***UPDATED OCTOBER 2023*** This fabulous recipe for Crock Pot Turkey Breast of Wonder is always a fan favorite during the fall and winter months. I have to admit to making it regularly myself. I will even make it on occasion, just so we have leftovers to make this incredible OPEN FACED TURKEY PROVOLONE MELTED SANDWICH, which has been a family favorite of ours for years.
It’s so easy to throw everything into the crock pot and let it cook away. The turkey turns out super moist and tender.
It’s especially fabulous to make on Thanksgiving as it frees up your oven space. If you haven’t tried it, I hope you will!
It’s a keeper!
So, I realize.
Dear reader.
That the month is May, Mexican food is on sale at the grocery store, people are worrying about purchasing a gift for dear old Mom, and the bees? Well, they are buzzing in the trees, you know.
And here I am sharing a recipe for turkey, with out a pilgrim hat in sight! It may seem a bit misplaced, my friends. But turkey doesn’t belong to November alone, does it? Especially this fabulous, couldn’t be EASIER (5 minutes prep is all you need), moist, tender, shred-able, Turkey Breast of Wonder. You could make it with a traditional side of Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and serve it for Sunday dinner. You could chop it up and put it in this fabulous sandwich. You could shred it up and put it in this heavenly salad, and enjoy it for lunch. Which is what I have been doing with the leftovers all week, and let me tell you. It’s the lunch of champions. I think I could almost win a gold medal after eating it. No joke.
There is a great little Bakery/Sandwich joint down the street from my house (Kneaders, is the name) that makes the best sandwiches and salads with heavenly turkey that isn’t processed and sliced. This recipe reminds me a lot of the turkey Kneaders uses. Juicy, flavorful and perfect to go in all kinds of things.
Hope you love it. 🙂
5. Remove the turkey breast to a plate and cover it with tin foil. Let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then carve it (or shred it) up and enjoy.
GRAVY:
1. Pour the juices from the crock pot through a strainer and into a medium sized sauce pan.
2. Mix 4 T of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water.
3. Bring the juices to a boil and add the cornstarch/water mixture a little bit at a time, stirring constantly until you reach the consistency you want. You may not need all of the cornstarch/water.
4. Add about half of a can of cream of mushroom soup. Stir it well and let the soup heat through.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 (5-6 pound) turkey breast
- 1/2 C orange juice (you could also substitute chicken broth)
- 1 (14 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
- 1 (1 ounce) package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
- salt and pepper
- GRAVY:
- Drippings from the crock pot
- 4 Tb cornstarch
- 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
5. Remove the turkey breast to a plate and cover it with tin foil. Let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then carve it (or shred it) up and enjoy.
GRAVY:
1. Pour the juices from the crock pot through a strainer and into a medium sized sauce pan.
2. Mix 4 T of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water.
3. Bring the juices to a boil and add the cornstarch/water mixture a little bit at a time, stirring constantly until you reach the consistency you want. You may not need all of the cornstarch/water.
4. Add about half of a can of cream of mushroom soup. Stir it well and let the soup heat through.
Enjoy!
Notes
***NOTE: Make sure you buy a turkey breast small enough to fit in your crock pot.*** ***ADDITIONAL NOTE: If you don't have a large enough crock pot, or don't own one you can place the turkey in a 9x13 pan, cover it with the remaining ingredients, cover tightly with foil and bake at 325 for 3 hours.***
Recipe from my sweet sister Jen Derrick
220 comments
Wow! You are right, this is fabulous. Thank you!
Would this work with chicken breasts instead?
Hi Kristen,
I haven’t ever tried it with chicken breasts, but my thoughts are that it would turn out pretty great. Let me know if you give it a go. Good luck!
~Jamie
I tried it with the chicken, and it worked fine. (I actually cooked it on my “keep warm” setting all day since my new crock pot gets really hot). That being said, neither my husband nor I thought this was good. I followed the ingredients exactly and it was overwhelmingly sweet and had a very very strong cranberry taste. I even tried adding more mushroom soup and chicken broth at the end to try to save it, but it didn’t work. I was really looking forward to trying this, but was disappointed 🙁 Nonetheless, I will keep trying your other recipes (We made the creamy chicken tacos yesterday and they were great)!
Hi Jamie,
I’m trying this today but I just noticed that I bought boneless turkey breast. Will that make a difference?
Thanks,
Jane
Hi Jane,
I haven’t ever tried it with a boneless turkey breast, but my thoughts are that it would still be great. Good luck! Hope it turns out well for you!
~Jamie
I made this tonight and it was fabulous!! The flavor was amazing, and the gravy was really nice. Also, it was SO moist. It couldn’t have been easier to prepare. A big hit for my whole family. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
I made this last night and it was good. I used a boneless breast. I did not add any salt other than soup mix and I found the gravy too salty.
OMGosh, AMAZING! The best turkey I’ve ever had. A touch of sweetness from the cranberries. Turkey is so moist & tender!! I didn’t add any additional salt the salt in the onion soup mix was enough. I also made my own dairy free cream of mushroom soup. Plus I saved the strained berries & onions and put them on the turkey. YUM!
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it was delicious and made my Easter dinner planning so very easy. I need to tell you though that even set on LOW my almost 7 lb. breast was done in 4 hours! These new crock pots cook at much higher temps than the old ones and all the recipes need to be watched to see how long they actually take now. I can almost cook on the WARM setting instead of LOW.
There were no leftovers!
During the winter I live in bush Alaska. I cannot wait to make this recipe for dinner once the snow starts.
Jamie, how big is your crockpot? Will a 6 pound whole turkey breast fit in an oval 6 quart crockpot?
Debbie,
I use a 7 quart crock pot for this recipe. Good luck!
~Jamie
Debbie,
I use a 7 quart crock pot for this recipe. A 6 quart crock pot might be a bit too small, depending on the shape of the turkey breast. Hope it works out for you! Good luck!
~Jamie
The gravy is sweeter than we like, but I love being able to cook the turkey in the crockpot! It keeps the oven free and the turkey moist. I think next time I’ll just use the onion soup mix and broth. Thank you for posting this recipe!
I cannot wait to taste the results!
made this tonight- 8 hours on low was WAY too long. The temp of the turkey was over 200 and extremely dry. Please advise in the recipe to check turkey after 4 or 5 hours to save others from this. I will try again though, because it was such an easy meal to make. Thanks for a great recipe!
do you HAVE to put the cranberries in there? I’m just not a fan of sweet things mixed in with my regular food.
Misty,
I haven’t ever tried it without the cranberries, but I bet it would still be good. You may want to add some broth to it, in place of the cranberries. Good luck!
~Jamie
[…] Turkey Breast of Wonder…will use a chicken roaster instead! Our last one in the freezer, but never fear…we are currently raised a new batch. ugh. About 8 weeks and counting and we’ll have a freezer full of roasters again. […]
[…] CROCK POT TURKEY […]
I did use my new crockpot and it did take only about 4 hours to cook a 3 lb turkey breast, which was all I could find. The new crocks really do seem to cook so much faster! After it cooked to temp, I just set it to warm & then kicked it back up to low while I cooked my sides. There was enough liquid to ensure the breast stayed extremely moist. I loved the touch of sweet flavor! Next time I might play around with adding some herbs and/or garlic near the end of cooking. Great recipe!! We loved it so much we had it for leftovers the next day!
I think this recipe looks great, and has such great reviews (I am here through Pinterest). My boyfriend HATES cranberries though, so I was wondering if another form of preserved fruit (like raspberries or something that is still sweet-tart) could be used instead? I’ve seen some other substitution ideas, but not one like this so I thought I’d check.
Thank you, and happy upcoming holidays!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely amazing. I cooked on high for 4.5 hours and it was super moist. I basted throughout tho to make sure the top wouldn’t dry out. I also did not add extra salt. The husband devoured the stuff. A 5-6lb breast tho only fed 2. We dont like dark meat so we could only eat the center of breast. Still delicious 🙂
I cooked a 3 lb turkey breast on low for 4.5 hours and it was perfect! I didn’t change the measurements of the other ingredients, and we had extra sauce (which was not turned into gravy). I used a homemade recipe for the Lipton onion soup mix (also on Pinterest), but next time I’ll use different spices along with the cranberries. I also followed previous comments and did not add extra salt, which was a good thing. I’ll make this recipe again using the main ideas, but with different spices.
All I could find was a frozen turkey breast that says keep frozen it’s a no thaw straight in oven type. Would it work if I put it in the slow cooker frozen?
Lendsey,
I haven’t ever tried this recipe with a “no thaw” turkey breast, however my first thought is that it would still work out great for you. The crock pot will cook it slowly so you should be fine. Good luck! Hope you love it!
~Jamie
[…] Turkey Breast In The Crockpot […]
I already had a 9 lb turkey breast when I stumbled across this recipe. It sounds amazing, but the bird will not fit in my crockpot. Do you think it will work in a roasting pan in the oven?
Jennie,
I haven’t ever tried it in the oven, however my cute sister in law has and she said it worked out great. Good luck!
~Jamie
Hi Jamie,
I don’t own a crock pot and would also love to make this in the oven. Could you tell me what temperature and how long I should roast the turkey breast or if I would need any additional liquid. I plan on covering tightly with foil to seal in the juices.
Thank you so much.
Kim
Hi Kim,
I just made this in the oven last week (sadly, my large crock pot has died on me!). I baked it at 325 for 3 hours and it came out great. You won’t need to add any additional juice. Good luck to you!
~Jamie
This sounds great, but I don’t like the flavor of the onion soup mix, do you have any suggestions on a substitute for it?
I use a package if Good Seasons Italian dressing mix rubbed on top of the breast. Delicious!!!
brilliant campaign idea it’s like strnopuipg breast cancer awareness and cleanliness at the same time ^^visiting you from Pink Friday. hope you can visit me back at:
I was looking for a no fuss turkey breast recipe for an early Thanksgiving dinner. My 5.5 lb. breast was done at 5 hours on low, but I will check it at 4 or 4.5 hours next time. I’m pretty sure it was done earlier. Very moist and with good flavor. For the gravy, I followed directions except for adding the 1/2 can of chicken soup. I was worried it would be too salty so I just added some leftover broth mixed with leftover 1/2 and 1/2 I needed to use up. It was a delicious gravy that was slightly sweet from the cranberries. I thought it was a delicious contrast with all the savory side dishes we had. I will make this again.
I find with recipes that call for Onion soup mix, to only use half (or less) of what they call for. Otherwise, too salty. But I am trying this turkey for Thanksgiving. It sounds yummy.
Do you think it would be possible to “marinate” the turkey breast in the mixture overnight before putting it into the crock pot the next day?
I did not see the LOW setting till after I did mine on high took 4-5 hours and it was 8lb turkey breast. In the end it tasted so good moist. brilliant recipe.
We did this last night and it was so good! Thank you! I didn’t have the canned crans on hand so I just dumped a bag of frozen cranberries in and it worked great. Thanks so much for sharing!
So… It’s in the crockpot now… A little worried bc I wanted to make this tonight, but the grocery store only had frozen turkeys….so I got regular chicken breasts….hoping that it works!! :/ known if anyone has tried just using chicken/turkey breasts instead of a big turkey… Kinda worried!
Whenever I visit your blog and try a recipe I know it will be delicious. I love your Turkey Breast of Wonder and make it often. I’ve shared it with my Mom & Sister and they both loved it. Thank you for all of your yummy recipes and for making my meal planning easier. 🙂
Today we’re going to try your Marshmallow stuffed cookies…yum!!
Sheena
Thank you for your interest, Gabriel. With my very ifncfniuiest Greek, I understood that you have been to Kars and Erzurum. I always believe that any Turk who visits Greece and any Greek who visits Turkey cannot feel hostile towards his neighbor anymore, even though he was feeling so before.Take care,Emre
Cold snowy day here in eastern KS & I’m making this turkey. We were all sick on Christmas so no turkey dinner then, this is perfect. I’ve also never used the temp probe on my 2 year old HamiltonBeech slow cooker. We’ll see how it works.
I can’t use anything with onions because family members are allergic to them. What is a good substitute for the onion soup mix?
I asked the same thing back in November, Kristin, as I’m allergic to onions, too. I just scrolled through and didn’t see a reply, so I hope someone responds to yours. 🙂 Would LOVE to make this, but ranch doesn’t sound like a good substitute and I can’t think of anything that would. Good luck!
Hi Amy,
So sorry to hear that your question fell through the cracks so to speak…and I must have missed it. It will still work be yummy if you leave the onion soup mix out. Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth to the orange juice and cranberry sauce and cook as instructed. I actually made it this way several months ago (ran out of Onion Soup Mix when we were at Bear Lake) and it was great. Best of luck!
~Jamie
how about using Beefy Mushroom? or Knorr’s Vegetable soup mix? Just a thought
Thanks so much for the great replacement ideas! Unfortunately, both of those contain onions as well. It’s almost impossible to find any soup, soup mix, or sauce that doesn’t contain onions (or dehydrated onions, or onion flakes). It’s why I learned to cook from scratch for myself: I can’t eat out many places, either. 🙂 Thanks again!
Hi Amy! I think if you leave out the soup mix & add some sage or rosemary (fresh sprigs or dried herbs) it would give that extra depth of flavor you’re looking for 🙂
Amy,
There are recipes for make-it-yourself Onion soup mix on Pinterest & the web. The spices in the recipe (without the dehydrated onions) would be another option to use in this recipe. Hope this helps.
Sorry! Debbie, not Kristin! Many apologies!
Debbie,
It will still work be yummy if you leave the onion soup mix out. Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth to the orange juice and cranberry sauce and cook as instructed. I actually made it this way several months ago (ran out of Onion Soup Mix when we were at Bear Lake) and it was great. Best of luck!
~Jamie
can I use already browned turkey breast? do I need to buy one fresh?
I tried this recipe today. It was my first ever attempt at crockpot turkey. The only change I made was adding some fresh sage to the crock pot. I love the flavor with turkey. I had a 4.25 lb breast. I cooked it 3.5 hours on low and the 2 hours on high. It was done perfectly @ 165 degrees. I strained the juices and added the corn starch slurry for the gravy. I didn’t add the cream soup mix. The gravy was AWESOME! I didn’t find it too salty at all, but maybe others used the soup, and soup is generally high in sodium. This recipe was super easy and super delicious! The turkey turned out moist and flavorful. And I’m telling you, the gravy is incredible. Yum! I will definitely be making this again and again! Also BF approved and he’s a picky one! Thanks for sharing.
I made this tonight, only I used a pork roast. It was very good. I didn’t use a pre-packet of onion soup mix, I made one from scratch. I didn’t add any extra salt to the roast, and making my own onion soup mix, it wasn’t too salty at all! Very good recipe, I will be making this again……trying a turkey breast 🙂 Even my picky meat eater two year old asked for seconds!
do you think cranberry jelly is going to work? My Husband picked up the wrong can 🙁
Linda,
It will work out great for you! Hope you love it.
~Jamie
[…] found a modified version of this recipe on Pinterest. Here’s the link. (Props to Jamie!) I modified it only slightly because of the size of my bird and because my kids […]
I’m thinking of trying this with a boneless pork shoulder roast! What do you think???
Susan,
I bet it would work out great!
~Jamie
Jamie, I made this with the boneless pork shoulder roast, and it was delicious!! I didn’t put the whole package of soup mix in, because I thought it would be salty.
How big was your pork roast and how long did you cook it on low or high?
Hi Harriet, My roast was about 5 lbs., and I cooked it about 4 hrs. I used a newer crock pot, that was much quicker than the old ones!
I found your recipe through Pinterest. Thanks for this easy and delicious recipe! I checked at 4 hours and saw that it only had a little while left so I started my side dishes. I ended up cooking cooking the Turkey for about 4.5-5 hours on low and it was flavorful and it was very moist. Thumbs up from my husband and son as well. Thanks again.
Planning on trying this today. Love the ease of crockpot cooking. However, 180 is overcooked. Poultry is considered done/safe at 165.
Wow! This was AMAZING!!!! So tender and my family loved it!!!It was super moist and just fell from the bones! Thank you for sharing!!!
[…] but I have to be in full agreement with the title! I discovered this recipe online on the site JaimeCooksItUp.com, a great site with lots of family friendly recipes. My first reaction was, “Yuck, turkey in a […]
I have made a boo boo and judged the size of my crockpot wrong. I purchased a six pound turkey breast and already opened it put it in the crockpot with the stuff on top to then see my lid is about a 1/2 inch from closing. HELP will I be ok or have I junked a whole dinner.
Hi Christy,
So sorry to hear you are having a crock pot dilemma. 🙂 Just carefully remove everything from your crock pot and put it in a 9×13 pan. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil and bake it in your oven at 325 for about 3 hours, or until the inside of the breast has reaches 165 degrees. Best of luck to you!
~Jamie
Ok I let it go in the crock pot and it’s been cooking on high since 10:30 am. The lid is almost closed so I think I might be ok. I am just scared I will over cook trying not to under cook due to the lid.
I think when your crockpot is too small or the lid won’t close you can wrap the top in foil to help prevent the moisture from escaping. Just look it up on Pinterest…that’s where I saw it. Also trying this tonight, I did add salt, hopefully it won’t be too salty. I’m a little worried I might have went overboard with the salt. Also, just realized my turkey was a no thaw turkey but I already thawed it…woops.
In the future, you can also break the back ribs (give the bird “CPR”) or even cut them out with kitchen shears (kind of a spatchcock).
if meat is to big for crock pot you can use aluminum foil for the lid and crunch it around the rim nice and tight and bake away
I was wondering if it wasn’t a bit greasy with leaving the skin on? Sounds delish though.
Can you do this with a whole chicken?
I just made this and found it to be DELICIOUS. This is going to be a great for Thanksgiving,thanks for posting????
Wanted to say I just turned off my crockpot .didn’t have enough money for a turkey breast but used a hen ,got worried after reading so many post of how my hen would be TOUGH !!!!But it turned out GREAT !!!!Will most definitely do this again .Next time with a turkey breast when Thanksgiving comes around and turkey’s in season .Thanks for your recipe Happy cooking ….
Oh wow! We’d are having this for dinner tonight and I can hardly wait! I used an 8lb bone in turkey breast ($1.98 @ my local store) and let it go for 12 hours as it was still icy in the middle when I prepped the recipe this morning. I have the turkey resting right now and I am making the gravy in the crock pot, cranked up to high and it should be ready when the mashed potatoes are. One thing I did, was I took my hand blender and blended up the onions and cranberries into the gravy–YUM! Not overly sweet at all, just very balanced. Give it a try!