This slow cooker turkey breast is coated in a seasoned herb butter, then placed in the crock pot to cook to tender perfection. It’s the perfect way to free up oven space for your big holiday meal, and the turkey comes out perfect every time!
I love to make this slow cooker turkey, it’s a fuss free way to have a delicious and elegant main course. I serve my crock pot turkey with some of our favorite side dishes like Thanksgiving stuffing, Instant Pot cranberry sauce, cranberry Jello salad and bacon brussels sprouts. Don’t forget the pecan pie bars and pumpkin meringue pie for dessert!
Can you believe that such a browned and succulent turkey breast can come from a slow cooker? It’s true, and it couldn’t be any easier to make. Plus there are plenty of drippings which make the best turkey gravy. It’s a great Thanksgiving recipe for serving a smaller crowd. My roasted Cornish hen recipe also makes an amazing main course option for when you don’t want to cook a whole turkey. Need more menu inspiration? Don’t miss my list of 30 Thanksgiving appetizer recipes!
If you have turkey leftovers, try my favorite leftover turkey recipes such as turkey tetrazzini, turkey salad and turkey noodle soup.
Table of Contents
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Ingredients
To make juicy slow cooker turkey breast you will need a thawed turkey breast, butter, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, dried thyme, salt, black pepper, an onion and herbs. For the gravy you will need butter, flour and a cup of turkey broth or chicken broth.
How Do You Make Slow Cooker Turkey Breast?
Start your slow cooker turkey breast recipe by mixing butter with a blend of herbs and spices in a small bowl. Rub the butter mixture on top of, and underneath the skin of your thawed turkey breast. Place onion slices at the bottom of you crock pot. The turkey breast then goes into the crock pot on the onion slices. It cooks a few hours until it’s tender and flavorful. Transfer the turkey to a baking sheet and broil it for 5 minutes to brown the outside. While the turkey broils, in a pan whisk together melted butter and flour. Add the strained juices from the slow cooker and a little broth. In a few minutes you have gravy for your turkey. Take the turkey out of the oven, add gravy and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Turkey
- Love crispy skin? Me too. After the turkey comes out of the slow cooker, broil it for a few minutes to get the skin crispy and golden brown.
- I highly recommend using a bone-in, skin-on turkey breast as it will be much less likely to get dry.
- Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to spread the butter mixture evenly over the turkey. Make sure your butter is very soft to make it easier to spread. You can also let your turkey breast sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before you start seasoning.
- I’ve used a half breast here, but you can use a whole breast if you’re serving more people. Simply double the amount of the seasoned butter and proceed with the recipe. You will also need to increase the cook time.
- The onion slices serve as a rack to elevate the turkey breast. That way the breast doesn’t sit in a bunch of liquid and it gets infused with flavor.
Quick Tip
You’ll need a larger oval slow cooker to cook a turkey breast. A standard round slow cooker will not be large enough.
Recipe FAQs
You’ll want to count on buying one pound of turkey breast per person. If you want more leftovers, try to aim for 1 1/2-2 pounds per person.
A standard sized turkey breast will need to cook for approximately 6 hours on low heat. The turkey is done when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees F. If you’re using a larger or smaller turkey breast, be sure to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Cooking a turkey breast in a slow cooker is safe as long as you cook a thawed turkey breast. You need to cook your turkey long enough to reach 165 degrees F in the thickest part. Also, make sure your slow cooker works correctly.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe makes delicious and juicy turkey breast; however, you can change the recipe to suit your taste.
- Seasoning: Try changing up your flavors by mixing a spice blend with your butter like fajita seasoning, Cajun seasoning or Jamaican jerk seasoning.
- Herbs: Try adding some minced dried rosemary, thyme or sage to your butter mixture.
- Chicken: If you want to make a whole chicken in your crock pot, try this slow cooker whole chicken recipe.
- Vegetables: If you want a whole meal try adding some veggies to the crock pot. You could add 1 inch carrot pieces, 1 inch celery pieces or halved small potatoes to the crock pot.
Once you try making turkey in a slow cooker, you won’t want to go back to the oven roasted method!
More Sides You’ll Enjoy
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
1 hr 50 mins
Zucchini Gratin
40 mins
Butterflake Rolls
2 hrs 20 mins
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
Ingredients
For the turkey
- 6 lb bone-in, skin-on turkey breast
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large onion peeled and cut into 1 inch thick slices
- fresh herbs for garnish optional
- cooking spray
For the gravy
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup chicken or turkey broth
Instructions
- Place the 4 tablespoons of butter, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir until combined.
- Loosen the skin of the turkey. Spread half of the butter mixture under the skin of the turkey and spread half all over the top of the turkey.
- Coat a large oval slow cooker with cooking spray and line the bottom of the slow cooker with the onion slices.
- Place the turkey breast on top of the onion slices. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees F.
- Transfer the turkey breast to a baking sheet. Preheat the broiler.
- Broil the turkey for 4-5 minutes or until skin is browned and crispy.
- Pour the liquid from the slow cooker through a strainer; discard the solids.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to combine.
- Cook the flour and butter mixture for 1 minute.
- Pour 1 cup of strained drippings and 1 cup of chicken broth in the pan.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes or until just thickened, stirring constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Slice the turkey and serve with the gravy. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
- You’ll need a larger oval slow cooker to cook a turkey breast. A standard round slow cooker will not be large enough.
- Love crispy skin? Me too. After the turkey comes out of the slow cooker, it gets broiled for a few minutes to get the skin crispy and golden brown.
- I highly recommend using a bone-in, skin-on turkey breast as it will be much less likely to get dry.
This was truly amazing! I had a 6 pounds, no bone and it cooked for 8 hours at low.. My husband said it was the best turkey ever! My only comment was that my Butterball Turkey Roast breast had a filet to hold the pieces together, and I removed it since there was never a mention of a filet.. Next time, I will keep it so the parts will stay together.. Truly a GREAT recipe! Thank you!!!
Would this recipe work in an Instant Pot? What would be the cook time?
You’ll want to cook on manual high pressure for 6 minutes per pound, then let the pressure release naturally.
Do you add any liquid to the slow cooker? Also, I am trying a half breast(2.5 lbs.) Should I reduce cooking time?
You don’t need to add any liquid, the turkey will produce it’s own liquid! I’d try 4-5 hours for that size breast.
Made this tonight….I didnt have thyme so I used poultry seasoning instead….worked fine. I also skipped the broiling at the end….Too much trouble tonight and it didn’t need it. Didn’t like the cooked globs of seasoning so I scraped it off along with the skin. It was still wonderfully seasoned and moist!! Will use this every time I do a turkey breast!!!
So happy to hear it worked out well for you!
I had such a hard time spreading the butter, it kept wanting to stick to my hands instead of the turkey and gloop up and fall off. I ended up with globs of butter and seasoning all over the turkey. What am I doing wrong?
I typically use a nonstick spatula to spread it, you can also coat your hands in a little cooking spray to keep it from sticking. That being said the butter doesn’t have to be applied perfectly since it’s going to melt and run all over the turkey anyways!
Are you patting the turkey all the way dry after rinsing it?
You don’t need to pat the turkey dry for this recipe!
I am confused by the cook time. It says 4 hours but with the recipe it says 6 hours or to 165. Big discrepancy is this a typo and which is correct?
6 hours is correct I fixed the recipe card!
I will be trying this with a boneless breast. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Merry Christmas!!!
Hope you enjoy, Merry Christmas to you too!
How can you adapt this to be slow cooked in a cast iron with porcelain coating? eigher on top stove or oven slow cooked?
You could try cooking it covered in the oven at 300 degrees F for the same amount of time!
Can I cook the turkey on high, for less time. Or should I leave it at is. Thanks
You can cook in on high in half the time it takes on low! I find that the turkey comes out more tender and moist on low heat though.
Bought accidentally potter that is garlic and herb. It has chives parsley garlic salt Dell pepper and paprika. Can I use this instead of make my own mixture?
Do you mean butter? If so, yes that’s fine!
What to do if liddoesn’t fit? Can I use aluminum foil?
Yes, use a generous amount of heavy duty aluminum foil, and make sure it’s totally covered and try to crimp the foil around the ring of the crock pot to create the best seal that you can. You also may want to spray the top of the turkey with non stick cooking spray so that it doesn’t stick to the foil as it cooks.
Is a boneless turkey breast ok?
Yes that should work fine but it may take less time to cook. I’d start checking at the 4 hour mark depending on the size!
Our oven is currently broken so I have been scouring the web for a good slow cooker turkey breast recipe and this looks great! Quick question though: will the skin still be at least a little crispy if we aren’t able to broil it at the end?
Does your stove work? You could try putting the turkey skin side down in a frying pan with a little butter or olive oil to crisp up the skin.
It looks so delicious, I’ll try it this weekend
Perfect recipe and easy too! Makes my mouth water!
Thank you for getting right back to me. Would I still cook it for the same amount of time as a bone in turkey breast.
Can you use a frozen boneless turkey breast
I would thaw it first, but boneless will work just fine!
Breast meat up or down?
Breast meat up!
This recipe sound so good and you have put up such great pictures to go along with it!
Definitely going to try this recipe out!
This looks absolutely delicious! Who needs to wait for a holiday? I’d have that right now.