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Turkey Roulade (Stuffed Turkey Breast)

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This Turkey Roulade with Cranberry Stuffing and gravy is the perfect Thanksgiving or Holiday meal for a smaller gathering.

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Stuffing with green beans.

Turkey Roulade

This Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Stuffing also known as a Turkey Roulade is great when you don’t need to make a whole bird, such as for a smaller family Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving. I typically make this Dry Brine Turkey when I host a large Thanksgiving, but when I have friends over, or just want Thanksgiving any time, I love making this smaller turkey breast. Serve this dish with your favorite Thanksgiving sides like Green Bean Casserole, Spinach Gratin, or Scalloped Potato Gratin.

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Stuffing up close

Can You Make Turkey Roulade Ahead?

You can prepare the stuffed turkey a day ahead and bake right before eating. Butterfly the turkey breast and then roll it up with stuffing. Then, I place the skin back on and tie it with string. The skin makes the turkey even juicier, but you can discard it after cooking if you prefer.

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Stuffing ingredient shot.

Ingredients

(see full recipe with measurements below)

Turkey Breast:

  • A large boneless turkey breast half with skin
  • kosher salt
  • Several pieces of cooking twine
  • A bit of salted butter, softened

Stuffing:

  • Whole wheat French bread, cut into small cubes
  • Butter
  • Half a medium onion, minced
  • One large stalk of celery, minced
  • A few fresh sage leaves, minced
  • Chopped parsley
  • Turkey or poultry seasoning
  • A pinch each of kosher salt and fresh pepper
  • One large egg, beaten
  • Chicken broth
  • A handful of dried cranberries, chopped
  • A piece of heavy-duty foil

Gravy:

  • Turkey or chicken broth
  • A couple of fresh sage leaves
  • Turkey or poultry seasoning
  • All-purpose flour
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

How To Make Turkey Roulade

For the Cranberry Stuffing:

  1. Stale cubed bread works best for this recipe. You can prepare the bread cubes in advance and let them sit out to harden.
  2. If using fresh bread, dry out the bread cubes in the oven. Place them on a baking sheet and bake until they are firm, stirring occasionally for even drying.
  3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, parsley, sage, turkey or poultry seasoning, a small amount of salt, and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are soft.
  4. Remove the skillet from heat, let the mixture cool slightly, then transfer it to a large bowl. Combine with the dried bread cubes and cranberries. Stir in the broth and egg until well mixed.

For The Turkey Breast:

  1. Carefully remove the skin from the turkey breast, keeping it intact for later use. Trim any excess fat and remove the tenderloin.
  2. Butterfly the turkey breast on a cutting board. Then, cover it with plastic wrap and flatten it to an even thickness in a rectangular shape.
  3. Season both sides of the turkey with salt. Spread the stuffing over the turkey, leaving a border around the edges.
  4. Roll the turkey breast in a jelly roll style, placing the reserved skin on top.
  5. Use cooking twine to tie the rolled turkey breast, trimming any excess twine. Apply a thin layer of butter on the top.
  6. Preheat your oven. Place the turkey breast on a baking pan and cover it tightly with foil. Cook in the oven until the stuffing reaches a safe internal temperature.
  7. After cooking, uncover the turkey and broil to brown the skin. Let it rest briefly before making the gravy.
  8. For the gravy, combine all ingredients in a pot, including any drippings from the turkey. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Let it simmer until thickened, then remove the herbs.
  9. To serve, remove the twine from the turkey breast and slice it. Serve with the gravy.

turkey breast pounded thinturkey breast with stuffingturkey breast stuffed and tiedturkey breast in baking dish with foil.

How to Butterfly the Turkey Breast for Roulade:

  1. Use a sharp paring knife and your fingers to remove the skin from the breast, reserving the skin. Turn the turkey over so the side that had skin faces down and lay it flat on the cutting board.
  2. Holding the blade of the knife parallel to the board about halfway down, slice into the thickest portion of the breast. Cut along the length of the breast but not all the way through.
  3. Unfold so that the turkey opens like a book. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until the turkey is of uniform thickness (about 1/4 inch).

How do you keep a turkey breast from drying out?

Covering the baking dish with foil, makes the turkey breast extra juicy with lots of pan drippings to make gravy. The foil makes the turkey juicy while also creating pan drippings for the turkey gravy that would otherwise dry up. Once the turkey is cooked, I remove the foil and brown the skin under the broiler for a few minutes. The cranberry stuffing inside the turkey also keeps it from drying out.

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Stuffing

More Stuffing Recipes You’ll Love:

Turkey Roulade Recipe

5 from 6 votes
3
Cals:484
Protein:68.5
Carbs:19
Fat:12.5
This Turkey Roulade with Cranberry Stuffing and gravy is the perfect Thanksgiving or Holiday meal for a smaller gathering.
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Turkey Roulade (Stuffed Turkey Breast)
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Serving Size: 2 slices with 1/3 cup gravy

Ingredients

  • 1 large boneless turkey breast half with skin, (about 2 1/2 lbs)
  • 1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 to 8 pieces cooking twine
  • 1 teaspoon salted butter, softened

Stuffing:

  • 5 ounces whole wheat french bread, cut into small cubes
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 medium onion, minced
  • 1 large stalk celery, minced
  • 4 fresh sage leaves, minced
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon turkey or poultry seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons dried cranberries, chopped
  • 1 piece Reynolds Wrap® Heavy Duty Foil

Gravy (makes 2 cups):

  • 2 cups turkey or chicken broth
  • 2 leaves fresh sage
  • 3/4 teaspoon turkey or poultry seasoning
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

For the Cranberry Stuffing:

  • Stale cubed bread works best here, you can cut the bread the night before and let it sit to harden.
  • If your bread is fresh, preheat the oven and bake the bread cubes on a large baking sheet at 250°F for about 30 minutes, stirring half way until the bread is completely firm.
  • In a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat, add the butter; when melted add onion, celery, parsley, sage, turkey or poultry seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper and saute on medium low until soft, about 8-10 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes then transfer to a large bowl and add the toasted bread and cranberries. Add broth, egg and mix well.
    stuffing

For The Turkey Breast:

  • Remove the skin from the turkey breast and set aside keeping the skin in one piece and reserve for later.
  • Trim the fat and remove the tenderloin.
  • Place the turkey breast on a plastic cutting board and butterfly it open (see notes).
  • Then cover the breast with plastic wrap and pound it to about 1/4” thickness in a rectangle shape.
  • Season both sides of the turkey with salt. Spread the stuffing onto the pounded turkey breast leaving a 3/4 inch border around all the edges.
  • Roll it jelly roll style and top with the skin.
  • Cut cooking twine long enough to tie the breast with 4 to 6 pieces of twine.  Cut off extra twine. Spread the butter on top.
  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Set the rack to the center of the oven.
  • Transfer to a baking pan and cover tight with Reynolds Wrap® Heavy Duty Foil. Cook in the center of the oven until an internal temperature in the center of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees, about 45 to 55 minutes.
    foil on baking pan
  • Uncover the foil, then broil on high 5 to 7 minutes until the skin is golden. Allow it to cool 5 minutes while you make the gravy.
  • Combine all the gravy ingredients in a pot along with any pan drippings and bring to a simmer, whisking well over medium-high heat.
  • Cover and simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes  or until thickened. Discard the herbs.
  • Cut off the twine on the breast and slice into 12 slices. Serve with gravy.
    turkey rolled with stuffing.

Last Step:

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Video

Notes

*Nutritional info without the skin based on a 2.5lb (raw) skinless turkey breast.
Yield: 6 servings, Serving Size: 2 slices with 1/3 cup gravy. Points 6G, 4B, 4P
Calories: 336calories, Total Fat: 7 Saturated Fat: 2, Cholesterol: 135.5 Sodium: 797.
Carbohydrates: 19.5 Fiber: 2 Sugar: 2.5 Protein: 49

Nutrition

Serving: 2 slices with 1/3 cup gravy, Calories: 484 kcal, Carbohydrates: 19 g, Protein: 68.5 g, Fat: 12.5 g, Saturated Fat: 4 g, Sodium: 1700 mg, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 2.5 g

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28 comments on “Turkey Roulade (Stuffed Turkey Breast)”

  1. Can this be prepped then frozen until the day before you cook it? It looks & sounds wonderful but time is an issue. Thank you.

  2. Avatar photo
    Michele A. Matzen

    We made your cranberry stuffed turkey roll for Thanksgiving I just wanted to let you know this was absolutely wonderful even my husband liked it he said it was better than any turkey recipe we’ve dohe rests me with done so I just wanted to let you know how great it was thank you so much for that great recipe

  3. So good! I didn’t have dried cranberries so I subbed fresh sliced in half and added it to the celery and onion as I made the stuffing. Turned out moist and yummy! 

  4. Avatar photo
    Deanna Abbondola

    Had an impromptu two person Thanksgiving and this recipe was PERFECT! So moist and delicious even though it was all white meat!

    Thanks for a wonderful recipe during a weird year!

  5. Planning to make this tomorrow and in looking at the recipe I don’t see where to add the egg? Am I missing something?

    PS I love every. single. one. of your recipes. Thank you!!! 

  6. This recipe was amazing. Moist and flavorful I highly recommend this to all. Unfortunately, my sous chef , my partner, and I did not communicate very well and purchased a bone in turkey breast but we learned how to debone it.  But it all worked out and it was truly a wonderful pre Thanksgiving turkey. 

  7. Avatar photo
    Sara with an H

    It’s only gonna be my household for Thanksgiving this year, and 3 of the 5 of us (🙄 kids) don’t eat turkey so I’ve been looking for a a recipe to make using just breasts! This is PERFECT! Can’t wait to try it!!

  8. Hi, Gina, this looks delicious!
    Please clarify if I purchase a 5 pound boneless turkey breast or 2 1/2 pound boneless turkey breast to make this.
    Happy Thanksgiving, Ruth

  9. Hi – I love every skinnytaste recipe I’ve made, thank you! Could you make this in the air fryer? I don’t have an oven right now. Or should I just go with the slow cooker turkey breast recipe instead. Thanks.

  10. Avatar photo
    Leslie Susan Clingan

    Sounds so good. I had not thought of putting cranberries in the stuffing but will try it this year. I put them in everything else!! Love me some cranberries.