Oven Roasted Turkey + Chorizo Roulade with Chimichurri
Roasted turkey breast with chorizo stuffing and fresh chimichurri is perfect for a Sunday roast dinner. Gather the family around the table for this juicy, mouth-watering roulade.
Oven Roasted Turkey with Chorizo Stuffing + Chimichurri
Roast turkey isn’t just for Thanksgiving! Because they are considerably larger than your run of the mill chicken breast, they are perfect for stuffing and roasting for your family to enjoy a special weekend meal.
Seasoned well, stuffed with flavorful ingredients and cooked just right, you’ll have a juicy and succulent turkey breast that is gorgeous to look at, too. Chimichurri, full of its bright, grassy herbs and tangy vinegar, is an amazing compliment to this dish.
Ingredients + Substitutions
We turn to Argentina for flavor inspiration — spicy chorizo and chimichurri are a match made in heaven! Choripan, anyone?
Turkey Breast — I used a single split breast, boneless and skinless. It may come with the tenderloin attached. If it does, butterfly the main portion of the breast so when it lays open, the tenderloin becomes one-third of the entire piece (like a sheet of paper folded in thirds). Or…ask the butcher if they’ll butterfly it for you! Alternatively, you could substitute a pork loin roast for the turkey.
Chicken Chorizo — I went with a poultry-based chorizo sausage, but if you can’t find it, opt for fresh, pork chorizo. Depending on its origin, some sausage may be spicier than others. If you prefer less heat, feel free to swap in sweet Italian sausage.
Aromatics + Everything Else — Every great stuffing begins with a mirepoix. In this recipe, the traditional carrots, onion and celery are swapped out for poblano, onion, garlic + parsley. A small amount of Panko bread crumbs and squeeze of fresh lime juice round out the stuffing.
Chimichurri — There are many variations on chimichurri, but it typically includes a combination of parsley, cilantro, oregano, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. This recipe is no exception. You may also find fresh or dried red pepper and onion. The hit of acid in this sauce, in this case it’s red wine vinegar and lime, are key to its flavor profile. Play with the ratio of herbs and other ingredients to serve your palate!
Making the Turkey Breast Roll and Chimichurri
Prep the Chorizo Stuffing
- Begin by chopping the poblano, onion, garlic and parsley. You can leave them in little piles on your cutting board.
- Remove the casings from the sausage. I like to tear the sausage meat into small clumps. I find this helps to break it down in the pan.
- Measure out bread crumbs and slice the lime in half.
- Add olive oil to a sauté pan and you’re ready to cook the stuffing per the recipe instructions.
Prep the Turkey Breast
I’m going to let our girl, Martha, demonstrate the finer points of butterflying and pounding out a turkey breast (forward to the 5’30” mark of the video). Getting a consistently flat turkey breast facilitates stuffing, rolling and even roasting.
By the time you’re done, the stuffing is cool enough to handle. Season the turkey with salt + pepper, then spread the stuffing all over the turkey breast. Roll it from the short end, and leave it seam side down on your work surface.
Cut several lengths of cooking twine and tie it around the roll in about 1.5” intervals to keep it together. Brush softened butter all over the outside, then season generously with salt + pepper. Transfer the roulade to a greased baking rack placed inside a sheet pan.
You’ll begin the roast at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F for an additional 30 minutes. If you’re unsure whether it’s done, use a thermometer to check that the turkey meat (not the stuffing) has reached 155°F. Remove it from the oven and tent it with foil. It will continue to cook and rise in temperature as it rests.
A Few Thoughts About Chimichurri
I’ve made chimichurri both by food processor and by finely chopping all the herbs by knife. Hands down, chopping with a knife yields better chimichurri. I don’t know why, but trust me! Take the extra few minutes to do this by hand and you will be rewarded.
Also, plucking the leaves from your parsley and cilantro stems can seem tedious. Enlist your kids, if you’ve got some, to help you out. It’s the perfect task for little hands and a great way to get them comfortable in the kitchen. (Cupcake bribery is quite a motivator.)
Another trick that’s served me well is to let the shallot and garlic ‘pickle’ in the vinegar for several minutes before incorporating herbs and oil. This is especially great if you aren’t fan of raw onion (like me), but still appreciate some of the pungency it imparts.
Serve Up Your Turkey + Chorizo Roast!
Cut away the cooking twine and cut the roulade into one inch slices. Serve with chimichurri on the side or drizzled right over the top!
Try These Other Poultry and Chorizo Recipes:
- Award Winning Chorizo + Black Bean Chili
- Sheet Pan Nachos with Chorizo + Sweet Potato
- Cast Iron Skillet Meatballs with Beef + Turkey
- Roasted Butterflied Cornish Hens with White Wine Pan Sauce
Turkey + Chorizo Roulade with Chimichurri
Equipment
- Saute pan
- Cooking twine
- Baking rack
Ingredients
For the Roulade:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- ½ white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 links chorizo chicken sausage (approx. 6-7 oz.), casings removed
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1½ – 2 pounds split turkey breast, boneless, skinless, butterflied and pounded thin
- kosher salt + fresh cracked black pepper
- cooking twine
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the Chimichurri:
- 2 tablespoon shallots, finely minced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ lime, juiced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed, chopped fine
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, packed, chopped fine
- 2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped fine
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- In a large skillet over medium-high, cook the poblano pepper and onion for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add the chorizo to the skillet, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the parsley and bread crumbs and stir it all together. Remove it from the burner and add the juice of 1/2 lime and combine.
- Lay the turkey breast on your work surface (preferably on a plastic cutting board or a sheet pan) and season with salt + pepper. Spread the sausage mixture all over the turkey, spreading it out to the edges. Roll it from a short end and place it so the seam side is down.
- Cut several lengths of cooking twine. Tie the twine around the turkey roulade, spacing them out about 1-1/2" apart.
- Place a shallow rack on a baking sheet and spritz it with cooking spray. Rub softened butter all over the roulade and season it again with salt + pepper. Transfer it to the baking rack.
- Roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350° and roast for additional 30 minutes. The internal temperature of the turkey meat should reach 155°. Check with a digital thermometer.
- While the roulade roasts, make the chimichurri. Place the shallot, garlic, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, lime juice and salt in a bowl. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the chopped herbs and combine. Finally, drizzle in the olive oil and stir to blend it all together.
This looks amazing and your pics are stunning! We love making chimichurri to go on top off steaks. We should try it on your chicken. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa! Chimichurri is so good on EVERYTHING…and definitely steak!
This looks absolutely amazing! Especially the chorizo… yum! I’ll need to try this out! Thanks so much for sharing! 💜
Thanks, Meg!
This is such a unique way to make turkey for dinner. What a beautiful presentation! I have to admit, I have never heard of chimichurri, but I am imagination how much flavour must be bursting from each bite of this dish.
Lots of flavor…it’s a great condiment for all kinds of dishes!
This is beautiful looking! What a perfect recipe to make when you don’t want a whole turkey. I’ve saved this to my family dinner ideas Trello board to make soon.
Chorizo always brings me back to when I was living in Central America. It’s such a comforting flavour to me. I love the pinwheel look of this recipe, too! It makes it look ten times more delicious!
You have lived an adventurous life, Genesis! Having choripan in Argentina is on my bucket list.
This looks like such an elegant and delicious dish. I would totally make this for a special occasion.
This roulade is a really creative way to make turkey! I find it easy to get bored with the same old roasted chicken and turkey recipes.
I know it’s nuts, but I’m allergic to turkey! Truly, it breaks my heart every Thanksgiving. So, while I couldn’t do that (or the onions, for that matter), I could swap for chicken and I’m sure it would be a really delicious dish still! I love the idea of chorizo and chimichurri. All of those FLAVORS! I’m salivating a little bit haha!
Oh man, this is so pretty! I would love to serve this roulade for a dinner party or holiday meal, since I bet everyone would be crazy impressed by the appearance and the taste. The chimichurri really pops as well!