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This method for cooking sous vide turkey breast on the bone is one of the easiest ways to cook a perfect turkey, every time. In this recipe you’ll learn my tried and true sous vide turkey breast time and temperature, and how to finish the turkey in the oven for a beautiful, roasted skin.
How to sous vide turkey breast
Recommended sous vide temp for turkey breast
The beauty of this recipe is that you can cook any turkey breast around 3-4 LB at 145 degrees. So you can confidently buy a turkey breast without the fear of serving sous vide turkey breast not fully cooked.
In this recipe, I worked with a sous vide turkey breast with bones. You can adapt this recipe for a turkey breast without bones.
How long does it take to sous vide a turkey?
Cooking a turkey sous vide style only takes a few hours. Poultry cooks way faster in the sous vide machine than red meat, like these melt-off-the-bone 48 hour sous vide short ribs.
If you’re also a fan of dark turkey meat, check out this recipe for sous vide turkey legs.
Seasoning the turkey bag
To make the paste for the turkey I used a couple tablespoons of ghee, a diced shallot, rosemary, garlic salt, and black pepper. Before sealing the bag, I popped in a handful of lemon slices. So simple, with no basting needed!
Have you tried ghee? I love to use ghee as a base for making a turkey seasoning paste. The Fatworks ghee is easy to use with sous vide cooking. A little goes a long way. They also sell duck fat and beef tallow, which I use in other sous vide recipes.
Why ghee over oil? You could use oil. Or broth. But ghee is great for sous vide recipes, because it adds flavor and fat, without liquid. Some low-model vacuum sealers don’t seal properly with a lot of liquid. If you’re looking for a better vacuum sealer, check out my video demo on the Foodsaver 4000.
Roasting sous vide turkey breast in the oven
Finish the sous vide turkey for ~20 minutes in the oven. If the turkey breast cooked completely in the water bath, broil it on high to achieve the perfect golden skin. The extra oven / broiling time yields a sous vide turkey breast with extra crisp skin.
Cook sous vide turkey breast year round
Many people have written in, asking how can you cook a turkey sous vide for Thanksgiving or Christmas. But, don’t be limited, friends! This recipe is great to make year-round turkey. Personally, I’m a big fan of making sous vide turkey for sandwiches. (I’m one of those people that gets through the morning by looking forward to lunch!) Fresh sous vide turkey, soft havarti cheese and a little mayo does it for me!
Q: What happened when the turkey got into a fight?
A: He got the stuffing knocked out of him!
Soon, I’ll be sharing a recipe for whole turkey sous vide style. Sign up to get an email and be the first to know when it’s available. As a sous vide email insider, you’ll also get access to exclusive sous vide tips and guides.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t miss this recipe for sous vide short ribs. And if you’re a big fan of taco nights, learn how to make sous vide pulled pork carnitas.
Reach out if you have any questions about making sous vide turkey! Your proud-to-make-delicious-turkey blogger bud, Jenna.
Sous vide turkey breast (Sip Bite Go)
When you don’t want to cook a whole turkey, try this recipe for sous vide turkey breast! It’s delicious for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and beyond… perfect for sous vide turkey sandwiches! This sous vide turkey time and temp can be adapted for turkey breasts between 3-4 LBs. You’ll finish off the turkey in the oven for a perfect, crispy skin.
Ingredients
- 1 skin-on turkey breast half 3-4 pounds
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp ghee (for Whole30) or butter / oil
- 2 tbsp shallot diced
- 1 tbsp rosemary diced
- 1/2 lemon sliced
Instructions
Set the sous vide machine to 145 degrees. Make a paste of the garlic salt, pepper, rosemary, and ghee. Season the turkey breast with the paste. Place the turkey breast in a vacuum seal bag, add lemon slices and vacuum seal the bag. Place the vacuum sealed turkey in the water bath for 3 hours.
- When the sous vide cooking is complete, remove the turkey breast from the bag and pat it dry (you may want to reserve the juice to make a gravy). Take the temperature of the turkey to ensure it is fully cooked to a safe poultry temperature of 165 degrees. If it is undercooked, read the direction in the recipe notes. If the turkey is fully cooked, broil the turkey on high for 5 minutes to make a golden, crispy skin.
Rest turkey for 10 minutes, then serve.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Each turkey breast varies. It’s a good idea to check the internal temperature when the sous vide bath is complete. If the turkey has not finished cooking, continue it in the oven at 400 degrees until it reaches a safe poultry temperature (try 15-20 minutes then retake the temperature). If the turkey skin browns during the extra cooking time, skip the broiling step.
Don't forget to share your beautiful turkey with @sipbitego on Instagram. Tag #sipbitego so I can take a peak!
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Looks like I may need to find room for one more gadget. This is perfect because I like to cook just the turkey breasts, but they can get dried out in the oven. Thanks for sharing!
The flavor of this turkey breast looks amazing!!!
I have never tried sous vide but have always heard good things.
This turkey breast looks so moist and delicious! Will have to remember this for Thanksgiving!
Turkey is the one things that most people hate cooking for Thanksgiving because it gets dry, but this Turkey breast looks so moist and full of flavor! Yum!
This sounds ideal for us. We only like the white meat, but don’t like how it gets dried out in the oven. Thanks for the tips and step by step directions. Going to give it a try.
Such a perfect timing for this recipe. I am always curious to learn about Sous vide technique. Thank you for the detailed information and step by step instructions.
The turkey looks moist and full of flavour ! I might just need a sous vide cooker for this perfection !
The skin looks like it is cooked perfectly! I have never thought to use a sous vide for the turkey but this is a great idea for freeing up some oven space.
Curious as to why you need to roast it to 165 after having cooked it 3 hours sous vide at 145. While I understand the desire to crisp and color the skin, roasting to 165 seems to defeat the main reason for cooking sous vide. Isn’t it safe at 145 after 3 hours sous vide?
That looks so moist and delicious… sometimes a challenge with turkey breasts! Love the citrus included too. 🙂
Oh my, this really looks like the perfect turkey!
I’ve never tried sous vide cooking but keep hearing about it. This turkey looks delicious! I’m going to have to add a sous vide machine to my wish list!
This turkey breast looks so juicy and delicious! I can’t wait to try it!
I need to try sous vide cooking…you make it look so easy 🙂
Interesting about the ghee. I bet it adds great flavor. I’d love to try sous vide.
This sous vide turkey breast looks so delicious! So tender and juicy – and love the crispy skin too!
That is it, I am coming over for Christmas dinner at your place, haha, this looks sooo good!! Yum, good stuff. I like that it is on the bone too, also like the idea of the turkey sandwiches. Cheers
This looks so flavorful – delish!
Lovely ideas and lovely looking dish. So Yummy and Moist. Good for this festive season.
I have never tried this way of cooking, but I have heard such great things about it.
The breast look great. So many great flavors. Can’t wait to try or.
You say to measure the internal temp of the turkey after removing from the sous vide bath for a temp of 165. There is no way the turkey will ever measure 165 if it was cooked sous vide at 145. Please explain what you meant.
This step by step is PERFECT for me. I need lots of instruction. How does this change with turkey breasts without bones? That’s why we have at home right now and I want to try this!
I haven’t done much with sous vide, but this looks great!
This looks like the absolute perfect turkey breast! I can’t wait to try it!
I’ve heard that using a sous vide gives great results. No dry food in sight.
BEST turkey breast I have ever eaten …. bar none! I had a 4 lb bone in breast that I cooked for 3 hours at 145. I did need to put it in the oven for 15 minutes to get it to the safe 165F temp, but did not need to put it under the broiler. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Honestly the moistest, tenderest, turkey ever. Will leave it in the water bath a little longer to save the oven time.
Judith, I’m SO THRILLED your turkey turned out amazing!! If you happened to take any pics please tag me on Instagram @sipbitego! I’d love to see!
I love love love my sous vide, but I’ve never used it to cook fowl before. I will definitely give this recipe a try.
Looks so delicious and healthy! I love the use of sous vide!
Nice! I will share this recipe with my neighbor..she was looking for a turkey recipe!