it added some unwelcome stress to my meal preparation.
Having said all that, it was DELICIOUS. Perfectly moist, with a wonderful crispy skin. I will try this again but will not count on it being done in 50 minutes.
So glad you loved the turkey, albeit a bit later than expected! Happy Thanksgiving!
Well I purchased a 3lb boneless turkey breast and gave this recipe a try. Not sure what I did wrong as it definitely did not cook nearly as fast as this recipe said. I followed the directions exactly (minus the onion as I did not have one).It only got up to 100 degrees F at the 50 minute mark…I’m still waiting for it to be done so it looks like a late dinner for us. Very disappointing as this is my first attempt at cooking any kind of turkey on my own for Thanksgiving…
Sorry to hear that it took longer than expected Robyn. Did you preheat your oven? Do you have an oven thermometer?
I understand the comment to start at 425 degrees, a much higher temperature in ordet to seal in the juices. But then it is cooked at 375 degrees for the remainder of time while most recipes seem to suggest 325 or 350 for the entire time. I have a three and a half pound fresh boneless turkey breast from a local farm and I just wanted to confirm these temperatures as I don’t want to mess this up. Thank you! Also can this be cooked untied?
Because this is a smaller piece of meat, it can cook at a slightly higher temperature than a whole turkey. It can be cooked untied, this will make the shape a little bit flatter and it can cook a tiny bit quicker.
I would definitely suggest using a thermometer to check the temperature early so it doesn’t overcook. You’ll want to remove the turkey breast from the oven once it reaches 165°F (I usually remove it a couple of degrees sooner, around 162 as it will climb a couple of degrees as it rests). Happy Thanksgiving!
If using dried seasoning, would I use the same amount? 1.5 tablespoons of parsley and 1.5 tablespoons of rosemary, sage, & thyme divided equally?
I’d start with about ½ Tablespoon of dried parsley, and ½ Tablespoon total of the other dried herbs. Mix them with the oil. Find out more about substituting fresh vs dried herbs. Enjoy!
Thanks so much! And I have a 6 pound bone in turkey. Would I use the same amount of seasonings as you’ve listed for the 3 pound? Or does the size not matter?
Great question! The surface area will be greater for that big of a breast, so you may need to increase the oil and seasonings (I’d guess about half more) to cover the breast in full. Take a look at the picture for an idea of how the herbs look on the turkey.
Where do you get the string to tie it and what kind of string?
The string is called butchers twine and can be purchased online at Amazon or at any grocery store, usually in the equipment section.
It says to *see note on the fresh herbs but it doesn’t say how much to use of each one. Can you please elaborate on that?
I generally use about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons parsley and make up the rest based on what I have on hand. Most often I buy a poultry pack of herbs so I’ll include 1 1/2 tablespoons of sage, thyme and rosemary (equal amounts).