I wanted to try a slow cooker turkey. I do quite a lot of soups and pot roast in the slow cooker, so I'm very comfortable with it.
We have a few family members that aren't big turkey fans, so we also cooked a pre-seasoned tri-tip roast from costco and a full-size turkey added to that would have been too much. The breast is really my favorite part anyway, so I chose a nice 7 pound breast with bones.
This came out delicious!! I started it first thing in the morning, it cooked 7 hours and was so juicy and tender. Never has Thanksgiving turkey been so easy.
I saw this recipe from Mel's Kitchen and it was the basis for it, even though I changed it up a little. (I can't ever follow a recipe, I always have to change something) We decided not to do the gravy as in the recipe, we just strained out the veggies and herbs and served it as is. It was more of a nice broth. It was just right. We reserved the heavy gravy for the beef we were also making. Perfect!
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| I cut up all the veggies and cooked them until the onions were soft and translucent. |
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| Added the chicken broth and herbs and flour. (I used almond flour, since this was going to be a GF course) |
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| Poured it into the slow cooker. (this is going to be your gravy later) |
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Seasoned the turkey with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and placed on top of veggies.
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| I cooked for 1 hour on high, then 6 more on low, which was perfect for a 7 pound breast with bones. |
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| So here is where I dropped the ball. I forgot to get pictures of this brown, juicy turkey coming out of the crock pot. This has already had skin removed and half of it carved up. This is about an hour after we took it out. We also took all the drippings from the crock pot and strained out all the vegetables. We decided to serve the drippings au jus style and have a lighter gravy. We made a standard roux based gravy for the beef. |
Slow Cooker Turkey with no-fail gravy
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour or almond/coconut flour for GF
3 cups no-salt added or low-sodium chicken broth
1 package no salt chicken bouillon
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tablespoon dried
2 bay leaves
6-8 pound bone-in skin-on turkey breast
Salt and pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Directions
In a large, nonstick skillet melt the butter over medium
heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook for 8-10 minutes, until
the onion is translucent and the vegetables are lightly browned.
Stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes until the flour
coating the veggies turns golden. Whisk in 1 cup of the broth, working to
smooth out any lumps as it cooks and thickens.
Stir in the remaining broth and water. Add the thyme and
bay leaves.
Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Season the turkey
breast all over with poultry seasons, salt and pepper. Place the turkey in the
slow cooker (breast side down). Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours until the
internal temperature of the turkey breast reaches 165 degrees.
Carefully transfer the turkey breast to a cutting board (or
9X13-inch pan to catch any juices), tent with foil and let rest while preparing
the gravy.
Strain the liquid in the slow cooker into a saucepan. Let
it settle for 5 minutes or so and then skim the fat from the surface. Bring the
gravy to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until it is slightly
thickened. It won't be as thick as traditional gravy but will be silky and
slightly thick. If you'd like it thicker, simply whisk together a slurry of
cornstarch and cold water (a tablespoon or so of cornstarch in a couple
tablespoons of water) and stir the slurry into the gravy, simmering for 2-3
minutes.
Season the gravy with any additional salt and pepper, if
needed.
Carve the turkey and serve with the warm gravy.
Recipe adapted form MelsKitchenCafé.com
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