Old Bay Roasted Turkey Breasts

This simple recipe gets its great flavor from Old Bay Seasoning, which you may be surprised to hear is one of the few original seasoning mixes that remains all-natural and free of additives.

Turkeys are sold in a range of sizes, which means the breasts you find at the grocery store may not be the same weight as what I call for in this recipe. If the breast you end up with is smaller, simply scale down the seasoning and cooking time accordingly.

Be sure to buy bone-in breasts if you can. It may seem like a pain to have to do the butchering work yourself, but meat purchased on the bone tends to be of a higher quality, and will leave you with bones and trim for making Turkey Stock (recipe to follow). You can ask your butcher to do this for you - just be sure you go home with the bones for making stocks.

It's also good to keep in mind that these large breasts will continue cooking once they leave the oven, just like larger meat roasts do. Be sure to remove them from the oven before they're fully cooked and allow them to rest before slicing and serving.

Old Bay Roasted Turkey Breast
Serves 12 to 18, or 4 to 6 with plenty of leftovers

1 (13-pound) whole turkey breasts (already butchered: about 9 pounds of boneless, skin-on breast meat)
1/3 cup expeller-pressed safflower oil
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

With the skin side of the turkey breast facing up, use the tip of your knife to gently remove each breast from either side of the central breastbone and back ribs. Set the breasts aside in a large bowl.

Reserve the bones for making Turkey Stock (recipe to follow).

Add the oil, Old Bay Seasoning, thyme, salt, and pepper to the turkey, mixing thoroughly until the turkey is evenly coated. Cover and place the bowl in the refrigerator for 1 to 24 hours (the longer the better).

Preheat the oven to 400°F

Transfer the marinated turkey breasts, skin side up to a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until tender and no longer pink. Transfer the breasts onto a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Cut the breasts into 1/2 inch thick slices and serve immediately.