A bone-in turkey breast, rubbed in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked. Pictured here with southern cornbread, dressing and skillet green beans with turkey gravy.

Classic Oven-Roasted Bone-in Turkey Breast

One thing that I have certainly learned in this world of cooking is that when it comes to large cuts of meat, you really need a digital in-oven probe-style meat thermometer (#ad), and not just the typical stick-in instant read thermometer.

I bought this Polder back in 2012 and so far it's still hanging in there!

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Since all ovens vary in the way that they cook, using a digital in-oven thermometer means that you can insert the probe, set the temperature you need the meat to reach and it will set off an alarm as soon as that temperature is reached. There's no need to keep opening the oven and removing the turkey toward the end of the cooking time to keep checking the temperature because every time you do that you lose some heat.

My classic oven roasted turkey begins with a brine, then is left uncovered in the fridge overnight, is trussed, then stuffed with aromatics, and basted with a turkey or chicken stock or broth that is infused with apple cider throughout the roast.

Classic Oven Roasted Turkey with Cider Gravy

It took me a few years to get the Cooking of the Holiday Turkey down, but this method has worked out so well over the years that it is how I have finally settled on doing my holiday birds.

I would love to show you step by step pics, and the finished slices, but they are currently being held hostage by my iMac, thanks to me stupidly doing an OS update, that I should have waited on. 

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted and Stuffed Boneless Turkey Breast

 

Turkey Roulade, a whole turkey breast, butterflied and deboned, pounded thin, stuffed, rolled and roasted.

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Stuffed Boneless Turkey Breast

A turkey roulade recipe is a fantastic way to go, if it's just you and your significant other for the holidays, or you just don't want to deal with roasting an entire turkey. A turkey roulade is simply a boneless turkey breast that has been butterflied, pounded flat, and then stuffed, rolled and roasted in the oven. It is an excellent way to get a taste of your traditional turkey and dressing, without having a boatload of leftovers.

How to oven roast a large hen or turkey.

Oven Roasted Hen or Turkey with Buttery Pan Sauce

This post was written for open roasting (meaning not covered or wrapped) and using a 7 pound hen, but it is the same basics for roasting a turkey, so everything pretty much applies to a small or large turkey with timing adjustments, of course.

While you're here, be sure to check out my other posts for how to brine, how to truss a bird, and also click here for some holiday side dishes like, Homemade Herb Dressing, Parslied Corn, Carottes Glacées, Maple Glazed Baby Carrots, Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese, Traditional Southern Sweet Potato Casserole and other southern favorites.