Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast

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Edyta

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Recipe developer, photographer and the writer behind the Eating European food blog of European and Mediterranean healthy and delicious recipes

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Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast is a perfect recipe for Thanksgiving if you don’t want to cook the whole bird.

This Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast combines all the familiar, fall flavors. It’s first rubbed with fresh herbs like: sage, thyme and rosemary. Then it’s cooked with apples, cranberries, onions and garlic and glazed with apple cider with honey. Need I say more?

Well….I will say more. This was by far the juiciest turkey that I’ve ever made in an oven. I suspect that the fact it was tied with kitchen twine helped to keep a lot of the moisture in. This specific cut of meat was boneless, but with the skin. You can use this recipe to cook turkey breast on the bone as well, but if you only find a breast without the bone, ask your butcher to tie it for you. It’s a game changer!

I wanted to create a recipe before the holidays that would be based on part of a turkey, and not the whole bird, as a lot of people want to just cook for a smaller party.

Also, this recipe is so good and easy that you don’t even need a holiday like Thanksgiving to whip it out for. Preparation takes less than 15 minutes, and then it cooks in the oven for about an hour & a 1/2, depending on the size of the breast. So you could even make this Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast for your next Sunday dinner and really tease the upcoming Holidays.

And that’s exactly what I did. My sister-in-law and her boyfriend were flying out of our local airport for vacation and decided to stay with us for the night before, to have easier access to the airport.

So, I made this Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey, with this Dill Mashed Potatoes, for dinner and they absolutely loved it. In fact, they walked into our house and said ‘it smells like Thanksgiving here’. The aroma was incredible, and the taste was even better!

They said that it was so perfectly seasoned and balanced that they couldn’t imagine even adding salt or pepper. I’ll take that testimonial. If you’re looking to pair the bird with something else then I think either this Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes or Sourdough Mushroom Leeks and Bacon Stuffing, would work nicely.

Here’s what you’re going to need for this party:

• A boneless skin-on turkey breast;
• Apples (they’re in season now!);
• Onions;
• Garlic;
• Dried cranberries;
• Fresh rosemary;
• Fresh sage;
• Fresh thyme;
• Dried thyme;
• Sweet paprika;
• Granulated mustard seeds;
• Salt & Pepper;
• Chicken stock;
• Extra virgin olive oil;
• Lemon juice;
• Apple cider; &
• Honey

While it may seem like a lot of ingredients, trust me they work so perfectly together that you won’t want to skip out on any of them. And I can bet that most of these ingredients you already have in your pantry.

For those of you who follow me, you’ll know that I usually don’t do step-by-step photos, but this time I really wanted to show you how to make it perfectly. The printable recipe can be found below as well.

• Peel and quarter your apples

• Quarter the onion and add to the skillet. Cut off the bottom of the garlic and add to the skillet too, along with the herbs.

• Season onions and apples with salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Sprinkle on one tablespoon of lemon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

• In a bowl combine fresh herbs: sage, rosemary, thyme, mustard seed powder, sweet paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.

• Prepare your turkey breast.

• Rub the paste on the entire breast from both sides and place it on top of the bed of onions and apples.

• Sprinkle on the dried cranberries, and add chicken stock to the skillet.

• Preheat the oven to 450F degrees and roast turkey for 20 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to 325F and roast for approximately another 1hr, or 1hr & 20 mins.
• Baste the breast with the pan juices every 15-20 minutes.
• Start checking the temperature the bird after it’s baked in the oven for an hour.
• When the internal temperature reaches 150-155F baste it with the cider-honey glaze and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the internal temperate reaches 165F.
• Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving.

Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast

Fall Harvest Roasted Turkey Breast is a perfect recipe for Thanksgiving if you don't want to cook the whole bird.

4.89 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 413kcal

Author: Edyta

Ingredients

For the roast

• 2,5 lbs turkey breast up to 3 lbs, boneless, skin-on
• 2 apples peeled, cored and quartered
• 1 onion medium, sweet, quartered
• 3 sage leaves fresh
• 1 string rosemary fresh
• 4 strings thyme fresh
• 1 whole garlic bottom cut off
• 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon thyme dried
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken stock or more
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

For the rub

• 2 teaspoon rosemary fresh, chopped
• 2 teaspoon thyme fresh. chopped
• 2 teaspoon sage fresh, chopped
• 2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoon mustard seeds granulated
• 2 cloves garlic large, minced
• 1,5 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
• juice from half a lemon
• freshly ground pepper

For the glaze

• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon apple cider

Instructions

• Add apples, onions, garlic and whole herbs to the cast iron skillet or baking dish; Add olive oil and lemon juice and season everything with salt, pepper, dried theme;
• In a bowl combine the rub ingredients: garlic, fresh herbs, paprika, mustard seeds, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice;
• Rub the paste on the entire breast from both sides and place it on top of the bed of onions and apples;
• Add cranberries and one cup of chicken stock. You will be adding chicken stock as the turkey is cooking to ensure that there is enough liquid to baste the breast. You may use between 2-4 cups of chicken stock;
• Preheat the oven to 450F degrees and roast turkey for 20 minutes;
• Reduce the heat to 325F and roast for approximately another 1hr, or 1hr & 20 mins;
• Baste the breast with the pan juices every 15-20 minutes;
• Start checking the temperature the bird after it's baked in the oven for an hour
• When the internal temperature reaches 150-155F baste it with the cider-honey glaze and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the internal temperate reaches 165F;
• Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving.

Nutrition

Calories: 413kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 1282mg | Potassium: 655mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 480IU | Vitamin C: 9.2mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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