Our Stuffed Turkey Breast recipe combines our favorite flavors of turkey and stuffing in every bite! Skip cooking up the whole bird, and try out this fun new recipe instead.
The Best Stuffed Turkey Breast
If you’re serving a smaller crowd this holiday season, stuffed turkey breast is a great alternative to your classic Thanksgiving turkey without skimping on flavor or presentation. Enjoy bites of juicy Turkey and savory stuffing in every bite by following our easy steps.
What You Will Need
- boneless turkey breast – Much bigger than a traditional chicken breast, once this cut of meat has been butterflied, it’s the perfect size to roll up all the yummy ingredients.
- bacon – Because everything tastes better with bacon.
- yellow onion & celery – Classic root veggies to include in any stuffing.
- sourdough bread – The base of our hearty stuffing.
- dried sage, ground black pepper, kosher salt – Herbs and seasonings to give every bite a depth of flavor.
- chicken broth – Helps add moisture to our stuffing.
- gruyere cheese – A mild cheese that’s creamy and slightly nutty.
- butter – Adds the best flavor to our rolled turkey breast. Unsalted butter or salted both will work.
- fresh thyme – One of our favorite herbs to pair with turkey.
- kitchen string – to tie up your rolled turkey breast.
How To Make Stuffed Turkey Breast
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F, gather your ingredients, and prepping your turkey breast. To ensure that your breast is thin enough to roll, butterfly the breast by firmly placing a hand on the top and use a sharp knife to cut evenly through the middle, lengthwise. Stop cutting about half an inch from the opposite side of the breast, being careful not to cut all the way through. Then open the top layer of turkey breast so that both sides lay flat. Then place a large piece of plastic wrap on top of the turkey and use the flat side of a meat mallet to pound it be about the same thickness across the butterflied breast. Once the breast has been flattened, remove and toss the plastic wrap. Check out our tutorial on how to butterfly a chicken breast for step-by-step photos.
Now for the stuffing! Bring a large skillet to medium high heat and cook the bacon pieces until they’re crispy. Then remove the cooked bacon from the pan and drain most of the bacon grease, but leaving about 2-3 tablespoons behind. Then add the bacon back to the skillet and add the onion and celery to the bacon grease and move around for about 2-3 minutes or until softened.
Next, add the bread, sage, and pepper to the skillet. stirring to combine. Finally, pour broth over the bread mixture and toss to soften the bread slightly. Remove from heat and fold in the shredded Gruyere cheese.
Stuffing a turkey breast is more of an art than a science. Start by situating your stuffing evenly over the butterflied turkey breast. We found the best way to get a tight roll is to roll the turkey breast away from you, being sure to keep the stuffing from falling out of the ends. You may have to adjust the position and/or amount of stuffing depending on the size of your turkey breast.
Now take a small piece of kitchen twine, slide it under the rolled breast at one end, and tie in a knot on top. Continue this process about every 2 inches down the breast to help hold it all together. Place your rolled turkey breast on a baking dish lined with parchment paper and mix up your herbed butter to be slathered all over your turkey breast followed by salt and pepper.
How Long To Cook A Stuffed Turkey Breast
Once your oven temperature has reached 375 degrees, bake it in the oven for 55-65 minutes or once an instant read meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees. Be sure to check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat to get an accurate reading. Just know that cooking time will vary slightly depending on the size of your turkey breast.
Want Juicer Stuffed Turkey?
Baste it with melted butter 2-3 times during the cooking process. You can thank us later.
Carefully remove your rolled turkey breast from the oven and let it rest for 5-10 minutes to ensure super juicy bites. Then slice the breast to get slices of even thickness and dig in!
What To Serve With Stuffed Turkey Breast
To us, this recipe is akin to a traditional turkey and therefore should be accompanied by turkey dinner staples. We love it with classic our ultimate yukon gold mashed potatoes, make ahead turkey gravy, easy green bean casserole, and our apple yam bake, but you do you!
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Should you cover a turkey breast with foil while roasting? Not for this recipe, as the basting and stuffing help to keep the turkey breast nice and moist.
- Gluten-free: Make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free sourdough bread
- Dairy-Free: Make this recipe dairy-free by using a plant based butter
- Storage: Store leftover stuffed turkey breast in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Did you make this turkey breast roll and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Turkey Recipes You Might Like
Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Stovetop + Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our juicy Stuffed Turkey Breast recipe is a delicious dinner that brings Thanksgiving flavor without cooking a whole bird!
Ingredients
Stuffed Turkey Breast:
- 2.5 lb. boneless turkey breast
- 6 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 cups sourdough bread, cubed
- 3/4 tablespoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
Herbed Butter:
- 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
Other tools:
- kitchen twine
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cover the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Butterfly Turkey Breast: Place turkey breast on a plastic cutting board. Butterfly the turkey breast by firmly placing a hand on top and use a sharp knife to cut evenly through the middle, lengthwise. Stop cutting about half an inch from the opposite side of the breast (do not cut all the way through) and open the top layer of turkey breast so that both sides lay flat. Place a large piece of plastic wrap on top of the turkey and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound it be about the same thickness across the butterflied breast. Discard the plastic wrap and set aside.
- Cook Bacon: Bring a cast iron skillet to a medium-high heat and cook bacon pieces until they start to get crispy. Remove the cooked bacon from the pan, drain excess grease, leaving about 2-3 tablespoons behind. Return bacon pieces to the skillet.
- Make Stuffing: Keeping the hot skillet at a medium-high heat, add the onion and celery to the bacon grease and move around until softened; about 2-3 minutes. Add the bread, sage, and pepper to the skillet; stir to combine. Pour broth over the bread mixture and toss to soften the bread slightly. Remove from heat and fold in the shredded Gruyere cheese.
- Stuff Turkey Breast: Evenly distribute the stuffing mixture over the butterflied turkey breast. Use your hands to tightly roll the turkey breast away from you, trying to keep the stuffing from squeezing out the ends.
- Kitchen Twine: Now take a small piece of kitchen twine, slide it under the stuffed turkey breast at one end, and tie in a knot on top. Continue this process about every 2 inches down the breast to help hold it all together.
- Make Herbed Butter: In a small bowl, use a fork to combine the softened butter and fresh thyme.
- Bake: Place the secured turkey breast on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spread the butter mixture on top, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (use an instant-read thermometer). Cook time will depend on thickness of the turkey breast, if it isn’t fully cooked after 65 minutes, continue checking in 5-10 minute increments.
- Baste: While the stuffed turkey breasts bakes, use a basting brush to baste with the melted butter around it about 2-3 times during the cooking process. You can also melt a tablespoon of butter and use that to baste too.
- Rest & Serve: Carefully remove from the oven, let meat rest for about 5-10 minutes, and cut into 1-2 inch slices. Serve immediately with your favorite side dishes and some make-ahead turkey gravy!
Notes
- Dairy Free: use a plant-based butter and a dairy-free shredded cheese to easily make this recipe dairy free.
- Gluten Free: swap out the sourdough bread for your favorite gluten-free bread cut into cubes.
- Storage: leftover stuffed turkey can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 487
- Sugar: 3.9 g
- Sodium: 697.5 mg
- Fat: 19.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.7 g
- Protein: 39.3 g
- Cholesterol: 117.6 mg
Erin says
Ummm this was AMAZING!! So good!