Pressure Cooker Turkey Breast
Just the two of you? Tired or busy? Make Instant Pot turkey breast.;This recipe is very easy and yields the same result delicious turkey dinner in fraction of time.
All you have to do is season the breast, cook it in Instant Pot, broil in the oven and make gravy with drippings right in Instant Pot.
I have to say dont skip the gravy. No matter what and how you cook turkey, breast is lean and more dry meat than any other bird part.
How To Keep Turkey’s Breasts Moist
You can cook your turkey breast in an Instant Pot, which is great for ensuring a tender, juicy bird. Here are three more tricks to make sure your turkey breast is tender and moist.
Brine: It’s possible to preserve your turkey breast in brine if your preference is for cooking it in the Instant pot.
Butter or Mayonnaise: To increase the moisture in turkeys, add some fat. As the meat cooks, the fat melts and creates a protective heat barrier while also absorbing into the meat.
For extra moisture, add some citrus.
What To Serve With Instant Pot Turkey Breast
For a holiday gathering, we suggest a classic meal with all the trimmings. Its easy since the Instant Pot leaves the oven and stovetop free! Try our easy stuffing recipe, alongside everyones favorite classic green bean casserole. The holidays wouldnt be the same without some cranberry relish. Add a side of mac & cheese and our 30-minute dinner rolls to sop up all that delicious gravy! And for dessert, we recommend a pumpkin pie, of course!
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Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
Turkey breast is notoriously slim so brining it, either dry brine or wet brine, is your only guarantee that it will be juicy when you bake it. The turkey breast will not be cooked perfectly if the brine isn’t applied.
This Slow Cooker Turkey breast was created after I tried a few recipes and found them disappointing with their bland skins, dry meat and poor gravy. After reading everything, I was frustrated by how dry and bland the recipes were. I made my own. Without brining, this is my favorite turkey breast. My friends were also impressed!
You’d be amazed at how simple a recipe can give such amazing results. The gravy is amazing and the turkey has incredible flavor!
Tips Storing And Leftovers
- Roast and Instant Pot size: I fit 5 lbs roast into my 6 quart Instant Pot Lux and could fit in up to 7 lbs. 8 quart can hold even 8-9 lbs turkey breast or a whole mini turkey.
- Dont do quick release meat wont be fully cooked.
- Always sear after I tried to sear turkey breast before cooking on Saute mode and prefer broiling after. Turkey skin comes out more roasted instead of poached.
- Storing and reheating: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in a pot covered with a splash of broth and drippings by simmering on low, kind of steaming. Do not bake as it will dry out meat more.
- Freezing: Cooked turkey leftovers freeze very well. Freeze cubed turkey meat in measured out portions in glass containers for casseroles and salad. I freeze carcass in a giant Ziploc bag for soups.
- Leftover meat and bones: Make Instant Pot bone broth with carcass and turkey tetrazzini with leftover meat.
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How To Make Turkey Gravy With Drippings
If you prefer to make a delicious gravy using the turkey drippings, its really easy to do.
- Add butter to turkey juices for gravy
- Whisk until butter has melted
- Gradually whisk flour in to juices
- Flour added and whisked in to juices
- Pour heavy cream in to juices
- Whisk gravy until evenly combined
You may pour the gravy over the turkey breast or serve it on the side.
How To Cook A Turkey Roast In The Instant Pot
Its very easy to enjoy an Instant Pot Turkey Roast. Lets walk through the process. As I mentioned above, this recipe is for a defrosted turkey roast, so if you bought a frozen one, make sure to defrost it with enough time. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, ground mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper. Rub the spice mix all over the turkey roast.
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Set the trivet into your pressure cooker and add the chicken stock to the pot. Place the turkey breast on top of the trivet and close your pot. Set the knob to Sealing and cook on high pressure Manual or Pressure Cook for 25 minutes. Once the cooking time has completed, allow for a full Natural Pressure Release.
When the pin has dropped you can open the pot. If youre using your CrispLid, unplug the pressure cooker and set the CrispLid in place. Broil the turkey at 500 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. If youre using the oven, broil on the middle rack on Hi Broil for 6 to 8 minutes. After crisping the skin, allow the turkey to sit and rest for 8 to 10 minutes. Finally, remove the twine from the outside of the roast and youre ready to slice and serve.
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In the recipe card below, I explain exactly how to make the gravy in the Instant Pot using the drippings from the turkey roast. Its super delicious and goes great on top of the turkey and some mashed potatoes. Please refer to the recipe card below for a step by step on how to make it.
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How To Thaw Buy And Store Turkey Breasts
When you’re about to start cooking your turkey breasts using these techniques, it is vital that food safety be taken into consideration. The refrigerator should contain raw turkey. It must be cooked within 2 days. Freeze turkey for as long as 2 months. For the best results, wrap your turkey in foil prior to freezing. These tips will help you safely cook your turkey breast.
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How To Make Turkey Gravy From Drippings
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Types Of Turkey Breast You Can Use
Generally, there are 3 types of turkey breast:
- Turkey breasts on a bone removed from a turkey. Photo below shows my 5 lbs turkey breast I got at Costco. Boneless white meat attached to the bone.
- Turkey breast meat in a mesh pouch.;It is simply meat rolled into a tenderloin that it held together by a mesh. It can be sold in a plastic tray covered with plastic or in a box. Do not remove the mesh or twine.
- Frozen turkey breast is an option too. I have tested it and the process is similar to my Instant Pot frozen chicken. You just have to make sure to rinse meat to remove frost for oil and spices to stick. Cooking time will be longer and pressure cooker will take a little bit longer to come to pressure.
Required & Helpful Tools
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker | They are indeed one and the same, Instant Pot is a name brand but its a pressure cooker! We love our 6 quart 7-in-1 Instant Pot, its perfect for our family of four, two of which are hungry teen boys!
- Kitchen Twine | If you purchased half breasts they probably did not come already in twine, you can easily tie up your breast for more even cooking by using kitchen twine.
- Meat Claws or Large Tongs | Easier when browning, turning and lifting a turkey, be it a breast or a whole turkey. Barbecue tongs work great too!
- Fat Separator | I admit I just recently purchased this fat separator and I cannot believe I havent before now, it will become your new best friend!
- Meat Thermometer | If you are worried about the turkey breast being done, invest in a good kitchen thermometer.
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What To Serve With Turkey Breast
If youre making turkey breast as a Thanksgiving turkey, then youll love serving it with this green bean casserole! Or, if serving it for a casual easy dinner, then you will love serving with this side salad or this garlic roasted broccoli. Or, serving cranberry sauce is always a staple side dish that pairs well!
Ingredients For Instant Potturkey Breast Recipe
Bone-in skin-on Turkey breast: It is also known as turkey crown
Salted butter: use unsalted butter if using salt
Vegetable oil: optional
Paprika: I used this for a bit of colour
Dried sage: substitute thyme and sage for Italian seasoning
Dried thyme
Salt to taste: omit this if using salted butter
Chicken broth
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Making Turkey Gravy In The Instant Pot
One of the great things about pressure cooker turkey breasts is that you get lots of flavorful liquid that makes a wonderful turkey gravy.
Keep in mind that what you flavor your turkey with will also flavor your gravy. So if you know your familys not crazy about onions, then reduce the amount of onions you use to cook the turkey. If your mom always added rosemary to the turkey, go for it!
After pressure cooking the turkey, taste the drippings left in the cooking pot. If theyre too strong, add a little extra broth to the cooking pot.
I prefer to use cornstarch when making a turkey gravy. Cornstarch is a great thickener with very little taste, and it doesnt need to be long-simmered like flour does.
However, if you prefer the texture of a flour-thickened gravy, Id start with 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water and whisk until smooth. Slowly combine the flour mixture with the liquid in the cooking pot and whisk until completely incorporated. Then bring to a boil and simmer on low for several minutes to make sure the flour is cooked through.
Instant Pot Turkey Breast
Pressure cooking saves so much time and results in really fabulous food. If you have never considered cooking a turkey breast in the instant pot, now is the time to try it!
This is so fast and easy. Plus, the meat is really amazing. Everyone will think you slow cooked this turkey all day.
Now, we actually do have a slow cooker turkey breast version if you will be away and need another option.
Either way, get ready for tender, flavorful and delicious turkey. Yum!
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How To Make Instant Pot Turkey Gravy:
- Pour the liquid from the bottom of the instant pot through a mesh strainer into a separate bowl and set aside.
- Place the pressure cooker on SAUTÉ mode and add 2 tbsp of butter, let it melt.
- Whisk in 2 tbsp of flour and cook until the flour is browned and no longer raw.
- Gradually whisk in the strained turkey drippings until the gravy is smooth and thickened.
Youre going to impress everyone with this super easy and mega-delicious Instant Pot Turkey Breast Recipe!
Its the perfect recipe for a smaller holiday feast.
Dont miss all of my other Thanksgiving Recipes HERE!
Make sure you dont miss a thing! Follow I Wash You Dry here:
One Make Sure Your Turkey Breast Fits
The most important step to properly cooking a turkey breast inside an instant pot is to be sure it fits!
I recommend placing the turkey breast, while still in its packaging, inside the instant pot on top of the metal trivet/rack to be sure the lid will fit and close properly. Don’t worry about your turkey breast extending past the max fill line in your pressure cooker, this is one time that is okay!
In my experience, an instant pot can hold the following sized turkey breasts.
- For 6 quart: 5-6.5 pounds
- For 8 quart: 7-8.5 pounds
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How Do You Make Instant Pot Turkey Breast
Start by mixing together butter, garlic, herbs and spices. Coat a bone-in, skin-on turkey breast with the butter mixture. Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the pot, then add carrots, onion and celery. Place the turkey breast on a trivet inside the pot, then seal and pressure cook until turkey is cooked through. Let the pressure release naturally for about 10 minutes, then manually release the pressure. If you prefer turkey with crispy skin, place the turkey under the broiler until the skin is browned and crisp. Slice the turkey, then serve and enjoy.
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Instant Pot Turkey Tenderloin
After one bite, you are going to agree this Instant Pot turkey tenderloin comes out tasting phenomenal! Its amazing how easy it is to cook turkey tenderloin in the Instant Pot, and it comes out perfect every single time.
This Instapot turkey breast tenderloin recipe tastes delicious whether you use frozen turkey tenderloin or fresh one.
If you arent into turkey, you can make other meats in the Instant Pot too.
This Instant Pot beef brisket tastes even better than the roasted version.
In the mood for seafood? Make some Instant Pot shrimp fajitas! They are so quick and easy that you can even make them on really busy weeknights.
Why Should I Sear My Boneless Breast
Searing; is a technique used in grilling, baking, braising, roasting, sautéing, etc., in which the surface of the food is cooked at high temperature until a browned crust forms. %20is,until%20a%20browned%20crust%20forms.&text=The%20appearance%20of%20the%20food,with%20a%20well%2Dbrowned%20crust.” rel=”nofollow”>Source)
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Can You Get Crisp Skin In An Instant Pot
Unfortunately, the one downside to the Instant Pot is you will not be able to get that crispy, golden turkey skin using this method alone. However, all hope is not lost.
To crisp up the skin, simply remove the turkey breast from the Instant Pot once its fully cooked and transfer it to a broiler pan. Pop it under a preheated broiler for 5-10 minutes and youll have a perfectly juicy Instant Pot turkey WITH crispy skin in just a few extra minutes.
Editors Note: Make sure you still let your turkey rest for 10-15 minutes before carving after you remove it from the broiler to let the juices redistribute through the meat.
Does The Instant Pot Produce Crispy Skin
The results of my recipe testing say no. Even with searing the turkey breast, it did not make the skin crispy. Pressure cooking makes the turkey breast incredibly tender and juicy, but it doesnt make it crispy.
If you want crispy skin place the turkey breast in the oven on broil or in the air fryer for a few minutes after pressure cooking. You dont want it to cook too long because you will lose the juicy texture .
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Why You Will Love This Easy Turkey Breast Recipe
- Easy, no stress Thanksgiving Turkey.; Coming from someone who is just now recovering from a 2016 role as Thanksgiving Hostess, this is HUGE
- Juicy, tender, and bursting with lemony, garlic, herb flavor every time.; For reals!; It’s like magic!
- Make the gravy right in the same pot.; Fewer dishes!
- Make 1 for a small crowd, or break out another Instant Pot and make a second for a large crowd
- White meat galore!; Sorry ’bout that if you’re a dark meat fan
How To Get The Kids Involved With This Recipe:
- Ages 2-3: Let your little one place the trivet in the pot and pour in the broth.;
- Ages 4-5: Let your kiddo arrange the vegetables in an even layer on top of the trivet. You can also have them mix the butter and seasonings. Also, have them help you keep a watch on the turkey while it gets it golden, crispy skin in the oven.;
- Ages 6-8: Let them wash the turkey and brush on the oil mixture before placing it in the Instant Pot.;
- Ages 9-11: Supervise them while they prepare the entire recipe. Remember to have them read it twice before beginning the recipe.;
- Ages 12+: Let them prepare the entire recipe, unsupervised, while you do the happy dance in the corner!
Discover why we love getting the kids involved in the kitchen and more tips in our How to Get Kids Involved In Cooking article.
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