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My easy slow cooker turkey breast recipe is the best way to prepare a boneless breast for family dinner or Thanksgiving dinner.

Boneless turkey breast roast sliced and served on a white plate on the dinner table.

When you don’t want to make a whole bird during the holiday season, making a turkey breast in the slow cooker is the easiest way to prepare one. All you have to do is add the simple ingredients to your slow cooker, set the timer and it comes out perfect every time.

While the cooking time is longer than oven roasting, using a crockpot saves oven space and the turkey meat turns out so tender and full of delicious flavors! The best part is that you never get dry turkey when you use a slow cooker!

If you have a smaller crowd for dinner this year, everyone will love this crockpot turkey breast recipe. It’s truly the best turkey dinner and I can’t wait to hear how much your guests loved their turkey dinner.

Ingredients

A boneless turkey breast roast, brown onion, bulb of garlic and cup of water on a wood table.

3-pound boneless turkey breast roast (pre-seasoned)
1 medium onion
1 bulb of garlic
1 cup of water or turkey broth

Equipment

Knife
Cutting board
Slow cooker
Instant read thermometer

By the Numbers: How to Slow Cook a Turkey Breast Roast

Follow these simple step by step instructions to learn how to make the best slow cooker turkey breast roast.

Step 1: Add Onion and Garlic.

Take your onion and cut it in half, then cut each half into strips. Add the sliced onion to the bottom of the slow cooker along with the cloves from one bulb of garlic.

Sliced onion and garlic cloves in the bottom of a slow cooker.

Pro tip: Use a crockpot liner to make cleanup easier!

Step 2: Add Roast and Water.

Next, add your 3-pound turkey roast and one cup of water to your slow cooker. Do not remove the netting until after cooking or the roast could fall apart.

Seasoned boneless turkey roast with netting set on top of onions and garlic in a slow cooker.

Step 3: Slow Cook Turkey Breast.

After all of your ingredients are added to your slow cooker, set it to cook on Low for 4 hours. Keep an eye on it as it may take anywhere from 3-4 hours to fully cook. When done, the internal temperature of the roast should be 170˚ F on an instant read thermometer.

Fully cooked boneless turkey roast resting in the slow cooker.

Step 4: Serve Turkey Roast.

Once your turkey roast has reached a safe internal temperature, you can remove it from your slow cooker and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes. Remove the netting before slicing, then serve it along with your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes.

Boneless turkey breast roast resting on cutting board next to a slow cooker.

Tips for Making Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Answers to all of your questions about making juicy turkey breast in your slow cooker, including tips and serving ideas.

Where to buy seasoned turkey breast roast

While you can usually find them at the grocery store, I got my roast from Perdue Farms. It is seriously the best turkey roast I’ve cooked before!

When I sliced into it, I couldn’t believe how juicy it was! It literally squirted juice everywhere. Normally my family doesn’t love turkey, but they all raved about this roast!

If the Perdue Farms Turkey Roast is sold out, check out my post on where to buy a Thanksgiving turkey for more shopping ideas.

Roast that’s not pre-seasoned

If your roast didn’t come pre-seasoned, you’ll want to season it before slow cooking. Here’s the spice rub I typically use:

1 tablespoon of homemade poultry seasoning (store bought is fine too)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of black pepper

Different size turkey breast

If your turkey breast weighs more or less than 3 pounds, you will need to adjust the cook time. For example, a 2-pound roast should take about 3 hours and a 4-pound roast should take about 5 hours.

Bone-in turkey breast

You can also cook a bone-in turkey breast in your slow cooker, although the cooking time will be longer. Most bone-in breasts slow cook in 6-7 hours. However, I personally prefer to cook bone-in breasts in the oven using my popular Oven Roasted Turkey Breast recipe.

Frozen turkey breast

If you forgot to defrost your turkey breast, you cannot cook it frozen in a slow cooker. The inside of the roast won’t heat up quickly enough, so it’s not safe. If you have an Instant Pot, you can cook your frozen turkey breast in there though!

How to get crispy skin

If you have a skin-on turkey breast and prefer your turkey skin to be crispy, you can put your roast into the air fryer or broiler for a few minutes after it’s done cooking. It’s an easy way to crisp the skin right up.

What to do with pan drippings

When you slow cook turkey roasts, there tends to be quite a bit of liquid leftover. I like to make flavorful gravy with my turkey drippings…. It’s seriously the best gravy! Plus it’s super easy to make Gluten Free Turkey Gravy with my simple recipe.

You can use the gravy to give your turkey extra flavor and it’s amazing with mashed potatoes too!

Best side dishes for turkey

Since crock pot turkey breast is so hands-off to make, you can make your favorite sides while your main dish is cooking and finish them up while the turkey rests!

Turkey breast served with ham, mashed potatoes and green bean almondine.

Here some of favorite sides:

Storage tips

Leftover turkey can last for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also freeze cooked turkey breast meat for 2-3 months.

Leftover ideas

You can substitute turkey for chicken in most recipes. Here are a few of my favorite leftover turkey recipes:

And if you’re looking for an amazing whole turkey recipe, try my Herb Roasted Turkey Recipe (made with fresh herbs!)

Slow cooker turkey breast sliced and served on a white plate.

Slow Cooker Boneless Turkey Breast Recipe

This easy recipe will show you how to make the best turkey breast with great flavor and juicy meat in a slow cooker. It will become your favorite way to make it the first time you try this delicious slow cooker recipe.

4.67 from 6 votes

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 4

Total Time: 4 10

Recipe Servings: 6

Ingredients

3- pound boneless turkey breast roast - pre-seasoned
1 onion - cut in half and sliced
1 bulb garlic - peeled
1 cup water - or turkey broth or chicken broth

Equipment

Knife
Cutting Board
Slow cooker
Meat thermometer

Instructions

Place sliced onion and garlic cloves in the bottom of the crockpot.
Place turkey breast roast on top of the onions (with the netting still on) and pour one cup of water into your slow cooker.
Turn your slow cooker onto the Low setting and cook for 3-4 hours. Check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. It’s done when the internal temperature of the roast reaches 170˚ F.
When done, remove the roast and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Remove the netting before slicing and serving with your favorite sides.