Turkey tenderloin with cranberry pan sauce
Golden seared turkey medallions in a glossy cranberry, balsamic and thyme pan sauce, a little taste of Thanksgiving on a weeknight.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $3.51 a serving
- 390 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 turkey breast tenderloin, about 10 oz
- 8 oz green beans, trimmed
- 1 shallot, minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp butter, cold
From your pantry
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
Each serving has about 390 calories, 37 g protein, 28 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $3.51 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green beans? Frozen green beans work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the turkey into ¾-inch-thick medallions, pat them dry, and with ½ teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large over medium-high.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Add the green beans, water and of salt, cover, and cook 3 minutes.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Uncover and cook 2 minutes, until .
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Move to a plate.
Heat the remaining oil in the same until it . Lay in the medallions and 3 minutes without moving them, until underneath.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: They stick at first. When the crust forms they release on their own, and that’s your sign to flip.Flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until they read 165°F in the middle. Move them to a plate.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Turn the heat to medium, add the shallot, and 1 minute.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heat
Pour in the broth and , then add the cranberries, balsamic, honey, thyme and remaining salt. 3 minutes, until by about half and syrupy.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Reduce. Reducing means simmering a liquid with the lid off so some of the water steams away. The sauce gets thicker and its flavor gets stronger.
How you’ll know: The level drops in the pan, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon instead of running off.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter until the sauce turns glossy.
Dolly’s tip: Off the heat is the key. On the burner, the butter melts into grease instead of making the sauce silky.Return the turkey and any juices to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve with the green beans.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
