Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
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Moist, tender, perfectly seasoned crockpot turkey. No oven space. Includes THE BEST turkey gravy using drippings!
I’m all about saving on oven space. Crockpots, Instant Pots. I will take them all. Especially when the crockpot does all the work for you. And I really mean, all the work for you.
So if you’re not about making an entire turkey this year, this slow cooker recipe will be your heaven. It requires just 2 turkey breast halves in a slow cooker for just 3-4 hours. In those 3-4 hours, you will have all the oven space you could possibly need for the rest of your sides.
The end result? Perfectly juicy, moist, tender turkey breast meat. It also browns beautifully in the slow cooker, promise. No need to broil it or anything. And you know all those juicy drippings? You can strain them to make the best gravy ever.
Who knew a turkey could be this easy?
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 celery ribs, cut into thirds
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 boneless, skin-on turkey breast halves, about 1 1/2-2 pounds each
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and divided
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine paprika, thyme, poultry seasoning, onion powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Place onion and celery into a 6 or 8-qt oval slow cooker; add chicken stock and wine.
- Using your fingers, carefully loosen the skin from the breast meat, spreading 4 tablespoons butter under the skin. Secure skin over the butter with wooden picks; brush skin with 1 tablespoon melted butter and season with paprika mixture.
- Place turkey, breast side up, on top of the vegetables. Cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove turkey from the slow cooker; let rest 10-15 minutes.
- Strain slow cooker drippings through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids.
- Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in pan drippings. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
- Serve turkey immediately with gravy.
Did you make this recipe?
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Many thanks for this great alternative recipe for turkey. I tried it and it was very good. The only thing I did differently was that I cooked it a bit ahead and removed the turkey breast and put it in the oven and broiled it on top so that it looked more like the traditional turkey that we all know and love.
I don’t really cook or collect recipes but I tried this one because my husband loves turkey. It was so successful and delicious, I bookmarked it and that’s what I will be fixing next week for our Covid Thanksgiving for two.❣
I am doing the same thing. It sounds great and we get to smell it cooking too!!
My husband and I will have Thanksgiving at home, just the two of us, this year to help keep our families safe during the pandemic. I bought turkey tenderloins – would this recipe work with tenderloins? Would the cook time need to be adjusted?
Can you buy turkey breast “halves”? I want to make this for Thanksgiving, and all I could find at the store was a 2.75 lb frozen turkey breast that had some seasoning…
I use this recipe with a 4 pound turkey breast. Works great but it takes about 6 to 7 hours. Wonderful flavor.
Should the turkey breast be thawed?
Never use frozen meat in slow cooker. Thaw in refrigerator
YES thawed! Good luck.
Very good, especially the gravy, and a great alternative to roasting a turkey—frees up a lot of oven space and doesn’t heat up the house. A perfect amount of turkey for our intimate COVID-era (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner. It was a tad dry for my taste, but that’s probably because I prefer dark meat. Next time I make this, I’m going to make one breast half and two thighs so everyone gets the part of the bird they prefer.
This is sooooo good!!! And just as easy!!! Thinking this may be our new Holiday Turkey!!! I made it with a 5lb double Breast with bone in and cooked it in high for about 5.5 hours…..turned out perfect! Also do yourself a favor and make more gravy then you think you will use….trust me you will use it! It’s delicious…I added a little nature seasoning because I love it but again super easy and damn delicious!! Thank you!!!
Best gravy I’ve ever made (Ive never started gravy with my butter before but I’ll make it that way from now on). The Turkey was falling apart tender. Thanks for a great and easy recipe.
Thank u put Recipes online they are easy to follow and the food taste so great
I don’t usually leave reviews, but this recipe deserves one! Phenomenal recipe for turkey breast, without heating up the kitchen/house by running the oven during the summer. Also, works as an amazing, worry free chicken and/or chicken soup recipe! I’ve been sick, sleeping a lot and working out of my freezer, so this has really been a Godsend for me! Used boneless, skinless thighs, a huge no-no for broth making! And, still, came out as one of the best chicken soup stocks I’ve ever made (and I make normally make a killer stock)! I didn’t have paprika or celery, so I exchanged for a couple carrots and added garlic, rosemary, sage, a few scratches of freshly grated nutmeg. The ratios of stock to wine were perfect for the turkey, but I did increase the wine in my soup stock. I think the butter made up for the lack of fat, bones and skin on the chicken. Had the bullion and extra canned stock ready expecting something that tasted like weak chicken tea. But, it came out savory and delicious. Absolute winner! Gotta love a fantastic base recipe, that you can also play with, and easily modify if you have to. Using it again today for the 3rd time in 4 weeks! This time with leg quarters. So excited to see how it comes out!
Hello-making this today–when do you add chicken broth and vinegar?
Hi Angela, Hoping I can edit this in a few minutes and add my actual review… Add the stock and white WINE, not vinegar, to the cooker before you turn it on.
Hi there! Quick question— I know the recipe says to “ Place turkey, breast side up, on top of the vegetables,” but does this mean that the skin is facing down & into the liquids? Just looking for a bit of clarity here since I’m unsure how the skin browns & crisps if this is the case.
Thanks so much!
Yes I too was wondering since the entire thing is a breast.. which side is “up”. Also, I’ve never had anything go crisp and brown in a crock pot
WOW was this good. I also had a bone in breast but I managed to get it into a large crock pot. Doubled the spices because the breast was about 5-6 pounds. Cooked it in the crock pot for about 6 or 7 hours on low, then crisped the skin in the oven for half an hour. Made stuffing, mashed potatoes and beet soup in acorn squash. Thanksgiving in April!
I used a bone in, skin on turkey breast that was about 5 lbs. I had to cook it longer, because of the bone and weight. I cooked it on high for about 5 hours. It turned out great, and the gravy was delicious. To the drippings, I mixed 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of melted butter. I boiled it for 2 minutes, added some pepper, and it was some of the best gravy that I’ve ever had. I will make this again.
The Crockpot Turkey was fantastic. So nice for a small group. For years a have cooked turkeys in the oven and they would turn out dry, this was simple and easy. I did mine bone-in for three hours on high then pulled the breast right off the bone, let it rest and sliced it. Delicious.
Easy, delicious and few ingredients. The turkey is very tender and moist. Also, the kitchen smells wonderful!
This was amazing!!! Better than any Thanksgiving turkey that we’ve had!! And it was SO easy to prepare!! 🙂
Wonderful flavors. Infact I’m cooking this again today. Family loves it.
mixed the seasonings but it doesn’t say what to do with it goes in with the veggies and turkey in the cooker or for the gravy mix?
It is used to season the turkey in step #3. 🙂
3. Using your fingers, carefully loosen the skin from the breast meat, spreading 4 tablespoons butter under the skin. Secure skin over the butter with wooden picks; brush skin with 1 tablespoon melted butter and season with paprika mixture.
Is there any way to get an accurate list of nutritional values? I need to severely restrict fat and sodium?
Hi Melody! Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps!