Every year, when Autumn starts creeping in, I'm always searching for different recipes and methods of cooking all of our holiday favorites. This year, my new favorite thing is cooking a boneless turkey breast in the slow cooker. Now, if you know me, you know about my love of slow cookers and the fact that I have an entire collection of them, (only 10, but who's counting?)
Anyway, I first tried this method with a tik tok Cranberry Turkey recipe, and I loved the method so much that I thought "ok now lets try this with your usual traditional herbs and spices." I mean, you just can't beat the aroma of a Thanksgiving turkey cooking all day, am I right?
The result was AMAZING! It's literally fall apart tender, flavorful and juicy as can be, and it absolutely smells and tastes like Thanksgiving. And the good news is, you can customize it for the amount of people you're serving. If you only have 3 or 4 people, you're good to go. If you have 6 or 7 people, just use a larger slow cooker and make two! And so forth. Oh! And here's the kicker: I wondered whether you even have to defrost the turkey, and guess what? You don't! You can literally take it out of the freezer, frozen solid, and throw it into the crock pot. Who knew? The only thawing I did was I held it under running COLD water until I could detach the frozen gravysickle packet. That was it! You do have to cook it for a longer stretch of time, but that seemed to be a worthwhile trade off. And it comes out exactly the same! Game changer.
Bonus: It also frees up your oven for all of your other casseroles and side dishes. Actually, come to think of it.. now that all the worry and stress about your turkey is sorted, what other side dishes are you gonna make??? Make lots, invite friends, and enjoy!
Anyway, I first tried this method with a tik tok Cranberry Turkey recipe, and I loved the method so much that I thought "ok now lets try this with your usual traditional herbs and spices." I mean, you just can't beat the aroma of a Thanksgiving turkey cooking all day, am I right?
The result was AMAZING! It's literally fall apart tender, flavorful and juicy as can be, and it absolutely smells and tastes like Thanksgiving. And the good news is, you can customize it for the amount of people you're serving. If you only have 3 or 4 people, you're good to go. If you have 6 or 7 people, just use a larger slow cooker and make two! And so forth. Oh! And here's the kicker: I wondered whether you even have to defrost the turkey, and guess what? You don't! You can literally take it out of the freezer, frozen solid, and throw it into the crock pot. Who knew? The only thawing I did was I held it under running COLD water until I could detach the frozen gravysickle packet. That was it! You do have to cook it for a longer stretch of time, but that seemed to be a worthwhile trade off. And it comes out exactly the same! Game changer.
Bonus: It also frees up your oven for all of your other casseroles and side dishes. Actually, come to think of it.. now that all the worry and stress about your turkey is sorted, what other side dishes are you gonna make??? Make lots, invite friends, and enjoy!
1 (3lb) Butterball frozen boneless turkey breast
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning blend
1/2 tsp ground sage
Salt and pepper to taste
4 pats of butter (about 1/2 stick)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning blend
1/2 tsp ground sage
Salt and pepper to taste
4 pats of butter (about 1/2 stick)
1/4 cup white wine
Simply throw all ingredients into a crock pot, leaving the webbed netting on the turkey breast.
Cover and set your slow cooker to low.
If your turkey breast is completely thawed, cook it for 6 hours.
If it's frozen, cook it for 8 hours.
Remove from slow cooker to a cutting board. Use scissors to remove the netting. Be careful! It's hot! Using a very sharp knife, slice into nice thick slices and serve.
For the gravy;
After removing the turkey from the crock pot, add a slurry made of 1/2 cup COLD water or chicken broth and a 1/4 cup flour to the slow cooker. Whisk to combine until it thickens.
If your turkey breast is completely thawed, cook it for 6 hours.
If it's frozen, cook it for 8 hours.
Remove from slow cooker to a cutting board. Use scissors to remove the netting. Be careful! It's hot! Using a very sharp knife, slice into nice thick slices and serve.
For the gravy;
After removing the turkey from the crock pot, add a slurry made of 1/2 cup COLD water or chicken broth and a 1/4 cup flour to the slow cooker. Whisk to combine until it thickens.
Pour gravy over everything!
Tips:
Gravy- Be careful not to add too much wine. Once I just eyeballed it and it came out tasting much too winey for me. I found that measuring 1/4 cup was just the right amount.
Seasoning- If you'd like to use fresh herbs instead of dry, go for it! You definitely can't go wrong with sage and thyme!
Slicing- I found that using a really sharp knife will help you to make cleaner slices. That sounds kind of obvious, but if your knife is dull, the meat will just fall apart instead of making nice pretty slices. Presentation is everything! Also, making thicker slices helps to that end as well!
And lastly, this recipe also works really well with a whole oven-stuffer roaster chicken. My biggest crockpot literally fits a whole 9 lb bird. Crazy, right? Just be sure to completely thaw it, remove the bundle from inside the cavity, rinse and dry it, then add a jar of chicken gravy to the listed recipe since it doesn't come with a gravy packet. Boom.
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