Easy Oven Roasted Turkey Breast {or Whole Chicken}

This easy oven roasted turkey breast {or whole chicken} is a fool-proof recipe that anyone can make. Purposely kept simple, but feel free to add fresh herbs and other seasonings to fancy things up, if you wish.

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Hi, my friends!

I’ve talked to a lot of people who become easily overwhelmed at the thought of cooking a turkey or even a whole chicken.

I’m going to show you a method today that is simple enough for anyone to follow. It takes the overwhelm out of cooking a holiday meal because it’s simple, straight forward without all the fuss. But the end result is still perfectly delicious and juicy meat.

This recipe is specifically written for a small turkey breast or whole chicken around 6 to 8 pounds. But you can use the same method for a larger bird (increasing the ingredients and cooking time according to the size).

I’d love to hear how this method works for you. Leave me a comment at the end of the post, my friends.

How to make this easy Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

Step 1: Thaw the turkey breast about 3 days in advance

Yes, there is a bit of planning involved here, my friends.

For a 6 to 8 pound bird, I normally take it out the freezer and put it on a pan in the refrigerator to thaw about 3 days in advance. Keep in mind that larger birds will take longer so plan accordingly.

Step 2: Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (or 450 degrees convection roast if your oven has convection).

Step 3: Clean the turkey breast

Really we’re just talking about a quick rinse in the sink for most turkey breasts. Sometimes there will be neck and giblets included or a gravy packet in the center cavity that you will need to discard.

Step 4: Pat dry

I like to get paper towels and just do a quick pat dry inside and out so that the oil and seasonings stick well.

Step 5: Rub with oil, sprinkle with salt

It’s as easy as that. I’ve measured for your convenience but go with your gut here. If it seems like to much or too little, it probably is.

Step 6: Put it in a pan

I don’t have a fancy roasting pan so I use a 9×13-inch pyrex baking dish. I place the bird breast side up (the breast is the thickest part of meat). Cover the whole pan with a large piece of foil, loosely tented.

Alternately you can use a small roasting pan with a lid if you have one. You won’t want to roast without a cover or you will have a mess to clean up as the juices will splatter all over (been there, done that).

Step 7: Use the oven temperature probe (if you have one)

Each oven will vary slightly with how to use the oven temperature probe (and some ovens won’t have one at all). If your oven has one, I highly recommend using it. It may seem overwhelming, but in the end it takes the guesswork out of cooking times and your meat will come out perfect every single time.

Here’s what I do in my oven (keep in mind yours might be slightly different so read your oven instruction manual – a lot of them can be found free online if you’ve lost yours)

• Preheat the oven to 450 convection roast. Then turn off the oven.
• Insert the temperature probe into the bird. You will want to find where the thickest part of the breast is and insert it there. It should not be touching fat or bone. The thickest spot is in the top part of the bird next to the wings.
• Next place turkey in the oven, carefully connect the probe to the jack, and close the door.
• Enter the probe temperature – which in this case is 157 degrees F.
• Select the baking type and temp (back to 450 convection roast) and press START.

In my oven the oven will shut off automatically when the temperature probe is complete and display “Cooking Complete”.

If you don’t have a temperature probe, you can always just check the bird with a meat thermometer (aff. link) near the end of cooking time. You may want to check it earlier just to ensure that the bird doesn’t get overcooked.

Step 8: Tent tightly with foil until carving

Once the turkey is fully cooked, tent it tightly with foil for at least 20 minutes until ready to carve. This will trap the steam inside and keep the juices and moisture in the meat.

If the turkey is done before you are ready to serve it, you can keep it warm in a 170 degree oven for several hours as long as it is tightly wrapped in foil.

Step 9: Strain the drippings, make the gravy

Strain turkey drippings through a fine mesh strainer and collect juices in a small sauce pan. Add water and heat over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch and little water until smooth. Whisk cornstarch slurry into turkey drippings and heat until thickened.

Step 10: Carve and serve the turkey

Make sure to use a sharp knife and carve away. I doesn’t have to be perfect. There are lots of tutorial online if you are curious.

Wrapping things up…

I hope this post has been helpful, my friends.

Hopefully after reading it you would agree that cooking and serving a turkey (or whole chicken) doesn’t have to be complicated or hard.

Once you perfect this easy oven roasted turkey breast method, you can branch out when you’re comfortable. Try stuffing the cavity with herbs, cut lemons, onions, garlic, celery and other ingredients to add flavor. The options really are endless.

Are you cooking Thanksgiving at home this year? Or are you going out of town? Either way, this is a simple method you can use for turkey breast or chicken any time of the year.

Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat

All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat

Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.