Instant Pot Turkey Breast
Servings: 4 -6 servings
Calories: 1051kcal
Ultimate Thanksgiving dinner on a small scale, cooked entirely in an Instant Pot in one go! Magic? Nah, just Instant Pot doing its thing!!!
So this's what we have on our Thanksgiving menu: Thanksgiving turkey breast with stuffing and mashed potatoes. Plus, gravy!!
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 5-6 lbs semi frozen bone-in turkey breast Note 1
- 4 tablespoons herb butter Note 2
- 1 box stuffing mix Note 3
- 1 lb russet potatoes peeled
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
For mashed potatoes:
- ½ cup warm milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
For gravy:
- ¼ cup 55gr butter, or bacon fat
- ¼ cup 30gr all-purpose flour
- 3 cups 720ml low-sodium chicken stock
Instructions
- To prepare stuffing, follow the package directions. Cool slightly.
- To prepare the turkey breast, dry the turkey breast thoroughly with a paper towel. Carefully run your hand under the breast skin to create a pocket. Smear the herb butter evenly all over the turkey and under the breast skin. (If the skin is wet, butter won’t stick. So make sure to dry the skin with paper towel well.)
- Cut the potatoes into chunks.
- Place a trivet in inner pot of your Instant Pot. And place the turkey breast, skin-side down, so that the breast cavity is on top.
- Stuff the breast cavity with the prepared stuffing. (Note: You may have some leftover, which is fine. Save it for later.)
- Add the potato chunks around the turkey breast.
- Pour chicken stock, salt and garlic powder.
- Cover the lid and make sure the valve is set to “sealing”.
- To pressure cook, set the Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook for 30 minutes (or 10 minutes per lb) on High. (NOTE: It took about 21-25 minutes for my IP to come to pressure.)
- Once the time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 20 minutes, and then carefully turn the valve to venting. Once the pin drops, carefully open the lid.
- Check the internal temperature of the turkey breast and make sure it reached at least 165°F.
- To broil the turkey breast, transfer the stuffing into a 9x13 (or similar) baking dish and using a pair of kitchen tongs, carefully place the turkey breast over the stuffing. Broil for 3-5 minutes at 500°F to brown the skin. Keep a close eye on it to prevent burning! If one side is browning too quickly, place a sheet of foil over that area and continue to broil until the breast is nice and evenly browned.
- To make the mashed potatoes, add milk and butter into the potatoes. (No need to drain the liquid.) Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes into a smooth texture. Transfer onto a serving platter and keep warm.
- Clean the inner pot.
- To make the gravy, hit "cancel" button and set the Instant Pot to Sauté.
- When the display reads “HOT”, add butter (or bacon fat) and melt it. Once the butter is fully melted add flour and roast the flour, whisking constantly, until golden brown with nutty aroma, about 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in chicken stock, while whisking constantly. Once all the stock is added, bring it to a boil, whisking occasionally. Then turn off the Instant Pot and let the gravy simmer for another 5 minute or so. And serve! (Alternatively, you can make the gravy on stovetop in a saucepan, and keep the mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot on “keep warm” setting until ready to serve.)
Notes
Note 1: I used semi-frozen 5.5lbs Butterball whole turkey breast, which means I didn't thaw the turkey breast in advance. I just took it out on the counter couple hours before cooking and let it thaw a little while I prepared other things. It was thawed enough for me to detach the skin and butter it. So the cooking time in this recipe is for frozen turkey breast, which is about 10 minutes per pound. So, for example, if your turkey breast is 5lbs, set your Instant Pot for 50 minutes! If you have thawed turkey breast, set it to 6 minutes per pound.
Note 2: You can use any kind of herb butter here. My go-to herb butter for turkey is 4 tablespoons salted butter, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon ground dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon rubbed dried sage, ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves. Another way to prepare herb butter is to mix together softened butter with some chimichurri sauce!
Note 3: I used Kraft's Stovetop Stuffing Mix (Savory Herb) and prepared exactly per package directions.
This recipe has been tested in my favorite Instant Pot DUO 6qt. Everything fit pretty tight in my 6qt Instant Pot without much room for anything else. But if you have 8qt Instant Pot, you may add more potatoes or use bigger turkey breast.
Nutrition
Calories: 1051kcal
Carbohydrates: 37g
Protein: 133g
Fat: 42g
Sugar: 6g
Sodium: 2318mg