How to Cook a Turkey Crown?: One Stop Guide

On the day of Christmas, your dinner table can be filled with many dishes, but without a succulent turkey crown, the table is incomplete. If you don’t know how to cook a turkey crown, then learn it before Christmas. A turkey crown is a popular dish in the United Kingdom and America.

It is one of the main dishes to cook on Christmas evening. Almost every person in the United Kingdom knows how to cook a turkey crown.

However, one can get confused about a turkey crown or breast because people think they are both different. So, without any delay, let’s find out the true turkey.

1. Turkey Breast or Turkey Crown?

Both turkey breast and turkey crown are part of a whole turkey bird. The breast is the dry meat, and the crown is the breast meat attached to the bone, but the wings and legs are removed. You can also buy the whole turkey and cook it. Image source pixabay 2022.[/caption]

All the parts of a turkey bird can be cooked together or separately. It is clear that the breast of the turkey is white, and if you like white meat, this is all you need to celebrate. But the turkey breast is not a very moist part of the turkey. So, how do you cook a Turkey crown? When you cook the breast, it becomes dry and is hard to chew and swallow.

The Turkey crown is also breast meat but with bone, and sometimes people leave the wings and legs attached to the breast in the turkey crown so that everyone around the table can take what they want.

All the hassles of serving come after preparing and cooking the turkey crown. You can find many roast turkey crown recipes online, and you might get confused about which recipe to cook. Here, we have some recipes and tips on how to cook a turkey crown in different ways and methods and enhance the taste of a Christmas turkey crown.

2. Ingredients and Preparations

The turkey crown is one of the simplest dishes to cook and easy to prepare ingredients. All you need is basic cooking ingredients from your kitchen to coat and roast the turkey crown.

Some people prefer their turkey only with butter glazing, but some like to add thymes, various pieces, garlic, bacon, and stuff the turkey with vegetables. This makes the turkey crown indulge in so many different recipes.

From a basic and simple roast turkey crown to a loaded one with juices and vegetables, you can choose and cook whichever recipe is convenient.

Here, we have two roast turkey crown recipes for you to adapt and cook.

3. How to Cook a Turkey Crown (Only with Butter)

This is one of the simplest recipes for turkey crown for those who want to learn how to cook a turkey crown easily and those who love white meat seasoned only with salt and pepper so they can devour the remaining delicious dishes on the table. Here’s how to cook a Turkey crown.

3.1. Ingredients-

1. Turkey- 2/2.5 kg
2. Butter- 300 gms
3. Salt- as per taste
4. Pepper- seasoning
5. Olive oil- 3 tbsp

3.2. Method:~

1. In this easy recipe, the initial step includes putting butter in a bowl and mashing it with a spoon until the butter looks smooth.
2. In the next step, to defrost the turkey, take a plate or a big bowl to fit the turkey and let it come to room temperature. By doing this, it will be easier to cook the turkey in the oven.
3. Now, we have to put butter on the turkey, which is a little delicate. In the process, first, you need to make the gap between the skin and the meat of the turkey with your hand. You can spread the butter evenly all over the turkey by doing so.
4. Put the softened butter between the skin and turkey meat and spread it with your thumb. After that, season the buttered turkey with salt and pepper. Place the turkey on a roasting tray. Then drizzle some olive oil on the turkey, put it inside the oven door for 2 hours, and roast the turkey crown. Do check the turkey after an hour.
5. Your simple and easily roasted turkey crown is ready to serve. When the turkey is fully cooked, leave it for at least 15 to 20 minutes to rest. You will see all the turkey juices on the bottom of the roasting dish. This is an easy recipe for everyone who doesn’t know how to cook a turkey crown.

4. Turkey crown recipe with Herb Butter (Roasted Vegetables)

Source: deposit photos[/caption]

This turkey crown recipe is mouthwatering. All you need to follow is some tips and measurements, and then you are all set to roast the turkey crown in the oven. So, let’s find out how to make a turkey crown with herb butter.

4.1. Ingredients-

• Butter- 50 grams
• Turkey- 2 to 3 kgs
• Olive oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Salt- 1 tbsp
• Lemon zest- 2 tbsp
• Rosemary leaves
• Thyme leaves
• Garlic- 3 cloves finely chopped
• Pepper
• Carrot- 1 cup roughly chopped
• Potatoes- 1 cup roughly chopped
• Capsicum- 1 cup roughly chopped
• Cherry tomatoes- 8 to 10
• Broccoli- 5 to 8 buds

4.2. Method-

• First, you must defrost the turkey and let it cool down to room temperature. In a mixing bowl, put the butter and add in thyme, rosemary, garlic, and salt. Mix all of them together in the bowl, add lemon zest and mix it too.
• Once it is done, put the herb butter between the skin and meat and massage the turkey so the herb can be all over the turkey. Flip the turkey and rub the butter mix on this side, too. Let the turkey cool down to room temperature so it will take only calculated time to roast the turkey crown.
• Put the turkey on a roasting tray, season it with pepper, and drizzle some olive oil. Now, this step in the recipe of turkey crown can be added for those who want vegetables. You can roughly chop vegetables like carrots, potatoes, capsicum, broccoli, and tomatoes.
• After that, transfer the chopped vegetables to a bowl and add some salt, pepper, and olive oil, giving it a quick mix. Put the vegetables around the turkey in the same roasting tray where the turkey is.
• When the roasting tray is all set, put it inside the preheated oven door, but make sure to always check the oven temperature before placing the meat inside and set it on for 2 hours at 170 degrees. Check the turkey and vegetables after an hour and let them be in the oven until they’re cooked properly.
• When the cooking time is complete, carve the turkey crown slowly so that every slice will contain an even taste while cutting it. The turkey is cooked properly if the meat is separated from the breastbone.
• Once it’s done, decorate the cooked turkey crown on the serving tray. The best part of this recipe is you get a side dish, roasted vegetables. This is a great recipe for someone who loves vegetables and meat together. They can check out this recipe and see how to cook a turkey crown.

5. Advantages and Disadvantages of Turkey Crowns

A turkey crown has both advantages and disadvantages. One should think about many things before buying and cooking a turkey crown. Let’s first look at the advantages of turkey crowns.

• The turkey crown is an easy dish to cook. It does not take so many things or cooking tips, and it is quicker to carve. The turkey crown is the breast meat on the bone, legs, and wings removed. This makes the size of a turkey crown simply eatable on the dinner table.
• The turkey crown is breast meat for people who don’t like dark meat. When you buy a whole bird instead of turkey breast, you have to deal with leftover turkey, but in the case of turkey crown, which is consumable and can be finished on Christmas dinner.
• The turkey crown is quite expensive. You have to pay a little more than 1 kg when you buy a whole bird. But when you buy a turkey crown, you have to pay the same amount as a whole bird, even after removing the legs and wings. It does not make sense to pay for something not included in the turkey.
• Sometimes, turkey crown cooking times can be different as it depends on the size of the meat. You must ensure you know how to cook a turkey crown, depending on its size.
• A medium-size turkey crown is acceptable, but when it’s more than medium, you have to check your turkey crown from time to time.

6. Facts and Tips

When it comes to elaborating on what a turkey crown is, how does one cook a turkey crown? You can say that a turkey crown is the breast of a turkey on the bone, but legs and wings are removed.

However, there is no standard definition. The turkey crown is popular in British and is becoming popular in America and many other countries too. If you want to know how to cook a turkey crown, the following tips can be very useful.

There are some tips one could use while cooking a turkey crown. The first tip is serving per person, which means you can serve 6 to 8 people with a 2 to 3 kg turkey crown, but the cooking time can be different according to the size of the turkey crown.

Cover the turkey loosely, which will make it juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Another tip is to cover the turkey crown with tin foil for at least one hour and then unveil it to make the skin crispy. All the tips here will make a perfectly cooked turkey crown.

However, it would help if you took care of the cooking time to ensure the turkey is perfectly cooked and the meat is not too dry.

Another tip you can use while cooking is adding a cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting tray. This will work as steam and make the turkey moist. You can use all the remaining pan juices to make turkey gravy, which you use to cook baked vegetables.

7. Side dishes to serve with a Turkey Crown

The main course, like the turkey crown, is always the centre of talk on an occasion. However, side dishes are always the ones that complete a dinner table. Cooking turkey crowns and some side dishes make Christmas perfect for Christmas lunch or dinner. Here we have some dishes that you can cook and serve with a roast turkey-

• Cut the top off and place the garlic on tin foil, drizzle some olive oil on the garlic, sprinkle some salt, cover the garlic with tin foil, and place it in the oven for 1 hour at 180°c. In the meantime, boil 7 to 8 medium-sized potatoes until it becomes soft.
• Peel them and smash them to have smooth and lump-free mashed potatoes. In a pan, heat a cup of heavy cream, add around 50 grams of butter to it, let the butter melt completely, and turn off the gas.
• Now it’s time to take the garlic from the oven, squeeze the garlic to have the cooked garlic out, mash the pulp with a spoon, add it to the cream butter, and mix it well.

• In the last process of this recipe, add this cream mix to the mashed potatoes and mix it properly until you get fluffy and smooth potatoes. Sprinkle some chopped green onions on top. Your taste of creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes is ready.

• Cheesy baked cauliflower: This is one of the easiest side dishes you can prepare with your turkey crown. This recipe requires only a few ingredients. Firstly, you need cauliflower and cut it into small bite-size flowers.
• Wash the chopped flowers and put them in salted boiling water. Cook the flowers till it become soft but not mushy.
• Now heat a pan and add some butter. When the butter melts, drop two chopped cloves of garlic, sauté them and then add 40 to 59 grams of flour to the pan.
• Mix them all and then pour two cups of milk into the pan. Make sure not to add milk in one swift. Pour it slowly and stir it continuously with a wicker to find zero lumps.  Stir it simultaneously until the sauce becomes thicker.
• In a baking tray, put the cauliflower and pour the sauce you made. Season it with salt and pepper and mix them properly so the sauce will coat every flower. The magic ingredient of this recipe plays its part in this step. Spread a lot of cheese and set it in the oven for 30 minutes at 200°c.
• When the cooking time finishes, garnish your cheesy baked cauliflower with parsley and serve it hot beside the turkey crown. You can also prepare some peppercorn sauce to top your turkey.

Serving a few side dishes is important as they complement the main dish. If you know how to cook a turkey crown, then you should also learn some side dishes. When dishes like roast turkey crowns are served with a side dish, the whole Christmas dinner becomes authentic, and the food looks tempting to eat.

8. Can we eat Frozen Turkey?

In the chaos of guests and preparation, one can be tired. Above that, cooking Christmas dinner and another bunch of sweets is a lot to deal with. Sometimes, it’s hard to decide how to cook a turkey crown when so many recipes and methods exist.

You can surely buy a frozen turkey from the store anytime to save yourself from too much cooking. All you have to do is season or cook it as per the above-mentioned recipes. 

However, there is one thing one should not forget while cooking a frozen turkey. Always set your turkey in a cool room until it reaches normal temperature. You can also use a meat thermometer to check the turkey’s internal temperature and let it rest until it comes to 25 to 30°c. 

The reason to do this is when you directly put the turkey crown in the oven from the refrigerator, the cooking time can differ, and instead of 1 to 2 hours, it will take more time to cook a turkey crown. So, always make sure the cooking times are calculated.