This Turkey Breast Recipe is made in your slow cooker, and it's the easiest way ever to end up with tender and flavorful turkey.
Never fear! We have the turkey breast recipe that will turn out the most tender, mouthwatering turkey breast you've ever tasted, and it's practically effortless. The advantages to cooking your turkey breast in the slow cooker (or crock pot) are almost endless:
- It's trouble free. You set it to cook and go about your business.
- Customize it to your taste. We like Cajun seasoning, but you can go traditional - or whatever suits your fancy.
- The gravy! Oh my goodness - the gravy. Did I mention the gravy? The juices you end up with make the most divine turkey gravy ever! For an easy tutorial on making gravy from any meat drippings you'll want to check this out.
- It can be made ahead and frozen. We don't have any official specifications on this, but we have successfully cooked our turkey (and the gravy) and frozen it for a few weeks before taking out to thaw and serve. We have personally had outstanding success with this, and we're huge fans of "make ahead" dishes. This turkey breast recipe is one of our favorites and it's one of 15 in this collection of Make Ahead Recipes for Holiday Meals.
Tips for a succulent turkey breast:
- Keep the turkey breast off the bottom of the slow cooker. We like to make a little "rack" out of celery sticks and onions and set the turkey on top of that. Use whatever you like, but you'll have the best results if you don't let the meat sit right on the bottom of the crock pot.
- Don't overcook. We recommend a meat thermometer placed in the turkey breast as deeply as you can without resting on bone. Take it out as soon as it reaches 165 degrees.
- Washing, drying and then seasoning the breast before you put it in the slow cooker will ensure a golden brown skin. Some recipes say you must broil after you remove it from the crock pot, but we've found that step unnecessary if you season a clean, dry turkey breast before you cook it.
- If you lose track of time or the thermometer and let it go a little over 165 degrees you'll be fine. That gravy is so darn good you'll be redeemed - we promise.
What else?
For starters you'll want to make our Southern Style Cornbread Dressing. It's one of our top recipe posts. It's foolproof and time tested. My mother-in-law showed me how to make it years ago, and it has never, ever let me down. Another awesome side dish is Butternut Squash with Bourbon, Maple and Bacon. Everyone will be singing your praises. If you need something green, be sure to check out Green Bean Bundles Wrapped in Bacon.
Then, if you're looking for a fun way to use leftovers from your turkey breast recipe you can check out these Turkey Cranberry Crostini. Not only do they use the leftover turkey, but also leftover cranberry sauce, and everyone will think you're a genius! Well, you are.
After that, if you still have leftovers (and you probably won't) just make a plain old turkey sandwich, or some turkey salad. Those classics just can't be beat.
And don't forget dessert! Our Apple Crisp with Cranberries is the perfect ending to your meal.
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What do you need for making this turkey breast recipe?
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First, and foremost is a slow cooker, or crock pot. I'll be honest. Mine is the most basic of the basic.
Lots of people like all the bells and whistles though, and this link takes you to a page with lots of choices, but all are Amazon rated 4 star or above.
Then you'll want a good, accurate meat thermometer. This style is our favorite because you can leave the probe in the meat, whether it's in the oven, grill or slow cooker. The part that indicates the temperature sits on the counter.
Beyond that, if you're like us and love Cajun/Creole flavors you'll want Tony Chachere Original Creole Seasoning.
Really, the only other essential is a good quality, sharp knife. We're big fans of Henckel Knives and you can find several choices by clicking here.
📖 Recipe
Turkey Breast Recipe for Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 6-7 pound turkey breast
- 2 Tablespoons creole seasoning or seasoning salt
- 1 Tablespoon black pepper
- 3 stalks celery cut into 3 inch pieces
- ½ onion cut into large pieces
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup water
- 1-2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet
Instructions
- Wash and dry turkey breast inside and out.
- Season turkey breast with cajun seasoning or seasoning salt and pepper.
- Place celery sticks and onion pieces in bottom of slow cooker.
- Place turkey breast on top of vegetables and cook on low in slow cooker for 6-8 hours, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
- Remove turkey and set aside.
- Strain juices through a colander into a medium sauce pan.
- Whisk flour into water until smooth and then stir into turkey juices.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until gravy thickens, adding more flour a teaspoon at the time if consistency is too thin.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper if desired. If a more golden brown color is desired add Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce ½ teaspoon and the time.
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This recipe made our top 10 of 2018. Click over here to see them all.
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Amanda says
Oh, this gets me so excited -- it's like I can have a Thanksgiving dinner whenever I want! I can't wait to try this.
P.S. That gravy pour shot is killer!
Pam says
Thanks so much Amanda!
Cindy Gordon says
Slow cooker recipes are THE best! This will be perfect for the holidays!
Pam says
Thanks,Cindy!
Kristina @ Love & Zest says
I love turkey and I love cooking in the slow cooker so I know that I will love this! Anything to make a delicious dinner easy I am in!
Pam says
Exactly right, Kristina!
Tisha says
Slow cooking meats is so great and leaves them so juicy!
Pam says
It's the perfect solution for getting tender turkey. Thanks, Tisha!
Emily Hill says
I love using my slow cooker as much as I can during the holidays. This turkey looks like a great option!
Pam says
Anything to make life a little easier.
Donna says
Could you please tell me how to use a thermometer inside a slow cooker. It sounds like a great idea because I have had meat come out overdone but the lid doesn't seem to sit really closed.
Thanks.
Donna
Pam says
Donna, the type of thermometer we recommend in the post works great with a slow cooker, oven or grill. It has a probe that goes into the meat connected by a thin cable to the little read out screen. You just close the crockpot lid over the cable. If you'd like to order one you can get to our affiliate link by clicking here.
Julia says
This turkey breast looks perfectly delicious. A great way to prepare and enjoy turkey for every day meals and perfect for small family holiday dinners.
Pam says
Thanks, Julia! We often overlook turkey except at holidays, don't we? It really is good, easy to prepare, and good for you, so we should make it more often.
Gloria says
Has anybody actually cooked this turkey breast? It does look yummy, delicious, etc. but it's frustrating to have to read through all these comments to eventually find that nobody has made the recipe. We can
decide for ourselves how it looks...just want to know how it tastes.
Pam says
Hi Gloria, I'm sorry for your frustration. However, I am the recipe developer and author of this post, and I can assure you that I have made this recipe on more than one occasion before it was ever published. This is a new post, just published less than two weeks ago. Therefore, if any of our readers have cooked the turkey breast yet, they have not come back to comment. It usually takes a number of weeks or even months before that happens. It is a very simple, straight-forward recipe, and I'm confident if you follow the directions you'll have turkey breast (and gravy!) that you will love. Thank you for visiting Biscuits and Burlap. We hope you'll come back often.
Sue says
Gloria, I can tell you this is delicious! My husband is a hunter and I have prepared everything from turkey, duck breast wild hog and venison using the trusty old crock pot. Using vegetables for a trivet and the delicious broth for a gravy or sauce is great. Use your imagination for the herbs and spices to suit your taste. Salt and pepper cannot be beat!
Pam & Sara, I am dang near 80 and love to read your post and readers comments.
Ginger says
Do you place the breast down on top vegetable rack or up right.
Pam says
Upright, Ginger, so the bones form sort of a rack.