This Sous Vide Turkey Breast is a foolproof way to get juicy turkey! Well seasoned, with crispy, browned skin and served with apple cider gravy! With step by step video.
Even though I’m sort of new to the sous vide game, a turkey breast has been high on my list of things to try for a few reasons!
Turkey breasts, bone in, boneless, or roasts are the perfect smaller option for a holiday meal when you aren’t feeding a ton of people.
The problem with turkey breast, if done wrong, is that white meat can turn out to be drier than its dark meat counterparts.
Although we love this Crockpot Turkey Breast, it’s never going to yield a crispy skin like a traditional roasted turkey.
The Anova Sous Vide Pro makes cooking a juicy, moist turkey breast with crispy skin easier than ever before! You can even connect it to your smartphone to access recipes and monitor your dinner from outside your kitchen.
Roasting a turkey breast can lead to uneven temperatures throughout the breast. With sous vide, the turkey breast will be the same internal temperature all the way through, which means no overcooking and moist turkey breast every time!
Simply season your turkey breast well, place in a large (I recommend 2 gallon or extra large) heavy duty freezer bag, seal, and let the Anova Sous Vide Pro work its magic.
Your holiday guests will definitely be wowed this year!
How do I seal a zipper freezer bag for sous vide cooking?
This was one of my biggest questions when I started cooking with the Anova Sous Vide Pro, because we don’t have a vacuum packer and didn’t want to purchase additional equipment.
The awesome thing is that you don’t have to! Zipper freezer bags work just fine, as long as carefully seal the bag and allow the air to escape using the water immersion technique.
To do this, place your turkey breast in your freezer bag and seal half way or a little more. Gradually lower the bag into your pot of water, allowing the water to push the air out the top.
When all of the air is eliminated (be careful not to allow water into the seal in the top!), seal the remaining part of the bag and proceed with cooking.
What kind of turkey breast do I need for this recipe?
You can use the Anova Sous Vide to cook any turkey breast (and even a whole turkey if you have a bag large enough!).
For this recipe, I used a skin-on, bone-in turkey breast that weighed about pounds.
I love using a skin on turkey breast because this way I can crisp it up in the oven and it will look more like a traditional turkey on the table.
If you’re using a skinless turkey breast, you won’t necessarily need to sear or broil the breast after it’s done cooking, but you can if you prefer.
What’s important is that whichever turkey breast you use is roughly the same weight as the one called for in the recipe, otherwise, you’ll need to account for additional cook time if your turkey breast is larger.
The beautiful thing about cooking a sous vide turkey breast? The cook time and temperature is actually pretty flexible.
What temperature is best for sous vide turkey breast?
This is another area where everyone has a different opinion.
You can cook your turkey breast as low as 132 degrees F (56 degrees C) and as high as 152 degrees F (67 degrees C).
If you cook your turkey breast at a lower temperature, you will need to cook it longer, your internal temperature will be lower (this is technically still safe to eat, but it’s up to you whether you’re comfortable with it), and your end result pinker and juicier.
If you cook your turkey breast at a higher temperature, you will cook it less, your internal temperature will be higher, and your end result will be much closer to a roast turkey from the oven.
What’s most important when cooking sous vide turkey is that you figure out where you’re comfortable and what result you’re looking for.
We cooked this one at 140 degrees F for 8 hours and my husband declared it the juiciest turkey he’d ever had <– no word of a lie!
We also tried cooking for 5-6 hours at 145 degrees F, and it was just as delicious.
Serious Eats has a great chart on cooking temperatures and cook times for cooking sous vide turkey breast.
Tips for cooking Sous Vide Turkey Breast:
- Season well — the turkey has a lot of time to hang out while it gently cooks, and all of that flavor is going to penetrate the turkey breast for amazing results!
- Get that crispy skin: after your turkey breast is cooked through with your Anova Sous Vide, we need to crisp the skin. There are two ways to do this: searing in a pan or under the broiler in the oven. I prefer to do mine in the oven, because it’s less work and gets great even results, but you can do what works for you! The important thing is that you thoroughly dry it and butter or oil the turkey breast before browning.
- An hour or two (or a few more!) isn’t really going to make a big difference in the quality of the finished product, which gives you a lot of flexibility and peace of mind! You can start your turkey breast when it’s convenient for you, and know that you are going to have an amazing meal in the end.
What to serve with turkey breast:
- Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes
- Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Slow Cooker Pineapple Glazed Carrots
- Garlic Herb Instant Pot Potatoes
- Homemade Garlic Herb Dinner Rolls
*This post has been generously sponsored by Turkey Farmers of Canada and Anova Culinary and I have been compensated for my time spent creating this recipe. Thank you for supporting the brands that support The Recipe Rebel!
Sous Vide Turkey Breast with Apple Cider Gravy
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 lb bone in, skin on turkey breast (see post notes for different types of turkey breast)
Garlic Butter
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Apple Cider Gravy
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups turkey broth (drippings plus broth to make 2 cups)
- 1 cup apple cider
Instructions
- Stir together garlic powder, seasoning salt, Italian seasoning and black pepper. Rub all over turkey breast.
- Place turkey breast in a large 1-2 gallon zipper freezer bag, sealing the zipper about ¾ of the way across.
- Place the bag with the turkey breast in a large pot of water, carefully submerging all of the bag except for the very top of the zipper. Let the water in the pot squeeze any remaining air out of the bag and seal completely.
- Secure the Anova Sous Vide Pro to the side of your pot, and set it to a temperature of 140 degrees F for 10-12 hours (see post above for additional tips on cooking temperatures and times).
- When cook time is over, remove the bag from the pot, open the seal and move turkey breast and juices to a 9×13" roasting dish.
Garlic Butter
- Preheat the broiler in the oven.
- In a medium bowl, stir together melted butter, garlic powder, seasoning salt, Italian seasoning and black pepper.
- Brush over top of turkey breast in pan and broil for 5-8 minutes, until skin is golden brown.
- *Alternatively, you can roast at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or sear in a large pan on the stove top.
Apple Cider Gravy
- When turkey is removed from the oven, move it to a cutting board to rest and strain any remaining juices into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Add additional turkey or vegetable broth to make 2 cups.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter.
- Stir in the garlic, salt, thyme and pepper. Then whisk in the flour until completely combined.
- Whisk in the turkey juices and apple cider. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer until thickened.
- Slice turkey breast and serve with gravy as desired.
Nutrition Information
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carol says
I have my 4lb skin on turkey breast in 140 degrees now but I also don’t understand your answer on time . Is it 8hr 10 min or 10-12 hours? think receipe confusing
carol says
update – took out after 8 hr 10 min – roasted in oven with butter receipe at 450 for 20 min
fully cooked and tasty!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Carol! You can do it either way. The recipe states 10-12 hours but I was just letting everyone know in the post that we have tried it at different times and it still works out just the same. Hope this helps!
Cmbeke says
I want to sous vide a bone-in breast a day or 2 ahead of when we’ll eat it. I’m planning on ice bath after sous vide, then travel w bird in sealed bag to party, crisp skin in oven and slice. Will this work?
Jill says
This was super moist but all the family said it had no roasted turkey flavor. And didn’t really even taste like a turkey at all. I cooked it 10 hours in the Sous Vide because at the top of the recipe it said 8 hours but #4 of the instructions said 10 to 12. I actually ended up slicing it all up and throwing it in the oven for another 30 min to dry out a little and get some roast flavor on it. This was my third time using my Sous Vide so maybe this type of cooking is an acquired taste.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Jill! Well sous vide is a different type of cooking, that’s for sure. A turkey will taste like a turkey, but you can always brown it for longer if you want more roasted flavor. We like our turkey moist and juicy, so I’m not sure I understand the complaint.
Patty Owings says
Hi Ashley – We have (2) 4-1/4 lb. boneless turkey breast. How long do we Soux Vide them and what water temp? Can we Soux Vide them together?
Ashley Fehr says
The time will be the same, and yes you should be fine to cook them together!
Patty Owings says
Thank you Ashley I do have one additional question if you don’t mind answering in the top portion of the recipe it says to soux vide for 8 to 10 hours and then in the body of your description it says 10 to 12 hours so for my 4 pound boneless turkey breast at a temp of 140 approximately how long should I sous vide it
Robin D Richman says
how long do you cook a turkey breas with the bone if it is 4 lbs at 145 water temp?
Ashley Fehr says
This recipe is for a 4lb bone in turkey breast and all of my findings are in the recipe and post
Amber Brannen says
You don’t list the size of your turkey but specify to use one close to how many pounds that you used? The number seems to be missing. Please help! Thank you!
Amber Brannen says
I see it now in recipe it’s missing on my end in the blog part! Sorry. Mine is 6.9 pounds. At 140 do you think 10 hours is enough?
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Amber! I think it probably would be enough. Some people cook a 4-5 lb for quite a bit less than we do, so I think a larger one should be done. The best thing about sous vide cooking is that cooking it longer will never hurt it, so if you have an extra hour or two you can leave it in, then I would probably recommend it just to be safe.
Amber Brannen says
Thank you for getting back to me SO quickly! This is only the third time I’ve used it and it’s in there as we speak, but I absolutely love all of your recipes I’ve tried so far. Much appreciated.
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Amber! I’d love to hear how it goes!
Sophie Heath says
Delicious turkey! My entire family loved it! We’re going to make this recipe countless more times!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sophie!
Suzy says
This looks insanely good! Perfect way to make such a flavorful turkey!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Suzy!
Nellie Tracy says
This is seriously so amazing! I will definitely be making it for our Christmas dinner!
Ashley Fehr says
It is our favorite now too!
April says
I’ve never made anything sous vide, so I’m thankful for all the tips. I am absolutely DROOLING over that cider gravy recipe – definitely making that for Christmas dinner!
Ashley Fehr says
It’s definitely something to get used to but we love it!
Trang says
I’m new to the sous vide game too! So I dunno why it didn’t don on me to try turkey until now. So juicy!
Ashley Fehr says
Yes! No more dry turkey!
Toni says
I’m new to sous vide cooking and REALLY appreciate all the details and tips. It made this recipe a breeze. Delicious!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Toni! I’m glad!
Alison Lundqvist says
Thank you!! I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 30 people on Saturday (here in Europe, Thanksgiving Day isn’t a holiday… 😉 ) and will sous-vide the turkey breasts (also nearly impossible to find whole turkeys here, this time of year). So this was perfect timing!! 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
I hope you enjoy them!