For a quick, “you’ll-want-seconds” meal, prepare the casserole the night before using sausage, eggs, sour cream, cheese, and green chiles. The night before it is to be baked, you must make this recipe.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 whole turkey breast |
Ingredients
- Brine:
- 2 quarts water
- 5 oranges – juiced and zest cut off in large strips
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- 12 black tea bags
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 whole cloves
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 1 cup bourbon whiskey
- 4 quarts cold water, or as needed
- 1 (8 pound) whole turkey breast
- Seasoned Butter:
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, crushed
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, crushed
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
Instructions
- Pour 2 quarts of water into a large soup pot and stir in orange juice and zest, kosher salt, sugar, black tea bags, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and bourbon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix 4 quarts cold water into brine and let cool. Submerge turkey breast in brine, adding more water if needed to cover. Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Set oven rack to the lowest position in the oven.
- Remove turkey from marinade; discard marinade. Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Mix coriander seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, and garlic into softened butter in a bowl.
- Loosen the skin over turkey breast with your fingers and spread 1/4 cup of seasoned butter beneath the skin. Rub remaining 2 tablespoons seasoned butter over the turkey breast. Place turkey breast onto a roasting rack and set rack into a roasting pan.
- Roast in the preheated oven until skin is golden brown and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 2 hours. Transfer to a cutting board and let turkey breast rest 30 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 508 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 126 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 59 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 16286 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I used it on a whole spatchcocked chicken. The brining worked well. The taste of the butter was beyond terrible. I toasted the cumin and coriander seeds before grinding them with a mortar and pestle. It was awful.
I also cut this recipe in half and used it for a chicken. It turned out moist and tender, but a little too salty for our taste.
Very good, the turkey was moist and seasoned just right.
I used this recipe on a chicken instead of a turkey breast so I just halved everything and let it sit in brine 8 hours. Only change I made was to use fat-free greek yogurt instead of butter for the rub. So juicy and flavorful with a bit of earthiness coming from the tea and bourbon and the orange adding a touch of brightness. Brining is so worth every bit of extra time.
We received so many compliments last year on our turkey that we are doing it again this year. We hosted two Thanksgiving dinners totaling 45 people and used this recipe. Rave reviews. Turkey was moist and had a great flavor that was subtle and delicious. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
This will be my third year using this on a whole turkey. It’s great! Everybody loves it.