Spatchcock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

Enjoy an easy and quick turkey dinner in no time. Spatchock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast cuts the cooking time of turkey in half. Resulting in a juicy and perfectly seasoned turkey that your guest will rave about. The best part is you’ll have your turkey on the table in less than 2 hours! Our Spatchcock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast is perfect for feeding a small crowd

What is Spatchcocking!?

Just looking at the word spatchcocking may seem intimidating, but I promise you it’s so easy! Spatchcock is essentially another way to describe butterflying when it come to poultry. Spatchock means to cut the backbone out of the bird and then flattening it by pushing down on the breast. This method flattens the bird so it cooks more evenly and quickly too! You only need a pair of kitchen shears to make this happen. You could also use a sharp knife, but in my opinion it’s way harder to do it that way. We’re just using bone-in skin on turkey breast in this recipe so you can easily spatchcock it in 5 minutes. If you don’t want to spatchcock it yourself, simply pick out you turkey breast and ask your butcher or someone in the meat department to do it for you!

Dry Brining Is Worth It.

During this time of year, especially if we’re talking turkey you’ll see all type of articles about turkey brining. I’ll save you the trouble of researching and just tell you in this recipe we dry brine. All that means is we salt the meat ahead of time so the meat maintains it’s juices while cooking. It also season’s the meat and dries out the skin so it get’s nice and crispy! Everyone has their own ratio but, I like about 1 tablespoon of salt for every 3-4 pounds. In this recipe we use a 6 1/2 pound bone in turkey breast, so I use 2 tablespoons of salt. I let it brine for two days, one day covered and one day uncovered. If you need another reason to brine then I’ll add it saves you from having to baste the turkey as it cooks. I’ve never been one to baste meat, and I won’t start now.

Butter vs Oil

This turkey breast is seasoned with pepper, garlic and herbs just before it goes in the oven. So the question is, do you rub the turkey with butter or oil? The answer is honestly, whichever one you like! I strictly like oil just because I think it browns better without burning. Even still, I know butter is traditional so if that’s what works for you, go for it! Just don’t forget to let the butter set out a room temperature first to soften.

Hot & Fast, not Low & Slow.

There’s a time and place for slow roasted meat, today is not that day. This Turkey Breast is cooked quickly in a hot oven. This method actually helps prevent the turkey from losing a lot of it’s juices since it’s not cooked for so long. They only downside is you won’t see a ton of pan drippings using this method. I only had about 2 tablespoons, which was perfect to make a small about of gravy for the two of us! If you want more drippings for gravy I suggest either adding about a cup of broth to the bottom of your roasting pan. Or just make a gravy out of a little butter and turkey stock. Either way this Spatchcock Roasted Turkey Breast is so delicious, you might not even want to put gravy on it!

I hope you enjoy this Spatchcock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast. If you make this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment below!

Spatchcock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

The backbone is removed from the turkey breast so it cooks evenly and quickly. This Spatchcock Oven Roasted Turkey Breast is perfectly juicy and sure to be a crowd pleaser.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 2 d 15 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Resting Time 20 mins

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

Dry Brine

• 6-7 lbs Bone-In Skin On Turkey Breast
• 2 tbsp Kosher Salt

Seasoning Blend

• 1 tbsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1.4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• olive oil or soften butter

Instructions

 

Spatchcock and Brine the Turkey

• Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Set a baking rack on top and set aside.
• Remove packing from turkey breast and pat dry with paper towels.
• Place the turkey breast, breast side down on your cutting board with the backbone facing toward you.
• Now using your kitchen shears, start on one side of the backbone. Cut down along the spine. You'll snip through the ribs and down the spin all the way down the bird. If you get stuck on a bone, simply shift your shears over a little to the left or right to get through. Once one side is free from the spin, repeat the same cut on the other side to release the backbone completely.
• Save the backbone for stock later.
• Now flip the chicken over ,with the top of the breast facing away from you. Place one hand flat directly in-between the two breast. Place you other hand on top and push very firmly on the breast to flatten. You should hear some of the rib bones crack as they flatten. That's it!
• Now to brine the turkey, pull the skin back so the meat is exposed. Pat dry if there's still any surface moisture.
• Set aside 1 tsp of salt. Generously sprinkle the remaining salt on top of the meat. Rub to help distribute salt all over the meat.
• Pull skin back over the meat. Use remaining teaspoon of salt over the skin.
• Transfer the turkey breast to your prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
• Place in the fridge and allow to sit for 24 hours
• After 24 hours removed the plastic wrap and let sit in fridge uncovered for an additional 24 hours so the skin dries out.

Season & Bake

• One hour prior to cooking, remove Turkey Breast from the fridge and allow it to set out and come to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, Preheat Oven to 425 degrees.
• Mix seasoning blend together in a small bowl.
• Rub turkey with oil or butter and follow with seasoning blend. Be sure to get majority of the seasoning on the meat, under the skin.
• Once the oven is hot, place turkey in the oven on the bottom rack and roast for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, the turkey should be nicely browned. Lightly tent with foil to stop further browning and decrease the temperature to 400 degrees.
• Continue to roast to turkey for an additional 30 minutes, or until a Thermarator inserted into the thickest part reaches 165 degrees.
• Once the turkey has reached 165 degrees, remove from oven and let rest for at least 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, carve, serve & enjoy!

Notes

Don’t brine a  pre-brined, pre-salted store bought turkey. Those Turkeys have already been salted and will resulted in your turkey being over salted. 

The Seasoning Blend is completely optional. You can use any herbs and spices you like. If you want something more simple feel free to do that. This is just the blend I use and love for turkey.

Dry Brining: This is also, but highly recommended. If You don’t have time for the 2-day waiting time I recommended salting at least one hour prior to cooking at the minimum .

I’ve only tested this on bone-in skin-on turkey breast. You can use bone-in skin on thighs as well. Just be sure they reach 165 degrees. 

I cannot guarantee this will work well with boneless skinless turkey breast.

 

Keyword Spatchcock, Turkey, Turkey Breast