Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
What is Thanksgiving without a turkey? Here’s our story: Over the years we’ve enjoyed travelling to Salt Lake City (about 5 hours away) to visit Grandma’s house; that’s Michael’s mother, who, for over 30 or more years, has hosted a much-anticipated Thanksgiving dinner at her beautiful home on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving to allow everyone to enjoy the holiday with the “other” side of their families if desired. We’ve relished the tradition; but when a couple of our children started making serious commitments to winter sports teams/tournaments i.e. soccer and basketball, the pattern was broken, much to our consternation.
One year we decided to make the drive to Salt Lake for the Wednesday evening dinner, enjoyed the scrumptious meal with family then drove back to Boise ON Thanksgiving day so we could get our son to his big game the next day. Crazy, I know! On the way we stopped at a truck stop and because it was Thanksgiving after all, we each ordered a turkey cranberry sandwich being served that day. You know what?! It was super tasty and pretty darn amazing for a truck stop. We all laugh about our Truck Stop Thanksgiving feast that year. We got our turkey . . . and that’s the point. Gotta have your turkey!
Here is a super easy way to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey; use the slow cooker! This recipe is adapted from A Taste of Home and uses a wonderful rub which gives the turkey lots of flavor while the slow cooking in water keeps it nice and moist. The meat literally falls off the bone when you’re done. Admittedly, when you remove the skin beforehand you’ll lose some flavor, but the remaining juice contains less fat (that means you won’t have to skim the juice) while still maintaining fabulous flavor. This recipe is so easy you’ll be begging for turkey all seasons of the year!
- Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
- 1 bone-in turkey breast (6 to 7 pounds), skin removed
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning or Herbes de Provence
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- Brush turkey with oil. Combine the garlic, seasoned salt, paprika, Italian seasoning and pepper; rub over turkey. Transfer to a 6-qt. slow cooker; add water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until tender.
- Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and make sure it reads at least 165 degrees F to ensure that turkey is fully-cooked. To serve, remove turkey from slow cooker and slice.
You also might enjoy:
Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding Parfaits
Citrus Green Beans with Almonds
Amy
This was so good and so simple! I looked through a few different recipes and this was the only one that used ingredients I already had on hand. I don’t always comment, but I love all your recipes!
Karen
Thanks Amy. I’m happy you commented and that you love the recipes. I totally agree that this is the simplest and most delicious way to cook a turkey breast. It produces a super moist, flavorful turkey. And it’s not just for Thanksgiving either!
Joan
Can you still make gravy off of the drippings?
Karen
There are not a lot of drippings off of the breast alone. I make gravy from butter, flour, chicken broth and poultry seasonings or Herbes de Provence.