Instant Pot Turkey Breast – an Easy Recipe with Delicious Results!
I don’t know about you, but when you mention Thanksgiving Dinner, I don’t think of the word easy! I have a surprise for you – you can simplify Thanksgiving Dinner by following this Instant Pot Turkey Breast recipe from a frozen turkey breast with no advance thawing required! While the turkey breast cooks in the Instant Pot, you can work at preparing your side dishes.
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Introduction to Preparing a Turkey Breast in an Instant Pot
Do you dread cooking for the holidays? Trust me, we did too! It seemed like so much work! Thanks to this recipe, Thanksgiving Dinner has become much easier to prepare!
We do our holiday dinners with a turkey breast rather than a whole turkey. It gives us plenty for dinner and we have leftovers too.
What Size Instant Pot is Needed?
To make a 6.5 – 7.5 pound turkey breast, an 8 quart Instant Pot is the perfect size. My choice of Instant Pot is the Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer and Electric Pressure Cooker Combo with Multicooker Lids. You can fry/saute in it, steam, slow cook, pressure cook, dehydrate, roast, bake, air fry, and more – all in one appliance! There are two lids – the main lid you’ll use for most cooking, and the air fryer lid for air frying. This one appliance replaces so many small kitchen appliances!
There are other 8-quart Instant Pot models out there, but think about it – aren’t you better off getting the model that can do the most for you? I liked that I could eliminate so many other appliances by selecting this model – no more separate slow cooker, steamer, dehydrator, or air fryer taking up space in my kitchen!
Do you understand the difference between an Instant Pot and a crockpot? Here’s information to help you decide which one is best for you.
Do You Need to Thaw the Turkey Breast?
Did you know you can cook a frozen turkey breast in an Instant Pot? I told you Thanksgiving Dinner could be easy this year!
I remember my mom thawing a turkey in her refrigerator for days! It took up such a large part of her refrigerator that I remember her cutting back on how much we kept in there before a holiday meal was approaching.
When you cook a turkey breast in an Instant Pot, there’s no need to thaw it out completely before cooking! The only thing we do is thaw the turkey breast just enough to remove the turkey gravy packet. The turkey breast can be frozen when it goes into your Instant Pot!
Here’s How to Make a Frozen Turkey Breast in Your Instant Pot!
It doesn’t get any easier than this – here’s how to make your Instant Pot Frozen Turkey Breast and plenty of gravy for your turkey and sides.
Instant Pot Turkey Breast
Equipment
Ingredients
Instant Pot Turkey Breast Ingredients
- 7 lb turkey breast
- 1 cup chicken broth (from a Progresso 32 oz container)
- 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base
- 2 tsp Bell's All Natural Salt-Free Seasoning (poultry seasoning)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Turkey Gravy Ingredients
- 1 Turkey Gravy Packet (from in the turkey breast)
- Liquids (from in the Instant Pot after cooking)
- 3 cups chicken broth (the remainder of the Progresso 32 oz container)
- 1.5 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
Make the Instant Pot Turkey Breast
- Place the frozen turkey breast in hot water. Let it partially thaw so you can remove the turkey gravy packet from inside.
- Remove the packaging. If the turkey breast contains a gravy packet, remove it, rinse it, and place it into a bowl in your refrigerator (you'll use it after the turkey breast cooks to make the gravy).
- Place the chicken broth and the Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base into your Instant Pot, stirring to combine. Press the Saute button and then press the Start button. As soon as the broth mixture is boiling, press the Off button.
- Place the frozen (mostly) turkey breast into your Instant Pot. Turn so the liquid coats all sides. Then season with salt, black pepper, and Bell's All Natural Salt-Free Seasoning on all sides.
- Close your Instant Pot to seal it. Press the Pressure Cook Button (for the high setting) and adjust the timer with the Plus button until the timer shows 45 minutes. Press the Start button.
- Once the timer buzzer indicates that cooking is finished, allow the turkey breast to sit in the sealed Instant Pot for 20 minutes. This will natural release some of the pressure in the pot and the turkey breast will finish cooking.
- Do a quick release to get any remaining pressure out of the pot. Open the lid, and using a quick read thermometer, check the internal temperature in the turkey breast in multiple places. The turkey breast temperature should read 165 degrees. If it isn't at least 165, seal the pot again and pressure cook for 5 more minutes followed by 10 minutes of natural release and then quick-releasing the remaining pressure. Open the pot and check the temperature, repeating if necessary.
- Optional: if you want to brown the turkey skin, move the turkey onto a tray and brush the skin with olive oil. Set your oven to broil and place the turkey into the broiler until the skin looks crisp and is the color you like. Be careful not to overcook the turkey.
Make the Turkey Gravy in the Instant Pot
- Add the chicken broth and Better Than Bouillon Roasted Turkey Base into the Instant Pot. Stir in the turkey gravy packet that was inside the frozen turkey. Press Saute and allow the liquid to come to a boil.
- Make a cornstarch slurry on the side by whisking together the water and the cornstarch until smooth. Add this in slowly, a little at a time, mixing to combine. You may not need all of the mixture – just continue adding it in until your gravy is the desired thickness. Serve this over the turkey and side dishes (suggestions: mashed potatoes and stuffing).
Nutrition
Shopping for Your Instant Pot Turkey Breast Dinner
If there’s a Publix grocery store nearby, they currently have their Frozen Turkey Breasts on sale, buy one get one free, but only through October 16, 2024. They were regularly priced at $4.59 per pound in the store.
Here’s the shopping list for this recipe saved in Instacart to make shopping easier. Have the ingredients home delivered or scheduled for pick up at the store. You’ll see multiple stores with the ingredients listed – you can decide where to purchase based on the best prices. You may be able to save $10 when you click here and place your first Instacart order.
Let’s Talk About Side Dishes & Other Great Recipe Ideas
Here’s a great side dish to serve with your turkey breast: Sweet Potato Casserole! You can make that with your Thanksgiving Stuffing (Dressing) the day before. For dessert on the holidays, I always make Bread Pudding with Brandy Sauce – everyone raves about it! This year, I’m committed to Making Thanksgiving Dinner the Easy Way!
If you love cooking in your Instant Pot, I highly recommend this recipe: Beef & Guinness Stew. Remember how I said you can use the Instant Pot Duo Crisp for cooking in many different ways? Try Zesty Air Fried Lemon Chicken or Air Fried Chicken Tenderloins. If you like slow cooking or cooking in a crockpot, here are a few other great recipes: Cuban Pork Roast, Crockpot Chicken Creole, Crockpot Orange Chicken, or Crockpot Lasagna with Ground Beef.
Great recipe for moist and juicy turkey! You may need to cook it slightly longer in the Instant Pot if the turkey breast you get is larger than 6.5-7 pounds.