It’s still very possible to cook during the holidays with a budget in mind. I recently published my favorite Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe, but if you’re looking for something a bit more unique, this Cider Roasted Split Turkey Breast is a tried a true recipe that is just bursting with flavor. Your Thanksgiving guests will thank you!
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See this recipe in my Easy Thanksgiving Dinner for Beginners meal plan.
But what’s the “real” reason I made this Cider Roasted Turkey Breast? I hate cooking whole birds. It’s such an ordeal, it’s intimidating, and it just makes waaaaay too much food for my small household. So if any of those things are true for you, you’re going to love this super simple Cider Roasted Turkey Breast. It really couldn’t be more simple and the flavors are ✨magic✨.
What Type of Turkey Should I Use?
This recipe is written for a “split” turkey breast, which is just one side of a full turkey breast, and has the bones and skin still intact. Unfortunately using a boneless breast will require different cooking instructions, which I have not tested.
I have also successfully doubled this recipe, using one 4 lb. full turkey breast (both sides of the breast, bone-in, skin-on) and two turkey drumsticks, in order to feed about six people. If doubling the recipe, you’ll need to use a much larger baking dish and add about an additional 30 minutes of roasting time (use a meat thermometer to make sure).
No Cider, No Problem!
If you don’t like cider or just don’t want to buy any to use just 1/2 cup for a recipe (I get it), you can sub chicken broth in its place. I did a plain herb roasted version of this that way and it was still delish, just not cider flavored. Just keep in mind that any leftover cider that you buy can be used to make cider mimosas on Thanksgiving day. ;)
No Gravy??
You can totally make a gravy from the drippings if you prefer, but I found that the apples and onions kind of absorbed a lot of the fat and juices, leaving not a lot to work with for a gravy. Instead, I just spooned the drippings over the meat directly and was very happy. Whatever you do, don’t toss the drippings. They’re liquid gold.
How Much Will This Feed?
That’s the million-dollar question! Most guides online suggest buying one pound raw turkey per person for Thanksgiving, but after slicing up this beauty, it looked like far too much for just two people. I think this would serve more like four people once you have all your Thanksgiving sides, but that’s just my opinion. Therefore, I’m not going to put a number of servings on this one. I think that needs to be a personal call.
Cider Roasted Turkey Breast
Servings 3 to 4Ingredients
- 2.5 lb. Split turkey breast (bone-in, skin on) ($14.98)
- 4 Tbsp butter, room temperature ($0.38)
- 1 tsp dried sage ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 large apple* ($1.22)
- 1 onion ($0.32)
- 1/2 cup apple cider ($0.25)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place the butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and salt in a small bowl and mix them together until they form a paste.
- Pat the split turkey breast dry with a paper towel, then use your hand to separate the skin from the breast meat, leaving it intact on the sides, and creating a pocket to fill with the herb butter. Spread about 1/3 of the butter herb mixture under the skin. Spread the remaining herb butter on top of the skin and all over the exterior of the turkey breast.
- Slice the apple and onion into wedges. Sprinkle the apple and onion wedges in the bottom of a casserole dish, then place the seasoned turkey breast on top. Pour 1/2 cup apple cider into the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Transfer the casserole dish to the oven and roast the turkey for about 1.5 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Begin to check the turkey after 1 hour. If the top begins to brown too much before the internal temperature reaches its mark, cover the turkey with foil as it bakes (I did not need to do this). Make sure to test the temperature in the thickest part of the breast, without touching bone.
- Let the turkey breast rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve the roasted apples and onions along with the sliced breast and spoon the drippings over top.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Cider Roasted Turkey Breast – Step by Step Photos
First, begin to preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a small bowl, mix together 4 Tbsp room temperature butter, 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme, and 3/4 tsp salt.
This is what a “split” turkey breast looks like. It is one side of the whole breast. Pat it dry with a paper towel, then use your hands to separate the skin from the breast, leaving it intact around the edges. You just want to create a pocket to spread to spread the herb butter between.
Spread about 1/3 of the herb butter under the skin, on top of the breast meat. Spread the rest of the herb butter on top of the skin and all around the outside of the turkey breast.
Slice one large apple (I used a Fuji apple) and one yellow onion into wedges. Place the wedges in the bottom of a casserole dish. Place the seasoned turkey breast on top, then pour 1/2 cup apple cider in the bottom of the dish.
Roast the turkey breast in the preheated 350ºF oven for about 1.5 hours (depending on the size), or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Begin checking the turkey at 1 hour. If the top begins to brown too much before the internal temperature reachest its mark, cover with foil. Make sure that you test the temperature in the thickest part of the turkey breast and do not let the thermometer hit bone. I use this instant read thermometer and love it. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Let the turkey breast rest for at least ten minutes before slicing and serving.
Serve the Cider Roasted Turkey Breast with the roasted apples and onion and don’t forget to spoon the drippings over top for extra flavor!
I’m making 3 of these for a crowd and would like to do some prep in advance… do you think I could put the butter under the skin the day before, and simply let them come to room temperature before roasting the next day? Or would the salt draw moisture out of the meat overnight? Thanks!
This was so easy and tasty! I also saw that another commenter suggested blending the apples/ onions/ drippings as a gravy – DO IT. This was a great idea.
My family calls this part the “schmutz”… it’s so delicious served alongside and even better on the turkey sandwiches the next day.
This was turkey recipe not intimidating in the slightest! I tackled cooking it and my husband and son enjoyed eating it for Thanksgiving while I DEVOURED it. (I’m the bigger turkey fan out of all of us.) So juicy and the cooked apples and onions gave it a nice zing. Mine was a bit smaller and so I used my instant thermometer to make sure it didn’t over cook – good call on that end!
A wonderful turkey recipe for a smaller audience!
I’ve never successfully cooked a turkey but this looked like something I might be able to pull off. Tender, moist, delicious! I’m very excited I am able to finally cook turkey for my loved ones and not have to struggle with an entire bird. Thank you so much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I did this last year–I bought a frozen whole bone in turkey breast for $1.69 per lb., about 6 lbs. I thawed it, and cut it in 2, saving the backbone for broth annd coming in well below Beth’s cost estimate. I used a roasting pan instead of a Dutch oven. This recipe was spectacularly tender and deliciously flavored. It fed 7 people with leftovers. I haven’t seen a whole breast yet this year for under $1.99, but still hope for a bargain.
Did this recipe with two 3-lb boneless turkey breasts. Everyone said it was the juiciest turkey they’d ever had, and it has already been requested for Xmas dinner! I fileted the breasts and they took about 1.5 hours. Only hard part of the recipe was getting the herb butter to stick to the turkey—the turkey was cold, so the butter didn’t spread and glued itself to my hands instead. Next time I’ll warm the butter more than room temp, and I’ll make sure the turkey is room temp instead of fresh out of the fridge.
Used this recipe for a whole turkey breast. Doubled it. Turkey was moist and delicious. The apples and onions were also a nice treat.
I made this recipe for the first time this year and I will make it every year. I used a whole breast that I cut into two splits, followed the recipe but baked in two separate dishes using hard apple cider vinegar. The turkey is moist and flavorful in a game changing way.
Following LMSCSM’s idea, I used a food processor to mix half of the drippings, onion, apples into a sauce that I added to a simple gravy made with butter, flour, onion powder, water, vegetable and chicken bouillons (BTB). The result was fire.
Best of all, cooking was stress free.
I make this about every 6 weeks. Trader Joe’s sells split turkey breasts, year round. It’s a perfect Sunday dinner. Rather than make a gravy, I just use an immersion blender to blend the roasted onions and apples into a sauce which is DIVINE. Also, I use significantly more cider (or apple juice) – probably about 2-3 cups, perhaps because I make this in my huge 13 quart Le Creuset dutch oven.
This sounds like it would work well in an Instant Pot has anyone tried that? How long do you think it would need to cook? Might need to “brown” it a bit after NR for about 10–15 min.
Super flavorful. Super easy. This recipe is a winner all the way around. Apples and onions as a side dish were super yummy. After straining the apple/onion mix, I added some cornstarch to the ‘drippings’ which made a great gravy as opposed to juice. If you are a new to cooking, YOU CAN DO THIS. YOU SHOULD DO THIS.
Beth do you think this would work if I used bone-in turkey thighs?
With skin
I think that would probably work great! You may need to adjust the cook time if they are smaller pieces, though. :)
Just saw this and it looks amazing! Too late for Thanksgiving- I used the other turkey breast recipe and it great- but I’m going to try this asap with whatever bird I get. I’m going to try this with hard cider too! More expensive, but I used to get brats cooked in hard cider at a local Irish restaurant and that was one of my all time favorite meals!
I know this is a little last minute, but has anyone tried this recipe with a boneless turkey breast before? Whole Foods screwed up my turkey order and I only have boneless turkey breast now, and I’m a little worried about cooking it. I made this recipe with a bone-in breast last year (and combined it with the Easy Turkey and Stuffing Casserole recipe for a great combo!) and wanted to make this again, but I’m unsure if it will be the same with a boneless breast. Just less time to get to 165, I hope? Does it still produce enough juices to keep the stuffing moistened? If anyone’s got any tips or advice I’d really appreciate it!
Hi Matt! THat’s such a bummer!! Does the boneless breast still have the skin? If it has the skin you should be able to still do it the same way, just less time. I don’t know how much time, but I suggest Googling “boneless turkey breast bake time” to see if you can get a frame of reference. And also check the package. A lot of times they will include that info on there, just in really small text. :P Most of the juices will come out of the meat, rather than the bones, so you should be good there! I hope it turns out well for you!
I’m making this again this year but we are having two people over. You mentioned we could double this recipe with a 4lb breast and legs…what if I still used just one split breast and two turkey legs? Do you think 1.5 hours would suffice or closer to two?
I would think that it would probably be about the same as the breast on its own, but you definitely want to use a meat thermometer to be sure! Usually, the cook time changes based on the size of the piece of meat, not the number of pieces, as long as they’re not super crowded together. It’s all about the surface area exposed to the heat and how quickly that heat can get to the center of the meat. :)