Slow Cooker Turkey Breast with Gravy Recipe

The hardest part about roasting a turkey is keeping the breast meat drying out. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix if you’re serving a small crowd: Prep your turkey breast in the slow cooker for wonderfully moist and tender white meat.

This recipe shares everything you need to know about slow cooking a perfect turkey breast. And, bonus, you’ll learn how to make a quick, no-fail gravy that’ll be a go-to anytime you make mashed potatoes.

Ingredients for slow cooked turkey breast and gravy

There are three components to this dish: turkey breast, a spice rub, and gravy. Here are the ingredients you need for each:

• 2 lb thawed, boneless turkey breast
• 1 head of garlic, halved
• 1 yellow onion, halved
• 5 sprigs of thyme

Spice Rub

• 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 grinds of fresh black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Gravy

• Turkey drippings
• 1 cup (or less) chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup flour
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Substitutions

You know I’m all about substituting ingredients to keep my grocery bill low. I’d much rather use something I already have than buy another ingredient.

Broth

The broth in this recipe supplements cooking liquid from the slow cooker. You need a total of 2 cups to make the gravy, but the turkey breast probably only generates about 1 cup or a little more. You can either substitute any kind of broth you’d like or make less gravy.

Vegetable, beef, or chicken broth will work well, but each imparts a slightly different flavor. You could also use bouillon to make broth. Generally, bouillon produces a saltier broth, so keep that in mind. If you’re sensitive to salt flavor, the bouillon isn’t a good option.

Butter

You can swap in olive oil if you don’t have butter or prefer to go dairy-free. You could also use ghee, which is clarified butter.

Flour

The last time I made this, I was out of white flour, so I used wheat flour instead. I didn’t notice any taste difference at all.

How to slow cook a turkey breast

The process for slow cooking a turkey breast is simple. Season the turkey, set it in the slow cooker with onions and garlic, and wait.

1. Season the turkey breast

This recipe relies on a simple spice rub made from pantry ingredients. Mix onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and fresh ground black pepper in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil to form thick paste.

Next, remove the packaging from the turkey breast. Pat the breast pieces dry with paper towels. This helps the spice rub stick to the meat. Now, using your hands, cover the breast pieces with the spice paste.

Before popping the turkey breast pieces in the slow cooker, cut a yellow onion and a head of garlic in half. Place both in the slow cooker, along with a sprig of thyme.

You’ll put the turkey breast pieces on top of the onions and garlic, so they’re elevated slightly from the bottom of the cooker.

2. Cook the turkey breast

Secure the lid on the slow cooker and set it on low for 6 hours. When the timer rings, check the turkey’s temperature with a meat thermometer. Your target here is 165°F or 74°C. If you’ve reached that mark, remove the turkey from the cooker and let it rest.

3. Make the gravy

Using a fine-mesh strainer, transfer the turkey drippings from the cooker into measuring cup. If you have a wide-mouth measurer and a small strainer, you can do this in one step. Otherwise, you may have to strain into a bowl, and then pour the drippings into the measuring cup.

If the drippings measure less than 2 cups, make up the difference with chicken broth.

Now slice 4 tablespoons off a stick of butter and place it in a medium saucepan. Melt the butter over low-medium heat. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup flour as you whisk. Keep whisking until the butter and flour form a smooth paste.

Continue to whisk as you add the turkey drippings and chicken broth, a little at a time. The gravy will gradually thicken as it comes to a slow, rolling boil. Give the gravy a taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. You can also optionally add more fresh thyme.

Once it reaches your desired consistency, turn off the heat, slice the turkey breast, and serve the meat with gravy on top.

What to serve with slow cooker turkey breast

Mashed potatoes are an obvious companion to slow cooker turkey breast. You could easily make garlic mashed potatoes, too, since you have an entire head of slow cooked garlic at the bottom of your slow cooker.

Other simple side dish ideas for turkey breast include:

• Sausage and herb stuffing
• Roasted green beans
• Grilled sweet potatoes
• Cornbread
• Mac and cheese

As for wine to serve with turkey breast, try chardonnay for white wine drinkers or pinot noir for red wine drinkers. If you want to split the difference, a dry rosé would work nicely, too.