Crockpot Turkey Breast and Gravy
Crockpot Turkey Breast with Gravy is a comforting classic dish and family favorite. The perfect way to feed a small group for Thanksgiving, or make a tasty dinner for your family.
Turkey can be intimidating, since you do not want to dry it out, or ruin it, and it is often too big for the average family to eat. But this method of cooking the turkey in a slow cooker is the perfect solution to having a traditional meal for Thanksgiving, with less mess, less stress, and less food. It is easy, turns out juicy and delicious, and only requires a few minutes of hands on time.
This makes for a great Sunday family meal too.
Let the crockpot do all the work, cooking the tender turkey breast to perfection. It is easy and simple to prepare the turkey with all the flavor, and half the hassle. Serve with corn casserole, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole for a classic feast.
How to Make Slow Cooker Turkey Breast?
Making a turkey breast in the slow cooker is a lot easier than you think and only requires a few simple steps:
- Thaw the turkey.
- Season the turkey
- Cook.
- Broil to crisp skin
- Slice and serve.
Thaw
The best way to thaw your turkey breast is in the fridge. You will want to allow for 1-2 days for it to be completely thawed.
If you need a faster method you can immerse it in cold water, but keep an eye on it, as you do not want to allow bacteria to grow, so make sure the temperature of the water stays cold.
Season
Once it is thawed and you are ready to cook it, you want to season it so you get a really flavorful breast. The best way to do this is:
- Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- Mix up your seasonings and melt your butter
- Rub the turkey down with the melted butter and seasonings. To do this you will want to lift the skin up and pour melted butter and seasoning mixture over the breast, and on the exterior of the skin as well.
Cook
Then you can put it in the slow cooker.
- Spray a crock pot with nonstick spray to avoid sticking and for easier clean up.
Because I love a flavorful gravy, I will add an onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to the slow cooker. Not only does this result in a more flavorful turkey breast, but makes a nice base for your gravy.
Place the turkey breast, BREAST DOWN on top of the vegetables, but not submerged in the liquid.
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour and then low for 5-7 hours or until the turkey’s internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
NOTE: It is very important to use a meat thermometer to make sure your turkey is cooked to the right temp. If you cook under 165 degrees F you will get sick, and if you go over it will dry out the breast. It is worth the $15 or so to invest in a meat thermometer.
Broil
Once you have reached the desired temperature you will want to remove the turkey from the crockpot and place it on a baking sheet, breast up.
Broil until skin is crispy and golden brown, approximately 3-5 minutes
Slice and Serve
Remove from oven, and remove the wishbone all other bones. Take the large pieces of meat and slice against the grain them to serve.
Crock Pot Turkey Breast Tips:
- Ready to Cook: You will want to make sure that your turkey is thawed completely. Most turkey breasts are frozen when you purchase them. You will want to plan ahead and purchase your turkey breast a few days ahead of time.
- To Thaw: Place your turkey breast in the refrigerator, let it defrost for about 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey. The breast will thaw far more quickly than a whole turkey, so a day ahead should be just fine.
- Quick Thaw: Place your turkey breast in a bath of cold water and change the water every 30 minutes until it is thawed. It is very important to watch over your turkey so you do not let bacteria grow on it during this time.
- Crispy Turkey: After the turkey comes out of the slow cooker, it gets broiled for a few minutes to get the skin crispy and golden brown. This is an important step for getting that crispy skin, so don’t skip it. But keep a close eye as it can go from golden and crispy to burnt quickly under a broiler.
- Slow Cooker: A larger slow cooker (6QT) and even an oval shape slow cooker would be best to cook a turkey breast. Depending on the size and shape of your turkey breast a standard, round slow cooker may not be big enough for cooking.
- Cooking Time: It is best to use the low setting for a slow cooker turkey breast recipe to prevent the meat from drying out. And use a meat thermometer to check the temp of the breast after a few hours, and every 30 minutes near the end of the cooking time to insure you do not overcook the turkey breast.
- Seasoning: Blend paprika, pepper, dry mustard, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, fresh thyme and kosher salt together. When combined with the butter and placed under the skin you get a beautifully seasoned turkey breast with awesome flavor.
How Much Turkey Do You Need Per Person?
This is a great question to ask, as you want to make sure you have plenty of turkey for each person at your dinner table.
With a whole bird, the rule of thumb is 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person. But there are lots of bones and parts that are inedible, and this also accounts for having a little leftovers for each person.
With a turkey breast, the majority of the weight is the meat, so you can plan on one pound of turkey per person. And assuming you have some kids, and some adults, this should leave you plenty for serving, as well as some for leftovers.
The average weight of a turkey breast is 4-8 pounds. So a crock pot turkey breast is perfect for a small gathering for Thanksgiving.
How Long Does it Take to Cook A Turkey In A Slow Cooker?
How long it takes to cook depends on a few factors:
- The size of the turkey breast.
- The heat consistency of your slow cooker.
- How well it is covered.
Depending on the size of the turkey breast, a covered slow cooker will cook a turkey breast in 5 to 7 hours! But remember, you only want to cook it until the turkey’s internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Make Turkey Gravy?
What is turkey without gravy? Well the wonderful thing about this turkey breast recipe is it accounts for the desire to have gravy for your mashed potatoes, and stuffing, etc. so once you pull the turkey out of the crockpot you can use the drippings to make a beautiful turkey gravy.
Here is what you do:
- Strain everything from the crockpot out into a large bowl.
- You should have about 2 cups of liquid.
- In a large saucepan, add 4 tablespoons butter and melt.
- Whisking constantly, add in 4 tablespoons white flour, a thick paste should form.
- Continue whisking, and gradually add in the strained liquid from the crockpot.
- Whisk until desired thickness is reached.
- Taste the gravy, and adjust seasoning with added salt, pepper, and fresh herbs as needed.
- Serve warm with the turkey.
It is honestly that easy, and oh so tasty. The beautiful thing is, you can totally taste it and adjust the seasonings to meet your preference. My husband, for example, likes a salty gravy, and I like mine to have plenty of herbs.
What should I serve with Crockpot Turkey breast?
- Sausage Stuffing
- Honey Braised Carrots
- Apple Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
- Cranberry Jello Salad
- Green Bean Casserole
- Cornbread Dressing
Video for How to Make Crock Pot Turkey

CrockPot Turkey Breast and Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 (5-6 poundbone-in turkey breast completely thawed
- 2 Tbsp Butter melted
- 6 stalks celery cut into 3 inch segments
- 2 yellow onions quartered
- 4 large carrots peeled cut into 2 inch long chunks
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup dry white wine or replace with another ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons good olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Gravy:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Pan drippings
- 4 Tbs All-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Additional Fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thymto taste
Instructions
- Thaw your turkey breast in the fridge, usually 1-2 days is required.
- Pat the turkey down with paper towels to dry off the exterior, set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine paprika, pepper, dry mustard, rosemary, sage, thyme, and salt.
- Melt 2 Tbs of butter.
- Gently lift the skin off the turkey breast, and add 2 Tbs of butter under the skin, as well as half the seasoning. Rub it around to evenly coat.
- Then, rub the turkey breast skin exterior with olive oil, and sprinkle remaining seasonings over it. Set aside
- Spray a 5 Qt or larger crock pot with nonstick spray.
- Chop onion into large chunks, carrots into 2 inch chunks, and celery into 3-4 inch long pieces, peel garlic
- Place the celery, onions, garlic, and carrots at the bottom of the slow cooker, and pour your chicken broth and dry white wine, and lemon juice into the cooker.
- Place the turkey breast, BREAST DOWN on top of the vegetables, but not submerged in the liquid.
- Cover the crockpot and cook on high for 1 hour and then low for 5-7 hours or until the turkey's internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Remove the turkey from the crockpot and place it on a baking sheet, breast up.
- Broil until skin is crispy and golden brown, approximately 5 minutes
- Remove from oven, and remove the wishbone all other bones. Take the large pieces of meat and slice against the grain them to serve.
Gravy:
- Strain everything from the crockpot out into a large bowl.
You should have about 2 cups of liquid. - In a large saucepan, add 4 tablespoons butter and melt.
- Whisking constantly, add in 4 tablespoons white flour, a thick paste should form.
- Continue whisking, and gradually add in the strained liquid from the crockpot.
Whisk until desired thickness is reached. - Taste the gravy, and adjust seasoning with added salt, pepper, and fresh herbs as needed.
Serve warm with the turkey.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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