Roast Turkey Breast with Lemon and Thyme
For a small table: a bone-in turkey breast with garlic, thyme and lemon butter spread under the skin, roasted hot and then gently, ready in about 1 1/2 hours.
Not every Thanksgiving needs a whole bird. By USDA's own numbers, the breast is the biggest share of a turkey: each pound of ready-to-cook turkey yields about 146 g of breast meat and skin, against 105 g from the legs and 33 g from the wings (USDA FoodData Central, FDC 171093, 171493 and 171495:). USDA's roasting timetable lists bone-in breasts on their own lines (see Food safety baseline). America's Test Kitchen's "easy" version speeds things up with a hot start and flavors the meat with butter under the skin.
🇺🇸 This one is American
For a small table: a bone-in turkey breast with garlic, thyme and lemon butter spread under the skin, roasted hot and then gently, ready in about 1 1/2 hours.
🇲🇽 The original
In Mexico, where the turkey was first domesticated, the classic is turkey pieces braised in mole poblano, a dark sauce of dried chiles, spices, nuts and a little chocolate. See the Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Two temperatures
30 minutes at 425°F browns the skin, then 325°F lets the thick center catch up without drying the outside.
Butter under the skin
The herb butter melts straight onto the meat, seasoning and basting it, instead of sliding off the skin into the pan.
Step by step
- Step 1
Optional brine: dissolve the salt in the cold water, submerge the breast, cover and refrigerate 3 to 6 hours, no longer. Lift it out and pat it very dry.
- Step 2
Move a rack to the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Mash the butter with the garlic, thyme, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Carefully loosen the skin over both sides of the breast without tearing it. Spread the butter under the skin over the meat, then rub the outside of the skin to spread it evenly.
- Step 4
Spray a V-rack with nonstick spray, set it in a roasting pan and put the breast on it skin side up. Pour the water into the pan.
- Step 5
Roast 30 minutes at 425°F. Lower the oven to 325°F and roast about 1 hour more, until a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165°F.
- Step 6
Move the breast to a carving board and rest it 20 minutes. Cut each side off the bone in one piece, then slice it crosswise.
Roast Turkey Breast with Lemon and Thyme
Serves 8 · one 6 to 7 lb bone-in breast · 2 hr 5 min total
Turkey
- 1 bone-in, skin-on whole turkey breast (6 to 7 lb), trimmed and patted dry
- 1 cup water
Herb butter
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp minced fresh thyme
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 3/4 tsp table salt (leave out if you brine)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Optional brine (for a natural breast with no added salt)
- 4 quarts cold water
- 1/2 cup table salt (or 3/4 cup kosher salt)
Method
- Optional brine: dissolve the salt in the cold water, submerge the breast, cover and refrigerate 3 to 6 hours, no longer. Lift it out and pat it very dry.
- Move a rack to the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Mash the butter with the garlic, thyme, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
- Carefully loosen the skin over both sides of the breast without tearing it. Spread the butter under the skin over the meat, then rub the outside of the skin to spread it evenly.
- Spray a V-rack with nonstick spray, set it in a roasting pan and put the breast on it skin side up. Pour the water into the pan.
- Roast 30 minutes at 425°F. Lower the oven to 325°F and roast about 1 hour more, until a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165°F.
- Move the breast to a carving board and rest it 20 minutes. Cut each side off the bone in one piece, then slice it crosswise.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's "Easy Roast Turkey Breast with Lemon and Thyme" (March 28, 2011). ATK roasts a 6 to 7 lb bone-in breast 30 minutes at 425°F, then about 1 hour at 325°F, to 160°F; we finish at USDA FSIS's 165°F. ATK rinses the breast after its optional brine; we pat it dry instead, following FSIS's advice not to rinse raw poultry. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- A kosher or self-basting breast is already salted; do not brine it, and skip the salt in the butter.
- The water in the pan keeps the drippings from burning, so you can still make a small batch of gravy (our Turkey Giblet Pan Gravy recipe, halved).
- Leftover slices are just right for a Hot Brown (our Kentucky Hot Brown recipe).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Turkey breast is done at 160°F. Disputed: ATK takes it to 160°F; USDA FSIS's safe minimum is 165°F (UGA Extension:). We use 165°F.
- Rinse the bird after brining. Disputed: ATK rinses the brined breast under cold water; USDA FSIS advises against rinsing raw poultry because it spreads bacteria around the sink (Food Safety Magazine:). Patting dry is our compromise.
Every other turkey
Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote)
Poached turkey under Puebla's dark, glossy mole: three dried chiles, charred vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices and a little Mexican chocolate, simmered for two hours.
Yucatecan Turkey in Black Chile Broth (Pavo en Relleno Negro)
Yucatán's jet-black turkey stew: turkey simmered in a broth darkened with recado negro, a paste of chiles toasted until nearly burnt, served with slices of "but," a pork and beef roll with whole egg yolks in the middle.
British Christmas Roast Turkey with Pigs in Blankets
Britain's Christmas bird, the Delia Smith way: buttered, covered in streaky bacon, roasted inside a loose foil tent, then unwrapped for a hot finish, with chipolata sausages wrapped in more bacon on the side.
Portuguese Christmas Roast Turkey with Oven Rice (Peru Assado no Forno)
Maria de Lourdes Modesto's Christmas turkey: soaked overnight in salted water with lemon, stuffed with bread, eggs and cured ham, roasted without a drop of basting, and served with oven rice that soaks up the drippings.
Puerto Rican Pavochón (Turkey Seasoned Like Pernil)
A Thanksgiving turkey with the flavor of a Puerto Rican pork roast: garlic, oregano, olive oil and adobo spread under the skin, butter tucked in, two days in the fridge, then basted with dark beer.
Classic Roast Thanksgiving Turkey
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Dry-Brined Turkey (the Judy Bird)
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Spatchcocked Roast Turkey
Cut out the backbone, press the bird flat and roast it hot: a 12 to 14 lb turkey is done in about 80 minutes, with crisp skin all over and breast and legs finishing together.
Cajun Deep-Fried Turkey
Louisiana's outdoor turkey: injected overnight with butter, onion and garlic juice, hot sauce and beer, then lowered into a big pot of peanut oil at 350°F and fried in about 3 to 4 minutes a pound. Outdoors only, with a fire extinguisher.
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Real gravy from the bird: a giblet broth made while the turkey roasts, a nutty brown roux, and the roasting pan deglazed with white wine so every browned bit ends up in the sauce.
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Kentucky Hot Brown, Inspired by The Brown Hotel
Inspired by, not official: Louisville's open-faced roast turkey sandwich, smothered in Pecorino Romano Mornay sauce, broiled until bubbling and topped with crossed strips of bacon.
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