I think most will agree with me that Thanksgiving and Christmas in the year 2020 have sparked some major creativity. Dinners are smaller as family members stay home, and this is no different for us. The Instant Pot gets a lot of use in our Tiny Home and Thanksgiving was no different. This year, Dave made a delightful Instant Pot Turkey Breast with Gravy.
As you can imagine, fitting an ENTIRE turkey in the Instant Pot was going to be impossible. (Not for lack of LOTS of measuring by Dave). Enter the turkey breast solution! We did miss out on some beautiful turkey legs, but in the end a breast was the perfect amount of food for our little family of four. ANNNND the leftovers fit in our RV fridge.
Prepping for Instant Pot Turkey Breast
One of the best things about this recipe is we had almost everything available in our cabinet. Going into Thanksgiving, it was wonderful not to have to do spend an hour or more at the store. A turkey breast, some celery salt, and buttermilk. The shopping trip was in/out!
Pin now, enjoy later!
Turkey Breast and Gravy in the Instant Pot
A flavorful and moist bone in turkey breast with a flavorful onion and garlic turkey gravy made in your instant pot.
Cut a head of garlic in half (side to side) use a head with a lot of skin to make sure all cloves stay together
Remove the turkey breast from the wrapper and remove all parts from the chest cavity, they can be used in the gravy if you'd like more flavor)
Pour olive oil over the turkey breast and rub the oil evenly around the breast, pull the skin up off the breast and oil there as well
Dump the rub onto the turkey breast and rub evenly all over the breast as well as under the skin
Prepare the Cooking Fluid
Press Sauté on your instant pot
When the instant pot is 'HOT' add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and the chopped onion
Stir the onions to mix with the oil and then let sauté for 1 and 1/2 minutes
Stir well and let sit another minute
Cancel Sauté and add chicken broth to the onions
Place the garlic head halves into the broth cut side down
Pressure Cook
Place turkey breast into the pot with the breasts facing up and the opening to the chest cavity down in the broth
Put the lid on the instant pot and seal the pressure release valve
Pressure cook for 6 minutes per pound of turkey breast plus 10 minute natural pressure release (I did 40 minutes with 10 minutes of natural pressure release)
After the ten minutes of natural pressure release are over, release the pressure by opening the pressure release valve
Crisp the Skin
Preheat your air fryer or broiler to 400°F for 5 minutes
Spray the air fryer basket or broiler pan well with oil
Using a wood spatula and long kitchen tongs, carefully move the turkey breast from the instant pot to the air fryer basket or broiler pan
Spray the turkey breast with olive oil
Air fry or broil the turkey breast at 400°F for 8-10 minutes (keep an eye on it to make sure nothing burns and add more time if needed to get the skin as crispy as you prefer)
Move the turkey breast to a cutting board, tent with a piece of aluminum foil, and let rest for 10-15 minutes
Gravy Time
Cancel pressure cook and press sauté on the Instant Pot
Mix cornstarch and water well (use 4-5 Tbsp of cornstarch for a thick gravy and 2-3 Tbsp for a thin gravy)
Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the gravy
Let boil or simmer to thicken keeping an eye on how thick the boil gets
Stir often and when the gravy looks velvety, it's ready (5 minutes)
Cancel the Sauté function
Carve It
Carve the turkey breast with a sharp knife cutting down the sternum using short strokes to help follow along the sternum and clavicle (wishbone)
Slice thick slices cutting lengthwise against the grain of the turkey breast to have large pieces of the crispy skin with each slice
Plate some turkey and cover liberally with gravy, enjoy!
Video
Notes
Feel free to bump up, add, or subtract any ingredients you’d like. Enjoy your turkey dinner!
Nutrition
Calories: 532kcal
Ready to use that Instant Pot more?
The best resource we have is all of the amazing videos that Dave has posted on YouTube. I highly recommend subscribing to his channel. If you’ve got that Instant Pot sitting by, collecting dust — his videos will inspire you to get it out and go nuts! There are weeks that the ONLY thing we use is the Instant Pot. Tiny living aside, it’s a great way to cook your dinner up fast! It also can be used as a slower cooker (stay tuned, more recipes on this soon).
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Made this for my covid Christmas dinner since we couldnt get together with family. It was beyond words! Sooo good!
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