Bacon Roasted Turkey Breast with Sage Butter

If you can believe it Thanksgiving is one short week away!  I finally got my plans on lock down this past weekend.  We’re going to my dad’s to say hi to everyone, and then I’m cooking at home for my MIL, her husband, Mike and the boys.  I’m off turkey duty this year which is kind of nice.  I get to make a few pies, and a bunch of side dishes I love.  I’ll be in my happy place all day.

Last year we had Mike’s mom and her husband over.  It wasn’t a crazy big table, and I wasn’t about to whip up a whole turkey for 4 adults.  I love the leftovers and all, but that’s just SO MUCH food!  So instead I made a turkey breast.  Plenty of turkey to go around, and there were still some of leftovers.

A turkey breast is a really great alternative if you’re feeding a smaller group, or just dipping your feet into the turkey roasting waters.  I went full throttle for my first Thanksgiving cooking at home and roasted a whole turkey.  I used some tips from Alton Brown, and it came out great.  If you can roast a chicken, you can roast a turkey.  Trust me.

Since I’m a little bacon happy and wanted to make sure the breast didn’t dry out, I wrapped the turkey breast with some bacon.  I may have even stuffed an entire stick of sage butter under the skin too.  My southern grandma would be proud.  This turkey was really fabulous, easy to make, and everyone loved it.  Three cheers for the turkey breast!

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Tyler Florence

Bacon Roasted Turkey Breast with Sage Butter

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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• ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 12 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 pound turkey breast
• 5 strips thick-cut bacon

Method

 

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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove top rack from oven.
• In a bowl, combine the butter and sage until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
• Rinse the turkey breast, and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey breast upright in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the breast meat. Slather turkey breast, under the skin, with 3/4 of the sage butter. Rub the top of the skin with the remaining butter.
• Bake turkey breast for 1 hour. After one hour, lay bacon strips across the breast lengthwise. Secure bacon with toothpicks inserted in the ends if needed. Bake for 40 minutes, or until turkey meat reaches 170 degrees F internal temperature and bacon is crispy.
• Remove from oven; let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Cut breast meat from bone. Cut into serving size slices.

Notes

You want to cook the turkey breast about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F for every pound. The bacon needs to cook for about 40 minutes, adjust your times accordingly based on the size of your turkey breast.

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