This juicy, succulent, flavorful Sage and Rosemary Slow Roasted Turkey Roulade is a great alternative to a whole turkey for your Thanksgiving spread this year!
Wrapping the turkey breast with the skin and slow roasting ensures a perfectly cooked, moist turkey roulade.
Just as promised last week, I’m back with a fantastic Thanksgiving turkey recipe for you guys!
Last week, I shared this step by step tutorial on how to prep turkey breasts to make a great Thanksgiving turkey roulade (turkey roll) that will be a great alternative for a whole turkey for Thanksgiving this year. Today, I’m going to show you one way to cook this scrumptious turkey roulade (turkey roll) to perfection!
This Sage and Rosemary Slow Roasted Turkey Roulade (Turkey Roll) is incredibly juicy, succulent with caramelized skin on the outside, and is the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece when you’d rather not worry about carving up a whole bird, and dealing with all the leftovers.
Sage, rosemary, garlic and spices are ground together to form a deeply fragrant, flavorful spice paste which is then spread on the butterflied turkey breast.
The turkey breasts are then tolled tightly into a roulade and wrapped with the turkey skin and slow roasted until perfectly cooked and juicy. I’m drooling just typing this.
There are two reasons why this Sage and Rosemary Turkey Roulade is super juicy and succulent inside.
- Wrapping the turkey breast with the skin – the skin acts as a barrier to hinder the turkey breast from drying out while it’s cooking (it WILL still dry out if you overcook it though!).
- Slow roasting – slow roasting is one of my favorite methods to cook a cut like turkey breast that can dry out quickly. The low oven temperature ensures that the turkey is cooked slowly, while the internal temperature of the meat is raised gradually. This way the turkey roulade (turkey roll) cooks more evenly than it would if you used high heat.
These two techniques together will make this recipe for slow roasted turkey roulade foolproof, and give you a perfectly cooked oven roasted turkey roulade to feature at your Thanksgiving spread this year.
Sage is easily my favorite herb to use with turkey and chicken. It perfectly complements poultry dishes like this one, and even pork for that matter. But the combination of sage and rosemary, really makes this oven roasted turkey roulade stand out. I’m a big fan of porchetta and decided to adapt those flavors for this slow roasted Thanksgiving turkey roll.
I won’t be going into details on HOW to prepare the turkey roulade in this post, because I shared a comprehensive, STEP BY STEP tutorial right here, where I talked about prepping the turkey roulade with a full turkey breast cut. I prefer to tie up the turkey roll with twine, and leave it in the fridge overnight.
To make the spice paste, you can use a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder. Mortar and pestle is the best option, because it releases more of the fragrant oils in the herbs in my experience, but I do tend to use the spice grinder most of the time. Faster and more convenient.
After the spice mix has been applied on the turkey breast, it’s rolled up, then wrapped with the skin, and tied with cotton twine. I recommend using cotton twine, because it’ll hold the shape of the turkey roulade better while being roasted.
How to prep the rolled up turkey roulade for slow roasting in the oven
- Remove the turkey roulade from the fridge, then remove the plastic wrap, and pat dry the surface of the roulade using paper towels.
- Then place the turkey roulade on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.
- Brush the top and the sides of the turkey roulade with unflavored oil. Make sure there’s a little oil on the bottom as well.
- Sprinkle salt all over the turkey before you start the cooking process.
I always prefer to use a meat thermometer to get the most accurate results. Checking the internal temperature of the turkey breast with a meat thermometer is really the best and most foolproof way of achieving a moist, succulent, perfectly cooked slow roasted turkey roulade. And it’s easy too. You set the temperature to 160°F on the thermometer, and let the oven do the rest of the work. Then finally, the roasted turkey roulade is quickly broiled (or pan fried) to get that delicious caramelization on the skin.
What I love about this simple slow roasted turkey roulade is that you can easily incorporate different flavor profiles into this dish. I’ve also made this with a lemon, herb and garlic blend, as well as a chili and honey spice mix as well. It’s versatile, and the results are amazing every time!
I also like to make a turkey gravy with the pan drippings from the roast as well. I usually get about 1/3 – 1/2 cup of pan drippings from this roast. This is then mixed with turkey broth (or chicken broth), and whisked in with a roux to make an incredibly flavorful turkey gravy that goes so well with the roulade!
Plus, the leftovers from this slow roasted turkey roulade are PERFECT in sandwiches and burgers the next day! 🙂
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Slow roasted Turkey Roulade
Ingredients:
For the Turkey Roulade (the final turkey roulade will be 5 - 6 lbs)
- 1 whole turkey breast 2 turkey breast pieces, bone in and skin on
For the spice mix
- 15 - 20 sage leaves loosely packed ½ cup of leaves
- 4 sprigs of rosemary leaves only
- 6 - 8 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- Extra oil salt and pepper to brush on at the end
Turkey Gravy
- About 2 - 3 cups of turkey or chicken stock
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- Generous pinch of black pepper
- More salt if needed
Instructions:
For the spice mix
- Place all the ingredients in a small food processor and process until you have a paste. Transfer this herb paste into a small bowl and cover and set aside until needed.
Sage and Rosemary Turkey Roulade
- Prepare the Turkey Roulade following the detailed guide here.
- When the turkey breast has been butterflied and shallow cuts have been made and the skin prepped, rub all of the spice paste over the turkey breast as shown in pictures in the post.
- Roll up the turkey breast (as noted in the guide), and wrap it with the turkey skin.
- Using twine, secure the turkey roulade and wrap it with plastic wrap. Place the turkey roulade in the fridge overnight, up to 1 day. (You can keep it at room temperature for up to 1 - 2 hours and then roast it, but storing it overnight in the fridge is better to secure the shape of the roulade).
The Following Day
- Remove the turkey roulade from the fridge at least 1 - 2 hours before roasting.
- Preheat your oven to 450°F at least 20 minutes before roasting.
- Line a quarter sheet pan (or any baking dish with raised edges), with parchment paper.
- Remove the turkey roulade from the plastic wrap and pat dry with paper towels until there's no moisture on the surface. Place it on the parchment paper lined baking tray.
- Brush the surface of the turkey roulade with oil and sprinkle the surface with kosher salt and black pepper (black pepper is optional).
- Place the baking tray (with the roulade) in the oven at 450°F, for about 10-15 minutes, until the surface turns golden brown.
- Reduce the temperature to 275°F and cook for a further 20-30 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, insert this into the turkey roulade and cook until it registers 162°F (residual heat will cook it further to 165°F).
- Baste the turkey roulade with pan drippings half way through the cooking process.
- Remove the turkey roulade from the oven and let it rest.
- OPTIONAL - if you'd like the turkey roulade to caramelize further, turn the broiler setting in your oven on to high. Broil the turkey roulade for a couple of minutes on each side, until you get the desired caramelization. Always keep an eye on the turkey roulade when it’s under the broiler.
- Allow the turkey to rest for 15 - 20 minutes (in the pan drippings) before serving. Carefully remove the pan drippings and set aside for the turkey gravy. OR you can pour the pan dripping over the sliced turkey roulade as well.
- After the turkey roulade has been allowed to rest, slice it into ½ inch thick slices. Arrange the slices on a serving tray garnished with extra herbs and serve with the gravy and other Thanksgiving side dishes.
Turkey Gravy
- Measure how much pan drippings you get from the turkey roulade in a measuring cup.
- Add enough turkey stock/broth (or chicken stock/broth), to make 2 cups of liquid.
- Place the butter in a pot and let it melt over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk until there are no lumps in the flour. Keep stirring this roux until the color changes to brown, and it smells quite nutty.
- Whisk in the stock and pan drippings and black pepper, and whisk until there are no flour lumps. Bring the gravy to a boil and then lower the heat. Cook until you have a gravy with a desired consistency. If the gravy becomes too thick, you can add more stock to thin it out. Taste the gravy and season with extra salt if needed.
- Pour the gravy into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap - make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface to prevent any gravy skin from forming on top.
Nutrition Information:
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A. Littles says
This was juicy and tasty! Thanks!
Mitchell says
The dish was delicious. It turned out perfectly cooked and spiced. However, my cooking time was double the time stated.
I used one breast from what must have been an enormous bird, bought from my local butcher. That was enough for four, with leftovers to spare. I can’t picture making a roulade with both breasts from this bird.
Thanks for the recipe. I will make this again.
Rocky says
do you have turkey rolls with both white and dark meat?
Dini says
Hi Rocky
This recipe is for white meat. If you have a turkey roulade with white and red meat you can still cook it the same way. However the cook time might be different. You have to ensure that the internal temperature reaches 165°F for the roulade. Hope that answers your question, otherwise let me know.
Julia says
Wow, this is a great way to prepare a turkey! Looks so delicious, I can’t wait to try this for Thanksgiving!!
Wilhelmina Wessel says
This looks so flavorful! I am always looking for a smaller way to serve turkey for just myself and my husband without it drying out and this looks amazing!
Linda says
Turkey breasts are perfect for my husband and I when the kids can’t get home for the holidays. I have a special honey roasted one I fix but now I want to give this different flavor sensation a try. Can’t wait to give it a try. Btw, love your gravy pouring over the turkey pic. Absolutely mouthwatering.