Honey Mustard Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

In Israel, for some reason unbeknownst to me, you can buy turkey breast which is boneless but it’s also skinless. I’ve hunted down the kind with skin on, but only have found it as part of a whole turkey, dunno why. So, with this as a given, I adjusted myself to the trick of cooking a skinless, boneless, turkey breast in a way as to stay moist and juicy, not an easy thing in general with turkey breast. The trick to remember, is that you must coat it in oil and prferably also an additional ingredient which sticks like glue to the turkey, so to speak, which is honey. For those who are not honey fans (a note, the honey is not a pronounced flavor since it’s mitigated by the mustard) you can switch it out with Silan, which is date honey and a very different flavor profile, more like molasses. In any case, not to freak out my Passover keeping audience by talking about it this far in advance, for Passover, you can switch the mustard with white horseradish dressing. It is a surprisingly good substitute. K.

Next and equally important, how many ways can I say this? do NOT overcook it. Now I can give you times and all but there’s really not a lot of ways to get around it, you should really check it with a food thermometer. They are as inexpensive as about $9 and will stand you in good stead to check roasts, chix, turkey etc. If you just don’t wanna (I can respect that too) it’s iffier to know that your turkey is cooked through but not overdone. A note. If you want to chance it, simply cook the turkey for slightly less time and live dangerously, since you can continue to cook it afterwards by heating after slicing or warming the whole turkey breast for an additional ten or so minutes. The rule of thumb is cook approximately 20-30 minutes per pound at 350F/180C. So, you can err on the side of less minutes. It’s also important to know your oven. Since moving, we have new ovens and they run cooler than my old ovens. So you must compensate and get to know their quirks. With a cool oven, cook a bit longer, a hot oven a little less. Hence, recipes give you a span of time rather than specific to the dot number of minutes or hours.

So gather your ingredients

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C. Take a high sided pan with a lid (or use tin foil but it must be covered well) that the turkey breast will comfortably fit inside.

slather with oil top and bottom and then honey (I use food grade gloves for less messy work)

then place mustard on top

and happily smoosh it all about, top and bottom. Once coated, sprinkle on the paprika and onion powder and lightly pat till coated and looks like this:

Now what I usually do is I remove the turkey from the fridge and coat as above and let sit to allow flavors to “sit” on the turkey and give the oven the fifteen or so minutes it needs to come to temperature and to allow the turkey to come to (more or less) room temp. So if you have time, you can let it sit a bit longer. Pop the tightly covered pan (with a lid or two layers of tinfoil) into the preheated oven and cook about 60 minutes to 75 minutes. For the last fifteen minutes, uncover the turkey breast and let brown a bit. It won’t be as brown as a turkey breast with skin on, hence the paprika coating to give it a nice color. Remove from oven and cover again, either with lid or foil. Let rest (yes, yes, do!!) to allow juices to redistribute in the turkey. If you cut into it right away, the juices run out and your turkey will be dry as a bone and ain’t that a shame. Slice and serve your juicy turkey on a nice platter and wait till they exclaim at how juicy it is! Serve hot or cold. What I like about this recipe besides ease of prep? It’s nice enough to serve for a Shabbat or holiday meal and simple enough for during the week. Ain’t it grand?

Honey Mustard Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

2.2 pounds (1 kilo) skinless boneless turkey breast

2 tablespoons oil (not olive oil)

3 tablespoons thick honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons onion powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Place turkey breast in high sided baking pan, lined with parchment paper, and make sure the pan has a cover (or use tinfoil). Slather first with the oil, coating top and bottom. Next slather with honey and then the mustard and make sure it’s coated all over. Lastly sprinkle with the paprika and onion powder and gently pat on top till turkey breast is uniformly covered. Let turkey breast sit for about 15 minutes (or longer) while oven comes to temperature. Place in preheated oven for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes and check if fully cooked through. For the last fifteen minutes, uncover the turkey breast and let brown a bit (It will not brown as much as a turkey breast with skin on). Using a thermometer to check for doneness is best. Take turkey out when it reaches 160F/71 C (and the residual heat will keep it cooking till it reaches 165 F/74C). Let turkey rest before slicing about 15 minutes loosely tented with foil or covered in pan with it’s lid. Don’t overcook or you will dry out the turkey. Serve hot or cold.