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When I first heard you could roast a turkey breast — bone-in and all — in a slow cooker, I was more than a little skeptical. I’ve tried my fair share of Pinterest DIYs and life hacks touted online to know that at best, most are “roughly” accurate. As in, technically they work, but the end result is just different enough that it may not be what you want.
Prime example: Baking bread in a slow cooker. If you’re expecting a perfectly crusty loaf of sourdough, hit the bakery instead. If you’re looking for a doughy bread that’s technically bread, go for it!
So, when I placed a frozen turkey breast in the slow cooker, I didn’t have high hopes. I patted the turkey down, then rubbed the skin with oil, salt and pepper, and placed it in the Crockpot with chicken broth and aromatics. After the first few hours of cooking, it didn’t look too appetizing:
Pretty pasty, right? But I held out hope (and kept a tab open for Seamless, just in case). After 8 hours, though, the entire apartment smelled like Thanksgiving, and I had the juiciest turkey I’d ever tasted.
The turkey pretty much falls off the bone at this point, so there’s no need to bother carving. You can use tongs and grab whatever you want. The extra broth and trimmings could be used to make a basic gravy, or you could skim out the bones and turn the leftovers into turkey soup.
The caveat: Only the skin of the turkey that hasn’t been submerged in broth will get crispy, but otherwise, it’s incredible.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 1 handful baby carrots
- 1 frozen turkey breast
- Vegetable oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 cans low-sodium chicken broth (14 ounces each)
- 3 springs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Place the onion, celery and carrots in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Pat the turkey dry using paper towels, then rub with vegetable oil and season with salt, pepper and 1 tsp garlic powder. Place turkey in the slow cooker. Pour the chicken broth around the turkey in the slow cooker. Add the remaining garlic powder to the broth, as well as the fresh thyme.
