Instant Pot Turkey Breast w/delicious homemade gravy is moist and tender and cooks in under an hour in the pressure cooker. Low carb and gluten free.
Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy
In no time at all, you can cook up a complete Thanksgiving dinner right in your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
Make sure to start out your Holiday meal with my refreshing Pressure Cooker Cranberry Spritzers.
The Instant Pot Turkey Breast is succulent and tender and oh soooo, delicioso!
A good Gravy starts with a good Stock. Under the Turkey, cooking at the same time, is a Vegetable Stock with Turkey drippings.
This Homemade Stock will be turned into a rich and delicious Homemade Gravy. Trust me on this, you are going to want to make enough to have a lot of leftovers. Keep scrolling….
Air Fryer Thanksgiving Turkey Croquettes
My Air Fryer Turkey Croquettes recipe will knock your socks off and leave you speechless!
They are super easy to make and so good, your taste buds are going to want more and more and more and more…………………………
Cast of Ingredients for Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy
As with most Full-bodied Stocks and Bone Broths, Vegetables and Seasonings are added.
Jump to Section
Stock Ingredients
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Ginger
- Peppercorns
- Bay Leaf
- Kosher Salt
When the Instant Pot Turkey Breast is finished cooking and resting, the Homemade Stock will be used to make the Gravy right in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
If you want to enhance the Gravy, instead of adding plain Water to the cooking pot, add in a little Better than Bouillon Turkey Base. For a deeper Vegetable taste, add in a bit of Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base.
For even a greater depth of flavor, use a little Marsala Wine or a Dry White Wine to deglaze the cooking pot.
Think about the wonderful flavor in my Pressure Cooker Chicken Marsala and my Pressure Cooker Chicken Mushroom Marsala Soup.
My Pressure Cooker Wild Mushroom Risotto and Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Risotto recipes, both use White Wine, which considerably enhances the flavor and overall experience. Either of those Risottos will make a wonderful side dish for this Instant Pot Turkey Breast dinner.
Season the Turkey Breast
Season the Turkey Well
If there are seasonings that you generally use and love, go a head and massage them into the Turkey Breast. Bell’s Turkey Seasoning is always nice to use, when you don’t feel like pulling out multiple spices. It’s well balanced and quite good.
I love to use Potato Starch in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker to protect the poultry, especially the White Meat.
Plus, you’ll get a nice crust on the Turkey, which adds more flavor to the Stock.
Let the Skin Brown for a Few Minutes
This is an optional step, but will add ton and tons of roasted flavor to the Gravy. Place the Turkey into the cooking pot and let it brown for just a few minutes. The flavor of the Turkey, will be the same whether you brown it or not. This step is simple to add better flavor to the Homemade Turkey Gravy.
What you see in the cooking pot, is all flavor. Making your very own Turkey Gravy from scratch is ridiculously easy and I bet you won’t ever buy a Turkey Gravy Mix or a jar Turkey Gravy again. Although if you are in a hurry, the Pioneer Brand is what I suggest.
You’ll be able to grab the Turkey Breast by the bone and pull it out of the pot, as it will be still be quite cold.
Deglaze the Cooking Pot with Wine and Broth
How to Deglaze Instant Pot Turkey Breast Cooking Pot
- Wine and chicken broth can be used to deglaze the pot for Instant Pot Turkey Breast recipe.
- When the liquid hits the hot pot, it will begin to release the stuck on brown bits (“Fond”) stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Using a good, heat resistant spatula is helpful to scrape the bottom of the pot and loosen up all that delicious fond.
- As a result, if you deglaze with the wine, by the time the pot is deglazed, most of the alcohol should have a chance to burn off.
Use a Spatula to Scrape the Bottom of the Pot
The fond easily releases and nothing is stuck. The Fond will mix with the cooking liquid.
The Gravy is going to be amazing!
Add in all the Vegetables and Peppercorns
Tips for Delicious Instant Pot Turkey Gravy.
- Whole Multicolored Peppercorns add great flavor to gravy.
- Adding vegetables will add so much flavor to the Gravy. If you use veggies, you don’t really need to also use the Vegetable Base. It’s like a mini Homemade Bone Broth, although the cook time is considerably less.
- And there aren’t many Bones, but, but, but…really, it’s a great Vegetable Stock. My bones did crumble, so, good flavor was infused!
The flavor of this Gravy is going to be more fabulous, then just Turkey drippings alone.
Lower the Turkey into the Pot, using a Trivet
This nice and browned Turkey Skin, will help keep the Turkey Meat moist, as it cooks. Make sure you cook the Turkey, Breast side down, so that the juice collects in the cavity and seeps into the Meat.
Be careful not to rip the skin off while Browning. Since I neglected to snap a photo of the Turkey browning, I’m showing you here.
Flip it over to cook, so that the ribs are on the top. There is a lot of flavor in the bones and you want that to drip into the Turkey. I also shoved some butter under the skin and put a little in the cavity.
Another plus for using the Pressure Cooker to cook a Turkey Breast, that there is no need to waste your money or time brining the Turkey. The enclosed chamber uses steam to cook, so all the yummy flavors from the Vegetables and Seasonings will infuse right into the Turkey and keep is very moist and tender.
If you cook your Turkey in the Oven or Air Fryer, then by all means, pick up this Brine Mix and brine the Turkey. That being said, if you want to cook a whole Turkey, the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker, really is not the way to go. I suggest using the Oven, the Air Fryer or a Deep Fat Turkey Fryer.
Strain the Stock and Skim the Fat
Carefully remove the Turkey Breast to a Serving Platter and cover it, so that the juice will redistribute.
You never want to cut into the Meat right away, or the juice will flow right out.
Strain out all the solids from the Stock. I have an extra cooking pot, so I just poured the Stock through this Stainless Steel Strainer and into my extra cooking pot.
Then skim the fat off the top either with a spoon or with a Fat Separator. The Bellemain Fat Separator works really well. It’s really worth the money.
Discard the solids, if you like, or find another use for them. 🙂
Remove a little Stock and Make a Slurry
Use a Measuring Cup and remove about a half of cup of Stock to make a slurry.
Use a Whisk and briskly blend the Starch into the hot liquid, making sure it is completely incorporated.
This is important, as you don’t want to end up with lumpy Gravy.
Simmer and Whisk until Desired Consistency
Simmer and Whisk and Whisk and Whisk the Gravy until you achieve the consistency your prefer.
It will thicken up quickly, so keep your eye on the prize.
Taste the Gravy and adjust the seasonings. You will probably need to grind in more Black Pepper and Salt.
Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy
If you have leftover Turkey, think about making some yummy Holiday Party Southern Baked Ham or Turkey and Cheese Buns. They are incredible delicious. In fact, we always make extra, just so we can make these awesome Sandwiches.
More Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipes to Make.
- Pressure Cooker Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce
- Pressure Cooker Easy Stuffing
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Butterscotch Bundt Cake
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – the easiest and most delicious recipe ever!!!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
- Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- Electric Pepper Mill
- Fine stainless steel mesh strainer
- Oxo Fat Separator
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
Stock Ingredients for Cooking Pot
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 large Yellow/Brown Onion quartered
- 2 stalks Fresh Celery
- 2 medium Carrots peeled and cut in half
- 4 cloves Fresh Garlic
- 1 inch Fresh Ginger Root peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon Peppercorns
- 1/4 cup Dry White Wine or Marsala Wine
- 1/2 teaspoon Turkey Base (or vegetable base)
- 1 Bay Leaves
- 1 cup Fresh Water
Turkey Preparation
- 7 pound Bone In Turkey Breast with skin
- 1/4 cup Potato Starch
- 1 Tablespoon Bells Turkey Seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
Finishing
- 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour (or Potato Starch)
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Pat dry Turkey. Massage seasonings into Turkey and then dredge through Potato Starch. Mix together Water and Turkey Base (Bouillon) and set aside.
- Select Sauté/Browning on Pressure Cooker and allow to fully heat. Add 2 Tablespoons Butter to cooking pot. Place Turkey Breast into cooking pot and brown the skin a bit. Carefully remove Breast from pot, making sure not to break off the Skin.
- Pour 1/4 cup Dry White Wine into cooking pot and deglaze pot to remove any bits that may have attached to the bottom of the pot. Add Broth and mix through, making sure to loosen all stuck on brown bits.
- Once deglazed, place Carrots, Onions, Celery, Ginger, Peppercorns and Bay Leaf into cooking pot.
- Shove a little Butter under the skin and place Turkey on Trivet, Breast side down. Lower into cooking pot and place the rest of the Butter in the cavity.
- Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve. Cook on LOW Pressure (most machines default to high) for 32 minutes. When Beep sounds, wait until all pressure has released naturally and then open the Lid.
- Remove Turkey to a Serving Platter and cover. Strain Stock through a metal Strainer into a Bowl and discard solids. Use a Fat Separator to remove layer of fat, or skim from top. Place Stock back into cooking pot, reserving half a cup.
- Select Sauté/Browning. Make a Slurry by adding 2 Tablespoons of Flour (or Potato Starch) to reserved Stock and Whisking until completely incorporated. Add Slurry to cooking pot and Whisk to incorporate. Simmer until desired consistency.
Mealthy CrispLid
- If using the Mealthy Crisplid, add all the ingredients from the "For Cooking Pot" section to the cooking pot and then pick up with Instruction No. 5.
- After pressure has released and the turkey is cooked, turn off Instant Pot and place the CripsLid on top of pot. Brush the turkey with a bit of olive oil. Set the temperature to 375 degrees and brown the turkey skin to your desired color. Remove turkey from pot and follow the gravy instructions.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this Instant Pot Turkey Breast w/Homemade Gravy!
Instant Pot Turkey Breast w/delicious homemade gravy
I have a 9 pound breast. Would you suggest 40 min or longer? I am using my 8qt pot.
Hi Abby. To be on the safe side, cook it according to the directions in the recipe card. IF it needs more time, you can always add. I’d hate for you to overcook it and have it come out dry. Jill
I made this today for Thanksgiving, i used a different rub for under the skin from a different recipe but rubbed the outside with bell seasoning and potato starch like you said and added all the vegetables, i was a little worried about the skin, seemed to take a little long but came out browned nice and didn’t stick, added 2 more minutes cause my breast was 8.18pds, anyways best breast ive ever made, im going to use this from now on, also i was at a freinds house and her husband said he didnt like Turkey but he said this was the most tasty and moist he has ever had and asked to leave him some when we were leaving, thank you for the recipe, i have also made your rare roast beef recipe, another winner
Thank you for such kind words, Karl. I am so glad you and your friends enjoyed my recipe. Jill
How can I adapt this amazing recipe to use with a boneless turkey breast?
That looks so good! What size instant pot do you need for a 7 lb. breast?
If you look down the page at the list what I used to make this recipe, you will see links for the size I use. Jill
How would the timing be for a boneless rolled (in net) turkey breast?
I made this for a Christmas Eve meal when I was short on time, using my largest IP. It turned out better than any other turkey breast recipe I’ve made. So that my family said it was the best ever!
I can’t even begin to tell u how easy and delicious this is.
Are there any cooking time adjustments for a similar sized “Boneless” turkey breast?
Hi Jill, what would the cook time be for a 9lb turkey breast? Thank you!
How many minutes per pound using this method? My bone in breast is only 4lb.
I would reduce time by 6 minutes. Jill
The flap of skin that you pull off the turkey and throw into the pot when browning the turkey breast, does that stay in the pot during cooking or is it discarded when you deglaze the pot?
Leave it in; good flavor. Jill
What a worthless website. So many ads I could find how to cook a turkey breast. Shows whole turkey.
We we spread the word to stay away from “I only care about money” website.
Fabulous! I cooked it for an additional 5 minutes as it wasn’t to 165. So moist and the flavor is delicious. Your recipes never fail.
I have a HALF turkey breast…bone-in and skin on. Looking forward to cooking it, but want to be sure I don’t overcook it ! What would be a suggested time? It weighs just over 2 lbs. Thanks !!
After a long day at work, I came home to cook this turkey breast recipe. I had dinner on the table in 90 minutes. It was the best turkey breast I ever ate – very juicy and flavorful.
Thank you, Carolyn. I am so glad you enjoyed your meal. Jill
How long would you cook a boneless breast? My husband won’t eat meat with a bone. Thanks
Hello. I’m enjoying your blog. I want to use 2 boneless turkey breast as that is what I have in my freezer. How long would you suggest I cook them.
Jill, your recipes all look so good. I wish I had a plate of this delicious meal right now! You can see how nice and moist the turkey breast meat is. I am rethinking my meal plan for the weekend. I enjoy reading and using your recipes, thanks for all you do. I have learned a lot about cooking in general from reading your recipes and I have been cooking for 50 years! Never too old to learn.
Hi! I have a 7lb boneless Turkey Roast – Would I pressure cook it on high for about 35 minutes and then NR 10?
Made this for dinner tonight. I changed up the seasonings a bit but followed the directions exactly. It was so delicious! My only suggestion is to NOT discard the carrots and onions. They were divine! Thanks for another great recipe
Thank you, Nancy. I am glad you had a nice meal. Jill
Turned out wonderful. I sprinkled roasted herb and garlic on the turkey instead of the above seasoning and I used s sherry to deglaze. It’s what I had on hand. The best part was the gravy! We went out after thanksgiving and grabbed a couple of more breasts because we all loved the open faced turkey sandwiches do much. Thanks
I am so glad you liked the turkey, Laura. Thanks. Jill
I bought a 5.6 pound turkey breast. How long should I cook it for? Maybe 25 min?
Hi Cassie. That sounds about right. Jill
how About a turkey thigh cooking time using this recipe’s same procedure?
Hi Tempe. Depending on size of thigh, I would add 5-8 minutes. Jill
Using this same method, how long should I cook a turkey thigh? Thank you?
I have a boneless, skinless turkey breast in my freezer. Will it get dried out with no skin on it?
Jean, coat the whole thing in the potato starch. Jill
Can you do frozen? If so, 60 min? Thanks!
Hi Christine. You’ve got four days and plenty of time to defrost. My recommendation is not to use a frozen turkey. Jill
I was gonna make it tonight to do a trial run on a new stuffing recipe and wanted to try your turkey breast recipe for fun. I’ll try yours another time when I have time to thaw. Thanks, can’t wait!
I got my pot out today and my breast won’t fit! It is 7.42 pounds and sticks up to high. Any suggestions? I had.orginally thought to use a crock pot but saw this and it looks delicious.
Janet, don’t worry about using a trivet then. Jill
What is the purpose of potato starch on the turkey breast before browning? Can I substitute cornstarch?
Sandy, cornstarch is fine. Jill
Low pressure?
Hi Jill my store only sells bone in turkey halves how would i do cooking time per pound?
Hi Katherine. The recipe is for bone in. Jill
What size instant pot did you use?
6 quart for the 7 pound breast. Jill