Here’s the easiest way to cook a turkey breast in the Instant Pot! This Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy is made in a fraction of the time while remaining tender and moist! The perfect dinner for a small gathering.
Quick, tender, and flavorful, you can have a turkey breast with gravy in less than an hour thanks to the pressure cooker. You’re going to want to make this for your regular weeknight dinner as well as the holidays! It’s that easy!
Instant Pot Turkey and Gravy
It’s almost Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October!) and I’m ready for all the turkey! Every year, I find that we have leftover turkey for days (since there isn’t many of us!) and the effort it takes to make a whole bird is kind of intense when there’s really only like 2 of us celebrating together! So if you’re in a similar position as I am, where you want your fix of turkey but not a whole bird (plus the prep time involved in making it), this Instant Pot Turkey recipe might be right up your alley!
Cooking turkey breast in the Instant Pot is surprisingly easy and not much different than cooking chicken. The best part about making turkey in the Instant Pot is that it’s pretty much a one-pot recipe as you can cook up the gravy directly in the pot afterwards! For this recipe, I use a 2.5 pound bone-in skin-on turkey breast and a 6 qt pressure cooker.
Don’t have a pressure cooker and want to make a small turkey meal? Here’s how I made a simple turkey meal using an air fryer and my crispy oven baked turkey thigh recipe. You can also make turkey thighs in the air fryer or a turkey breast in the slow cooker or turkey breasts in a dutch oven!
Ingredients for Making a Turkey Breast in the Instant Pot
- turkey breast — skin on bone in turkey breast.
- seasoning — I use paprika, garlic powder, and salt.
- butter — use unsalted butter as salt is already added.
- olive oil — or a neutral oil of your choice.
- fresh herbs – I use thyme and rosemary.
- broth — for a more flavourful gravy, use chicken broth!
- flour — simple all purpose flour is fine.
How to Cook Turkey Breast in the Instant Pot
- Bring your turkey breast to room temperature. In the meantime, combine the turkey seasoning. Cover the turkey with the seasoning.
- Turn your Instant Pot on sauté mode, add in more butter and olive oil and sear the turkey breast on all sides for a couple minutes (2-3 minutes).
- Set the turkey breast aside and deglaze the Instant Pot liner with a cup of chicken broth, making sure any brown pieces on the bottom of the pot are scraped and loosened.
- Place in the trivet that came with your Instant Pot and put the turkey breast back in.
- Close the lid, set it to sealing, and set the IP to pressure for 12 minutes. Once done, let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Once ready, transfer the turkey to the oven to broil for crispy skin! Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Do not toss the liquid in the pot as you’ll need it for gravy.
How To Make Gravy in the Instant Pot
- Run the liquid in the Instant Pot after the turkey has cooked through a strainer and set aside.
- Turn your Instant Pot back on sauté mode and melt your butter in it and slowly whisk in the flour. Once the flour has fully incorporated, slowly add back in the liquid from the turkey earlier. Whisk until your gravy has thickened to your liking. Season with additional salt and pepper if you desire.
How Long to Cook Turkey Breast in Instant Pot
- Want to cook a larger turkey breast? No problem! Cook turkey breasts for 6 minutes per pound.
- Due to turkey being easy to dry out, be sure to natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes before quick releasing.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Want to take this to the next step? Bring a stick of butter to room temperature and add some extra seasoning and herbs to it. Once combined, spread the butter mixture underneath the skin of the turkey breast.
- I don’t recommend using frozen turkey for this Instant Pot recipe. Be sure to thaw your turkey breast out thoroughly first.
- Let it rest for a juicy and moist turkey. Letting the instant pot turkey breast rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into it to lets the meat reabsorb the juices. If you don’t rest the turkey breast, the juices will run out when you slice it and the meat will be dry.
- Use leftover turkey in my turkey melt recipe or leftover turkey stir fry!
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the turkey breast is at least 165F/75C to tell when the turkey is ready.
Make Ahead Tips
- Meal prep: once cooled, store the cooked pressure cooker turkey breast in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. Feel free to portion it out into containers to make your lunches easier.
- Freezer: allow the turkey breast to cool before shredding the turkey and transferring into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer. Shredded turkey can last for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Leftovers: Try this Pesto Turkey Sandwich with your leftover turkeys! You can also hold onto the bones to make this easy slow cooker bone broth.
Want to serve your turkey with mashed potatoes? Here’s how I make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot! I also love serving it with my air fryer garlic bread and slow cooker cranberry sauce! You can also make sweet potatoes in the slow cooker for another stress-free side dish.
Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy
Ingredients
- 2½ pound turkey breast, skin on bone in
Seasoning for Turkey
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons thyme
- 2 tablespoons rosemary
For the Instant Pot
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup broth
For the Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
Equipment
Instructions
How To Make Instant Pot Turkey Breast
- Bring your turkey breast to room temperature. In the meantime, combine the turkey seasoning. Cover the turkey with the seasoning.
- Turn your Instant Pot on sauté mode, add in more butter and olive oil and sear the turkey breast on all sides for a couple minutes (2-3 minutes).
- Set the turkey breast aside and deglaze the Instant Pot liner with a cup of chicken broth, making sure any brown pieces on the bottom of the pot are scraped and loosened.
- Place in the trivet that came with your Instant Pot and put the turkey breast back in.
- Close the lid, set it to sealing, and set the IP to pressure for 15 minutes. Once done, let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Once ready, transfer the turkey to the oven to broil for crispy skin! Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Do not toss the liquid in the pot as you’ll need it for gravy.
How To Make Instant Pot Gravy
- Run the liquid in the Instant Pot after the turkey has cooked through a strainer and set aside.
- Turn your Instant Pot back on sauté mode and melt your butter in it and slowly whisk in the flour. Once the flour has fully incorporated, slowly add back in the liquid from the turkey earlier. Whisk until your gravy has thickened to your liking. Season with additional salt and pepper if you desire.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
More Recipes for a Holiday Dinner
- Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
- Lemon Parmesan Brussels Sprouts
- Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage and Sage
- Garlic Herb Butter Roasted Chicken in a Dutch Oven
- Lemon Herb Couscous
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato
- Air Fryer Baked Potato
- Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes
Other places to connect with me
Instagram: @carmyshungry
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Email: [email protected]
Lisa says
I really love the idea of cooking a single turkey breast instead of a whole bird. It’s just two of us in the house since my daughter moved out, so I love meals that are paired down like this… and with the Instant Pot, I could make this any night of the week for a Thanksgiving-y feel! Love it.
Tina says
I love turkey breast but find it usually dry. I love your method of cooking it in an instant pot keeping it moist. Saving this for later, definitely going to try this as soon as I get an instant pot;) Thanks for sharing this, it looks delicious!
Sandra Shaffer says
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and we usually have a crowd, but why wait when this can be made for me and my husband now! We’re in for a treat and that gravy is perfect to use over biscuits and gravy too!
Sarah says
For some reason I didn’t even realize you could buy small pieces of turkey like this! I love this idea- it’s so much more practical than a whole bird for my husband and I! And that gravy- yum!!!
Erna says
We could only find a skin-on boneless turkey breast roast where we are. Do you think it can be cooked the same way?
Carmy says
Hm, I haven’t tried but I don’t see why not :)
Marisa says
That turkey is exactly how I fix it!! I don’t have an instant pot but the seasonings and everything else is identical. You’re right, the turkey comes out so tender and good. I wish we made turkey more often.
Dana says
This is such an awesome idea! Just because some folks don’t have the time to tend to a meal for an entire day doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get to enjoy a classic holiday dinner. That gravy looks delish, too. DROOLING.
Linda says
Can you put stuffed in the cavity and make it in the instant pot? We do it like that in the oven. We love stuffing made in the turkey
Carmy says
There’s no cavity as this is for a turkey breast.
Linda says
There’s a little space to put something. I usually shove some celery and onion. I have done it with a little stuffing while roasting. So back to my ? if I did put the stuff in the turkey breast do I change the pressure cooker time?
Carmy says
As I have never stuffed a chicken breast based on my last comment, I’m unable to tell you if you have to change the pressure cooker time. Have a lovely weekend.