Cooking up a breast for a special dinner and want some turkey breast cooking time suggestions? Everybody knows that the hardest part about cooking a whole turkey is the timing-- turkeys are easy to under or overcook. Fortunately, the cook time for a turkey breast is easier. While it's true that the breast tends to dry out more quickly than the whole bird, it's also much easier to ensure a breast doesn't overcook-- because you don't need to leave it in the oven while the dark meat bakes up, too.

This page will talk about cook times for turkey breasts in the oven... but you'll find tons of info about making a turkey breast in my "How to Cook a Turkey" Bible. Or check my turkey breast cooking directions page for step by step instructions for making turkey breast.

You'll also find some cook times for turkey breasts cooked using other methods on this page, including for fried turkey breast, smoked turkey breast, crockpot turkey breast, and more.

Turkey breast cooking time is actually pretty simple, conceptually: you cook the breast until it's done. Unfortunately, though, the amount of time you'll need isn't a science. Things like the shape of your turkey breast, its original temperature, how much meat is on it, etc., will have an effect on the cook time for your turkey breast.

So while the turkey breast cooking times below are helpful, they're only meant as a guideline. My suggestion? Check the breast with an electronic meat thermometer about 30 minutes before the earliest time the chart here says it should be done. Then keep checking-- and pull it out as soon as it reaches 165-170 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast.

Looking at this chart, you'll see that the cooking times vary hugely-- especially as the breast gets bigger. Your turkey breast cooking time will also change if your breast is stuffed. While you can't generally stuff a 2-5 pound breast, some people do stuff a large (6-8 pound) breast. If you do this, the cook time for your turkey breast will be higher-- about 3 to 4 hours. Check here for some recipes for turkey stuffing.

Or for in-depth instructions on cooking a whole turkey breast, click here.

If you purchase a frozen turkey breast, you'll need to thaw it out before cooking. That generally takes 24 hours or more in the refrigerator.

But what if you forget or run out of time? You can actually cook a turkey breast frozen and end up with a nice final result. If included, however, you'll need to be sure to remove the neck and giblets from your frozen breast.

If you cook your turkey breast from frozen, it will increase your turkey breast cooking time by about 50% overall. Be sure to use a shallow roasting pan if your breast is frozen (though this is a good idea with a thawed breast, too), as it will allow to air to flow more freely around the breast, cooking it evenly.

Convection ovens are wonderful for cooking a turkey breast. They heat the breast evenly and from every angle, and are very adept at creating that crisp, golden color we all love to see on our holiday bird.

However, the use of a convection oven will affect your turkey breast cooking time-- but for the better. In general, a convection oven will take about 25% less time to cook your average turkey breast than a conventional oven. So a 5 lb. breast that would normally need two hours in the oven will only need about a hour and a half.

Keep in mind, however, that this changes from oven to oven. Be sure to check your turkey breast with a meat thermometer to assure that it's completely done.

Check this page for turkey breast cook times in the fryer, smoker, grill, or crockpot.