Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

RECIPE VIDEO above. I've tried a handful of other methods over the years. This has produced the juiciest turkey breast by far, without brining the breast in advance. Plus slow cooking is very forgiving so you don't need to be spot on with the cooking time. SCALE RECIPE by moving slider on Servings to adjust for different turkey weights. Complete your feast - browse the new Thanksgiving Recipe Index! 

Recipe by Nagi | RecipeTin Eats on November 23, 2019

Prep time: PT15M

Cook time: PT480M

Total time: PT495M

Rating

4.94 stars (329 reviews)

Keywords

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast, 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)
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
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

Cuisine

Christmas
Festive

Steps

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.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 163 g
Calories: 323 kcal
Carbohydrates: 2.6 g
Protein: 44.7 g
Fat: 13.8 g
Saturated Fat: 5.2 g
Cholesterol: 125 mg
Sodium: 521 mg
Unsaturated Fat: 8.6 g

Reviews

Julie LePage on 2026-03-03 (5 stars):
This was the best turkey breast I've ever made! The gravy is amazing!!!!! Thank you for this and all of your amazing recipes!
Michelle on 2026-02-17 (5 stars):
I made your crockpot turkey breast recipe last night. I had a bone in 8-pound turkey breast. I must tell you it came out absolutely delicious. From now on this is the only way I will make a turkey breast. My only concern is that my turkey breast, cooked on low the entire time, was fully cooked in 4 hours. I had to remove the bones in the front of the bird in order to fit it into a 7 qt crockpot. Could this have made the difference?
John on 2026-01-19 (4 stars):
Just a heads up if you haven't tried this recipie yet. Keep a close eye on the cooking process once you reach the 3.5 hour mark. I should have gone with my gut and checked this recipie out when I was home and able to monitor the cooking progress. I suspect that every slow cooker (like ovens) are different and the cooking temps vary greatly. I used a 6lb breast with the bones on low and had to run out. Was on a total of 4.5 hours when I got home and it was boiling in the juices (2.5 cups) and internal temp at 204 degrees. Dry as a bone and rubbery. Skipped the crisping process, made the gravy and after slicing the entire breast dumped the gravy on it and after cooling put in the fridge to try and rehydrate it. It actually worked quite well. Gave the recipie 4 stars. Couldn't ding it for the cooking issue and liked the flavor and ease. What I didn't like was not being able to monitor the cooking temp. Probably wouldn't do it in a slow cooker again for this reason.
Monamarie McCreary on 2026-01-09 (5 stars):
I think I need to test my slow cooker because it took 9 hours on low to cook! I was cooking it as part of meal prep for the week and it turned out juicy and delicious so the fact that it took longer than expected wasn't a problem. I'll try it again but next time I'll use the medium setting.
Edwina on 2025-12-25 (5 stars):
Great recipe. Had planned to cook the turkey another way and saw this. It worked out well.
Jenni on 2025-12-09 (5 stars):
Delicious! I used a whole turkey i got for free for working at BMW and cooked for about 8 hours. I also used minced garlic instead because it’s what i had already and put a can of chicken broth in the bottom of the crock pot. I skipped crisping the skin and did a quadruple batch of the rub under the skin and on top of it. So flavorful and the meat was falling off the bone. I sent my brother-in-law a link. Thank you so much for providing this recipe! God bless you!
Pete on 2025-12-03 (5 stars):
Just a heads up to others or future reference, you can skip as many pages as you want at a time by editing the page number in the last bit of the address. You do have to click it once to get that section to populate in the url tho. But yes you're correct, he just said check at 7 hours not 8😅
Southerngirlsue on 2025-12-02 (5 stars):
This is hands down the most delicious & moist turkey I have ever made or eaten! The turkey breast was a little over 9 lbs, fresh & bone in. The cook time - on low - was about 7 1/2 hours & perfect! Thank you Nagi!
Britt on 2025-12-01 (5 stars):
I was walking through my neighborhood Publix the Saturday after Thanksgiving and saw fresh turkey breasts reduced from $3.99/lb to $0.99/lb. I bought a 4 lb breast and decided to give the slow cooker method a try. Mine was ready in less than 5 hours. I probably should have checked it after 4 hours, but it was still more juicy than past ones I roasted. I only got a little more than one cup of liquid from it, so I made a half recipe of gravy. Thanks for this recipe!
Sandy on 2025-11-29 (5 stars):
The tenderest turkey I've ever made! I didn't use the rub because we don't eat the skin; I just used S&P. I used the onion & garlic to elevate the breast and added the juices to my make-ahead gravy. I had a 7+ pound bone-in turkey breast (which only just fit in the slow cooker) and set for low for 7 hours. I checked it at 6:45 and it was done. I think I overcooked it a little so next time I'll start checking at 5:45 for a similarly sized breast. But the texture! Oh my word -- it just melts in your mouth. I don't think I'll do turkey breast any other way in the future! Thanks for a great recipe, Nagi!
Kiki on 2025-11-28 (5 stars):
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this and share the recipe. My husband and I are not naturally talented in the kitchen. This helped us so much and it turned out delicious!
Sami on 2025-11-28 (5 stars):
This is my go to recipe and I have been using it for a few years. Never fails and is always a hit!
Nikkie on 2025-11-27 (5 stars):
This was absolutely delicious! The best turkey ever! I added celery and carrots and omitted the head of garlic (due to food sensitivity). I might use this rub on other roasts that I put in the slow cooker. The Turkey I used was a 3lb white and dark meat boneless roast and it cooked in about 4.5 hours. Can't wait to make it again!
Sandy on 2025-11-26 (5 stars):
Turkey turned out great. I thought the gravy was too garlicy. I will use half the garlic and add stocks of celery to levitate the turkey off bottom next time.
JanetW on 2025-11-25 (5 stars):
Absolutely delicious. I was blown away by just how tender and juicy this Turkey was. We were cutting it with forks. Thanks again, Nagi, for another great recipe.
Mimi Huffman on 2025-11-06 (5 stars):
Love this recipe! This is the only way I cook my turkey breasts. So delicious and moist. I don’t bother crisping the skin as I usually serve it cut up with the skin removed. The juices also make the best gravy. I usually put celery pieces, carrot, chunks, thyme, and onion chunks underneath. Have done it with and without the garlic. Just put one in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Can’t wait!
James on 2025-10-25 (5 stars):
Great recipe. Turned out delicious. Tender, and was easy to prepare. Will definitely repeat.