Cajun Turkey Breast
This Cajun turkey breast is coated with Cajun seasoned butter and roasted until beautifully browned, with bold, savory flavor in every juicy bite. It’s a flavorful alternative to traditional roasted turkey that works just as well for a holiday meal as it does for Sunday dinner.
Make your turkey breast Cajun style
I love roasting a big ol’ turkey and serving it up to family and friends. But in recent years my circle has been smaller, and as much as I would enjoy making a turkey dinner with all the fixin’s, much of the meal would go to waste. Which is why I’m making this spicy seasoned turkey breast for the holiday this year.
And it hardly feels like scaling back — it’s so darn delicious! It easily feeds up to six people, and it’s on the table in about an hour and a half with just 15 minutes of hands-on time. Plus, it makes just about the best leftover turkey breast sandwich you’ve ever had. All in all, it’s a pretty effortless meal that presents like a feast.
If you’re looking for other ways to prepare turkey, be sure to try my homemade turkey tips and shredded turkey barbecue too.
Recipe ingredients
- Turkey breast: Choose a skin-on turkey breast, preferably bone-in. Bone-in poultry is particularly well suited to roasting because the bone helps shield the meat from direct heat and promotes more even cooking, making it easier to achieve a juicy breast. The skin is essential for this recipe because the seasoned butter is spread both underneath and over it, flavoring the meat directly while helping the exterior brown beautifully.
- Butter: Butter adds richness and creates a flavorful base for the seasonings used on the turkey. Softened butter is easy to spread beneath the skin as well as over the surface, allowing that flavor to reach the meat rather than remaining only on the exterior. Use a good-quality butter, such as from scratch farmhouse butter, since its flavor is an important part of the finished dish.
- Cajun seasoning: Cajun seasoning blends vary significantly from brand to brand, particularly in heat level. For this recipe, choose a traditional all-purpose Cajun seasoning rather than a blackening seasoning, which is formulated for a different cooking method. If you prefer a milder turkey, look for a blend that lists paprika and aromatics prominently rather than cayenne or other hot peppers near the top of the ingredient list.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make Cajun turkey breast
Step 1: Place the softened butter and all of the seasonings in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly until the seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the butter.
Step 2: Clean the turkey breast as needed, then pat it thoroughly dry. Removing surface moisture helps the butter adhere to the turkey and encourages better browning in the oven.
Step 3: Carefully work your fingers between the skin and the breast meat to loosen the skin without tearing it. Spread half of the seasoned butter directly over the meat beneath the skin, working it as evenly as possible across the breast. Spread the remaining butter over the entire top of the turkey breast.
Would you like to save this post for later?
We'll email it to you, so you can come back to it whenever you like!
Step 4: Place the turkey breast in a roasting dish and roast in a preheated 450°F (232°C) oven for 20 minutes. This initial blast of high heat gets the skin browning before the temperature is lowered to gently finish cooking the meat.
Step 5: Lower the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue roasting for about 1 hour, basting the turkey with the buttery drippings every 20 minutes. Begin checking the internal temperature before the end of the estimated cooking time. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the breast without touching the bone, and remove the turkey from the oven when it reaches 160°F (71°C).
Step 6: Loosely cover the turkey breast with foil and allow it to rest for 10–15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C). Resting allows carryover heat to finish cooking the turkey while giving the juices time to redistribute through the meat.
Step 7: Slice the turkey breast across the grain into even slices and serve while warm. Spoon some of the buttery roasting juices over the sliced turkey, if desired.
Top tips
- Bring the butter to the right consistency: Let the butter soften until it spreads easily but is not melted. Butter that is too firm can tear the skin as you work it underneath, while melted butter will run off instead of staying where you put it.
- Use a shallow roasting dish: Give the turkey plenty of exposure to the oven’s heat rather than surrounding it with the high sides of a deep roasting vessel. This helps the skin brown more effectively during that initial high-temperature roast.
- Watch the skin as the turkey finishes: Cajun spices can darken considerably during roasting. If the skin reaches the color you want before the turkey is cooked through, loosely tent just the browned portion with foil and continue roasting.
- Let the size of the breast determine the cooking time: Turkey breasts vary in size and shape, so treat the recipe’s roasting time as an estimate rather than a deadline. A thick, compact breast can take longer than a flatter breast of similar weight.
- Refrigerate leftovers promptly: Store leftover Cajun turkey breast in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For the best texture, keep the breast whole or in larger pieces and slice it as needed rather than slicing all of the leftovers at once.
- Freeze for longer storage: Freeze cooled Cajun turkey breast in an airtight freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Portion it before freezing so you can thaw only what you need. For the best texture, freeze the turkey in larger pieces rather than thin slices, which are more prone to drying out when reheated.
Serve
Cajun turkey breast works just as well for a holiday spread as it does for Sunday dinner. For a traditional turkey dinner, serve it with classic mashed potatoes or lean into the garlic with homemade garlic cheese mashed potatoes. Add homemade turkey stuffing from scratch and either southern style stewed green beans or roasted carrots with honey balsamic glaze to round out the plate.
If you want to take the meal in a slightly different direction, baked mushroom macaroni and cheese is rich enough to stand alongside the Cajun seasoning, while old-fashioned creamy coleslaw brings a cool, crisp contrast. Spiced braised red cabbage is another great choice, particularly for a fall or winter dinner when you want something warm and hearty on the side.
And don’t forget the bread. Homemade pumpkin cornbread is a natural fit with the Cajun flavors and makes an especially good addition to a fall holiday table. For a more traditional spread, serve a basket of homemade pumpkin dinner rolls or old-fashioned yeast dinner rolls warm from the oven.
Other recipes you’ll love
If you loved this from scratch turkey breast recipe, give these other great dinner recipes a try too!
Creamy Baked Pumpkin Pasta
Traditional Cottage Pie
Apple and Pork Tenderloin with Maple Dijon Sauce
Baked Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Recipe
Hot Honey Chicken Thighs
Almond Crusted Chicken Recipe
Cajun Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 5-6 pound turkey breast skin-on, bone-in
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 2 1/4 teaspoon2 Cajun seasoning
- 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons granulated garlic
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).
- Mix the softened butter and seasonings together until well combined.
- Clean the turkey breast as needed and pat it dry.
- Loosen the skin from the breast meat. Spread half of the seasoned butter under the skin and the remaining butter evenly over the top of the breast.
- Roast for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C) and roast for about 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes, until the thickest part of the breast reaches 160°F (71°C).
- Remove from the oven, loosely cover, and rest for 10–15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C).
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- A bone-in turkey breast is preferred for more even roasting and juicy meat, but a boneless turkey breast can also be used.
- Turkey breast size and shape affect roasting time, so use the internal temperature rather than cooking time alone to determine doneness.
- If the skin becomes deeply browned before the turkey reaches temperature, loosely cover the browned area with foil for the remainder of the roasting time.
- Store leftover turkey breast in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze cooled leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
