This Turkey Tenderloin Recipe uses a brief sear on the stovetop, then oven-roasted to finish for a moist and tender turkey. Perfect for a smaller Thanksgiving or other delicious dinner that is lean and healthy for smaller households.
🦃Ingredients
Turkey tenderloin
Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
For Gravy—turkey or chicken broth, all-purpose flour
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Featured comment from Sandy:
"Turkey was moist. Gravy was delicious. No waste, easy one-pan cleanup, recipe needed no changes… Best recipe I’ve followed in years."
There is no need to cook a whole turkey or breast. This fast and easy recipe for turkey breast tenderloin uses an optional pan searing to create a Maillard reaction for great flavor.
Weighing less than a pound each, this melt-in-your-mouth turkey is a fantastic holiday or comfort food dinner for one or two. Add gravy, and your turkey dinner is ready in about 45 minutes, including making the gravy.
👨🍳How to Cook a Turkey Tenderloin
Preheat oven to 375° convection or 400° conventional. Trim and pat dry two turkey tenderloins—about 1 ½ pounds total.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in an oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper to the tenderloin. You can salt lightly if you wish, but remember, it has probably been injected.
Sear the tenderloin. Start with the shiny side up and sear for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear for 2-3 minutes more. Get to approximately the final color you want. Flip back.
Microwave 2 tablespoons of butter to melt. Bush the tenderloin with butter and place in the oven. After about 10 minutes, baste again with butter.
Bake until the temp of 165°—about 20-25 minutes of total oven time. Remove from pan and tent with foil on a plate while making gravy.
Add 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth or stock to the pan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.
Make a slurry of ¼ cup of AP flour and ½ cup of cold water and whisk or shake until smooth. Add most of the flour slurry slowly while whisking continuously. It will thicken the gravy in a few minutes. You can add more slurry in a few minutes if needed. Taste test and add salt or pepper if needed.
Cut the turkey tenderloin across the grain to make it fork-tender.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
How long to cook turkey tenderloin
This will take about 4-6 minutes of searing time plus 20 to 25 minutes in a 400° oven, but it is highly variable. If you skip the searing, it will add about 10 minutes to the oven time.
The variables are the turkey tenderloin size and thickness, how much searing you did, the oven, and the pan.
🌡️When is the turkey tenderloin done?
The minimum safe internal temperature for any poultry, including turkey, is 165° per the USDA. That will kill the harmful bacteria. You must measure this with an instant-read or meat thermometer.
So start checking the internal temperature at about 20 minutes, and don't be surprised if it takes over 30 minutes.
Always cook to a final internal temperature for recipes like this, and never by time. I give times just as a general guideline for meal planning.
Variations
- Use other spices like garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, or paprika.
- Use a brown sugar dry rub with chili powder, oregano, cumin, and salt—skip the salt if injected. Skip the searing and add about 10 minutes to the oven time.
- Use a marinade.
- Cook without searing. This will take about 10 minutes longer in the oven, but watch the internal temperature.
Serving turkey tenderloin
Serve with Thanksgiving-type side dishes like Sausage Dressing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Homemade Gravy, and many more.
Check out the other turkey recipes like Roasted Turkey Breast, Grilled Turkey Breast, and Easy Turkey Tetrazzini.
Storing leftovers
Store leftovers in airtight containers. Store the turkey and the gravy separately. If stored in the refrigerator, use it within 4 days. If frozen, freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat leftovers, thaw if frozen, then I prefer combining the gravy with the turkey in a saucepan over medium heat—you may need a splash of water to thin the gravy. You can also use a microwave.
🥣How to make turkey gravy
Oil and juices will be left in the skillet after cooking, along with some great taste. Use the slurry method of flour in cool liquid to make the gravy.
Slowly add the flour slurry to the boiling drippings and broth while continuously boiling and whisking. Add more slurry if needed every few minutes until thickened. Taste test and add salt or pepper if needed.
I have instructions in the recipe below, but for more details on gravy making at home, see How To Make Gravy at Home for more information. It is easy to do.
❓FAQs
It is part of a turkey breast but not the same thing.
The turkey tenderloins are a very tender long strip that is the somewhat triangular muscle under the main part of the turkey breast. You have seen a slice of it when you slice a turkey breast, and there is the inside part that tends to separate.
Because the tenderloin is an underused muscle, it is very tender—like a chicken, beef, or pork tenderloin. It can be fork-tender and an enjoyable cut of meat when cooked carefully.
Most people will use chicken broth or stock. You can occasionally find commercial turkey broth or stack in your local store. But I buy Turkey Soup Base from Penzey's®️ to make my own.
Yes. It is a lean white meat that will fit a healthy diet like a low-calorie or low-fat diet or even a low-carb keto diet.
If you are sure your turkey is not injected or brined, you can add a simple brine of 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar for 1 to 2 hours. Gently rinse after brining, and do not add any additional salt.
See How to Brine a Turkey—A Basic Brine with Enhancements for a complete discussion.
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📖 Recipe
Turkey Tenderloin Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound Turkey tenderloin - 2 tenderloins
- 3 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper to taste
For Gravy
- 2 cups chicken stock - or turkey stock if you can find it
- ¼ cup AP flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° convection or 400° conventional. Trim and pat dry two turkey tenderloins—about 1 ½ pounds total.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in an oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper to the tenderloin. You can salt lightly if you wish, but remember, it has probably been injected.
- Sear the tenderloin. Start with the shiny side up and sear for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear for 2-3 minutes more. Get to approximately the final color you want. Flip back.
- Microwave 2 tablespoons of butter to melt. Bush the tenderloin with butter and place in the oven. After about 10 minutes, baste again with butter.
- Bake until the temp of 165°—about 20-25 minutes of total oven time. Remove from pan and tent with foil on a plate while making gravy.
- Add 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth or stock to the pan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.
- Make a slurry of ¼ cup of AP flour and ½ cup of cold water and whisk or shake until smooth. Add most of the flour slurry slowly while whisking continuously. It will thicken the gravy in a few minutes. You can add more slurry in a few minutes if needed. Taste test and add salt or pepper if needed.
- Cut the turkey tenderloin across the grain to make it fork-tender.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Turkey breast tenderloins are usually injected with something, so do not brine.
- Generally, there are two pieces making about 1 ½ pounds total. You can do only one and freeze the other for 3-4 months.
- Use a larger oven-safe pan, so you have room to make the gravy. I prefer cast iron.
- You can use oil in the pan and baste with butter if you have smoke issues.
- The shape of your tenderloin may vary. This can affect cooking time. So remember you are cooking to a final internal temperature and not by time.
- Sear close to the final color you want.
- You can oven-bake without searing. It will take about 10 minutes longer oven time but watch the internal temperature.
- The final internal temperature is 165° and not less.
- When you make the slurry of water and flour for the gravy, be sure to have all the flour dissolved to prevent lumps.
- Seasoning, serving, and storage options are in the post.
- Cutting across the grain will make it more fork-tender.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published June 29, 2012. Now updated with expanded and improved text, refreshed photos, and a table of contents.
Sandy R. says
I have used this recipe the last two years. It is very easy to do and very tasty. I will be making again tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I got rave reviews on this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Kelly Parker says
Wow! Made this with a twist! Open faced roast turkey with onion gravy and topped with whole cranberry sauce on oven toasted French bread with melted Swiss/provolone/white cheddar cheese blend. Added a side of savory whipped sweet potatoes. It was like an unconventional Thanksgiving meal! A precursor to the real deal in a few days! The Turkey tenderloin and gravy were a slam dunk!!!! Thank you for the inspiration! Wish I could post a photo!!
Kelly
Sandy says
Turkey was moist. Gravy was delicious. No waste, easy one pan cleanup, recipe needed no changes. I did add sautéed mushrooms. Best recipe I’ve followed in years
Nina Afrasiabi says
I made this recipe last night, it came out absolutely amazing and succulent. Thank you so much for the detailed information. soooooo good!!!
Kathy says
This recipe is absolutely delicious! The turkey is moist and the gravy is delicious. Will definitely make this again and again! Thanks for posting this!
Marilyn says
I cook for two. Myself and husband. I do not eat meat so I am always looking for smaller cuts of meat. I can’t believe I have never noticed these tenderloins before. Followed your recipe exactly. My husband said it the the best turkey that he has ever eaten. And he is 75 years old. So thank you for sharing this recipe.