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Instant Pot Turkey Breast

Pressure Cooker Turkey Breast lemon garlic herb butter is the most tender turkey ever!

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5 from 8 reviews

Tender, juicy, flavorful Turkey Breast, ready in less than an hour!  Perfect for holidays as well as a weekday because it’s that easy and delicious.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Lemon Garlic Herb Compound Butter

  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced

For the Turkey

  • 67 pound bone in, skin on turkey breast
  • kosher salt
  • black pepper
  • handful of fresh parsley
  • 1/2 onion, peeled
  • 1/2 lemon

For the Broth

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
  • 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 onion

For the Gravy

  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

  1. To make the Lemon Garlic Herb Butter: In a small bowl, combine butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Use a fork to mash and combine the ingredients.  Set aside.
  2. For the Turkey: Season the turkey liberally all over with kosher salt and a lesser amount of black pepper.
  3. Separate the skin from the turkey breast by carefully pushing your fingers under the skin, you don’t want to tear through it, you’re just creating a pocket under the skin.  If this grosses you out like it does me, use gloves!
  4. With your hands, scoop up half of the herb butter and stuff it under one side of the breast.  Repeat on the other side with the rest of the butter.  Spread the butter around by massaging over the top of the skin.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, just get it distributed underneath the skin as much as possible.
  5. For the Broth: In the pressure cooker pot, combine water, celery, carrots, and 1/2 of an onion.  Place short trivet in pot.
  6. Place the turkey breast side down, on top of the trivet.
  7. To the under cavity of the turkey breast, add the fresh parsley, 1/2 lemon, and 1/2 onion, stuffing it inside as much as possible (turkey breasts don’t always have a large enclosed cavity like a full turkey does).
  8. Secure the lid and turn the pressure release knob to a sealed position.  Cook at high pressure for 35 minutes.
  9. When cooking is complete, use a full natural release (this will help the turkey stay nice and moist, compared to a quick pressure release).  Check the temperature of the turkey to be sure it’s at least 160°-165° F.
  10. Place the turkey on a cutting board and cover with foil.  Let rest for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour before carving.
  11. While the turkey rests, combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water, set aside.  Strain broth from pot through a fat separator or a fine mesh sieve.  If you don’t have a fat separator, skim the top of the liquid with a spoon to remove some of the fat.  Pour broth back into the pressure cooker pot.
  12. For the Gravy:  Using the saute or brown function on the pressure cooker, bring broth up to a simmer.  Give the cornstarch/water slurry an extra stir to make sure it’s combined, while whisking, slowly pour the slurry into the simmering liquid.  Whisk until gravy thickens then unplug the pressure cooker.
  13. Remove and discard the skin from the turkey.  Cut breasts away from the bone, slice, and enjoy with a splash of gravy and a scoop of cranberries.

Freezer Directions

  • Prepare the turkey through step 4 adding lemon, parsley, and onion to the cavity of the turkey.
  • Place turkey in a 1 -2 gallon freezer safe ziplock bag and place inside the pressure cooker pot to freeze.  Once solid, remove from the pot and place in the freezer until ready to use.
  • When ready to cook, proceed with step 5, cooking the turkey for time and a half of the thawed turkey time (so about 55 – 60 minutes) depending on the size.  After it’s cooked, check the temperature of the turkey breast, if it’s not at 165 and still appears to be slightly pink in the center, carve the meat off into slices (like you would serve at the table), place it back in the pressure cooker in the remaining liquid, and pressure cook for 6 minutes.

Notes

  • For a 6 pound turkey, cook for 35 minutes.  For a 6 – 7.5 pound turkey, 40 minutes.  Check the temperature of the breast to make sure it is between 160-165° F.  If it’s not, cook for another 5 – 10 minutes in the pressure cooker with at least a 10-minute natural release.
  • For a browned, crispy skin, place the turkey under the oven broiler for 3 – 5 minutes until nicely browned