Slow Cooker Bone-In Turkey Breast
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4.5
30 reviews
Excellent
Slow Cooker Bone-In Turkey Breast
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⏰🙌🧡 Learn how to make a perfect turkey breast every time using your slow cooker! Making turkey breast in a Crockpot results in juicy, tender turkey every time and is nearly impossible to dry out! Save the drippings at the bottom of the slow cooker for making into turkey gravy. Whether you want to free up oven space for a holiday meal or you're looking for an easy weeknight dinner, this EASY recipe creates AMAZING turkey every time!
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Ingredients
Turkey
- 1 large white or yellow peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks
- one 7-pound bone-in turkey breast with skin on*
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temp
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves chopped**
- 2 teaspoons fresh Rosemary chopped**
- 2 teaspoons fresh sage leaves chopped**
- 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt or to taste***
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika if preferred
- ½ to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- ½ cup orange juice chicken broth may be substituted if you do not want a light citrus flavor
- ¼ cup reduced sodium chicken broth
Gravy
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups broth from the turkey drippings in the slow cooker, plus more if needed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Turkey - Spray the ceramic portion of the a 6 to 7-quart slow cooker with cooking spray and scatter the onions chunks evenly over the base of it; set aside momentarily.
- Pat the turkey breast dry; set aside momentarily.
- To a small bowl, add the softened butter, garlic, all herbs, salt, pepper, and stir with a small spoon to combine and mix evenly. Tips - I really recommend fresh herbs however if you don't have all of them as fresh herbs and need to use some dried herbs from your pantry, it's fine. Use half the quantity of dried herbs compared to fresh. For example, use 1 teaspoon dried thyme rather in place of 2 teaspoons fresh thyme. I use 2 teaspoons salt (maybe more) because I am not brining this turkey first in saltwater, and I use reduced sodium broth, but to ensure the turkey tastes amazing, I find it does need a solid 2 teaspoons salt, but salt is a very personal thing. You can always add more salt later on if you're very sensitive to salt and want to use less salt to begin with.
- Rub the seasoned butter mixture all over the turkey breast including on top, underneath, and you can gently rub a bit in between the underneath the flap of skin and the actual meat, taking care not to rip the skin. Tip - The only way to really add the butter rub is with clean hands. Wear kitchen gloves if you'd like.
- Place the turkey on top of the onion chunks.
- Add the orange juice, reduced sodium chicken broth, and place the lid on the slow cooker.
- You can slow cook on HIGH for about 3 hours, or on LOW for about 5 hours. Tips - Resist the urge to keep opening the lid and peek on it. That let's the heat out and just delays the cooking process unnecessarily. Turkey breast is safe to consume when the internal temperature is 160F. In order to know that, I advise not guessing. Instead use a digital thermometer. You can pull the turkey from the slow cooker when the temp is about 155F. The internal temp will continue to rise even out of the slow cooker to the safe level of 160F. When taking the temp, make sure to go into the deepest part of the meat, but do not hit bone because the reading will be inaccurate.
- Rest the turkey for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing it if you are not moving on to the next steps, which are all optional.
- Crispy Skin, optional - If you want crispy skin, it's easily accomplished. Preheat your broiler to 500F or high broil, and move a wire rack to approximately the second highest rung in the oven. Tip - Make sure to eyeball the space it so that when you place your turkey breast (usually pretty thick) on a baking sheet, it has clearance to enter the oven and not actually touch the broiler. Do this before the oven and broiler get screaming hot.
- Place the cooked turkey breast on a baking sheet and place it on the pre-positioned oven rack and broil for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is as golden and crisped as desired. Tips - Broiling comes with a huge caveat: DO NOT WALK AWAY from your kitchen, DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON YOUR OVEN, do no get distracted or start another task or prep work that you plan to do ‘real quick’ because broilers are HOT. You can easily burn and ruin your turkey breast in 1 minute flat, and at that point, your holiday meal is definitely not going to be the smashing success you were hoping. Watch the turkey extremely closely!
- After the turkey skin is as golden as desired, remove the sheet pan from the oven, and allow the turkey to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. If you're making gravy, this is perfect.
- Gravy, optional - Strain the cooking juices/broth that have accumulated in the basin of the slow cooker into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Tips - Straining is necessary because you don't want onion chunks in the finished gravy. However, the ceramic basin of the slow cooker is heavy and it'll be hot - be careful. If you need to dunk a 1/2 cup measuring cup in and dole out the broth 1/2-cup at a time, do it. I personally don't flip the whole thing over. It's tricky, hot, heavy, and you risk hot broth going everywhere!
- If you don't have 2 cups of cooking juices/broth, add additional reduced sodium chicken broth from a carton or can so that you have 2 cups; set aside.
- To a high-sided medium saucepan, add the butter, and heat over medium-high heat to melt.
- Add the flour to the melted butter, and cook for 1 minute; whisk the entire time. Tips - This is called a roux and is necessary so that later on the gravy thickens properly. Don't shortcut this step or your gravy will not thicken and will have a terrible raw flour taste.
- Slowly drizzle in the 2 cups of broth into the roux, whisking the entire time so that your gravy doesn't have lumps later.
- Turn the heat to medium or medium-low, and continue gently simmering the gravy for about 5 minutes, or until it has thickened. Whisk nearly constantly to avoid lumps.
- Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper, to taste. Tip - If you used reduced sodium chicken broth, and unsalted butter, I woudn't be surprised if you need 1 to 2 teaspoons salt, and about 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but of course always season to your personal taste preferences.
- Serving - Slice the rested turkey breast as thick or thin as desired, and serve with gravy, or as desired.
- Storage - Extra turkey and gravy (stored separately) will keep airight in fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave or as desired before serving. I like to drizzle a bit of gravy over turkey meat before I store it to help keep it moister.
Notes
- *Turkey - Select a bone-in turkey breast, which will contain both sides of the breast. Bone-in turkey breasts are juicier and more flavorful than boneless turkey breasts, and are harder to overcook. If for some reason you cannot find a bone-in turkey breast, you can use a boneless turkey breast. It may also be skinless at that point, which is also fine. In general boneless proteins cook a bit quicker than bone-in however since this is a slow cooker recipe, it's probably negligible.
- If you have purchased a frozen turkey breast and need to thaw it, remember this process takes a few DAYS, if done properly in the refrigerator and not on your counter (unsafe, don't do it). The rule of thumb is 1 day for every 4-5 pounds of turkey. So if you are working with a 7-ish pound turkey breast, safely plan that it will take 48 hours to thaw in your fridge.
- **Herbs - As I mentioned, I highly recommend fresh herbs however if you don't have all of them as fresh herbs and need to use some dried herbs from your pantry, it's fine. Use half the quantity of dried herbs compared to fresh. For example, use 1 teaspoon dried thyme rather in place of 2 teaspoons fresh thyme.
- ***Salt - I use 2 teaspoons salt (maybe more) because I am not brining this turkey first in saltwater, and I use reduced sodium broth so I can control the overall sodium more precisely. But to ensure the turkey tastes amazing, I find it does need a solid 2 teaspoons salt, but salt is a very personal thing. You can always add more salt later on if you're very sensitive to salt and want to use less salt to begin with and not risk oversalting it although for my preferences, you'd have to use much more than 2 tsp for it to actually be over-salted. I also use a good bit of salt in the gravy, again, so that it tastes good.
- Nutritional information - In my opinion the stats are artificially very high because they take into account if every last drop of gravy was consumed, as well as turkey skin, and if we are working with a 7 pound finished (cooked) amount of meat which you won't have. After removing the bone and cooking, you'll end up with about 4 pounds of meat, but the computer generated program that creates the stats cannot discern that. Calculate by hand with another online tool if this is of critical importance to you.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Serving
1
Calories
976kcal
(49%)
Carbohydrates
10g
(3%)
Protein
163g
(326%)
Fat
28g
(43%)
Saturated Fat
13g
(65%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
12g
Cholesterol
466mg
(155%)
Sodium
1133mg
(47%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
3g
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 976 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1 | |
| Calories | 976kcal | 49% |
| Carbohydrates | 10g | 3% |
| Protein | 163g | 326% |
| Fat | 28g | 43% |
| Saturated Fat | 13g | 65% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 12g | 71% |
| Cholesterol | 466mg | 155% |
| Sodium | 1133mg | 47% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 3g | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.5
30 reviews
Excellent
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