Crock Pot Turkey Breast with Cranberry
Enjoy turkey all year long, not just on Thanksgiving, with this flavorful Crock Pot Turkey with Cranberry recipe. It’s sweet and savory and so easy to make with only a few pantry ingredients.
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Don’t wait all year to enjoy a juicy turkey breast with cranberry sauce and gravy! It’s so easy to pop a small turkey breast into the crock pot and make it any time you’re feeling the craving. I love that these 3 pound turkeys are easily found in the grocery store all year long!
Turkey cooked in the crock pot is juicy and moist. No fear of dried turkey here! The gravy is incredible! It’s sweet, tart, and savory at the same time.
Try The Best Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Red Potatoes, The Creamiest Mac and Cheese, Green Bean Casserole, or Roasted Vegetable Salad to go alongside your turkey.
What you’ll need
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- CrockPot – 6 quart or larger
- 3 pound skinless, boneless turkey breast – find this in the frozen section of the grocery store. Be sure to thaw the turkey in the fridge a couple of days in advance.
- Butter– to smear over the turkey for extra juiciness
- Orange juice– to add a little sweetness, fruitiness, and a little acidity
- Whole cranberry sauce– this is next to the regular cranberry sauce in the canned food aisle. It’s marked” whole cranberries” on the can.
- Pure maple syrup– don’t use pancake syrup, it won’t taste the same. You can also use honey if you don’t have maple syrup. This just offsets the tart cranberries.
- Seasonings- sage, mustard powder, garlic powder, and 1 envelope of onion soup mix.
- Cornstarch and cold water– to thicken the gravy.
How to make it
Spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray or oil.
Add the thawed turkey to the crockpot, leave the netting on the turkey.
Tip! Leave the netting on the turkey (I accidently snipped mine). This helps the turkey to cook evenly and makes nicer slices later. After cooking remove the netting and discard. The netting is on the turkey meat under the packaging. Do not cook the turkey in the plastic packaging.
If you take the netting off, though, it’s not the end of the world! So don’t worry, your turkey will still be delicious.
Spread the butter over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle over the seasonings.
Add the orange juice, canned cranberries and maple syrup.
Cook on low 5 hours or high 3 hours.
Place the turkey on a serving plate. Remove the netting, discard. Cut the turkey breinto slices.
Strain the juices into a saucepan over medium high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and cold water to make a slurry and pour into the saucepan. Whisk together over medium high heat until the gravy is thickened.
Pour over the sliced turkey. Enjoy!
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Homemade onion soup mix
Don’t want to use Lipton onion soup mix? Make your own:
- 1/4 cup dried minced onions
- 2 teaspoons low sodium beef bullion powder or granules
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
FAQ’s
- I’m using a skinless, boneless turkey breast. You can use a bone-in breast, you may need to cook longer depending on your crock pot. Just check your turkey with a meat thermometer to ensure it cooked thoroughly before eating.
- 3 pound turkey breast will feed 2-4 people.
- The “netting” is on the turkey meat, it’s under the plastic packaging. Remove the plastic packaging before cooking. After cooking, remove the netting and discard.
- If you don’t want to use cranberry sauce you could try apple sauce, tart cherry jam or pineapple chutney.
- Replace maple syrup with honey
- Try pineapple juice or papaya juice in place of the orange juice.
- I’ve never cooked a frozen solid turkey breast, I’m just not a big fan of cooking frozen meats. However many commenters write that you can cook the turkey from frozen for 6-8 hours on low- I cannot confirm if this works. If cooking from frozen just use a meat thermometer to ensure the turkey is at internal temp 165°F before eating.
If you love crockpot recipes, check out my Crock Pot E-Cookbook HERE. It’s filled with 42 delicious and easy slow cooker recipes from dips to soups, dinner to dessert!
More Crock Pot Recipes
- Beef Ragu
- Crock Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches
- Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Meatballs
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Beef and Broccoli
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Crock Pot Turkey Breast with Cranberry sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pound boneless, skinless frozen turkey breast thawed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 14 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce sub tart cherry jam, applesauce, or pineapple chutney
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup sub honey
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp ground mustard powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 ounce envelope onion soup mix
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the thawed turkey breast to the crockpot, leave the netting on the turkey.
- Spread the butter over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle over the seasonings.
- Add the orange juice, canned cranberries and maple syrup.
- Cook on low 5 hours or high 3 hours.
- Place the turkey on a serving plate. Remove the netting. Cut into slices.
- Strain the juices into a saucepan over medium high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and cold water to make a slurry and pour into the saucepan. Whisk together over medium high heat until the gravy is thickened.
- Pour over the sliced turkey.
Notes
-
- I’m using a skinless, boneless turkey breast. You can use a bone-in breast, you may need to cook longer depending on your crock pot. Just check your turkey with a meat thermometer to ensure it cooked thoroughly before eating.
- Thaw your turkey a couple of days in the fridge beforehand.
-
- 3 pound turkey breast will feed 2-4 people.
-
- The “netting” is on the turkey meat, it’s under the plastic packaging. Remove the plastic packaging before cooking. After cooking, remove the netting and discard.
-
- If you don’t want to use cranberry sauce you could try apple sauce, tart cherry jam or pineapple chutney.
-
- Replace maple syrup with honey
- Try pineapple juice or papaya juice in place of the orange juice.
-
- I’ve never cooked a frozen solid turkey breast, I’m just not a big fan of cooking frozen meats. However many commenters write that you can cook the turkey from frozen for 6-8 hours on low- I cannot confirm if this works. If cooking from frozen just use a meat thermometer to ensure the turkey is at internal temp 165°F before eating.
Could I use a bone in turkey breast?
Sounds delicious!!!
Yes, you might need a longer cook time, just check the turkey to make sure its 165 degrees F internal temperature before eating.
You did not specify, but I think just from looking at it, I can probably answer my own question… It looks like you’re using the DEBONED turkey breast? Is that correct? Because that’s usually why there is a net… Don’t want to ask a silly question, but just trying to specify my shopping list!
Yes, the turkey breasts are skinless and boneless. The 3 pound turkey breasts are always boneless. If you got bone-in it would be around 5 pounds.
Did you use any chicken broth? I thought I saw some in the video but I may be mixing yours with another I watched the same day. I like the way yours looks so delicious.
Hi, there is not any chicken broth in the recipe 🙂
hi! this looks wonderful! Can it be done in a dutch oven?
Thanks, Cat
You can cook it in a dutch oven in the oven for 1.5-2 hours at 350 degrees. It’s about 20 minutes per pound of turkey.
If you use a bone -in turkey around 6 lbs. what would you say cook time would be for this recipe?
Hi, cook on low for 6 or 7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Just check it with a meat thermometer for doneness.
I accidentally bought the jellied cranberry sauce is that going to ruin the recipe?
That’s ok! You can use the jellied kind.
Love this recipe. My skinless, boneless turkey breast was 4 lbs so I cooked it a little longer on low. I accidentally bought the low sodium beef bullion that was liquid but mixed it with the other dry ingredients to make my own onion soup and it was fantastic. Love this recipe and will make it again!
So happy it turned out, thank you for sharing!
Not sure if you realize this, but in the photo of the ingredients to be used, the maple syrup is not included.
I have your turkey in the slow cooker as I write this I can’t wait! Thank you so very much
Yes, it did not make it to the picture 🙂 Hope you love it!
Your turkey recipe is in the crockpot as we speak. I’m really looking forward to trying it. ( BTW: In the photo of your ingredients, the maple syrup is not included) ❤️
Yes, it did not make it to the picture 🙂 Hope you love it!
I am
Going to make it for the second time. ❤️
yesss love that 🙂
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. I made it for the first time tonight, and it was absolutely delicious! I started with a frozen (bone-in) whole turkey breast… thawed it, and cut the breast meat off the bone, creating 2 whole breast filets, each about the size of a small london broil. I placed them side by side in the bottom of the crock pot, and followed the rest of the recipe exactly as written. I loved every bite – the turkey was perfectly cooked, and the gravy was DIVINE. I will definitely make this again! (Bonus – I used the breast bone to make a separate batch of turkey stock as a gravy starter for Thanksgiving.)
That sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Can you freeze the left over ? Or make it a day before?
You could freeze or refrigerate the leftovers.
Thanks so much for posting this delicious recipe! Instead of a whole roasted turkey, I wanted to make just a turkey breast for Thanksgiving this year, so I did a test run before the holiday. Wow! It’s terrific! I do want to double the recipe for the holiday, so I’m debating on putting two breasts in the crock pot, and doubling the ingredients, or making it two separate times.
What would you advise?….thank you.
So happy to hear that! It’s perfect for a smaller gathering. 🙂 You could definitely double the recipe- I would say to keep the seasonings and cranberry sauce the same but add an additional 1/2 cup of OJ. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Does the gravy for one recipe make enough gravy for two 3lb. Breasts if I double it? Hope that makes sense.
Yes, you can add chicken stock to the gravy if it doesn’t make enough
I made this last night with a boneless turkey breast roast. It was absolutely delicious and I will definitely make it again. No dry turkey in this recipe! And for those worried about it being sweet because of the maple syrup – it’s not sweet at all! The gravy was so good! I am definitely going to make this on Thanksgiving with two turkey breast roasts. No one at my house eats the dark meat so I might as well make just what they like.
So happy it was a winner! Thank you for sharing. Happy Thanksgiving!
When you strain the juices for the gravy do you discard the cranberries and everything else? And only keep the juices?or do you put the discarded ingredients over the turkey slices?
You can choose to keep the cranberries if you’d like- it’s totally up to you and your taste. I personally just keep the juices because I’m not a fan of whole cranberries.
Why download a browser just to print a “free” recipe. Disappointed.
Hi, there’s nothing to download. You can click the “print recipe” at the very top of the page under the title to print right away, or go to the very bottom of the post to the recipe card and click print on the recipe card.
Love this recipe, easy to make and exactly the amount for my husband and myself, I put a 1/4 cup of white wine as well, and delicious. Thank you Steph.
oh yum, great idea! Thank you for sharing!
Forgot my comment of download. I’m a moron apparently lol. The recipe is BOMB!!! So Delicious!!! My 10 yo said “Dad! Make the turkey like this from now on!” Thumbs up and sharing
That’s a huge win! So happy to hear! Happy Thanksgiving
This turkey was amazing! I had to make it in the oven (my crockpot stopped working), but it was delicious, moist, flavorful and the gravy was outstanding!
so happy! Thank you for sharing!
The turkey was so tender and delicious but, unfortunately, we did not care for the sauce at all. Sorry!