How to Cook a Perfect Split Turkey Breast

Cooking a split turkey breast can be an excellent alternative to roasting a whole bird for smaller holiday gatherings. A boneless, skin-on half breast is easy to find at most grocery stores, cooks quickly, and provides moist, flavorful white meat without having to maneuver a 15-pound bird in and out of the oven.

With just a few simple preparation steps and seasoning techniques, you can make a delicious split turkey breast worthy of any festive fall or winter meal.

Benefits of Cooking a Split Turkey Breast

There are several advantages to choosing a split turkey breast over a whole turkey:

Smaller size A split breast is typically 3-4 pounds, just the right amount for 3-4 people. Much more manageable than a full 15 pound turkey.
Quick cooking: A split breast roasts in about 1 hour, versus 3+ hours for a whole bird.
Easy preparation: No complicated trussing or intricate roasting pan setups. Just season and roast.
All white meat: You get the lean, delicate turkey breast meat without the work of carving a whole turkey.
Moist and flavorful: A brine or herb rub keeps the delicate breast meat juicy and infused with flavor.
Less waste With no wings, thighs or back to pick over, there are fewer leftovers to store

For a small gathering looking for turkey flavor without the fuss, a split turkey breast can’t be beat for ease and convenience.

Picking the Right Size Split Turkey Breast

When shopping for a split turkey breast, you’ll usually find them ranging from 2 to 5 pounds. Here are some guidelines for choosing the right size:

2 pounds: Good for 2-3 people, or extra sides.
3-4 pounds: Perfect size for feeding 3-5 people. Provides ample leftovers.
5 pounds: Large enough for 5-6 people, with leftovers.

Allow for about 1/2 pound of turkey per person, so a 3-4 pound split breast will feed most small gatherings perfectly.

Preparing and Seasoning the Turkey Breast

To ensure moist, flavorful meat, there are a few easy preparation steps to follow:

Rinse and pat dry: Rinse the turkey under cool water and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. This helps promote even browning.
Loosen the skin: Slide your fingers between the skin and meat to loosen, taking care not to tear the skin. This allows seasonings to be rubbed directly onto the meat.
Apply an herb rub: For the best flavor, coat the meat under and on top of the skin with an herb rub. Thyme, sage, rosemary and garlic are all good choices.
Brine if desired: For extra moisture, brine the breast in a saltwater solution for 2-12 hours before cooking. A basic broth of 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water works well.
Truss or tie: To help the breast hold its shape, truss with kitchen string or tie the legs together with twine.

Once seasoned, the breast is ready for the oven.

Choosing the Best Roasting Method

There are a few ways to cook a split turkey breast for optimized moisture, flavor and browning:

On a roasting rack: Placing the breast on a V-shaped rack elevates it off the pan so the underside doesn’t steam.
With aromatic veggies: Carrots, onions and herbs in the bottom of the pan add flavor as they roast.
Brushing with butter: Frequently basting the breast with melted butter or oil ensures moisture and promotes browning.
On a bed of stuffing: For Thanksgiving-style flavor, roast the breast directly on top of herb stuffing.
High heat: Roast in a 425°F oven for the first 30 minutes to brown the skin, then lower heat to 350°F.

Any of these methods will result in delicious turkey breast, so choose whichever technique sounds most appealing.

How Long to Cook a Split Turkey Breast

Cooking time can vary based on the size of the breast, but here are general guidelines:

2 pounds: 45 to 60 minutes
3 pounds: 60 to 75 minutes
4 pounds: 75 to 90 minutes
5 pounds: 90 to 120 minutes

To ensure doneness, use an instant read meat thermometer. Cook to an internal temperature of 160°F, then tent with foil and let rest 15 minutes. The temperature will rise to 165°F for safe, perfectly cooked turkey.

The breast is done when the thickest part of the meat registers 160-165°F. If the skin starts to get too brown, loosely tent foil over the top.

Carving and Slicing the Cooked Breast

Let the breast rest at least 15 minutes after roasting so the juices redistribute. To carve:

Place breast skin-side down and remove any trussing.
Make a cut along one side of the breastbone from top to bottom.
Repeat on the other side to remove the breast meat from the bones.
Slice crosswise against the grain into thin pieces.

Be sure each slice gets a portion of crispy turkey skin for the best flavor and texture.

Side Dishes and Leftover Ideas

A split turkey breast pairs nicely with all your Thanksgiving favorites like mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Or keep it simple with roasted vegetables and dinner rolls.

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Slice and add to sandwiches and salads, or reheat gently in the oven or microwave. Turkey breast reheats beautifully for up to 4 days after cooking.

Tips for the Best Split Turkey Breast

Follow these tips for a moist, delicious split turkey breast:

Let the breast sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting for more even cooking.
Pat the skin dry before seasoning to help it get crispy in the oven.
Use an ovenproof meat thermometer to monitor the temperature without opening the oven.
Tent the breast with foil if the skin gets too brown before the interior is cooked through.
Let the breast rest at least 15 minutes before slicing for the juiciest meat.
Slice against the grain of the meat for tenderness.
Save the bones to make turkey broth for soup, gravy or stuffing.

With proper seasoning, roasting, and resting, you can enjoy the fabulous flavor of turkey breast without roasting a whole bird. A split turkey breast is an easy and delicious alternative perfect for Thanksgiving or any festive fall or winter meal.

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A much better way to roast Thanksgiving turkey. White and dark meat came out juicy and correctly cooked at the same time (90 mins at 425-450). Dry brined for 2 days after butterflying. Put apple, onion, sage, thyme & parsley under and smeared compound butter under skin and over legs. Spatchcocked turkeys are wider than whole ones (duh…). Our 18 pounder measured 18″ by 14″ — bigger than most roasting pans. Cut panels from foil pans to build out the sides — worked fine!

You can put your dressing in a roasting pan — place split bird on rack and rest on roasting pan — turkey drippings go into the dressing – YUM! Remove turkey and rack to rest while top of dressing crisps up a bit — everything done, oven space saver and dressing has that stuffing taste from turkey drippings —

Yes, I have been using this recipe for years and I love it. The largest I have ever done was a 22 lb turkey 2 years ago. Use a meat thermometer and allow for extra time and you will be fine.

First, dry brined (just kosher salt) and covered with plastic wrap for about 12 hours; uncovered overnight to dry skin. Put softened butter and thyme sprigs under breast skin and rubbed entire surface with more softened butter. Apple, onion, carrot, celery, thyme, sage and lemon as base, 12 lb bird needed 1 hour 10 minutes. Tender and moist! Best ever!

Morning..I gave up wet brining years ago. To messy and IMO impacts texture of meat. A dry brine works wonders for all poultry. Ive got a 22 lb butterflied turkey dry brining for last 3 days in the fridge. The recipe is in the NYT as Dry-Brined Turkey..The Zuni Cafe recipe. An on-line search will give you some ideas and variations for a dry brined butterflied turkey. Mangia!

Google “The Butcher Carves A Turkey” for a way to get around that problem. Ray Venezias advice on presentation makes for a real “WOW!” moment with your bird. Looks amazing, easy to serve.

Hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year and needless to say I was nervous. I used this method with a wet brined turkey and it was fabulous! I roasted it on a flat rack (technically a bakers cooling tray) on a large sheet pan. I omitted all the vegetables since I already had plenty of side dishes, and I was concerned about too much liquid since my pan was shallow. It was beautiful brown and crispy, and extremely moist. Adding this to my growing repertoire.

Revolutionary? In 2002? I believe Julia Child published a butterflied turkey in The Way to Cook in 1989. And I highly doubt that she was the first. A good recipe requires no additional hyperbole, darlings.

I guess I should have read through these comments before I tried out this approach. Great in concept, but really rolled the dice to think turkey would be ready in 45 minutes (or 60 minutes even), When the turkey was finally done, it was pretty tasty. luckily, I also grilled a breast on the BBQ which was done in about 60 minutes-so thanksgiving disaster was averted… when in doubt, give yourself more time than you think is needed……

Made this today – best turkey ever. I did the mix of vegetables – potatoes, carrots, parsnips, garlic, celery, chopped into small pieces. Olive oil, salt, pepper and a cup of white wine. The breast was so moist and the flavors permeated through the meat. I will never cook turkey any other way! And the 14.5lb bird took an hour and a half. So easy…….I had the butcher cut out the backbone for me so no struggles there.

I have spatchcocked our turkey for 3 years. I like to make 2 turkeys as my oven is small, 27″. Last year, I roasted the turkeys on a bed of tri-color carrots. The turkey turned out great and the carrots were delicious!!!

Since I learned about spatchcocking, I havent roasted a turkey or a chicken any other way. I look forward to trying the higher temperature to shorten the process even more. The only disadvantage is a less photogenic finished bird. I carve it in the kitchen and present it at the table ready to eat.

I spatchcock the night before and rub garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper & paprika w/ melted butter under the skin leaving it to dry brine in the fridge until 2 hours before dinner. Give it an hour to reach room temp, then cook as instructed. Check all over with an instant-read therm and this is the easiest, bestest way to cook a turkey! I roast the backbone ahead for the gravy. Also, spatchcocking a turkey is not easy. You need a cleaver to get some of the bones to cooperate.

Made this w/ 13 lb organic turkey. Roasted 1 1/2 hours (20 min @ 450 & then 400) The meat was SO tender & moist – the skin ended up being a mahogany brown & super crisp! I added some onions, carrots & celery under the whole bird, & also added 2 cups of Duck broth to the bottom of the pan at around 45 min (as at this temp, most of the liquid was evaporating) Very EASY to cut the backbone out by the way!! Will do this every time now (unless I go all the way and debone it!)

I had a 30 pound turkey. Surprise delivery from my neighbor who raises turkeys. Freshly butchered yesterday. So I halved the turkey by removing the backbone altogether with kitchen shears. I roasted both sides according to the recipe. Best turkey I have ever had. Bones will now be roasted for bone broth. Thank you for this amazing recipe.

The results of this time-saving technique for roasting a turkey (or chicken) results in an evenly cooked bird with wonderful crisp and uniformly browned skin. To make certain that the result is not dry meat check the temperature in the breasts and thighs and do not overcook above 155º. As it rests out of the oven it will continue to cook to 165º or even slightly above.

I first made this in 2016 and it’s the only way I make turkey now. I dry brine it for 2 days before cooking. Beware, it cooks faster than you think.

Made an 8lb turkey. Thighs at 165 degrees. Turkey nowhere near done. Read the notes and saw someone else saying 165 degrees is for the breast, 180 for the thighs. Back in the oven now…..

A 10lb turkey took about 2 hours. Dry brined for 2 days, one day covered by a bag, and one day to air dry in the refrigerator with no bag. Used garlic and thyme and slices of lemon. Turkey was beautifully browned and juicy. This is the best/easiest way to make a turkey.

This year, I am very thankful for this recipe! It was the best turkey Ive ever prepared or eaten! And all the more amazing because I didnt do any of the normal prep work leading up to Thanksgiving because life got super hectic. This recipe really saved the day for the bird eaters who came to dinner!

First time with spatchcocked turkey 11 pounds. Was disappointed in how much longer it took the Turkey to cook. Oven thermometer showed the correct temp for cooking but even after 2 hours thighs were still bloody and the breast meat mushy. I’ll try again but now know 45 minutes is way off.

During the 2 hours that the 12 pound turkey took to cook, I put it in different pans trying to max the heat! First a roasting pan…too high sides, then a foil pan,…still too high, finally a bake sheet. I added stock to the pan to get the drippings so I could make gravy. Very mis lead about the time. In the end also switched to convection to get the bird done as we were running late.

I watched the video how to spatchcock a turkey which was very misleading. No where does Mark say the weight of the bird or WHY the turkey cooks so much faster…or does it? I prepared a 12 pound turkey as directed and it took a full 2 hours to cook not 35 minutes for the one Mark cooked. I have an excellent oven and in the end, I put it on convection to hurry it along. Very disappointed. Loved the garlic and the turkey was flavorful.

Additional note…rubbing the turkey with butter and placing in a 450 oven set off the smoke alarm when I opened the oven! Just saying!!!!

Dont “drizzle” olive oil over the turkey unless you want the Fire Dept to come by. Olive oil and 450 degree oven dont mix.

Spatchcocked turkey is definitely the way to go in the future. I made this yesterday and the outcome was perfect! Not the usual dried out breast and underdone dark meat. I roasted my 11 pound turkey on a rack at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, reduced heat to 325 degrees and roasted it for an additional 25 minutes. I used my heavy duty kitchen shears to remove the backbone, which I used to make stock.

Made an 11lb Turkey with some garlic and spices as indicated in the recipe. Came out perfect. Everyone who ate turkey, loved it. Even watched the video on How to Carve a turkey, which helped as well. NYTimes Cooking is Awesome.

Years ago I swore off roasting turkeys because they were always a big fail. This year I decided to try the spatchcock method using this recipe, the only change being that I dry brined it for two days. Otherwise followed as written. One half of the breast was pretty good, the other half had a weird texture. The legs were tough and game-y (and this was a “good”quality turkey). It roasted unevenly, for some reason. So, more or less an epic fail, but thats probably down to me.

Easiest to use poultry shears, cut the wishbone (no trying to press flat) and clip the wing. see this :60 video www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwZp9edhCMg 17-20 pound takes ~90-105 minutes to get to 150 degrees deep in the breast. Under the rack, I put apples, sweet onions, carrots & celery along w both herbs fresh. As there is not much liquid in the bottom, I baste with chicken stock. Post cook, I strain the vegetables, put some of meat juice into the gravy and save the rest for stock

Just FYI this took WAYYYYY more than 45 minutes to cook

Mine took 2 hours and I was very disappointed by being so mis lead. My turkey was 12 pounds. I the end I put it on convection bake to hurry it along! The pin in the breast of the bird never popped but the juices ran clear and it registered 160, I took it out! What happened with yours??Private notes are only visible to you.

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How to Spatchcock a Turkey

FAQ

How long does it take to cook a spatchcocked turkey?

While the spatchcock turkey cooking time will depend on the size and oven temperature, 6 minutes per pound is a good rule of thumb. Depending on the size of the turkey, cook times are estimated between 60-90 minutes.

What is a split turkey?

This method, from the Kitchn, easily splits the front half of the bird from the back half, allowing the white meat to cook separately from the dark. Easier to accomplish than normal spatchcocking on a hulking, slippery turkey.

How long does it take to cook a split turkey on the grill?

Close the lid and let your turkey cook for around 3-3.5 hours. We’re aiming for a grill temperature of 250-275F, and the thickest part of the breast meat should hit an internal temperature of 165F. Keep an eye on those charcoal and wood chunks, and add more when needed to keep the fire going.

How do you season a split turkey breast?

Here are a few ways you can season your split turkey breast: Brine it beforehand for extra juicy flavorful meat. Skip the herb butter and baste the roasted turkey breast with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and olive oil like we did with our air fryer turkey breast recipe. Sprinkle the split turkey breast with an easy homemade poultry seasoning.

What is a split turkey breast?

A split turkey breast is where the breast portion of the turkey is cut into two halves. They are typically sold bone-in and skin-on and are around 3 pounds in size. The small size makes a half turkey breast a great option for a small Thanksgiving dinner for 3-4 people.

How do you cook a split turkey breast?

Heat an oven to 400 degrees F. (200 degrees C). Pat dry the split turkey breast. Prepare the Turkey Breast:Carefully separate the skin from the meat using your fingers and spread 1 tablespoon of softened butter underneath the skin.

How to cook a 2 pound turkey breast?

The best way to cook a 2-pound split turkey breast is to roast it in the oven. This will give you the most evenly cooked results. To do this, you’ll need: Instructions: 1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Rinse the turkey breast under cold water and pat it dry. 3. Rub the turkey breast with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.