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This Roast Turkey Breast with Blueberry Balsamic Glaze is a deliciously festive meal! Blueberries, figs, balsamic, maple syrup and mustard give the traditional turkey a little bit of the unexpected. Perfect for small gatherings of two to three people.
Instead of roasting a whole bird this Thanksgiving, we opted for a simple roast turkey breast. To give it a little flare, I tried something a little different. Surprisingly, it came together deliciously, and believe me, I did have some doubts at first. Pairing turkey with blueberries was not something I could get my head around initially, but the roasted blueberries, so warm and bursting with tangy sweet flavor were incredible. Simply adding a handful of blueberries to the balsamic glaze and to the roasting bird, added bright pops of flavor, which complemented the turkey incredibly well. A lovely and simple Thanksgiving dinner for two.
Turkey Breast Ingredient Notes
- Turkey Breast; You’ll need a 2-3 lb bone-in, skin-on Turkey breast, fully thawed.
- Fresh or frozen blueberries, and dried figs.
- Whole grain mustard– gives a nice kick
- Aromatics: rosemary, onion and garlic.
How to Roast a Turkey Breast
Did I mention how easy this was to make? The bone-in skin on Turkey Breast is simply sprinkled with salt and pepper and placed on a bed of sliced onions in a baking dish or oven-proof skillet. While it is roasting, make the flavorful Blueberry Balsamic Glaze.
make the Blueberry Fig Sauce!
Place ½ cup of blueberries (saving the rest), the sliced dried figs, and the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then turn heat to low, or medium-low, uncovered, keeping at a very gentle simmer, stirring occasionally until reduced by half. Stir in maple syrup, whole-grain mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Combine!
Once the glaze cooks down, and the turkey has cooked 40 minutes, brush the turkey with the glaze and pour the rest over the top. Give the pan a shake. Surround the turkey with the remaining blueberries, fresh rosemary sprigs and continue roasting in the oven, lowering heat to 350, until it reaches 160F, 20 or more minutes, depending on the size.
When it comes out, the turkey will be moist and flavorful, and the roasted blueberries will be bursting with flavor.
Slice it up and serve alongside your favorite Thanksgiving sides like — horseradish mashed potatoes, a fall salad, stuffing and green bean casserole.
Enjoy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
More Recipes you may enjoy:
- A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner
- Turkey Minestrone Soup
- Chicken (or Turkey) Enchiladas with Black Beans
- Turkey Meatballs with Sundried Tomatoes & Basil
- Thai Turkey Burger Recipe w/ Asian Slaw
Roast Turkey Breast Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The recipe for Roast turkey breast with blueberry balsamic glaze makes for a deliciously festive meal. Blueberries, figs, balsamic, maple and mustard add a tangy approach to a traditional roast turkey. Garnish the entrée with leftover blueberries and rosemary – your roast turkey with blueberry balsamic glaze will look as amazing as it tastes.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 1 bone-in turkey breast with skin on (2– 3 pounds)
- Salt & pepper
Blueberry Balsamic Glaze Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen blueberries (divided)
- 1/2 cup dried figs, sliced, or if small, halved
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1–1/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large oven-safe heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil, then sauté onion 3-4 minutes, or until fragrant and just tender. Scatter rosemary sprigs around the edges of the pan.
- Rub turkey on all sides with oil (or butter) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place turkey in the skillet, on top of onion mixture; transfer skillet to the oven and turn temperature down to 400°F, and bake for 40 minutes. While it’s baking make the glaze.
Blueberry Balsamic Glaze:
- Place 1⁄2 cup of the blueberries, figs and the balsamic vinegar in small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, then turn heat to low, stirring occasionally until reduced by half.
- Stir in maple syrup, whole grain mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- After the turkey has cooked for 40 minutes, brush the top with the glaze and pour the rest over the top. Give the pan a good shake.
- Surround the turkey with the remaining blueberries, lower the oven temperature to 350 F, and continue roasting for 20 minutes until the turkey is cooked and reaches 160°F.
Notes
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the fridge or can be frozen up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8 ounces
- Calories: 588
- Sugar: 24.1 g
- Sodium: 1356.5 mg
- Fat: 18.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.5 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 67.5 g
- Cholesterol: 228.9 mg
Keywords: roast turkey breast, roasted turkey breast recipe, turkey with blueberries
This looks delicious! Do you think the blueberry glaze could be served on the side like cranberry sauce? How long will it keep in the fridge?
Thanks!
Hi Whitney, yes, the sauce can be served on the side. Both will keep 3-4 days in the fridge.
This recipe is delicious. I used 4 berry frozen mix (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries) instead of just blueberries. Mine also needed an extra 20 minutes, but it came out great. I highly recommend.
Great to hear! thanks Emily!
5 Stars! Made this for the fam on Thanksgiving (2021). They LOVED it, even my picky FIL who’s a cook himself. Doubled the sauce since turkey breast was very large. Will make this again ’cause the blend of flavors was perfect. Had one issue but knew how to fix it … after the sauce reduced the acid was off the chart. Added baking soda a little at a time until the acid level balanced out. Huge hit and something different to serve on Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thanks and love that fix, Victoria!
if using a 9 lb turkey… do you just triple the recipe?
Cooking time would be different. I would cook the whole turkey separately, then triple the Blueberry Relish and perhaps serve it on the side?
Would this sauce and method taste good on chicken breasts?
I think so-if they were skin on and bone-in. Cooking time would shorten.
This was absolutely phenomenal! The balsamic, blueberry and fig glaze was delicious and the turkey was incredibly tender. This will be a new “regular” menu item that we will make again and again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This recipe was superb! Hosted a small family Christmas lunch and this was an absolute hit! Not only did the house smell fantastic, but the turkey tasted just as it smelled. Thank you SO much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks for the comment and great to hear Liz!
Sylvia,
I am a bit confused on the first step concerning placing oil, onion and rosemary in skillet on medium heat. Is this to sauté the onion with the herb or simply to warm up a “cold skillet” before placing in the 400* oven with the turkey?
I find this step requires clarification.
Hi Dave, sorry about that- yes, it was confusing! It should be clearer now… and thanks for pointing that out!!!
Hi Sylvia,
I made this lovely recipe for dinner this evening and it was delicious! I didn’t have any figs so I used prunes and didn’t have wholegrain mustard so I left that out too but it was still divine! thanks so much for sharing and for all your amazing recipes!
Annette.
★★★★★
HI Annette! Im so glad you were able to improvise and make substitutions…and happy it turned out! Thanks for the comment and for being here!
Oh my God, I cooked this dish and it was so amazing. The blueberry sauce was unbelievable. Thank you for sharing.
Oh Yay!! Glad you liked it…I liked it too. 🙂
How well would this work with a boneless, skinless turkey breast? I have one that I need to do something with and your recipe looks amazing?
Honestly, I’m not sure? I guess my hesitation would be that it could get dry? Try it and see, but for sure shortening the cooking time. Good luck and let know know how it turns out!
Well I tried it, but cooked it in a steam oven/ convection oven….I monitored the time and cooked it until it reached 180 F/82 C, then let it rest……it was delicious and the turkey breast was perfect?
Thank you for sharing this great recipe?
Oh Im so glad you tried it! Good to hear it turned out well! thanks for sharing!
This sounds amazing, I have never paired meat and blueberries but now that I see it, I think it a great idea. I will definitely try this!
Thanks so much Adina, yes it was bit of a stretch for me too getting “my head” around it, but it is so good!!