Best Roast Turkey Breast

What makes this the best roast turkey breast you ask? Two things place this little jewel to the top of the list. The first is the ease of the recipe (a holiday dinner all cooked on one pan) and second is the amazing marinade that flavors the turkey and later creates the gravy. This is a holiday jewel for family and guests from Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.

BEST ROAST TURKEY RECIPE

It’s best when you begin on any adventure to come prepared. That I did. I began the sheet pan dinner test using a stellar roast turkey recipe from the Bijouxs Little Jewel Collection – it’s been in the archive for 25 years.

Fresh from a major move, I needed things to be simple. Focusing on a small crowd, that would be 4 guests, a large bone-in half turkey breast was perfect for this recipe. What makes this recipe so tasty is the marinade, for sure. By the way this marinade is great on a boneless turkey breast roll or a whole roast chicken too. The marinade keeps the bird tender and flavorful, no dry turkey here.

The simple no-cook marinade reads with flavors you love: olive oil, dijon mustard, soy sauce, lemon, oranges, and herbs. I prefer to marinate the turkey overnight, for maximum flavor. Since I have been making this recipe for years, I came equipped with confidence that this part of the dinner would work.

SHEET PAN DINNER RECIPES

In full disclosure, I was sent a wonderful “Sheet Pan with a Plan” kit from my friends at OXO which I wanted to try. It’s a really great kit with a non-stick half sheet pan, silicone roasting rack, flavor injector, thermometer and really slick gravy separator–everything you need. I have been hearing about sheet pan dinners…could they really be good a good idea and really create a great dinner? I set out of create a sheet pan dinner recipe using my recipes for turkey breast, dressing, sweet potatoes and green beans, a pure and simple play on the holidays.

HOLIDAY TURKEY RECIPE

Equipped with a winner turkey recipe, I added my very favorite traditional dressing recipe, sweet potatoes and green bean recipe to sweeten the sheet pan test. The results were delicious and the feast for four was ready in about an hour.

It is really simple. Place the marinated turkey breast over the prepared dressing on the top 1/3 of the sheet pan, using one of the silicone racks to lift the turkey off the dressing. The final results are that part of the dressing has crispy brown edges and the section under the turkey breast is soft and juicy, just like stuffing out of the bird, something for everyone.

The sweet potatoes are sliced thin using my OXO mandoline (I really do like their products). Toss with melted butter, brown sugar and orange juice then layer on the lower 1/3 of the pan. Next up, french green beans tossed with olive oil and smashed garlic cloves. All received generous grinds of black pepper and sprinkle of flaked sea salt. Really, you can roast almost any of your favorite veggies with the turkey.

I started by roasting the turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes for about 30 minutes, during second half of cooking I added the green beans to the pan. Make sure to keep enough melted butter on the potatoes, to keep them from drying out during the roast. The thermometer made sure (temperature check pictured, almost there) that the turkey was the recommended minimum temperature of 165 degrees.

No pan drippings, no problem!  The reserved marinade creates a tangy gravy. I really do like the gravy separator that came with the kit – so much I tossed my old pour model – by just squeezing the handle the gravy comes out of the bottom, leaving the fat on the top, brilliant.

THE RESULTS

This was a winner for Thanksgiving! I shared the easy cook meal with a few friends, thumbs up from everyone. I served my favorite cranberry relish to make it a true Thanksgiving feast. This sheet pan roast is a great idea to bake a dinner at a friend’s home or work, just prep the components and bake on the sheet pan, super simple. Well, it did not hurt to start the sheet pan adventure with my little jewel recipes and a little help from my friends at OXO.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy holiday season.

Bijoux Little Jewels from the Kitchen | Simply Beautiful Recipes for the Home Cook

 

 

 

As always, enjoy. B