ROAST TURKEY BREAST | Easy, Tender and Moist with Crispy Skin!

I have one of the most popular Thanksgiving turkey recipes both on YouTube and Google, and millions of people have made that foolproof recipe year after year. But if you don't want to cook an entire bird for the holidays, I've got the next best thing for you, and it is my roast turkey breast recipe that is equally delicious, just a little bit smaller. So if you're hosting Friendsgiving or a more intimate Thanksgiving dinner, you can still entertain the idea of a festive turkey on the table with this super delicious oven-roasted turkey breast. To get started, you'll need two teaspoons of freshly chopped thyme and two teaspoons of freshly chopped rosemary. Now, when I was pondering this recipe, I thought about coming up with a completely different flavor profile from my roast turkey. But the simple fact of the matter is that you guys love that recipe, so this turkey breast is honestly just a scaled-down version of that recipe with ingredient proportions to suit an average-sized bone-in turkey breast. And when it comes to Thanksgiving and poultry herbs, thyme and rosemary are your top two herbs for flavoring turkey. So once you've got those chopped up, just set them aside. For the turkey breast, I'm using about a six-pound bone-in turkey breast. My recipe calls for a six-and-a-half-pound breast, but mine is a bit smaller today because that's what they had at the market. Now, the most important thing when cooking a turkey breast, which is the same as cooking a full turkey, is to let it come to room temperature. Whenever I hear stories of people saying their turkey isn't cooked through properly, I know that either they had their oven set too hot or they did not let their turkey come to room temperature. So make sure to not skip that step. Once you've removed your turkey breast from the packaging, you can also get rid of any cheapy little temperature things inserted in it because an instant-read thermometer is a much better and more accurate tool, and I'll link one for you in the description below. Then, grab a few paper towels and pat your turkey breast dry to remove any excess moisture on the bird and set it aside. For the herped butter mix, you'll need half a cup of unsalted butter that's been softened to room temperature, and mine decided to plop into the bowl right on end there, and then you'll also add your two teaspoons of chopped thyme and two teaspoons of chopped rosemary. You'll also add half a teaspoon of kosher salt and a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. You'll also add four cloves of garlic, and I got a little ahead of myself starting to mix this without adding the garlic, but thankfully remembered it just a few seconds later because you certainly need those four garlic cloves in this recipe. So add those to the butter and then use a fork to mix it all together. Also, pro tip on the butter because this is a question I get a ton every Thanksgiving, and that's how do I spread the butter so easily onto my turkey? And the key is to make sure it's really soft at room temperature and of course that your turkey isn't cold, but if your butter is too cold or too hard, it just will not spread easily. So even if you need to microwave it for five seconds to soften it up, you can go ahead and do that. Use your hands to separate the skin from the meat and just go slowly here because sometimes it does take a little bit of patience, and don't try to expedite it by using a knife or anything sharp because all you'll end up doing is puncturing the skin. Your hand will eventually make it to the other end of the turkey breast, and will look like something out of the movie Aliens, but if that is the hardest part of this entire recipe, I think we're all good. Take a small handful of the herbed butter and spread it between the skin and the meat. And if it's hard getting it all the way to the other end, you can just sort of plop it in the middle and then use your hands on the outside of the turkey breast to spread it evenly in between. And the beauty about this layer in the middle is that it's what helps keep the turkey breast super moist while cooking and allows you to not have to baste the turkey if you don't want to. So think of it as a self-basting turkey breast in a way. So after you've spread about half of the butter mixture under the skin, you'll spread the remaining half on top of the skin until the turkey breast is evenly coated. Transfer the turkey breast to a baking dish, and no, you do not need any racks or additional veggies of any kind. You can just place the turkey breast as is straight into the pan. Then pop it into a preheated 325 degree oven for about one and a half to two hours until the skin is golden brown and an instant read thermometer reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Mine is a little less than that today, so I'll cook it for a few minutes longer, then remove it from the oven and let it rest covered with foil for about 15 minutes. And in that resting time, the concept of carryover cooking happens, which means that the turkey will continue to increase about five degrees in temperature, hitting that magical 165 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the perfect internal temperature for turkey breast. When you're ready to carve and slice it up, again, it's a very similar process to a whole bird, yet simplified because you're just slicing up the breast. So lucky you. Using a sharp knife, start just off center of the breastbone and slice down and out to remove the turkey breast meat. And once you've got that removed, just set it aside, then flip the turkey breast around and do the same thing on the other side. If you're serving this recipe up all pretty for guests, you can then thinly slice the breast. And I just use my fingers to hold that skin in place while I'm slicing because then each slice gets some of that deliciously crispy skin. And once you've sliced up both turkey breasts, you can transfer them to a serving platter. If you want to zhuzh up the platter with fresh sprigs of thyme or rosemary, you can do that. But otherwise, this easy foolproof turkey breast recipe is done. And while this recipe, of course, surges in popularity during Thanksgiving, you can really make it any time of year when you'd like a tasty turkey dinner. I've got a whole slew of different sides on my website that pair wonderfully with turkey breast. But today, I'm serving it up with some fluffy mashed potatoes and my balsamic bacon brussels sprouts, which are a reader favorite recipe. And with that, I hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do, and a very happy Thanksgiving to you all.