How long do you cook a 6 lb turkey breast

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to share our family’s favorite oven roasted turkey breast recipe.

This is my mom’s recipe, and she has used this method for many, many years. It is just tradition for us to make it this way!

And side note: if you are wanting to make turkey for an even smaller crowd, check out my air fryer turkey breast tenderloin recipe.

How to make oven roasted turkey breast

First, gather your ingredients. For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to.

Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need the following:

• 1 bone-in turkey breast, about 6 pounds
• 1 oven bag with included closure/ bag tie
• garlic salt (or you can sub half garlic powder, half salt)
• black pepper
• paprika
• onion powder
• olive oil
• all purpose flour
• celery
• onion

Why turkey breast?

Why use a turkey breast versus a whole turkey? I really like the simplicity of turkey breast. You don’t have to worry about trying to cook the dark meat enough while not drying out the white meat. There is no basting in this method either, so no fuss!

Plus, there are a LOT of other things needing your attention on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is basically the kitchen olympics at our house. The simpler, the better!

And don’t worry, this recipe is so very tasty, full of flavor, tender and juicy. You are not sacrificing any taste to get that simplicity!

Prepping and seasoning

Rinse the turkey breast, remove any giblets from the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels. It a small bowl or ramekin, mix all the spices and the oil, and stir to combine.

Rub that mixture all over the turkey, inside the cavity as well as outside for maximum flavor. I even go up under the skin with mine. Use your hands to gently pull the skin away from the meat a little, as you go up under it with the spice and oil mixture. Place the onion and celery in the cavity.

Take the flour, and add it to the oven bag. Use your hands to clamp the opening (so that flour doesn’t go everywhere!), and shake the bag to distribute the flour.

Place the bag in your roasting pan, and open it up.
Place the turkey breast in it. Note: We sit ours right in the bag. There will be drippings that the turkey is sitting in after it is cooked. We love that! If you don’t want your turkey sitting in its drippings, add some extra celery and onion, and sit the turkey breast on top of that. Use the included bag tie to close the bag.

Use scissors to cut three small holes in the top of the bag to let steam release. (NOTE: My mom always does all of the steps up to this point the night before Thanksgiving, and puts the bag with the seasoned turkey in the refrigerator overnight. It saves tons of time, but is not required. I tested all steps done the day of, and it was still great!)

What temperature to cook turkey breast in the oven

We prefer a slow roasted turkey breast type situation. Place the pan in a preheated oven at 325 degrees, and make sure that the oven bag is not touching the top or sides of the oven. Adjust your shelves if you need to!

How long to cook turkey breast in the oven

Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, which turns out to be about 2 hours and 15 minutes for my 6 pound bone-in turkey breast.

Rest

Let rest at least 30 minutes before carving. This helps to redistribute the juices, and it makes it taste amazing!

We usually let ours rest anywhere from an hour to 1.5 hours while we cook all of our side items in the oven. It will still be warm after this long, so no worries.

Carve and enjoy!

Roasting turkey in an oven bag

Sure, there are a few of you out there who will not like the fact that this recipe uses an oven bag.

I get it, and I almost did not publish this recipe because of it. But I decided to keep it real and share it anyway!

#NotPerfect #Tradition

This post explains the pros and cons of oven bags in a funny advice column format. I am not trying to convince you of anything, though.

My view: Maybe they’re not ideal, but we literally use them once or twice a year. Once at Thanksgiving and usually again at Christmas.

They make the turkey brown beautifully, while keeping it juicy without any basting. So I am okay with the risks since I am not using them all the time.

Maybe I’ll tweak mom’s recipe and play with the different ways to make it apart from oven bags later on.

But for now, I just want to forever document my mom’s original tried and true method. It’s like our little family tradition, and it results in some really juicy, delicious turkey!

Storage and leftovers

Store leftovers in a covered container or sealable storage bag.

How long is cooked turkey in the fridge? 3 to 4 days is a safe bet, and my family has gone slightly longer than that.

Be sure and check out my leftover turkey recipes here.

Note: These are Amazon affiliate links.

• Oven bag – I use the Reynold’s ones (not sponsored). And yes, we use the ones for 8 to 24 pounds, even though a turkey breast is only around 6 pounds.
• Roasting pan. The one I am using is technically a lasagna pan, but it works great!
• Knife for carving

Did you try our family’s oven roasted turkey breast recipe? Give it a star rating. Pin it and share it if it looks good to you. And be sure and stay connected on social media!

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This oven roasted turkey breast is my mom’s recipe, and she has used this method for many, many years. It is just tradition for us to make it this way!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 10

Calories 184 kcal

• 1 in bone- turkey breast about 6 pounds
• 1 oven bag with included closure/ bag tie
• 2 Tablespoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2.5 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon flour all purpose
• 3 in stalks of celery cut half
• 1 onion quartered

1. Rinse the turkey breast, remove any giblets from the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. It a small bowl or ramekin, mix all the spices and the oil, and stir to combine.

3. Rub that mixture all over the turkey, inside the cavity as well as outside for maximum flavor. I even go up under the skin with mine. Use your hands to gently pull the skin away from the meat a little, as you go up under it with the spice and oil mixture.

4. Place the onion and celery in the cavity.

5. Take the flour, and add it to the oven bag.

6. Use your hands to clamp the opening (so that flour doesn’t go everywhere!), and shake the bag to distribute the flour.

7. Place the bag in your roasting pan, and open it up.

8. Place the turkey breast in it. Note: We sit ours right in the bag. There will be drippings that the turkey is sitting in after it is cooked. We love that! If you don’t want your turkey sitting in its drippings, add some extra celery and onion, and sit the turkey breast on top of that.

9. Use the included bag tie to close the bag.

10. Use scissors to cut three small holes in the top of the bag to let steam release. (NOTE: My mom always does all of the steps up to this point the night before Thanksgiving, and puts the bag with the seasoned turkey in the refrigerator overnight. It saves tons of time, but is not required. I tested all steps done the day of, and it was still great!)

11. Place the pan in a preheated oven at 325 degrees, and make sure that the oven bag is not touching the top or sides of the oven. Adjust your shelves if you need to!

12. Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 2 hours and 15 minutes for mine.

13. Let rest at least 30 minutes before carving. We usually let ours rest anywhere from an hour to 1.5 hours while we cook all of our side items in the oven.

14. Carve and enjoy!

Be sure and give your turkey plenty of time to thaw. For a Thursday meal, I would take mine out of the freezer on Sunday morning, and let it thaw in the refrigerator. 

Nutrition Facts

Oven Roasted Turkey Breast (Bone In)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 184 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Cholesterol 77mg26%

Sodium 1691mg74%

Potassium 370mg11%

Carbohydrates 2g1%

Protein 31g62%

Vitamin A 225IU5%

Vitamin C 0.8mg1%

Calcium 23mg2%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This post originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy 11/9/2017.

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