Simple Herb and Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast
Simple Herb and Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast is the perfect way to get delicious roast turkey breast in about one hour without the fuss!
I dread fussing over roasting a whole turkey most of the time….who’s with me? Of course I do it every Thanksgiving like everybody else, but on most days I really don’t need that much turkey.
This roast turkey breast is the best way to get delicious, homemade roast turkey in one hour or less. It’s perfect for weeknight dinners or when you’re having a small holiday gathering.
I make this recipe very often, and there’s usually enough turkey leftover for a few sandwiches the next day.
You can even skip the full-fledged dinner and go straight to sandwiches, because there’s nothing like a good, roast turkey sandwich is there? 🙂
Roast Turkey Breast
I have an herb garden, so I love using fresh herbs for this Simple Herb and Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast. This recipe works perfectly with dried herbs too, so no need to buy fresh herbs if you don’t have a garden!
A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon dried herbs for every tablespoon of fresh.
How to make roast turkey breast
- To prep the turkey breast, simply rub the turkey from top to bottom with the olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
- From there, place it in your roasting pan or a large rimmed baking sheet and let it sit at room temperature. The turkey breast will cook more evenly and quickly if it’s not ice cold when it goes into the oven.
- I like to leave the skin on the turkey because it keeps the turkey nice and moist. Golden brown crispy skin makes it downright heavenly, but you can remove the skin if you’d like to keep things healthier.
- If you do keep the skin on, make sure you loosen the skin and rub the herb mixture underneath the skin, directly on the breast meat also.
- Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees.
- Cover loosely with foil and let rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Recipe tips and substitutions
- Use the drippings to make a pan gravy….or not. It’s great without gravy, too!
- Save the carcass to make my homemade turkey stock!
See all of my Thanksgiving Recipes.
More holiday recipes you’ll love:
Simple Herb and Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 3 pound turkey breast bone in, skin on
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the turkey and pat it dry.
- Combine the garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the turkey, top to bottom, and underneath the skin. Place in a roasting pan or a rimmed baking sheet. No rack required.
- Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, without touching bone, reaches 165 degrees.
- Cover the turkey with foil and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes. Carve and serve!
Video
Notes
- For best results, rub the turkey breast and leave out at room temperature for about one hour prior to roasting. This way, it will cook much more evenly.
- Use the drippings to make a pan gravy if you wish. The meat will be plenty moist without it, so the choice is yours!
- I used the convection roast feature on my oven at 325 degrees. If you don't have convection, simply roast at 350 degrees.
- Fresh herbs may be substituted for dried -- use about 1 tablespoon of each.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
61 Comments on “Simple Herb and Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast”
Hi Marcie, I love using fresh herbs whenever I can, love how you prepared this!
Thank you, Cheri, and I agree, fresh herbs are definitely best. In a pinch, at least there’s dried! 🙂
haha oh my gosh, does your dog actually eat your fresh herbs?? That’s too funny!
Love this – except for Thanksgiving we never bother with a whole turkey. This is much more manageable! Or heck, even for a smaller Thanksgiving!
My dog gets into everything! I’m hoping he outgrows it this year because my garden awaits! The whole turkey is a pain, and once a year is plenty. This would be perfect for a smaller Thanksgiving if everyone was ok with white meat and no legs! haha
The chicken looks so delicious and juicy!
Thank you, Jocelyn! 🙂
Simple is key. I love bird that is simply seasoned with herbs and garlic. Yummy Marcie
Herbs and garlic are just magical, and you certainly don’t need much more! Thanks, Kathy! 🙂
I cannot keep my tongue in my mouth!!!!!! Thanksgiving is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER and I refuse to eat ANY turkey until then! 😉
I couldn’t keep from making turkey…and it was SO good! The best part is, just making the breast gave us just enough and left us wanting more. The perfect Turkey Day Teaser! 🙂
We love turkey but I’m totally with ya when you don’t want to fuss over roasting a whole turkey! This sounds perfect for a weeknight or even a special dinner for a smaller group. Love how simple and flavorful this is too and the fact that there is still leftovers for turkey sandwiches – yum!
Thank you, Kelly! I love doing this for weeknight dinners…my boys go crazy, and they’re straight for the sandwiches. 🙂 I’d do 2 for a crowd so there’s leftovers — gotta have leftovers!
You are right on! Actually, the only time we roast a whole turkey is Thanksgiving day…the rest of the year, it’s breast only. And truth is – I don’t make it as often as I should! But I love it…especially the sandwiches! As a matter of fact, my family probably looks just as forward to the sandwiches Thanksgiving night while watching Elf as we do the meal!
Love this idea, especially if you are having a smaller Thanksgiving gathering. The last 3 years I’ve just carved the turkey away from the table anyway, so it’s not like anyone even sees the whole cooked bird (no Norman Rockwell moment I guess!). This is so great!
“simple”: Yup! That is what I need in my life!! I love the look of this roast turkey breast. It looks like the perfect recipe to have some fresh turkey meat around the house!! The story about your dog eating the herbs made me laugh! My dog always ate my peppers from my garden right before they were ready to pick……grrrrrrr!! 🙂
This turkey sounds like the perfect meal for a weeknight and lazy weekend, Marcie! I love how easy it is to prepare and all of the flavorful herbs. Definitely beats preparing a Thanksgiving turkey for hours on end! 🙂
It’s not wrong of you, and I actually didn’t even make sides for this particular one — except for cranberry sauce, of course! Served it up with some great sourdough and dinner was served! I do not herb snip yet…I was being sarcastic. I’d love a garden, but my 2 year old pup would get into it. One day…one day! 🙂
This turkey looks great!!! Simple and in about one hour sounds perfect to me!!! Pinned!!! and can’t wait to try this!
Thank you, Alice, and I appreciate the pin! 🙂
So simple, but this sounds so flavorful and delicious! We seem to reserve turkey for Thanksgiving, but I really need to try cooking it more often!
My family LOVES turkey (for turkey sandwiches mostly) all year so I make it pretty regularly. It’s great for lunches, too!
You made me laugh out loud about confusing your life with the Barefoot Contessa! I am always jealous of her huge herb garden on the show. How does she have a whole side yard with her bushes as tall as her, but my little pot of basil in my windowsill dies after 1 week? Guess I’m not much of a gardener. Thank goodness for dried herbs. This roast turkey breast looks delicious! All I really eat from the Thanksgiving turkey is the breast, so this is perfect for me! Faster to make too!
I’m so envious of Barefoot Contessa when she walks out to that beautiful lush garden! I can barely keep my herbs on the window sill alive either — what’s the deal? I’m glad you relate and I’m not the only one out there without a garden. haha
Love how easy this is! Would be perfect for when a weeknight dinner!
It is easy, and I love whipping this up during the week and use the leftovers for sandwiches! 🙂
This looks so good! I honestly have never made a whole turkey, and I’ve only made a turkey breast once, so I think this needs to go on my to-do list!
This is just the easiest, full proof way to make turkey! 🙂
I am with you—turkey breast only. You get sooo much meat. I like this treatment because it leaves the door open to some tasty leftovers with the meat already seasoned.
The leftovers are so great for sandwiches or tetrazzini, or whatever! 🙂
I don’t know why more people don’t roast a turkey breast. It is such an economical and flavorful meat that gives you several delicious meals.
You’re so right, Karen. When I roast turkey breast, my family is very excited for dinner, and there’s always great leftovers!
I’m with you! Turkey breast is so much easier! I love all of the garlicky, herbiness you’ve got going on! Pinning!
Thank you, Justine! This meal is always welcome in my house!
I love how moist and tender this turkey looks! I don’t really love roasting a whole turkey either, so this is perfect for weeknights! Pinned. 🙂
There was no dry meat here, thankfully, and it made the best weeknight meal…twice!
Mmmmm looks great Marcie! So moist and simple! Bet these make some killer sandwiches!!!
Thank you, Chris, and the sandwiches were killer!
I’m still laughing over that comment about the barefoot contessa- although I suspect she might have a gardener…maybe if I did I’d have a few herbs in the garden too. This is almost the exact same way I would roast a turkey, except instead of sage I use marjoram. I absolutely love sage, so I am definitely trying it this way next time. Yum!
I love all those herbs Marcie! I find the smell of sage to be absolutely intoxicating this time of year. I hate roasting a whole turkey too and find we can get by with just a turkey breast most of the time.
The smell of sage is intoxicating. I wish my sage plant hadn’t stopped producing but I think I’ve killed yet another herb plant. 🙁
Wow does this look awesome! So flavorful!!
Thank you, Cathy! 🙂
I think this looks perfect for Thanksgiving.
Do you grease the roasting pan or do anything to the pan? Sorry- probably an easy answer, but I always seem to make simple mistakes like that! Things I should know, but don’t!
Hi Jenna! You don’t need to grease it at all — it’s super easy!
I have a 14 pound turkey can you tell me how much of each ingredient youd recommend? Also how long to bake?
My suggestion is that you quadruple the recipe here since you have a 14 lb. turkey. One tablespoon each of chopped fresh herbs, 8 cloves garlic, and 6-8 tablespoons of olive oil should do the trick. Instead of adding salt to the rub, I would salt and pepper the entire turkey first, as well as inside the cavity. The cooking time would be about 3 hours in a 350 degree oven or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers at 165 degrees. For more tips on a whole turkey, you may want to check out my whole turkey recipe at https://flavorthemoments.com/dry-brined-orange-rosemary-roasted-turkey
Hi, Marcie! I just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed this recipe. We had decided to scale down to a turkey breast instead of the whole bird this year, and I happened upon your recipe when looking for ideas on how to cook it. It was so simple and turned out perfectly!
Hi Jennifer! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this and thanks so much for taking the time to give me your feedback! ?
Can you use boneless turkey breast. And if you can now long should I cook for
Hello! I’ve never made a boneless turkey breast, but I think it should work out fine. Cooking time should be about the same, just check for doneness with and instant read thermometer to be sure it’s at the right temperature.
I am using this recipe for the Thanksgiving turkey this year. I want to do something different. Thanks for sharing!
Many stores don’t sell it when it’s not the holiday season — I would check with your butcher! Sometimes they’ll special order it…I wish it were more readily available.
Made this last night as written and it was so delicious! Perfect recipe for our turkey breast and leftover slices are going to be used for club sandwiches tonight. Can’t wait to check out and try your other recipes!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this Suzy, and club sandwiches is a great way to use the leftovers! Thank you for leaving you feedback for me…I appreciate it! 🙂
Could you make this in a slow cooker? If so, for how long?
Hi Melissa. I’ve never cooked a turkey breast in the slow cooker so unfortunately I can’t help you with that. Sorry!
Ive never cooked a turkey or turkey breast so this might be a silly question. Do i need to put anything in the bottom of the pan or do i just put the breast in and season it and that’s it?
That not a silly question at all Jessica. You can simply season it well and place it on a rimmed baking sheet — no need for a rack, foil or anything. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
How long would you cook a 2 pound turkey breast?
Normally a good rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound, but all oven temperatures vary. I recommend taking the temperature after 30 minutes and going from there. It shouldn’t take longer than 40-45 minutes.