When you're cooking Thanksgiving for a small group or if you're cooking the holiday meal for the first time, you might not want to bother with a whole turkey. You might not be ready to have to clean its cavity. Say that out loud: clean the cavity. 

 If you can't do that without blanching, you're not ready to cook a whole turkey and that's A-OK. Some might argue tradition no matter how large or small the size of your party but to make things a little easier on yourself, there is no reason to start with baby steps; start with a boneless turkey breast.

For six people, I bought a 4-pound turkey breast and asked the butcher to butterfly it for me (meaning he sliced it in half, lengthwise). So when I opened it up, all I had to do was pound it thin and fill it with two cups of whole wheat stuffing with apples, chestnuts and sour cherries. It roasted for close to two hours, which is a lot less time than it would take a full turkey to roast in the oven.

Herb Roasted Stuffed Turkey Breast
Serves 8 (or 6 if you want leftovers)

What you need:

1 4-pound boneless, skinless turkey breast (fat trimmed)
2 medium onions, quartered
2 cups whole-wheat stuffing with apples, chestnuts and sour cherries (or your favorite stuffing)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons fresh sage
Handful of thyme sprigs

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place turkey breast on clean, hard surface, like your counter top. Pound to about 1/4 – 1/2-inch thickness with a meat mallet. Top turkey with 2 cups of stuffing, leaving a one inch border, pressing it down into the meat with your hands so that it all sticks together as much as possible.

Starting at one end, tuck and roll the turkey breasts and wrap with kitchen twine. Tuck both ends underneath the bottom seam and use toothpicks or kitchen twine to secure it.

Slice the two large onions and arrange them haphazardly on the bottom of a dutch oven. Place the turkey breast on top of the onions and pour melted butter over turkey. Scatter fresh herbs atop turkey and place extra thyme sprigs in the bottom of the pot

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle registers 165 degrees, approximately 60 to 90 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes (the internal temperature might rise). Slice and serve with additional stuffing.

Tagged as: boneless, cook turkey, herb roasted turkey breast, how to roast turkey, roasted turkey, skinless turkey, stuffed turkey, thanksgiving turkey, turkey breast, turkey breast for thanksgiving