Sage Garlic Butter Slow Roasted Turkey Breast
Servings: 4
Guaranteed juicy, tender, succulent and flavorful results – this Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Roast is easy, and is a great small dish alternative to a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. Recipe serves 2 people generously, or 3 - 4 people with side dishes.
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Ingredients
Turkey Breast
- 3 lb skin-on turkey breast bone in or out, with or without drumette
- Kosher salt
Sage garlic butter paste (See notes for other spice mix flavors)
- ½ cup loosely packed sage leaves
- 8 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 small shallot sliced
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns or 1 - 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) softened (SEE NOTES)
Slow cooker turkey breast
- 1 - 2 medium onions halved OR
- 1 - 2 garlic heads halved
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Prepping the turkey breast
- Pat dry the turkey breast, and then using your fingers - loosen the skin on the turkey breast without detaching it (so that it's just loose enough to sprinkle salt and rub butter under the skin).
- Sprinkle salt under the skin, making sure to cover the whole turkey breast. Keep the turkey breast in an airtight container (or wrapped with plastic wrap on a plate), in the fridge for up to 2 days (or at least overnight) to marinate.
Sage garlic butter paste
- Place all the ingredients (except for the butter), in a food processor, and process to form a spice paste.
- Alternatively, you can finely chop each ingredient individually, and also use cracked black pepper instead. OR you can also use a mortar and pestle to make the paste.
- Place the spice mix in a bowl with the softened butter, and mix to combine.
Cooking the turkey breast
- Remove the seasoned/marinated turkey breast from the fridge and pat dry with paper towels.
- Rub the sage garlic butter paste all over the turkey breast. Make sure to be generous with the butter under the skin as well. Allow the turkey to come to room temperature, about 30 - 40 minutes (depends on the size of the turkey breast).
- Place the onion halves on the bottom of your slow cooker, cut sides down. Place the garlic butter rubbed turkey breast on top of the onion halves, so that it's elevated from the bottom of the pan. I use the slow cooker function in my Instant Pot, so it looks different from other slow cookers.
- Close the slow cooker, and set it to LOW. Cook for about 5 - 7 hours, covered. Use the meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, to make sure you don’t exceed 160°F - 162°F (it takes me about 5.5 hours for this cut of turkey).
- Remove the turkey breast from the slow cooker when ready, and keep it on a plate. Cover with foil and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the onions from the pot, and strain the pan drippings into a small bowl.
Before serving
- Preheat the broiler in your oven. Place the slow cooked turkey breast on the broiler pan, and brush the surface of the turkey roast with some of the pan drippings, OR a little extra butter.
- Broil for a few minutes until the skin caramelizes. Keep the broiler door open and keep an eye on the roast to make sure the skin won't burn.
- Serve, with some of the pan drippings (or gravy), and other side dishes.
Notes
If you want to replace the garlic butter, or don't want to use butter -
- If you prefer using a different spice mix, or prefer not to use butter, then mix the spice mix of your choice with about 4 tbsp of oil, and use instead.
- Also add about 1/4 cup of stock to the bottom of your slow cooker pan, to make sure there's plenty of moisture as the turkey breast cooks.