Turkey Wellington
Tired of the same old roasted turkey for the holidays? This Turkey Wellington is a delicious alternative to the mundane. It’s stuffed with mushroom spinach duxelles and is anything but boring old turkey.
This Turkey Wellington recipe is great for Thanksgiving when you have a smaller crowd or bake it for Christmas for a special meal.
What You Need
- Turkey Breast: Whole turkey breast. The weight of the breasts can vary drastically. Plan on about 3 ounces per serving. If you are serving it for the holidays and you have a lot of sides planned, guests will only eat about 2 ounces per serving.
- Bacon: Any bacon you have in stock is fine.
- Onion: Finely diced onion. Use white or yellow onion.
- Garlic: Minced fresh garlic.
- Mushrooms: You can use any mushrooms that you can find. Crimini, Portobello, or button mushrooms.
- Spinach: Fresh spinach will result in the best taste and texture.
- Seasoning: Kosher salt, black pepper, and fresh herbs like thyme leaves, rosemary leaves and sage leaf.
Pro tip: Buy whole frozen turkeys around the holidays when they are on sale. If you buy a turkey breast, it will cost at least four times what a whole turkey costs. You can cut out the breasts at home and then roast the dark meat in the oven. That will give you leftovers, stock for soup, and the browned roasting pan for giblet gravy.
How to Make it
How to Remove the Turkey Breast from the Whole Bird
Cut down along close to the breastbone with a sharp chef’s knife. Cut all the way down to the bottom of the breast.
Use your knife to loosen the skin so that you can see. Once the skin is removed, you can see where to cut the bottom of the breast perpendicular to the first cut. Cut it about where the legs attach.
This photo shows you where to cut the breast perpendicular to the bone.
Drape the skin back over the breastbone. The skin adds much-needed fat to roast the bird and produce drippings for the gravy.
Roast the dark meat for about 13 minutes per pound in a 325°F oven or until the internal temperature measures 180°F. Note: The FDA states that all poultry be cooked to 165°F. This ensures that bacteria are killed. The dark meat will still be red or pink around the bone when cooked to 165°F. Dark meat benefits from cooking to a higher temperature of 180°F. There is more connective tissue and the meat will be more tender when cooked to this higher temperature.
Roast the dark meat while you make the Wellingtons. Once the meat is done, remove the carcass from the roasting pan to a platter.
How to Make Mushroom and Spinach Duxelles
Crisp the bacon in a cast iron pan. You will want some of the bacon grease for the filling.
Once the bacon is browned, remove all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. Then add a pat of butter,
Sauté the onions in the skillet over medium heat.
After the onions have softened, add the garlic and stir. Soften the garlic for about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms. Remove the onions to a bowl. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan.
Pro tip: Do not stir or flip the mushrooms until all juices they produce have evaporated from the skillet, or they will be chewy and not as good.
Add more butter as needed and sauté them until they are slightly golden.
Remove the mushrooms and put them in the bowl with the onions.
Add another pat of butter and quickly sauté the spinach until just wilted. Turn often with tongs or a large spoon. Remove from the heat.
Add the filling ingredients that are in the bowl back to the spinach. Mix them together.
Assembling the Wellington
Dust a large board with flour.
Place the puff pastry dough on the floured board. Roll it out with a rolling pin to about a ten by twelve sheet.
Spread about half to three-quarter cups of the filling on the pastry.
Butterfly the breast in half. Spread another cup or so of filling out on the breast.
Close it and place it on the rolled-out pastry.
Whisk an egg in a small bowl with a tablespoon of water.
Gently stretch the pastry around the breast. Brush the edges with the egg wash to “glue” them together.
Brush the ends with egg wash and wrap them as you would a present.
Wrap the packages in plastic wrap and freeze them for about 20 to cool the pastry back down. This will prevent the pastry from spreading too much.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the Turkey Wellington seam side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cut slits in the top to release steam with a sharp knife. Brush the entire thing with egg wash. Cover loosely with foil. Don’t let the foil touch the top of the pastry. You may need to stick a couple of toothpicks in the top of the Wellington to hold the foil off of it.
Bake for 35 minutes, covered with foil. Increase the oven temperature to 375°F. Uncover the turkey, brush the pastry with more egg wash, and bake for about 35 more minutes until the internal temperature is 165°F.
Let the turkey rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
While the breasts are baking, make the gravy with the pan drippings from the carcass that you roasted, if desired.
Pro Tips
- This recipe is written for a twelve-and-a-half-pound turkey. Each breast weighed just over a pound, and one sheet of pastry covered them perfectly. If you buy a larger turkey, you will have to join two pieces of parchment together with egg wash to wrap it around one breast. So, if your turkey is large, you will need four sheets of puff pastry to cover them. Use a sharp knife to cut off extra dough. You don’t want the dough too thick.
- Also, if the turkey is larger, brown the breasts first in the cast iron skillet coated with olive oil to ensure they are cooked to temperature.
Variations
- Add dried cranberries to the duxelles filling.
- Stuff the breasts with bread stuffing or bread and sausage stuffing that has dried cranberries in it.
What to Serve with Turkey Wellington
- Cranberry Sauce
- Cauliflower au Gratin
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes
- Mashed Potatoes
- Giblet Gravy
More Turkey Recipes
Even though Turkey Wellington has quite a few steps, it is very easy. Make the duxelles the day before you make the Wellington. The day you assemble and bake it, it will only take about an hour total.
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Turkey Wellington
Ingredients
- 1 12-14 pound turkey
For Duxelles Filling
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound mushrooms chopped
- 5 ounce fresh spinach chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter additional as needed
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
For Wellington
- 1 package package puff pastry sheets
- 1 egg
Instructions
How to Breast the Whole Turkey
- Cut down along close to the breastbone with a sharp chef’s knife. Cut all the way down to the bottom of the breast.1 12-14 pound turkey
- Use your knife to loosen the skin so that you can see. Then pull the skin off with your fingers. Once the skin is removed, you can see where to cut the bottom of the breast perpendicular to the first cut. Cut it about where the legs attach.
- Drape the skin back over the breastbone. The skin adds much-needed fat to roast the bird and produce drippings for the gravy.
- Roast the dark meat for about 13 minutes per pound in a 325°F oven or until the internal temperature measures 180°F. Note: The FDA states that all poultry be cooked to 165°F. This ensures that bacteria are killed. The dark meat will still be red or pink around the bone when cooked to 165°F. Dark meat benefits from cooking to a higher temperature of 180°F. There is more connective tissue and the meat will be more tender when cooked to this higher temperature.
- Roast the dark meat while you make the Wellingtons. Once it is done, remove the carcass from the roasting pan to a platter.
For the Duxelles
- Crisp the bacon in a cast iron pan. You will want some of the bacon grease for the filling. Once the bacon is browned, remove all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. Then add a pat of butter.6 slices bacon, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Sauté the onions in the same skillet over medium heat. After the onions have softened, add the garlic and stir. Soften the garlic for about 3 minutes.1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms. Remove the onions to a bowl. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan. Pro tip: Do not stir or flip the mushrooms until all juices they produce have evaporated from the skillet, or they will be chewy and not as good.1 pound mushrooms
- Add more butter as needed and sauté them until they are slightly golden. Remove the mushrooms and put them in the bowl with the onions.
- Add another pat of butter and quickly sauté the spinach until just wilted. Turn often with tongs or a large spoon. Remove from the heat.5 ounce fresh spinach
- Add the seasonings to the bowl. Add the filling ingredients that are in the bowl back to the spinach. Mix them together.1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt, 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
To Assemble the Wellington
- Dust a large board with flour.
- Place the puff pastry sheet on the floured board. Roll it out with a rolling pin to about a ten by twelve sheet.1 package package puff pastry sheets
- Spread about half to three-quarter cups of the filling on the pastry.
- Butterfly the breast in half. Spread another cup or so of filling out on the breast.
- Close it and place it on the rolled-out pastry.
- Whisk an egg in a small bowl with a tablespoon of water.1 egg
- Gently stretch the pastry around the breast. Brush the edges with the egg wash to “glue” them together.
- Brush the ends with egg wash and wrap them as you would a present.
- Wrap the packages in plastic wrap and freeze them for about 20 to cool the pastry back down. This will prevent the pastry from spreading too much.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the Wellington on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cut slits in the top to release steam with a sharp knife. Brush the entire thing with egg wash. Cover loosely with foil. Don’t let the foil touch the top of the pastry. You may need to stick a couple of toothpicks in the top of the Wellington to hold the foil off of it.
- Bake for 35 minutes, covered with foil. Increase the oven temperature to 375°F. Uncover the turkey, brush the pastry with more egg wash, and bake for about 35 more minutes until the internal temperature is 165°F.
- Let the turkey rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
- While the breasts are baking, make the gravy with the pan drippings from the carcass that you roasted, if desired.
See all of my favorite tools and gift ideas on my New Amazon Store!Check out Binky’s Amazon Store!Notes
- This recipe is written for a twelve-and-a-half-pound turkey. Each breast weighed just over a pound, and one sheet of pastry covered them perfectly. If you buy a larger turkey, you will have to join two pieces of parchment together with egg wash to wrap it around one breast. So, if your turkey is large, you will need four sheets of puff pastry to cover them. Use a sharp knife to cut off extra dough. You don’t want the dough too thick.
- Also, if the turkey is larger, brown the breasts first in the cast iron skillet coated with olive oil to ensure they will cook to temperature after baking.
