Copycat Honey Baked Turkey Breast

While I do love a good spiral-sliced ham or whole turkey on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, sometimes you just don’t need that much food.

Or you’re looking for something that won’t take as long to cook.

And that’s where a boneless turkey breast comes in! It’s not a ton of food, and doesn’t take too long to cook, which is great for the big day!

In our family, for many holidays we would pick up a Honey Baked Ham or Turkey, and they are delicious!

But a roughly 3 lb. boneless turkey breast from Honey Baked will run you over $40 (at least here in the Midwest). That’s a 300% markup from what I can buy at my grocery store!

So why not save some serious cash this holiday, and make your own version at home?

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Turkey breast – this recipe was developed and tested with a boneless turkey breast. I use Butterball brand.
• Chicken broth – the chicken broth is added to the bottom of the pan, so any drippings don’t burn, as well as adding moisture as the breast cooks.
• Unsalted butter – you can use salted if that’s what you have on hand.
• Honey – even though Honey Baked Ham doesn’t use regular honey in their recipes, I love the extra flavor it adds.
• Granulated sugar – I know there’s a lot of sugar, but it’s what’s required to make that incredible crunchy glaze.
• Spices – for this recipe, this includes seasoned salt, onion powder, smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, and allspice.

How to make copycat honey baked turkey breast:

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Set up roasting pan. Since a turkey breast is much smaller than a full size turkey, a big roasting pan may be overkill. I typically use a 2 quart baking dish (either square or rectangular), and use my roasting rack that came with my Instant Pot.
2. Brush. Add some chicken broth to the bottom of the pan, and brush with the butter and honey.
3. Cover. Covering the pan loosely with foil helps ensure the turkey cooks evenly.
4. Roast. The timing on this may vary, so I highly recommend using an internal thermometer to check for doneness.
5. Dry glaze. Once you’ve combined the glaze ingredients, pat half of the mixture onto the turkey breast and broil.
6. Wet glaze. Combine the rest of the glaze ingredients with some juices from the pan (or water), and bring to a boil. Then brush liberally onto turkey and broil again.
7. Rest and slice.

Variations of this recipe

• Bourbon – Not traditional to a Honey Baked Turkey, but oh so delicious!  Instead of using water or juices from the pan to make the glaze, try using some of your favorite bourbon.
• Juice – instead of all chicken broth in the roasting pan, you can use part broth, and part apple juice.
• Brown sugar – again, it’s not traditional, but if you like a little more molasses-y of a flavor, use packed light brown sugar instead of granulated.
• Spices – please feel free to tweak the spices in this recipe to your tastes.
• Alternate cooking method – I get it, during the holidays your oven space is probably at a premium (at least if it’s anything like my holiday!). But good news, this recipe can be made partially in the slow cooker or air fryer! Look for all the details down below the recipe in the “chef tips” section.

Making turkey breast ahead of time

I’ve not made this entire turkey breast ahead of time, so I can’t guarantee the flavor and freshness if you make it that way.

However, you can combine all your dry glaze ingredients (sugar, seasoned salt, onion powder, smoked paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, paprika and allspice), and store in an airtight container.

Storage

Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 4 days.  They can also be frozen.

These leftovers are great on a sandwich too!