Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast

Whether you’re hosting a summer barbecue or a smaller Thanksgiving dinner, a Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast is a delicious option. It’s just the right size for dinner and leftovers.

Boneless Turkey Breast – A Great Grilling Option

If you’re craving turkey but you don’t need all of the meat that you get from a whole bird, grilling a boneless turkey breast is a great option. It’s really quite easy and a 4 pound boneless turkey breast only takes about 2 hours to grill, much less time then roasting a whole turkey.

The key to grilling a boneless breast is to truss it with kitchen twine and grill it over indirect heat. The result is slightly smoky, tender and juicy meat. It’s perfect to serve at a summer BBQ as well as a Thanksgiving dinner.

Grill With Either Charcoal or Gas

Either a charcoal grill or a gas grill will work just fine. We grill our turkey on charcoal over indirect heat and it is absolutely out of this world.

To prep the turkey for the grill, first rub it with olive oil, then rub in a spice mixture. The rub used in this recipe includes thyme, sage and rosemary, but you could mix it up and use whatever spices you like. 

If you’re using charcoal, you’ll have to babysit the turkey a little bit more and periodically add more charcoal to keep the temperature steady. With gas, you can set the temperature and not have to monitor it quite as often.

An instant read meat thermometer is also very helpful. The turkey is ready to come off of the grill once it reaches 160 degrees. After you take it off the grill, you let it rest, lightly covered with foil, until it reaches 165 degrees, which takes about 20 minutes.

Tips and Tricks for a Delicious Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast

• Whether you’re using a gas grill or a charcoal grill, cooking with indirect heat is the best way to insure a perfectly cooked, juicy turkey breast. If you were to cook it over direct heat, the outside would get overcooked before the internal temperature was where it needed to be.
• If you’re cooking on a gas grill, you will not turn the burners on underneath the turkey. Put a drip pan directly under the meat. Set the temperature to 300-350 degrees.
• With a charcoal grill, your will also off-set the charcoal. If your grill is round, place a drip pan in the center and place the charcoal around the pan. Place the turkey on the grate over the drip pan. With a rectangular grill, the charcoal will go on one side and the drip pan will go on the other side and the turkey will also be placed over the drip pan.
• An instant read thermometer is highly recommended to ensure that your turkey breast comes off the grill at the perfect temperature.

The Best Place to Find a Boneless Turkey Breast

Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, you may be able to find a boneless turkey breast at your regular grocery store, but in the summer that will be less likely. If you’re not able to find one at your grocery store, you will likely be able to find one at one of your local meat markets.

We called our local meat market for this turkey. They didn’t have any boneless breasts at the time, so they boned one for us. We bought the whole breast and split it into two halves. Each half of the breast was about 4 lbs. We grilled both halves and froze one for later.

Tips for Trussing a Boneless Turkey Breast

Trussing the turkey is an important step to insure even cooking of the turkey breast. It’s not difficult to do, but it’s a little hard to explain. This video demonstrates exactly how to truss a boneless turkey breast.

Delicious Ways to Season Your Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast

My favorite way to season the breast is with a combination of sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper. This is a great way to season the boneless turkey breast if you’re serving it for Thanksgiving, Christmas or really anytime.

If you’re serving this in the summer at a backyard BBQ, I would recommend either Sweet Rub or Chicken Rub from Hey Grill Hey. Their seasonings are top notch and will definitely enhance the flavor of the the turkey breast.

Delicious Side Dishes to Serve with Your Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast

• Asian Style Cucumber Salad
• Steakhouse Wedge Salad
• Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Mustard Vinaigrette
• Slow Cooker Baked Beans
• Ultimate Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Field Greens Salad
• Coleslaw Minus the Mayo
• Easy Cornbread Dressing
• Classic Potato Salad
• Antipasto Pasta Salad
• Cajun Fried Corn

 

 

ENJOY!

Originally published 11/11/2016 – Updated on 5/16/23