Slow Cooker Herbed Turkey Breast is so easy because you let your slow cooker do all the work and keep your whole, bone-in turkey breast, juicy and flavorful and cooked to perfection 

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! 

I don't normally post a recipe for such a large roast...but since I discovered cooking whole, bone-in turkey breasts this way..my life has changed.  YES...this cooking method is life changing I tell ya!  I discovered this cooking method for whole poultry roasts on FrugalFoodieMama and I've made this recipe no less than three times in the past month!  That is a lot of turkey!  But I'm telling you, once you make turkey breast like this, you won't go back.  I promise!

My mom has always been in charge of making our Thanksgiving turkeys.  She complains every year how hard it can be to end up with moist white meat and still get the entire turkey totally cooked (because the dark meat always takes a little longer, and sometime enough to cause the breast meat to over cook, especially if you are making a large bird.)


Our family actually doesn't even like nor eat much of the dark meat of the turkey anyway, and most of it ends up in the trash.  What a shame! This year she has decided to make three turkey breasts this way for our dinner.  I'm really excited about it too!

Ok...I really suck at carving turkey, and at first I thought these photos just weren't that good and I was going to skip sharing them with you, but then I decided the recipe is just too good NOT to share.


You will need a few pieces of equipment to pull this recipe off.  First of all..a large (preferably oval) slow cooker.  (I own two slow cookers, a small round one and a large oval one)  You will also need a probe thermometer with an external reader.  (I got mine at Target for about $10)  I also know you can purchase slow cookers with the probe thermometer built right in, but if you don't have one of those, this works just fine.

It really doesn't matter what size breast you buy as long as it fits into the slow cooker and you can close the lid all the way down.  You will set the thermometer to the desired temperature (165 degrees F is perfect for turkey breast)  and it will alarm when the breast has reached the temperature you set it at.

To make the meat super flavorful, you mix softened, unsalted butter with fresh herbs, salt, pepper and fresh garlic and make a pocket under the skin on each side of the breast to shove it into.  This mixture will slowly melt into the meat as the meat cooks. I sprinkle the bird with a McCormick seasoning I just love for poultry.  It's called Perfect Pinch Rotisserie Chicken seasoning, and as you can see, it makes the skin look pretty even before it's cooked.   I also like to top the bird with a few whole sage leaves and sprigs of thyme.


Why not, right?


You can take the turkey out of the slow cooker when it gets to temperature and place it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown up the skin, if you desire.  I have done this and have also not bothered.  We don't eat the skin anyway, so I just remove it and cut up the meat.  But for the photos, I did do the browning and left the skin on.  It's your choice.

I hope you give this a try!  It's the best method for making a super moist, cooked to perfection turkey breast yet!


Like how those green beans look on that plate?  Get the recipe here! 

Slow Cooker Herbed Turkey Breast

By Renee's Kitchen Adventures
Adpated from FrugalFoodieMama 

The no fuss way to make perfect moist turkey breast every single time.

Ingredients

• 1 (5-7 lbs.) bone-in, whole turkey breast
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 TBS chopped fresh thyme
• 1 TBS chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 tsp+ kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• McCormick Perfect Pinch Roitisserie Chicken Seasoning (optional)

Instructions

1. Spray crock of large slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Generously salt and pepper the inside and outside of the turkey breast, getting salt under the skin as much as you can.
3. In small bowl, combine the butter, herbs, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and garlic to make a paste. With fingers, make a pocket in both sides of the breast between the meat and the skin. Put the herb-butter mixture in the pockets on each side and massage into the meat from the outside of the skin, spreading it as much as possible on the inside of the skin.
4. Place the breast in the crock of the slow cooker, skin side up. Sprinkle outside of skin with McCormick Perfect Pinch Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning, if desired and add a few herbs on top of the bird, if desired.
5. Insert probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat making sure you can close the slow cooker lid. Close the crock of the slow cooker with the cover.
6. Turn probe thermometer on and set to 165 degrees F. (Follow the instructions on your thermometer) Turn the slow cooker on HIGH.
7. Cook until the thermometer alarms and reads an internal temperature of 165 degrees. The roast will continue to cook once you turn the slow cooker off while it rests and should reach somewhere around 170 degrees F when it's all done. (I've cooked roasts around 5-6 pound range and they took about 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours to cook, just to give you an idea of time) Turn off slow cooker and turn off thermometer and remove probe. At this point you can turn your oven to broil and remove the turkey breast to a rimmed baking sheet and brown the skin in under the broiler for a few minutes, or you can skip that part if not planning on eating the skin.
8. Once the turkey is browned or not (depending on what you decided to do) place turkey breast on cutting board and tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. (Save the bones for soup later!)

Yield: 1 bone-in, whole turkey breast
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 05 hrs. 00 mins.
Total time: 5 hrs. 10 mins.
Tags: turkey, turkey breast, slow cooker, herbs, garlic, meat, dinner, poultry

Printable Recipe 

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With the holidays right around the corner, many families don't want to or don't need to make an entire turkey to enjoy and many don't eat the dark meat (like us), so making a whole, bone-in, turkey breast instead is a good choice.  

If I haven't convinced you yet that this method produces the PERFECT turkey breast, I honestly don't know what else to say.  Try it for yourself and see what I am talking about!  

How about you?  Are you a white meat or dark meat turkey lover?  Me...although I've come around to the dark side of chicken (love those chicken thighs) I have yet to convert to turkey dark meat.  I'm all about that lovely, juicy breast meat!

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