Cranberry And Apple Stuffed Turkey Breasts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is cranberry sauce so good with turkey? ›

Turkey is often dry, salty, and bland, which makes it the perfect partner for something sweet and moist. Cranberries are not overly sweet. Their tartness pairs well with the more bland-tasting turkey.

Wedges of lemon, orange, lime and even grapefruit provide your turkey with an extra layer of flavor. Plus, these fruits add moisture to your turkey as it cooks so you end up with a juicy Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Roast Turkey Breast with Traditional Stuffing is perfect if you're a Thanksgiving novice, have picky eaters or are doing a small-scale Thanksgiving. It's as showstopping as a whole turkey! Best of all, you can get it prepped the night before and it cooks in a fraction of the time it takes to roast a whole turkey.

First, allow your cooked turkey to sit for about 20 minutes before starting to carve. Beginning halfway up the breast, slice straight down with an even stroke. When the knife reaches the cut above the wing joint, the slice should fall free on its own.

Cranberry Sauce Is Perfect with Thanksgiving Turkey

Cranberries are absolutely perfect with turkey. Sort of like lemons and chicken. Something about the flavors, they're just made for each other. Which is why the sauce is so good to spread over turkey in your leftover turkey sandwiches.

Alliums: Add quartered onions, shallots, leeks, or garlic cloves for a delicious, earthy aroma. Fruits: Insert quarters of apple, lemon, orange, lime, or even grapefruit to add moisture and brightness to the turkey. You can even go with dried fruit, like cranberries, to double down on the autumn vibes.

Add halved onions, carrot chunks, celery and fresh herbs to the cavity of your turkey, inserting them loosely. These flavor builders are the base of stock and most soups. As your turkey cooks, they'll steam and infuse your bird with moisture and flavor.

The United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) recommends cooking the stuffing out side of the bird. Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 F, possibly resulting in foodborne illness. Some people feel that stuffing has a better taste and is moister when prepared in the turkey.

2- to 2½-pound bone-in turkey breast half: Roast at 325°F for 60 to 70 minutes. 2½- to 3-pound boneless turkey breast: Roast at 325°F for 40 to 60 minutes. 4- to 6-pound whole turkey breast: Roast at 325°F for 1½ to 2¼ hours. 6- to 8-pound whole turkey breast: Roast at 325°F for 2¼ to 3¼ hours.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Should you rinse a turkey breast before cooking? ›

How do you clean a turkey before cooking it? Well... you don't! Just like with other meat, the USDA recommends skipping washing your turkey before you cook it. It doesn't matter if you're roasting, frying, or smoking your turkey, there's no need to give it a rinse unless you've brined it (more on that below).

First, Bring Your Bird to Room Temp

Your turkey will cook more evenly and faster if you start it out at room temperature so remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. If you plan to stuff your turkey, wait until you're ready to put it in the oven before putting the stuffing in the turkey.

Your Turkey Is Done Too Early

If it's done around an hour early, let it rest uncovered for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then cover your turkey with some foil and a thick towel or blanket to keep it warm. By letting it first rest you release the initial heat. That way it won't overcook once it's covered.

Get your timings right. And don't forget to leave time for your turkey to rest when it comes out of the oven. Turkeys between 4-6kg should be rested for 1½ hours, and ones from 6-10kg can rest for two hours. Get your turkey out of the fridge 30 minutes before you cook it.

Due to the importance of cranberries in the 1500s and their abundance, it is believed that the pilgrims and the American Indians would have eaten them at the first Thanksgiving.

Cranberries are one of the only Native American fruits

Other than that, we can only speculate as to what was on the menu. Native Americans were known to eat cranberries regularly and use them as a natural dye for clothing, so chances are they were found on Thanksgiving Day, 1621.

By the 1860s, cranberry sauce was so ingrained as an American dish, that General Ulysses S. Grant reportedly ordered that cranberries be served to soldiers as part of their Thanksgiving meal. Whichever cranberry recipe you end up eating on Thanksgiving, it just might be the most venerable dish on your menu.

In Amelia Simmons's 1796 tome, American Cookery, she suggests serving roast turkey with “boiled onions and cranberry sauce.” (As an alternative, the Post notes, she proposed pickled mangoes.) But it did not become a requirement of Thanksgiving dinners until General Ulysses S.