Good 'n Healthy Stuffed Turkey Breast

Who doesn’t look forward to a traditional holiday feast with roasted turkey and all the trimmings? But especially for smaller gatherings, a stuffed turkey breast offers an easier—and healthier—alternative.  

The white meat in turkey breast has less fat and calories than the dark meat in legs and thighs. And while the turkey breast is roasted with the skin on to keep it moist, you can further limit the amount of fat consumed by not eating the skin. Rolling the stuffing inside the turkey breast helps keep portion controls small, as well.

Use your favorite stuffing or try our tasty Cranberry, Apple & Pecan one below.

Preparation time: About 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Total time: About 2 hours, 30 minutes (including resting time for turkey)

Note: You will need kitchen twine for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

7 lb. turkey breast with skin on, deboned (Ask your butcher to debone the turkey breast for you, or find instructions online on how to debone it yourself.)

Cranberry, Apple & Pecan Stuffing

• 1 cup pecans
• ½ cup onion (medium onion), diced
• ½ cup celery (one large stalk), diced
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced (about 1 ½ cups)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2-½ cups fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs (Make your own by processing in food processor. Best if bread slices are a few days old.)
• ½ cup dried cranberries, or craisins
• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup low-sodium chicken or turkey stock

Basting Sauce

• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken or turkey stock
• 2 Tablespoons butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the Stuffing

1. Heat a small skillet to medium high. Add pecans and “toast” 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful not to burn the pecans. Remove from heat, cool, then chop into pieces.
2. Heat large skillet to medium high, add olive oil, then sauté the onion, celery and apple until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and stir in remaining ingredients: breadcrumbs, dried cranberries, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and stock.

Prepare the Stuffed Turkey Breast

1. Lay deboned turkey breast, skin side down, on a large cutting board. Lay plastic wrap over breast and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until flat and about one-inch thick.
2. Spread stuffing mixture over turkey breast.
3. Roll turkey breast with stuffing, lengthwise, as tightly as possible. Hold breast together with kitchen twine tied at 2-inch intervals.
   At this stage the turkey can be covered and refrigerated until ready to roast. 
   When Ready to Roast:
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place turkey breast on rack over roasting pan. Place several cups of water in roast pan and replenish as needed as it roasts. The water helps keep the turkey breast moist.
5. Baste turkey breast with apple cider/broth mixture and roast turkey breast for 1 and 1/4 or 1/2 hours, or until thermometer at thickest part reads 155°F. Baste turkey every 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes before slicing into ½ to ¾-inch thick slices.
6. Heat basting sauce and simmer a few minutes and serve with turkey if desired.

Makes about 10 slices.

Nutritional Information for sliced turkey breast with stuffing: 
Per turkey slice (without skin) with stuffing: 512.7 calories; 10.1g total fat (0.7g saturated; 2.6g polyunsaturated, 4.9g monounsaturated); 329.9mg sodium; 196mg cholesterol; 21.8g carbohydrate; 5.0g sugars; 3.8g fiber; 82.8g protein; 104.5mg potassium. 

Nutritional Information for Apple Cider-Stock basting sauce:
About 2 Tablespoons: 28 calories; 1.9g total fat (1.2g saturated; 0.1g polyunsaturated, 0.5g monounsaturated); 69.5mg sodium; 5.2mg cholesterol; 2.6g carbohydrate; 2.5g sugars; 0.0g fiber; 0.2g protein; 41.2mg potassium.