Citrus Herb Turkey Breast is a flavorful, easy dish for Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas celebration, or an every day dinner party. This is a great alternative to roasting a whole turkey if you’re hosting a smaller Thanksgiving gathering.
Thanksgiving is, indeed, looking a little different this year.
Normally, we’d be heading to my parents’ house where we would normally enjoy a huge feast along with my brother and his family, and other relatives. This year, we’re planning a nice small celebration at home, just me, my husband, our two teenagers, and our dog.
If you’ll be paring down your Thanksgiving feast this year too, consider making a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey.
Jump to:
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
Making a turkey breast costs less money and requires considerably less time than roasting an entire turkey. And, you get the best of the main event anyway: the tender, juicy meat from the center of the turkey.
There’s less prep time and less clean up, so you can spend more time enjoying your food and your guests!
🦃 Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make the juiciest, most delicious boneless turkey breast:
One boneless turkey – I prefer the skin on, but you can make this recipe with boneless, skinless turkey breast as well.
Unsalted butter – if you use salted butter, simply reduce the amount of salt you sprinkle over the turkey.
Garlic – because every savory recipe is better with garlic.
Lemons – you will need both the zest and the juice of one lemon.
Parsley – adds a nice brightness and brings out the citrus.
Sage & thyme – both of these herbs are poultry BFFs. They add a rich savory herbal note.
White wine – always use a wine that you actually enjoy drinking. The flavor of the wine carries through to whatever you are cooking
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Making a roast turkey breast is faster and easier than roasting an entire turkey.
- Start by mixing together melted butter, lemon zest, herbs, and garlic.
- Spread the herb butter mix evenly over the outside of the turkey breast.
- Pour wine evenly over turkey breast, then pour lemon juice over turkey breast.
- Season with salt and pepper. Then bake!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
If you buy a 4 or 5-pound turkey breast, it will feed between 4 to 6 people, easily. This, of course, depends on how much each guest likes to eat per serving.
The last time we made this recipe for the four of us, we still had enough for leftovers!
From FoodSafety.gov: You can thaw turkey in a refrigerator for approximately 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds.
Allow about 30 minutes per pound for cold water thawing, changing the water every 30 minutes until the turkey is thawed. A turkey thawed in cold water should be cooked immediately.
Boil water in a large stockpot. Add salt, garlic, lemon, and herbs. Add the turkey. Or, if turkey is too large for a stockpot, place into a brining bag. Place stockpot or brining bag with turkey & brine into the refrigerator and refrigerate overnight.
My favorite brine is super simple:
-10 – 12 cups water
-2/3 cup kosher salt
-3 -5 garlic cloves,
-2 lemons, sliced
-2 oranges, sliced
-2 tablespoons sage leaves
-1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
-1 tablespoon thyme leaves
I always take the netting off before cooking a boneless turkey breast. You can see the indentations the netting left in the raw turkey breast in the photo above.
However, I do know some people who prefer to leave the netting on. Some say that it helps keep the turkey retain its shape. Which is different from keeping the turkey in shape – which is good, because who wants a fit, skinny turkey? ;)
🍽 What to serve with turkey breast
Allllllll the sides!
First, make a fun Turkey Charcuterie Board to kick off the dinner.
This citrus herb turkey breast begs to be enjoyed with all of the classic Thanksgiving side dishes, such as:
- Green Beans with Bacon
- Wild Rice Dressing
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Creamy Confetti Corn
- Mushrooms Marsala
- Scalloped Potatoes
Got turkey leftovers? Make Crockpot Turkey Tetrazzini or Turkey Pesto Sandwiches!
🥂 Best wine pairing
With turkey, you have your choice: you can pair it with a white wine or a red wine.
In the red wine department: An Oregon Pinot Noir pairs beautifully with poultry. The lighter-styled red wine usually has nice acidity that drinks divinely with a roast turkey breast.
If it’s a white wine you’re after, go for a Chardonnay. Find one with crisp acidity and mild oak to bring out the flavors of the turkey.
⏲ Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this Citrus Herb Turkey Breast recipe? Here’s what you’ll need:
- Meat thermometer – to be cooked, the center of the turkey breast needs to read at least 155°F.
- Pastry brush – to spread the herb butter mix evenly over the outside of the turkey breast.
- Medium bowl
🍖 More holiday main course recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Roasted Citrus and Herb Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 1 boneless turkey breast (4-5 pounds), skin on
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sage, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter, lemon zest, herbs, and garlic. Using your hands or a pastry brush, spread the herb butter mix evenly over the outside of the turkey breast.
- Pour wine evenly over turkey breast, then pour lemon juice over turkey breast.
- Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, until the center of the turkey breast reads 155°F on a meat thermometer. Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes, allowing the internal temperature to rise to 160°F, before slicing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is the picture exact? Why does each slice look like it was browned separately? If you slice the breast out of the oven, I don’t think it would look like that. I love how it looks and want to make it exact.
For that last round of recipe testing + photos I let it rest 10-15 minutes then sliced it, poured a little bit of the juices over the slices, and photographed it as you see here. If you slice into yours after letting it rest and you want it to have a little browning on each slice, you can always place slices under the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown a bit, or give the slices a quick sear on a hot pan on the stove for 1-2 minutes.
Do you cover the turkey breast when cooking it? Also, can I substitute broth in place of the wine?
I don’t cover it, but if you have a larger turkey breast or if your oven tends to run hotter than most (my old one did!), you could try covering it. And you can absolutely substitute broth in place of wine. If you try it, please let me know how it goes! :)