An easy roast turkey breast recipe for stress-free meals-from Thanksgiving to make-ahead dinners to healthy lunches.
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Roast turkey breast
This easy roast turkey breast recipe is perfect for dinners, lunch meat, or salads. It's so simple to put together it practically cooks itself. And it's paleo, keto, and Whole30-compliant!
You can roast it for a small Thanksgiving gathering. Or if you're feeding a big crowd, use it for extra servings of turkey breast alongside your whole turkey.
You can roast the turkey on the weekend to have it for quick make-ahead meals during the week. I often roast a chicken on the weekend to last for a few meals. Roasted turkey is a nice change. Keeping this recipe simple-roasting the turkey with just duck fat, salt, and pepper-makes it a keto turkey recipe.
And keeping the seasonings simple makes it easy to use it with different sauces. We had it in Greek lettuce wraps with baba ganoush, tomatoes and cucumbers yesterday. And today, I made a salad with turkey, peaches and smoky balsamic dressing over greens from our CSA.
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Ingredients you'll need
- Turkey breasts - Look for whole turkey breasts with the skin and bone, not boneless turkey breasts. Be sure to plan ahead if it's frozen so you have enough time for it to thaw. Here's how to defrost a turkey.
- Duck fat - Adds so much flavor and crispness when rubbed on top of the skin. You can also substitute ghee or your favorite cooking fat if you prefer.
- Seasoning - I keep it simple with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. But you can add garlic, herbs, or paprika if you want to spice it up.
How to roast a turkey breast
The secret to this turkey recipe is roasting the turkey breast with the skin and bones. This helps keep the turkey meat moist. You can add your favorite herbs if you like. Or season each piece with a different spice mix. However you make it, this simple roast turkey breast is an easy make-ahead meal.
Just rub the turkey breasts with duck fat, ghee, or grass-fed butter to help the skin brown and crisp up. Season it with salt and pepper or herbs and spices if desired. Place the turkey breasts on a sheet pan and bake until it's 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.
Be sure to take the turkey out of the oven as soon as the meat reaches the correct temperature as overcooking it will dry out the meat. And don't forget to let it rest before slicing it.
You can use this easy roast turkey breast for a holiday gathering. Don't feel like roasting a whole turkey for Thanksgiving? Want to serve roast turkey and glazed ham or standing rib roast for Christmas? Try this simple turkey recipe with all the holiday sides and desserts!
Easy Roast Turkey Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 bone-in turkey breast halves 3-4 pounds each
- 2 tablespoons duck fat melted
- freshly cracked pepper to taste (omit for AIP)
- coarse sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place turkey breast on a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan, skin side up, and rub all over with duck fat. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place in oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees. Roast until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 1 to 1-½ hours.
- Cover with aluminum foil and rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
Side dishes to serve with roast turkey breast
3-Ingredient Paleo Cranberry Sauce
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
can't remember the last time that i had roast turkey... you've definitely made me hungry for some. i definitely am inspired to recreate the recipe, thanks!
Lisa says
It's great to have roast turkey in the fridge for quick meals. Hope you enjoy it!
phyllis says
I bought a Turkey Roast a few weeks ago. Because the weather has been hot, I cooked it in a slow cooker. I sprinkled liquid smoke on it to have a smoked flavor. This winter, when turning on the oven may be needed, I'll try this recipe.
Lisa says
Sounds yummy - the slow cooker is a great idea for summer! Hope you enjoy this recipe too!
Sabrina says
wow, what a great idea using duck fat, perfect flavor enhancer for turkey, why didn't I ever think of that? Great idea and thank you for this recipe!
Sabrina says
thank you for this, duck fat, wow, never tried that before with turkey, great idea, love the sides too, all of this should be year-round food!
Lisa says
I agree Sabrina!
Deb says
Hi Lisa. I’m going to try this out tonight. Thank you! Question, do you cover the pan with foil while baking?
Mari Price says
I am new to Paleo. I wonder if there is an alternative to using the duck fat. Is there another fat that would work as well?
Lisa says
Hi Mari, roasting in duck fat adds a great flavor, but you can substitute your fat of choice---bacon fat, ghee, or coconut oil would work.