An easy Turkey Traybake with Roasted Vegetables is the ideal choice if you fancy a smaller Christmas dinner, you are eating alone, or you want to enjoy a second, lighter Christmas meal with family. Away from Christmas time, this is still a quick and easy midweek dinner.
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This Christmas is a funny one, isn’t it? While we can see relatives for a few days, many of us still can’t, or are choosing not to. We’re still unsure.
More of us than ever will be eating alone or with much smaller tables than usual this year.
Some of us might be eating more than one Christmas dinner if we’re unable to travel on specific days.
Whatever your reasons, you might not want to cook a giant Christmas dinner with all of the trimmings this year.
A turkey traybake is a fantastic way of getting all of the festive flavours, without spending a fortune, or hours of your morning, cooking a full bird.
It’s also a fantastic family meal at any other time of the year. Filling, healthy and quick, the perfect midweek meal.
Could You Eat a Turkey Traybake at Christmas?
My Turkey Traybake Recipe isn’t exactly traditional, but with all the roast veggies, turkey steaks or breasts, and gravy, it’s a fantastic alternative on Christmas day.
It’s also ideal if you are looking for leftover turkey recipes.
Simply roast your veg, then add the cooked turkey breasts, or just slices with a little extra oil and seasoning towards the end of the bake, making sure the turkey is piping hot before serving.
Leftover turkey can be a little dry, so I’d advise serving leftover roast vegetables with turkey with plenty of gravy, cranberry sauce and bread sauce to add some moisture.
Other great recipes for leftover turkey include the classic turkey curry and my Turkey Ragu.
Should You Use Steak or Full Breasts for a Turkey Traybake?
When you are making turkey with roasted veggies fresh, it doesn’t really matter. If I’m making this traybake away from Christmas I often find that turkey steaks are easier to find.
Just make sure you adjust the cooking time, checking the turkey packaging for specifics.
When I make my turkey and roast veg traybake recipe with steaks, I typically roast the veg and potatoes for 20 minutes, before nestling the seasoned turkey steaks on top and returning to the oven for a further 20-25 minutes, until the turkey is piping hot all the way through and the potatoes are nice and soft.
How Big is a Turkey Breast?
Turkey breasts can be pretty massive! Certainly much thicker than a turkey breast steak, so please do check the package instructions, in case your breasts need cooking for a lot longer.
If you are making turkey traybake with roast vegetables with particularly large turkey breasts, which have a significantly longer cook time, reduce the time that the veg is in the oven before you add them, or put it all in together, so that your sprouts especially don’t overcook.
Is Turkey Breast Healthy?
Very! Turkey is exceptionally lean and low-fat meat. It’s also packed with protein. This Turkey Traybake is also filled with vegetables, which makes it wonderfully nutritious.
What Vegetables Go Well with Turkey?
In my Turkey and roast vegetable traybake, I use thinly sliced potatoes, chantenay carrots, sprouts, shallots, and parsnips. I just think they are pretty Christmasy, and work well with turkey.
They are also vegetables that my kids love, which just makes things easier.
By all means, make your turkey traybake with other veg though if you prefer.
If you prefer a chunkier potato in your Turkey Steak Traybake, so it’s more like a roast potato, I’d chop them up, and parboil them.
While they are in the water, preheat your oil in the roasting tin, so you add the parboiled potatoes to the warm oil first.
Toss them around to coat, and then add your vegetables and bake for 20 minutes before adding the turkey.
You can also add stuffing balls to this recipe. I’m the only person in our house that eats stuffing, so I never do.
But, make the balls up to packet instructions, and add them to the traybake when you add the turkey. If you prefer to make your own, there’s a great stuffing recipe here.
How to Serve a Turkey Traybake
I keep things simple and serve my turkey traybake straight out of the roasting tin with gravy. You could serve with bread sauce, cranberry sauce and any other festive condiment that you enjoy too.
What You Need to Make a Turkey and Vegetable Traybake
Not much! A chopping board and knife, a spatula to toss/serve, and a nice deep roasting tin (affiliate link).
Other Easy Turkey Recipes
- Turkey Stroganoff
- Turkey Curry
- Leftover Turkey Risotto
- Leftover Turkey Stroganoff
- Turkey Ragu
- Leftover Turkey Flatbread Pizzas
Turkey Traybake
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons Cooking oil
- 3 Medium Baking Potatoes (sliced to around 3mm)
- 400 g Shallots – Topped and tailed and peeled
- 500 g Sprouts (trimmed and cut in half)
- 500 g Chantenay Carrots (Topped and tailed)
- 500 g Parsnips (Peeled and sliced into thick chunks)
- 6 Turkey Breast Steaks
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons Ground Sage
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan-assisted).
- Pour 3 tbsp of oil into the roasting tin.
- Add the sliced potatoes, shallots, carrots, sprouts and parsnips.
- Drizzle with more oil, and sprinkle on sage and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
- Toss so that all the veg is coated in oil.
- Roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, give it a good mix, rub the turkey steaks with a little oil, and season with a little salt and pepper.
- Return to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the turkey is thoroughly cooked and the potatoes are soft.
Notes
- Potatoes like Maris Piper are fine, I use “baking potatoes” from the supermarket.
- I leave the skin on my potatoes, but you can peel them if you prefer.
- If you are using large turkey breasts, they may need to roast for longer, check the package instructions and adjust bake time accordingly, even if this means putting your turkey in at the same time as your vegetables.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
