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    🏠Home » Recipes » Turkey Recipes

    Butter Turkey Tenderloin - Pan Seared Oven Roasted with Gravy

    Feb 10, 2020 | Last Updated Apr 15, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.08 from 122 votes

    There is no need to cook a whole turkey or even a whole breast with this easy turkey tenderloin recipe. You can have melt in your mouth, moist and tender turkey with gravy all year round, and not eat leftovers for a week.

    cut turkey tenderloin with gravy on plate

    Table of Contents
    • 🦃Turkey Tenderloin
    • ♨️Cooking
    • ⏰🌡️Temperature and Time
    • 📖Related Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

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    Introduction

    Do you ever want turkey and gravy? Just a little turkey but no big production. Well, those turkey tenderloins that you walk by all the time in the meat department is your answer. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions.

    There seem to be very few instructions for cooking turkey tenderloin. They have no skin and are a long triangular piece of very lean breast meat. From the processor, they already have been injected, so no brining here.

    I wanted a buttery taste and gravy (the nectar of the gods.). I started with some pepper, then pan-seared in some butter and finished in the over with more butter during the roasting.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    A borderline 4 to 5 but the gravy makes it a 5. I do love gravy.

    🦃Turkey Tenderloin

    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 some.

    Because the tenderloin is an underused muscle, it is very tender - like other tenderloins, chicken, pork, and beef, it can be fork tender and an enjoyable cut of meat.

    ♨️Cooking

    This is always one of my favorite methods of cooking things. We can take a relatively bland food, usually meat, and though something called the Maillard reaction creates great flavor.

    First, we sear the meat; this can easily be done on a stovetop. But turkey tenderloins are too thick to cook fully on the stovetop. So into the oven to finish the cooking.

    The Butter vs. Oil

    Butter can smoke if overheated. I don't seem to have a problem with that, but some people do. You can use vegetable oil if you have that issue.

    If I'm cooking turkey with skin, I try to use oil vs. butter that has been shown to develop crispier skin.

    But with no skin, go for the butter taste.

    The Gravy

    There will be oil left in the pan after cooking, along with some great taste. I suggest a slurry method for making the gravy.

    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 details. It really is easy to do.

    ⏰🌡️Temperature and Time

    I suggest an oven temperature of 375°. Normally, with pan-searing recipes, we use a 400°-425° oven, but with the butter, we are cooking a bit lower. If you have smoking, you can decrease the temperature another 25°.

    How Long will it take, and when is it done?

    The easiest and correct answer until you reach a 165° internal temperature in the thickest part of the meat.

    This will take about 25 minutes but is highly variable. The variables are the turkey tenderloin size and thickness, how much searing you did, the oven, and the pan. 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.

    📖Related Recipes

    How To Roast a Turkey Breast with Gravy

    Grilled Turkey Breast

    How To Make Gravy at Home

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Comfort Food Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Turkey Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    dry turkey tenderloin with paper towel

    Preheat oven to 375° convection or 400° conventional. Trim and pat dry about 1-1 ½ pounds of turkey tenderloin.

    adding pepper to turkey tenderloin_

    Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper the tenderloin. You can salt lightly if you wish, but remember, it has been injected.

    placing turkey tenderloin in pan of butter

    Sear the tenderloin. Start with good side up. 3 minutes. Flip. 3 minutes.  Get to approximately the final color you want.

    browned turkey tenderloin in skillet being brushed

    Microwave 2 tablespoon butter in a microwave on high for about 20 sec. to melt. Bush with butter and place in oven. After about 10 minutes, baste again with butter.

    tenting tenderloins with foil on white plate

    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.

    adding turkey broth to skillet

    Add turkey or chicken stock to the pan ( here a couple of cups). Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.

    adding flour mixture to skillet

    Thicken with a mixture of flour and cold water. Here about ¼ cup flour and ½ cup water in a Tupperware shaker or whisk together. Add slowly while whisking continuously. It will thicken in a few minutes.

    turkey tenderloin on wooden board

    Cut across the grain to make it fork-tender.

    turkey meal on white plate
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    📖Recipe

    image of cut turkey with gravy on plate

    Butter Turkey Tenderloin – Pan Seared Oven Roasted with Gravy

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    There is no need to cook a whole turkey or even a whole breast with this easy turkey tenderloin recipe. You can have melt in your mouth, moist and tender turkey with gravy all year round and not eat leftovers for a week.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.08 from 122 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 38 minutes
    Total Time: 43 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 4 servings

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 1 ½ pound Turkey tenderloin
    • 3 tablespoons butter
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • 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 about 1-1 ½ pounds of turkey tenderloin.
    • Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper the tenderloin. You can salt lightly if you wish, but remember, it has been injected.
    • Sear the tenderloin. Start with good side up. 3 minutes. Flip. 3 minutes.  Get to approximately the final color you want.
    • Microwave 2 tablespoon butter in a microwave on high for about 20 sec. to melt. Bush with butter and place in 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 turkey or chicken stock to the pan ( here a couple of cups). Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.
    • Thicken with a mixture of flour and cold water. Here about ¼ cup flour and ½ cup water in a Tupperware shaker or whisk together. Add slowly while whisking continuously. It will thicken in a few minutes.
    • Cut across the grain to make it fork-tender.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    My Private Notes

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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips:

    1. These are usually injected with something. Do not brine.
    2. Generally, there are two pieces making about 1 ½ pounds. You can do only one and freeze the other for 3-4 months.
    3. Use a larger oven safe pan, so you have room to make the gravy.
    4. You can use oil in the pan and baste with butter if you have smoke issues.
    5. The shape of you tenderloin may vary. This can effect cooking time. So remember you are cooking to a final internal temperature and not by time.
    6. Sear to close to the final color you want.
    7. Final internal temperature is 165 and not less.
    8. When you make the slurry of water and flour for the gravy, be sure to have all the flour dissolved to prevent lumps.
    9. Cutting across the grain will make it more tender.

    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

    Calories : 329 kcal (16%) | Carbohydrates : 10 g (3%) | Protein : 43 g (86%) | Fat : 12 g (18%) | Saturated Fat : 7 g (35%) | Cholesterol : 102 mg (34%) | Sodium : 361 mg (15%) | Potassium : 126 mg (4%) | Fiber : 1 g (4%) | Sugar : 2 g (2%) | Vitamin A : 262 IU (5%) | Vitamin C : 1 mg (1%) | Calcium : 6 mg (1%) | Iron : 1 mg (6%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published June 29, 2012. Now updated with expanded and improved text and refreshed photos and a table of contents.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandy

      March 18, 2021 at 9:27 am

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
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