By Samin Nosrat
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus 24 to 36 hours’ brining
- Rating
- 4(3,791)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The proven alchemy of a salt-and-buttermilk brine does wonders for the often-dry roast turkey breast. The recipe is so easy, the trickiest step will be pulling out your kitchen scale to weigh out the salt. But it's worth doing if you can in order to ensure a properly balanced brine. Emerging from the oven with a beautiful lacquered skin and an incredibly moist and tender texture within, this roast is ideal for a scaled-down Thanksgiving meal, a cozy family dinner or to generate a stack of unbelievably tasty sandwiches.
Featured in: The Buttermilk-Brined Turkey of Your Thanksgiving Dreams
Learn: How to Cook a Turkey
Learn: How to Make Gravy
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2cups buttermilk
- 33grams fine sea salt (2 tablespoons)
- 1half turkey breast (about 2½ pounds), on or off the bone
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
300 calories; 13 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 629 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
One to two days before you plan to cook, place buttermilk and salt in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and stir to dissolve salt. Place turkey breast in the bag and seal carefully, expelling the air. Squish the bag to distribute buttermilk all around the turkey, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. If you’re so inclined, you can turn the bag periodically so every part of the turkey gets marinated, but that’s not essential.
Step
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Two hours before you plan to start cooking, remove the turkey from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Discard buttermilk, set the breast on a rimmed plate and bring it to room temperature.
Step
3
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat to 425 degrees. Place breast skin-side up on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a wire rack or parchment paper.
Step
4
Place baking sheet on the prepared oven rack and roast the turkey until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast without touching bone registers 150 degrees, about 40 minutes for a boneless breast or 50 minutes for a bone-in breast. (You may want to tent the breast with aluminum foil if it’s darkening too quickly.)
Step
5
Transfer turkey to a cutting board or platter and allow to rest at least 15 minutes before carving.
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3,791
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Cooking Notes
Bonnie
Can you double this recipe using a whole breast?
Madeiro
I had the same question as others regarding doubling the recipe for a 5lb breast. On a whim, I messaged Samin on Instagram — and she responded!Here is what she wrote. “Yes! Double the salt and buttermilk for double the weight of meat! Happy cooking!”Mystery solved. Happy cooking indeed.
Juliet Jones
Could we please try to do this without using a plastic bag? Perhaps in a bowl or rectangular terrine-type container? Maybe we need to increase the amount of brine to ensure the turkey breast is covered. Or just turn frequently.
celie
Any thoughts on the best way to make gravy with this method? Thanks
SeaGal
I wanted to test a couple of recipes before Thanksgiving. Bought a whole breast, split it, brined one half in buttermilk and roasted the other with an herb and olive oil rub. This was the winner - moist and flavorful. My takeaways - it was a tad too salty for me, next time will brine for 24 hours rather than 36. Will also add chopped fresh herbs to the brine. I started it at 425 for 30 minutes then lowered the temp to 350 so it wouldn't burn.
Madeline G
Has anyone doubled this and done it with both breasts?
Shay
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a substitute by adding one tablespoon of either white vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. Let sit for 5 minutes. This works for waffles, salad dressings, anywhere buttermilk is called for.
Emily
Can anybody answer if there's a good way to make gravy for this recipe? We'll only have four people for Thanksgiving this year, so we'd rather do a turkey breast than a whole turkey. But we still want gravy!
Jackie
I understand for food safety, turkey needs to reach 160 deg F before removing from oven and rest 15 mins with foil to the reach 165 deg F on retained heat, Pls advise on recipe 150 deg F, is this a new standard of food safety for turkey?
Laura V. Rodriguez
Question: Can this recipe be used with a small turkey say 10-12 lbs?
Lewis
Why is the salt content so different in this recipe for turkey breast (33g/2 cups = 66g/quart) compared with the salt in the whole turkey recipe (128g/3 quarts = 43g/quart?
Patty
My sister brines a large turkey every year in a very large pot in her spare fridge. If you want to avoid plastic just increase the brine recipe to fit the pot you need.I'm having Thanksgiving for one this year so I'll be giving this recipe a try!
lynn
has anyone tried this with turkey thighs?
Liz
For those looking for how to make gravy, when you buy your turkey breasts, ask the butcher or grocery meat department folks for turkey necks and backs. Make the roasted turkey stock, then follow Mark Bittman's recipe for turkey gravy also in NYTimes food. %20Search%20Recipe%20Card&pgType=search&rank=1 The turkey stock is sooooo good; you can use it for leftover soup, or to moisten a good stuffing.
Susan
Would this work if smoking a turkey breast on a Weber with indirect heat?
Dan
For a 2 lb boneless breast, getting to 150 degrees in just 40 minutes at 425 (all per the recipe) seemed dubious and proved preposterous.
Andrea
This recipe is amazing! I don’t particularly like turkey… and turkey breast is always rather dry. But this recipe worked perfectly (though time in the oven was longer than indicated in the recipe). I just tried it because I had a frozen turkey that needed to be cooked, but I am happy I did!
Babs
New years Day 2024. Very tasty! Try no bone next time - Easier to cut.
Amanda S.
I used a full bone in turkey breast and doubled the buttermilk and salt. Came out moist and delicious. I did drop the temp after 25 mins. to 350 and it came out great.
Carole Cassidy
We are out of the country for Christmas dinner this year, so the family will gather on the 28th. I’ve had bad luck with “fresh” turkey breasts that are frozen when I get them home, so I’m looking for solutions to still use this recipe, which is fabulous (I’ve tried it before). Can I buy fresh turkey breasts before I leave on the 18th and just stash them in the fridge until the 26th? Should I gamble on the supermarket butchers and order them to pick up on the 28th? Help!
Sally
2023 - I cooked a 22.5# turkey and it was done in 2:20.
C VELA
Update: after making this I bought another breast and just roasted it directly. The brining DOES help it stay moist and tender! Next time will make as directed but season without salt.
MP
*Too salty by a lot. Though the results were moist.*If you derive the salt-to-buttermilk ratio from the original recipe (spatchco*ck chicken), the salt would be significantly less per pound. Next time, I will use the ratio derived from the original recipe.
Gwyn
This was delicious! So juicy, with perfectly crackling skin. My grocery store was out of buttermilk so I looked up a substitute - 1 scant cup milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Worked like a charm. I made gravy by caramelizing half an onion and some garlic in butter, throwing in a sprig each of rosemary and thyme, adding some flour to make a roux, and then whisking in some homemade chicken bone broth and a couple of drops of soy sauce for umami.
Rachel
It was delicious. Only brined 24 hours and was still moist and flavorful. Wish there was some timing advice here for cooking larger breasts (we did an 8 pounder for Thanksgiving). Took a lot of guessing and testing for done-ness to get it right.
StephChi
I used a boneless half breast. I roasted it on one side for 20 min, then flipped it over for another 20 minutes. I found that it still needed another 25 minutes. It was perfect when it came out of the oven. So juicy!
KTH
The turkey was very moist. It even stays moist when reheated. But I doubled the brine because I had a whole turkey breast and the meat was too salty. I should only have doubled the buttermilk. I wish I had added fresh rosemary.
charles
Very good and very easy. I had a full 8# breast so doubled the buttermilk and almost doubled the salt (55g instead of 66g). Brined for a little over 24hrs. Was so delicious and moist. Will be making this simple recipe again.
Hope
Amazingly tender, moist, and easy to prepare. I brined a 3 lb bone-in turkey breast in the buttermilk and salt for approx. 36 hours. It served five at Thanksgiving to rave reviews and I got a beautiful bone out of it for soup.
Andy T.
I cooked a whole bone-in turkey breast - about 7lbs. Used a whole quart of buttermilk in a 2.5 gallon ziplock bag. I cut back on the salt because the breast was pre-seasoned. Brined for about 24 hours.I cooked it on top of a bed of stuffing at 325F for almost 3 hours. It was super moist and delicious. Everyone loved it.
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