Crock-Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy

Submitted by c.walsh

"Not liking the looks of the skin on my turkey breast, I removed it, then brined the turkey. Worried that it would dry out in the oven without the skin to protect it, I decided to use my slow cooker to cook it. I totally winged it so measurements are approximate, but I was so pleased with the ease of preparation and the results yielded that I had to post this. It makes the richest broth from the carrot, celery and onion that makes the tastiest gravy, and I am a huge gravy fan! And with the skin removed there was no need to skim fat from it. The carrots were delicious to eat too! I'm not sure if the brine was necessary, but I wanted a way to preserve it until I could cook it the next day, and it definitely helped to keep it moist and tasty. It wasn't salty, but I may brine skin-on next time and then remove it to see if there is a difference. I hope you enjoy it!"

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 4 -6 lbs turkey breast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (or favorite seasoning, I used Tony Chachere's)
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium onion, cut in large chunks
• 3 large carrots, cut in chunks
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 cup turkey stock (chicken stock or broth works too)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour

directions

1. Remove skin if desired, and brine turkey the night before. (I used a mixture of water and apple juice to total 1 gallon, with 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, peppercorns, rosemary, dried thyme, cloves, bay leaves, allspice, garlic and sliced onion--but use any brine you like).
2. Rinse turkey thoroughly and pat dry.
3. Rub with olive oil, followed by seasonings and spices.
4. Place carrots, onion and celery in bottom of slow cooker.
5. Place turkey on top of vegetables.
6. Add enough stock to cover vegetables.
7. Cook on high 1 hour, and low until done, 3-6 hours depending on your slow cooker (mine cooks fast and too hot) and size of turkey (mine was 5 lbs). I checked the temperature after 3 1/2 hours and it was done at 165 degrees, but I kept it on warm until dinner since it was done much earlier than I expected.
8. Remove turkey and let rest while you make gravy.
9. To make gravy, measure 2 cups of broth from the slow cooker. Even though you only added about a cup or so of stock, the turkey and veg. make more juice. Careful, it's hot! I turned off my cooker about a half hour earlier so it wouldn't be as scalding.
10. Melt butter over med. heat and whisk in flour for 2-3 minute to make a blonde roux.
11. Slowly add stock while constantly stirring until desired consistency reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste, but taste it first because mine needed no salt.

Reviews

[Margie99]

I didn't brine mine but I did do all the rest. I also let mine cook too long so it fell apart but it was good. The gravy was tasty and I would like to play around with the seasonings. It smelled so good cooking that the whole house smelled wonderful.

 

[ifneedb]

Was a great base recipe to make to my liking - very flexible. There are no other recipes out there with veggies, turkey breast and gravy all in one! And it was all delicious! I tried mine with parsnips, leeks, potatoes, carrots, and celery.