If you're worried you won't have enough meat for next-day sandwiches or you simply don't want to bother with a giant turkey, the bone-in breast is your ticket. With no basting or babysitting, it's the path of least resistance to juicy, flavorful meat, impressive enough to earn applause but foolproof enough to supplement a whole bird. The breast goes into the oven at a relatively high temperature to take on some color, then finishes low and slow for extreme juiciness.
Recipe information
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
1
1
1
⅓
2
1
Preparation
Step 1
Coarsely grind coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns in spice mill or with mortar and pestle. (If you don’t have either, you can always chop with a chef’s knife.) Place salt and brown sugar in a medium bowl and work together with your fingers until incorporated. Stir in ground spices.
Step 2
Place turkey on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. (If you don’t have this setup, place your turkey on a V-shape rack set inside a large roasting pan.) Sprinkle dry brine all over both sides of turkey breast, patting to adhere. You won’t need all of the dry brine, but it’s good to have extra since some of it will end up on the baking sheet as you season the turkey breast. Chill, uncovered, at least 12 hours and up to 2 days.
Step 3
Remove turkey breast from wire rack and rinse baking sheet and rack if needed (turkey will most likely release some liquid onto pan). Line baking sheet with 3 layers of foil and set rack back inside. Place turkey breast back on rack and let sit at room temperature 2–3 hours.
Step 4
Place an oven rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. Pour 1 cup water into baking sheet.
Step 5
Roast turkey breast, rotating pan halfway through, until skin is mostly golden brown all over, about 30 minutes.
Step 6
Reduce oven temperature to 300° and continue to roast turkey breast, adding more water by ½-cupfuls as needed to maintain some liquid in baking sheet, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers 150° (don’t worry; the temperature will continue to climb while the turkey breast rests), 50–70 minutes longer. Skin should be deep golden brown and crisp. Transfer turkey breast to a cutting board and let rest at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before slicing.
Leave a Review
Reviews (10)
Back to TopDid not like the spice rub on the turkey at all. Just an average recipe. Not worth making again. Other dry rubs for turkey are much better.
jsbjk
Winnetka, IL
12/29/2022
This recipe got rave reviews from my Thanksgiving crowd. I will make again.
Anonymous
Peoria, IL
6/13/2022
Hmm. Mixed results here. I should have followed my intuition and used less salt. It really doesn't need 1/3 cup of salt. You just need enough to rub on the bird and be done with it. About a couple of tablespoons will do it. The bird came out too salty. Naturally, the cuts of meat in the center of the bird were well seasoned while the meat closest to the skin/surface was exceedingly salty and almost inedible. Maybe wet brine would be better? I dunno. However, the cooking technique was spot on and I'll be doing it this way from now on. Roasting it on high at 450 F for 30 and then lowering the temp to 300 F was perfect.
Anonymous
Los Angeles County
11/26/2021
This turned out very well and the turkey was very moist, even though I only had a half day to brine it in the fridge. The recipe says to let the turkey sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours. I would think that there would be a risk of bacteria leaving it out that long, so I only left it out for about an hour.
Tina D
Denver, CO
11/29/2020
Great flavors and cooking instructions. Mine hit temperature after 50 minutes at 300F. For the dry brine, I separated the skin from the meat to shove the seasonings in between. The 1/3 cup of Diamond Crystal resulted in a very well-seasoned turkey; I'd just dial that back to a 1/4 cup next time.
Anonymous
Durham
4/20/2020