This recipe for apricot & sausage stuffed turkey breast is the perfect way to have Thanksgiving turkey without cooking an entire bird! In this post I will show you how to cut the turkey breast, stuff it and cook it to get delicious results for your Thanksgiving day feast.
The first time I cooked a turkey was 6 months after I got married. It was a disaster. We read that we needed to brine it but we didn’t really know how. Only half the bird was submerged during that brining process so only half our turkey tasted good! ha! This recipe for stuffed turkey breast is easy, stress free and takes you a fraction of the amount of time cooking a whole bird would. Honestly I think it tastes better too!
The stuffing is really what makes this recipe delicious. The white meat of a turkey has a tendency to be dry, so adding sausage with it’s higher fat content, and not to mention delicious flavor, keeps the turkey breast moist.
When you go to the store to buy a boneless turkey breast you’ll think you’re getting the wrong thing. It’s packaged up so small! Last year when we made this I made the mistake of getting a bone-in turkey breast and Matt had to watch a you tube video and then go to work de-boning the turkey breast. It is quite the process, I don’t recommend it.
When you take it out of the packaging you’ll want to remove the skin and set aside, don’t toss the skin, we’ll use it.
Then you will want to take a sharp knife and butterfly the breast open. Try to keep the knife in the center of the breast and cut almost all the way through. Enough to open it up and lay it flat. Once it’s opened up pound it flat with a meat mallet to get it ready for stuffing and rolling!
You make the stuffing on the stove top and you actually cook the sausage all the way through before you stuff it. The fact that the sausage is fully cooked eases my mind about making sure everything is cooked all the way!
Once the delicious stuffing is made and your house starts to smell a little like pork heaven you’ll let it cool for a minute or two and then spread it out over your breast.
You’ll have quite a bit of stuffing left over after you fill your breast, don’t worry it will all get used (and eaten)!
Once you roll that baby up you’ll place the skin on top and then secure it with kitchen twine. For roasting I used my Demarle at Home large round flexipan mold. It’s the best!
To make sure our turkey breast is extra tasty and worthy of being at our Thanksgiving table it gets rubbed down with a fresh made herb butter. oooooh yeah…
That extra butter and the turkey skin will create a delicious crispy crust on the top of the turkey breast. Golden and beautiful! Once you’ve rubbed her down with butter fill in around the turkey roll with all that extra stuffing. It’s baked at 2 temperatures, first 20 minutes at 425° and then 25 minutes longer at 350°.
Look at that beauty?!! The whole process won’t take you longer than an hour and half and you’ve got a show stopping centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner.
I cannot say enough how much I love my Demarle at Home Flexipan bakeware. This large round mold is so versatile. I use it for cakes, cheesecakes, casseroles and well… stuffed turkey breast and stuffing! The octagonal Silpat that comes with it is the perefect lid and creates an air tight seal when laid on top of the round mold.
Untie the kitchen twine and cut the turkey breast into slices, they will look so pretty!
Make sure and tell me if you cook this recipe! I’d love to hear about it! I love to see when you make things from the blog, it seriously makes my heart happy! 🙂 Share it with me in the comments or tag me on Instagram (@handmadeintheheartland) or facebook!
This stuffed turkey breast is a great way to have Thanksgiving turkey without cooking an entire bird!
The stuffing inside this turkey breast is moist, flavorful and delicious!
This stuffed turkey breast is easy and quick to make, flavorful and delicious and it’s the perfect substitute for cooking an entire Thanksgiving turkey.
Ingredients:
- For the Stuffing:
- 1 lb mild italian pork sauage
- 6 oz dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 5 cups white bread cut up
- 1/2 cup diced red onions
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
- S&P
- 1 3lb boneless turkey breast
- S&P
- kitchen twine
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon finely diced herbs, such as rosemary, thyme & sage
For the Turkey:
Instructions:
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add a tablespoon of olive oil and the red onions. Cook until translucent and then add the herbs, garlic and sausage. Cook until the sausage is cooked through and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and chicken broth to de-glaze the pan and stir until combined. Remove from heat and add in the bread pieces and apricot. Stir to combine. Set aside
- Make the herb butter by mixing the herbs and salt with softened butter. I like to use the paddle attachment on my kitchenaid mixer for this, but a strong hand can mix it too. 😉
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Unwrap your turkey breast and remove the skin, set aside. Cut through the center of the breast with a sharp knife to butterfly it open. You want it to be able to lay flat. Pound it out to be between 1/4-1/2″ thick.
- Take the stuffing and lay it on top of the turkey breast in an even layer, then roll the breast like you would a jelly roll. Once it’s completely rolled lay the skin on top of the the rolled breast and secure the entire breast with kitchen twine. I tied mine in 4 different places.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 425° then lower the temperature to 350° and bake for 25-30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve warm!
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