Hillshire Farm Ultra Thin Oven Roasted Turkey Breast: Nutrition & Labelgrade C+ (69/100)

The short answer

Hillshire Farm Ultra Thin Oven Roasted Turkey Breast gives you 10g of protein for 59.9 calories in a 2 oz (56g) serving — about three to four wafer-thin slices. On the number that matters most for lean protein, it’s strong: 6.0 calories per gram of protein, right in the neighborhood of plain cooked chicken breast. It earns a C+ (69/100). The macros would grade higher; what holds it back is the part of the label you can’t taste — 380mg of sodium and a dozen ingredients including phosphates, carrageenan, sodium nitrite and caramel color.

Why the C+

Read the table honestly and the story is clear: this is lean protein with a processing tax. The protein density (B) and the two perfect marks on saturated fat and sugar say “good macro pick.” The C on ingredients and the F on sodium say “it’s still deli meat.” The fiber F is structural — no sliced turkey has fiber and the formula doesn’t pretend otherwise — so the score that actually decides whether to buy is the sodium one.

The “ultra thin” angle is the real product

The macros here aren’t far off any oven-roasted deli turkey. What you’re actually paying for is the cut. Slicing the breast wafer-thin maximizes surface area per gram, and that changes how the meat behaves: a few slices fold and drape to blanket a slice of bread, so a 2 oz, 10g-protein portion reads as a full layer of meat instead of a thin one. Practically, that means two things — sandwiches look and feel fuller for the same protein, and you can eyeball a serving (three to four slices) without a food scale. For meal-preppers counting macros, that consistency is underrated.

Lean per calorie, but mind the sodium math

Where this turkey genuinely shines is calories. At 6.0 calories per gram of protein, it’s about as efficient as lean protein gets short of a protein powder — plain chicken breast runs roughly 5.3, and most deli meats are worse, not better. If you’re stacking protein on a calorie budget, this delivers.

The catch is that sodium scales with the protein, and that’s where a “healthy lunch” quietly goes sideways. One 2 oz serving is 380mg — about 17% of the 2,300mg daily limit. A normal sandwich uses closer to 4 oz of meat, which is ~760mg before you’ve added bread, cheese, or mustard. The product itself isn’t the problem; the daily deli-turkey habit is. If lunchmeat is an everyday thing for you, this is a reason to alternate it with a lower-sodium turkey or roast your own.

How it compares

In the deli case, this beats Oscar Mayer’s Deli Fresh slightly on density (17.9g vs 16.1g per 100g) but trails Boar’s Head Turkey Breast, which packs 23.2g per 100g — noticeably leaner per bite. The takeaway: among sliced deli turkeys this is a solid, denser-than-average pick, but it isn’t the protein leader, and none of these escape the sodium load that comes with the category.

Who it’s for

This is a convenience pick for sandwich builders and quick-lunch protein — someone who wants 10g of lean protein that’s ready to fold onto bread with zero cooking. The ultra-thin slices are the actual selling point: they portion cleanly and cover more surface than thick-cut. The shopper who should hesitate is anyone watching sodium daily, who’ll do better with a lower-sodium deli turkey or sliced home-roasted breast. Treat it as what it is — a genuinely lean, genuinely processed sandwich meat — and it earns its place.

Ingredients

Turkey breast and turkey broth lead the list, with dextrose (a curing sugar) third. The “2% or less” tail is where the processing lives: modified corn starch and carrageenan for texture and moisture, salt plus potassium and sodium phosphates driving the sodium total, sodium propionate as a preservative, potassium chloride, sodium nitrite to fix the cured color and shelf life, natural flavor, and caramel color for the roasted look. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2089415: TURKEY BREAST, TURKEY BROTH, DEXTROSE, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SALT, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM AND SODIUM PHOSPHATES, SODIUM PROPIONATE, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM NITRITE, NATURAL FLAVOR, CARAMEL COLOR.)

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Ultra Thin Oven Roasted Turkey Breast (32 oz/2 lbs/907 g) · UPC 044500966862. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.