How to Cook Turkey Tenderloins Perfectly

This Turkey Tenderloin recipe is delicious and so much quicker than cooking a whole turkey! It’s perfect for a smaller turkey dinner.

Video: Cooking Turkey Tenderloins

What Are Turkey Tenderloins?

Turkey tenderloins are part of the turkey breast that has been trimmed off, much like chicken tenderloins. While the full turkey breast is often skin-on, bone-in, these tenderloins are boneless, skinless, and, as the name suggests, super tender. They’re sometimes called turkey medallions, turkey fillets, turkey breast loins, or turkey breast tenders.

These turkey breast tenderloins often come in a sealed plastic packaging with a solution that helps to tenderize them and add flavor. They come two per package, and once you take them out, they look A LOT like chicken breasts. It’s lean white meat with a nice flavor that doesn’t take too long to cook.

Should You Marinate Turkey Breast Tenderloins?

As noted above, this cut of turkey often comes packaged in a solution, in which case I don’t recommend either a marinade or a brine. There’s already some flavor getting into the meat from the solution, so just some seasonings on the outside are what’s needed.

However, if yours come packaged dry (which they sometimes do in the fall), then I recommend that you brine them with my standard brine recipe for 45 minutes. The brine will be better than a marinade because marinades don’t tenderize as much, nor do they actually add moisture. A brine will do both. 

If you want a big punch of flavor, try my extra-flavorful turkey brine recipe, where you essentially use the pulpy juice of onion, garlic, and herbs as part of the liquid for the brine, which then gets soaked up into the meat.

Seasonings

Any seasoning or seasoning blend will work. I went with a combination that adds a bit of herbiness and also some sweetness and smokiness with smoked paprika, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. You could also use some thyme or rosemary or even this homemade poultry seasoning mix.

How To Cook Turkey Tenderloins Perfectly

As mentioned above, first we sear in a pan for crust and color, then they go into the oven at a low temperature to cook through. They still only take 15-25 minutes in the oven though.

I really recommend a probe thermometer with digital display that goes outside of your oven. You really don’t want to overcook turkey breast meat like this. Being able to easily know what temperature it’s at on the inside is key, which you can monitor without even opening your oven. They’re relatively inexpensive too.

Safe Temperature For Turkey

As with all turkey, the recommended safe internal temperature is 165°F. You should take your tenderloins out of the oven when they reach 160°F. Then take them out of the skillet they’re cooking in and transfer them to a plate or cutting board. Let them rest for 10 minutes before slicing. In that time the temperature should rise the rest of the way to 165°F.

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