This Slow Cooker Turkey Breast is without a doubt, this is the easiest, safest and tastiest way to cook turkey breast without brining. It’s moist and juicy, takes 3 minutes to prepare, then just leave it to cook in your slow cooker (crock pot). Then use the juices to make a killer gravy!
Even if you’re a first timer, you can have confidence in this turkey breast recipe. It’s a 5 star reader favourite with over a thousand glowing reviews!
Slow cooker turkey breast
Turkey breast is notoriously lean so the only way to guarantee it comes out juicy if you roast it in the oven is to brine it. If you don’t brine it, then even if you use a meat thermometer, it is extremely difficult to roast the turkey breast perfectly.
I created this Slow Cooker Turkey Breast after trying a handful of recipes for turkey breast and being disappointed by the bland looking skin, dry meat and mediocre gravy. So I tossed out everything I’d read and decided to come up with my own version using a slow cooker. This is by far the juiciest turkey breast I’ve ever had – without brining. And my friends agreed!
It’s almost magical how a recipe this simple can yield such extraordinary results. Moist turkey with incredible flavour and a gravy that’s off the charts!
How long to cook turkey breast in the slow cooker
A 2 kg / 4 l2b turkey breast will take 5 to 6 hours on LOW in a slow cooker. Check the internal temperature at 5 hours. See recipe notes for cook times for other sizes.
How to make slow cooker turkey breast
I promised you easy – and easy it is! Here’s how it goes down:
Slather turkey with a simple magical rub;
Place in a slow cooker on a bed of onion and garlic (these flavour the juices that comes out of the turkey and forms the basis for the gravy + keeps turkey elevated out of liquid while slow cooking);
Slow cook for 5 to 6 hours;
Briefly broil/grill or bake to crisp the skin; then
Use slow cooker juices to make a killer gravy. It’s incredible because it’s essentially made with the best homemade stock – the turkey juices!
PS That’s a multi function cooker you see. I use the slow cooker function for this recipe.
⚖️ Automatic recipe scaler ⚖️
Click or tap on Servings on the recipe. Then slide until the turkey reaches the weight of your turkey. It will change all the ingredient quantities for you! Then refer to the recipe notes for the right cook time for your turkey.
Slow cooker turkey breast tips!
Type of turkey breast – bone in or boneless turkey breast is fine. Skin on is recommended because the fat under the skin melts while the turkey is cooking and it bastes the turkey (helps with flavour and moisture). Also skin is required to get that lovely browned seasoned crust you see in the photos.
Single or double breast? Either is fine. These photos show a single turkey breast. See here for what a double turkey breast looks like (on the bone, also called a turkey buffe or turkey crown)
What size? Turkey breast differ drastically in size – they can range from 1.5/3lb to over 5kg/10lb! The beauty of this recipe is that it will work for any turkey breast size – as long as it fits in your slow cooker! Note the different cook times in the recipe.
A great rub goes a long way with turkey breast! It not only adds flavour, it seasons the broth and it gives the turkey breast great colour!
How long to cook turkey breast in the slow cooker – A 2 kg / 4 lb turkey breast will take about 5 to 6 hours on LOW in a slow cooker. See recipe notes for cook times for other sizes.
How to tell when turkey breast is done – When the internal temperature is 165F / 75C. That’s optimum perfectly-cooked juiciness, allowing for a slight temperature increase while the turkey rests.
Elevate the turkey breast with a halved garlic and onion to ensure even cooking because otherwise the breast will be half submerged and poaching in liquid (you will be amazed how much liquid the breast leeches while cooking)
Crisp the skin under the broiler. The extra flavour you get is worth it – and it only takes a few minutes
Use slow cooker juices for GRAVY – the turkey juices are loaded with flavour and are the best broth ever to make an absolute killer gravy!
Slow Cooking is FORGIVING! Because of the low temperature, there’s far less risk of drying out the turkey from overcooking. So even if the turkey is in the slow cooker for 1 or 2 hours longer than necessary, it will still be lovely. Plus – speaking really frankly – that gravy can save anything. ANYTHING!
Prefer ROASTED turkey breast? Use this Garlic Herb Butter Roasted Turkey Breast.
What to serve with turkey
Turkey breast is more often than not a centrepiece for holiday feasting in many households around the world. So with this in mind, here are some side dish suggestions for Thanksgiving and Christmas menus!
And you might also find these helpful: Thanksgiving recipe index and Easy Thanksgiving Menu suggestions
Traditional Thanksgiving sides for turkey
Christmas side suggestions
A safe recipe – even for first timers
I know it can be nerve racking, trying a new recipe – especially you’re new to cooking, and it’s a centrepiece for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
But you can have Confidence in this Slow Cooker Turkey Breast recipe. It’s been viewed over 8 million times since I first published, there’s over a thousand fantastic reviews, it’s a simple recipe and there’s a recipe video below to guide you through it step by step.
Slow cookers are an extremely forgiving way to cook lean proteins because they use such a low heat so there’s a much bigger window in which the turkey is perfectly cooked (as in, 2 hours or so) compared to the oven (less than 20 minutes from perfect to overcooked-dry).
And in all honesty – worst case? Your turkey goes a bit over and it’s not quite as juicy as you hoped. Of course, I’m doing everything in my power to help avoid this – including sending over virtual positive vibes.😂
But if it does – don’t fret! That Turkey Gravy is so insanely good, it will totally make up for it! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
SLOW COOKER: Many people have said that my slow cooker looks like a pressure cooker. They are actually correct, it is a slow cooker and pressure cooker in one (but no, it is not an Instant Pot). It is called a Breville Fast-Slow Cooker (it’s an Australian product). I use the slow cooker function for this recipe.
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Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 2 kg / 4 lb turkey breast, skin on, bone in or boneless (if using frozen, thaw it) (Note 1)
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 1 onion (brown, yellow or white), unpeeled, cut in half
- 5 sprigs of thyme (or 2 tsp dried thyme leaves)
Rub
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- 5 grinds of black pepper
- 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp olive oil
Gravy
- Chicken stock/broth (or water), for topping up liquid (see Gravy step 1)
- 4 tbsp / 50g butter
- 1/4 cup / 35g flour
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place Rub ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine, it should be a wet paste.
- Pat the turkey dry all over with paper towels. Slather with the Rub, using most for the side and top.
- Place the garlic, onion and thyme face down in the slow cooker. Place the turkey breast on top so it is elevated.
- Slow Cook on LOW for 6 hours (do not use high) or until internal temperature reads 165F/75C when thermometer is inserted into the middle. Check internal temperature at 5 hours if you can. (To roast, follow this recipe).
- Remove turkey from the slow cooker (do not leave in slow cooker on Warm setting) and let it rest for 20 minutes before crisping the skin.
Crisp the Skin
- Preheat gril/broiler to high.
- Place an oven shelf 30cm / 1 foot from the heat source.
- Remove turkey breast from the slow cooker into a heatproof serving dish.
- Place on the oven shelf and broil for 3 to 5 minutes until the skin is crispy. Keep an eye on it – it browns very quickly!
- Serve immediately with gravy on the side.
Gravy
- Strain the liquid into a measuring jug, squishing the garlic etc to extract all the flavour. If you are short of 2 cups, top up with chicken broth (I usually get 2 cups of liquid from a 4 lb / 2 kg turkey breast).
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and mix to combine. Pour about 1/2 cup of liquid into the flour mixture and mix until it forms a paste. Slowly add remaining liquid, stirring as your go. Use a whisk if required to make the gravy smooth. Simmer until thickened – take it off before it is as thick as you want because it will continue to thicken.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with turkey.
Recipe Notes:
- 1 kg / 2 lb: 4 – 5 hours on low
- 2 – 3 kg / 4 – 6 lb: 5 – 6 hours on low
- 4 kg / 8 lb: 6 – 7 hours on low (see 8 June ’17 report from reader Tony)
- 5 kg / 10 lb: 8 – 9 hours on low
Nutrition Information:
Originally published November 2016. Updated for some housekeeping November 2019 – no change to recipe.
Life of Dozer
This is what a turkey coma looks like.
The turkey recipe I followed the whole recipe it turned out amazing so juicy! Thank you Nagi
Everyone raved about how juicy and tender this turkey was! I used a bone-in, 8 lb. double breast. Had to squish it down a bit to get the lid on, but it was fine. Even my sister, a picky cook, said she would make hers this way next year!
Thanks Nagi! This worked out really well and was heaps easier than my previous efforts with a whole turkey. I used a double breast on the bone. It made plenty of gravy!
Hi Nagi, do you think this would work for a turkey roll as well?
My 82 year old sister made this for her daughters while I (78,) )made it for my husband.. TX to NC. We’ve had many turkeys over the years, but this was the absolute best! It was so juicy and tender! The best .It made us feel so close. Thank you, Nagi!
Every single thing I make from your website is AH-MAZING! So I did this crockpot turkey breast and yes it was terrific- everyone remarked how juicy it was… Thanksgiving was a hit! This turkey breast along w the DUCK! omg I’m gonna hafta make duck more lol, the gravies and the stuffing cups – thanks so much Nagi for an awesome delicious feast 🤎🧡
Just finished cooking this! Used a thawed 3 lb butterball boneless breast…it took 3 and a half hours on low..placed it on a bed of celery and onions..lovely and juicy although nxt time I might pull it at 160 degrees cause it was throwing off major heat! Didn’t have enough drippings so supplemented with chicken stock.. Cheated a bit and instead of doing the butter flour roux for the gravy, just heated the drippings and stock then added some bisto which gave it a nice color…thank you Nagi! You make us look good😁
I’ve made this recipe twice. Once to try and the 2nd time on Thanksgiving Day for my family. It’s a winner! The seasoning is perfect and the turkey breast turns out moist and flavorful. I’m not going back to the traditional baked whole turkey.
This is probably a super dumb question… but my frozen turkey came in a salt water and thyme brine, should I wash is off or rinse it before applying your rub and cooking?
Hi Mac…if you read the notes above, it is explained how to deal with this:
“If it has been brined, no problems, just cut the salt in half. But if the surface has been pre-seasoned with another sort of rub, I’d suggest either scraping the rub off before adding my rub, or skip mine and just cook the turkey breast.“
I love this recipe! It’s become my got to. However, in the recipe notes you have written “4 kg / 8 lb: 6 – 7 hours on low (see 8 June ’17 report from reader Tony)” Finding the report from “Tony” you have to click back past about 20 pages of comments for this comment “Just FYI for others
out there, for my 8 lb, bone in breast it took 7 hours. As matter of fact it could have been shorter. I set my timer for 8 hrs, but checked it at 7 hrs with a meat thermometer and it was done. So next time I cook this I will check earlier” This could easily be incorporated into the notes instead of asking folks to click back that far. The whole point is you should check the temp before you think it’s going to be done and not to take the listed times as hard and fixed. Again, thank you for this recipe, but that little edit could’ve saved a lot of time looking for a comment from 7 years ago.
The turkey breast came out so juicy and perfect. The rub was the right amount of everything and it was absolutely delicious. Our turkey breast was about 3 lbs and it took 5 hours on low. Thank you so very much!
Did you use an instant pot. If so is the low setting adequate.
We will be trying this turkey slow cooker recipe for this upcoming Thanksgiving. Many of our family like dark meat. Can I put a couple of Turkey thighs in with the breast? I noted you mentioned cooking with a leg. Do you think that there anything we should change (time, temperature) when including the thighs? Thanks for your advise 🙂
Can I use this same recipe for a rolled turkey breast in the slow cooker?
First time making this and I made the mistake of removing the yarn that keeps the turkey together before baking! Did I already mess up?
I love this recipe. I make it a couple times a year with a pastured bird, which I believe is leaner. It is spectacular but I do put at least half of the rub mixture UNDER the skin. Then rub the the rest on top. I generally don’t have fresh thyme on hand so I add a tsp of dried thyme to the rub. I’ve even cooked it on high a few times (accidentally!) and it was very forgiving, particularly when then rub is under the skin.
Hello lovely lady,
I can’t believe I’m asking this question in September but we are looking at Christmas meat hampers and a 2kg turkey butterfly is included. I’ve done your slowcooker turkey crown for 5 years now and always works so well!!
Please can I have your thoughts on using a turkey butterfly this year?
Many thanks
This recipe is amazing!! It was great to come home to a tasty, moist, turkey. We ended up make Turkey sandwiches and it was just delicious. I have to say, I have not had a bad recipe from Nagi yet. I also cannot wait to use the juices in a Turkey soup. Thank you!!
Hi Nagi, Re making ahead. Can I apply the rub to the turkey the night before, keep in fridge overnight and place into the slow cooker next morning ?
Many thanks
Can I do the rub the night before ?
Has anyone tried this with a skinless Turkey breast?
I finally cooked a turkey breast I’ve had in my freezer for a while and am glad I came upon this recipe for the crockpot. It was moist and yummy! I did add a few butter pats under the skin for more flavor.