Ina Garten-Inspired Turkey Breast
Turkey breast is the leanest thing anyone roasts at Christmas, which is why almost every recipe tells you to rub it with butter. Where you put that butter decides whether it does anything.
Butter on top of the skin melts within the first ten minutes and runs into the tin. It never touches the meat. Loosen the skin and push the butter underneath instead, and it sits in direct contact with the breast for the whole ninety minutes, melting slowly into it.
Same butter, same recipe, completely different result — one bastes the meat, the other bastes the roasting tin.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Turkey Breast
Serves 8 · Main
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total
- 1 hr 50 min
Easy7 steps
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in turkey breast, about 2.5 kg
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 100 g softened butter
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp chopped sage
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 250 ml chicken stock, for the tin
Method
- Salt the breast all over and refrigerate uncovered.24 hours
- Take it out before roasting. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).1 hour
- Mash the butter with garlic, herbs, lemon zest and pepper.
- Work your fingers under the skin to loosen it, then push the butter underneath, spreading it across the whole breast.
- Sit it in a tin, pour the stock around it — not over it — and roast .20 minutes
- Drop to 165°C and roast , until the thickest part reads 68°C.60–70 minutes
- Rest , tented loosely. It will climb past 70°C.25 minutes
Pull it at 68°C, not 74°C
The safe figure quoted for turkey is 74°C, and by the time a breast reaches it on the counter it has gone chalky. Pull it at 68°C: carryover heat carries it past 70°C during the rest, and holding above 68°C for a couple of minutes achieves the same reduction in bacteria that an instant 74°C does. The result is a breast that is still juicy.
If that makes you uneasy, take it to 71°C and accept a slightly drier slice. Do not take it to 74°C in the oven.
Dry brine for a day
Salt the breast and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours. Turkey holds salt slowly, and a wet brine waterlogs it — a dry brine seasons all the way in and leaves the skin dry enough to crisp.
Tent loosely or not at all
Foil pressed down over crisp skin traps steam and softens it within ten minutes. A loose tent slows the heat loss without sealing anything. On a breast this size you can skip the foil entirely — it holds its heat for well over half an hour.
Storing
Four days refrigerated, and it slices better cold. Warm slices in stock rather than in an oven, which drives out what moisture is left.
Questions people ask
What temperature should turkey breast reach?
Pull it from the oven at 68°C. It carries on rising past 70°C during the rest.
Why put the butter under the skin?
On top it melts into the tin in the first ten minutes. Underneath, it bastes the meat for the entire roast.
Can I use a boneless breast?
Yes, but it cooks faster — start checking at 50 minutes. The bone insulates and keeps the meat juicier.
Do I have to dry brine it?
No, but a lean breast benefits from it more than almost any other cut.
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