juicy and delicious turkey breast on a plate

This garlic and herb turkey breast is the juiciest, most delicious and most hands-off turkey breast. Perfect for a laid-back Thanksgiving dinner.

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The Background Story

A couple of years ago, we had to cancel plans with family a few days before Thanksgiving due to my husband getting called into work. It was my first time creating a Thanksgiving menu, so while being excited about cooking our Thanksgiving meal, I was also, to put it lightly, stressed!

We sat down to create the menu and of course it had the usual: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. All we needed to do was go get our turkey.

Long story short…they were sold out EVERYWHERE!

I was panicking because it was the night before Thanksgiving and had no idea what to do. Luckily, we found a turkey breast from a local store but it was frozen solid.

I told my husband that I would just throw it in the crock pot and pray for a miracle.

The next morning we awoke to the most delicious smelling aroma, walked into the kitchen and found a fully cooked and extremely tender turkey breast.

My prayers were answered!

I even thought about calling this recipe the “Save the Day Turkey Breast” because it did just that. Haha!

I’m sharing this recipe in hopes of helping someone else out there who may be in the same situation I was in. I did the stressing out already , so you don’t have to!

Where did we got our turkey breast?

packaged boxes from abundant pastures on a counter

This year we have completely changed how we source our foods, and I wanted to make sure we got a turkey breast that was organic and pasture raised.

I talked about it in a blog post here.

Abundant Pastures has the BEST pasture raised meats, so when they announced they would ship a turkey straight to my door, I was ecstatic!

I ordered a full sized turkey, whole turkey breast, regular turkey breast and ground turkey from them. Trust me when I say, you can taste the love in their products!

Tools you will need

Ingredients

crock pot, turkey breast, lemon, garlic, butter, white wine, herbs and spices on a counter

turkey breast
1-2 sticks of butter, room temperature
small head of garlic, minced
a large lemon, zested and juiced
parsley
thyme
rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
a small bottle (187 ml) of white wine
2-4 cups chicken broth (not pictured)

Side Note

This recipe works for a turkey breast that’s completely frozen or if it’s thawed. You will have to adjust cooking time.

The ingredients also will vary depending on the size of turkey breast you get. The one I’m using in this post is 7.72 pounds.

You will also see that I’m starting off with one stick of butter, but I may end up adding more later depending on how the turkey looks. This recipe is very flexible!

Directions

turkey breast in a crock pot on a counter

Put a turkey breast in the crock pot. This turkey is probably the biggest one that would fit in this size crock pot. I believe its an 8 quart crock pot.

a bowl with butter and spices mixed together with a wooden spoon on a counter

In a separate bowl, combine butter, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

I used an entire small head of garlic. I measure garlic with my heart and apparently it’s a big one. Haha!

a turkey breast in a crock pot with butter mixture on top on a counter

Smear the butter mixture on top of the turkey breast. This step is easier if the turkey breast is thawed but it will all melt whether it’s frozen or thawed.

hand squeezing lemon juice on a turkey breast in a crock pot

Add the juice from the whole lemon all over the turkey breast and tuck the empty lemons in the crock. I put these in a whole under the breast.

handing holding a mini bottle of wine in front of a crock pot

Add white wine along the sides.

If you have a full size bottle I would guess this is about 3/4 of a cup. If you don’t have white wine, substitute with chicken broth.

3 jars of herbs on a counter in front of a crock pot

Once you’ve poured all the liquid items in, sprinkle the herbs all over the top. Depending on the size of your turkey, you’ll use more or less, but use equal parts.

For this breast, I used about 2 teaspoons or so of each herb.

crock pot with turkey with butter and herbs and spice on it

It will look like this. It already smells amazing and hasn’t even started cooking yet!

full crock pot with lid not closed on a counter

My turkey breast was so large that the lid didn’t close. That’s ok!

You can either cover with foil or wait until it’s cooked and thawed a little. By then it should close.

full crock pot with lid closed on a counter

Mine closed after about 3 hours.

Cook on low for about 10 hours or until the turkey is completely done, about 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

turkey breast with broth added to it in a crock pot

I also waited to put in the chicken broth until it had cooked down a little. I didn’t want it to overflow. You don’t have to wait. You can put in a little and go from there.

Personally, I added 4 cups of broth because I was cooking overnight and I didn’t want the turkey breast to dry out.

When the turkey is done, serve with all of your favorite side dishes.

Gravy

Be sure to use the left over broth to make the best gravy!

Pour desired amount of broth into a pot and place it on the stove. Heat to medium high and whisk in flour a tablespoon at a time until you’ve reached a gravy like consistency.

Season with salt and pepper if needed.

What does your Thanksgiving menu look like? Share in the comments below!