This Instant Pot Boneless Turkey Breast and Gravy Recipe makes delicious turkey breast from frozen to ready! The easiest way, with no prep ahead of time. The gravy is the perfect finish to this amazing boneless turkey breast!
Jump to:
- Why this recipe works?
- How to make a boneless frozen turkey breast in the Instant Pot?
- Seasoning for turkey breast
- How to make gravy for turkey breast?
- How long does it take to cook frozen turkey breast in the Instant Pot?
- What to serve with boneless turkey breast:
- Instant Pot Boneless Turkey Breast with Gravy Recipe
Why this recipe works?
When I shared my Instant Pot Turkey Breast recipe last year, I had no idea it will become so popular and made all year long. I also got a lot of questions about making a boneless frozen turkey breast in the pressure cooker. I knew I had to try it. You guys, it totally works! You can make juicy and delicious boneless turkey breast in the Instant Pot, without thawing it out.
This Instant Pot Boneless Turkey Breast is perfect for smaller holiday dinners as well as to make as meal prep and use throughout the week. It's so easy and you don't have to remember to thaw out the turkey!
How to make a boneless frozen turkey breast in the Instant Pot?
- Start by setting the trivet in your Instant Pot. Add 1.5 cups of water.
- Run the frozen turkey breast under warm tap water to release the gravy packet. I never use the gravy that comes with turkey, so I discarded it.
- Make the seasoned oil mixture and rub all over the turkey breast.
- Set turkey breast on trivet and arrange veggies around it.
- Set the Instant Pot to 55 minutes for a 3 lb turkey breast, on manual setting and high pressure. The Instant Pot will take about 8 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once done, let the pressure release naturally, it may take about 12 minutes.
- If you want to save on calories, remove the skin and slice the turkey breast to serve. You can also, pour a tablespoon of the juices from the bottom of the Instant Pot insert all over the cooked turkey breast and pop it under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
Seasoning for turkey breast
I have my go-to seasoning I use in all of my turkey recipes: a mixture of olive oil, paprika, poultry herb mix, salt and pepper. If you have one that you love, feel free to use it. The addition of celery, onion and garlic is supposed to be mainly to infuse the gravy with flavor. You can also use melted butter in place of oil.
Another option is to cook the turkey breast seasoned with oil, salt and pepper and once it's done, brush it with maple glaze and pop under the broiler. So delicious!
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How to make gravy for turkey breast?
Once the turkey breast is out of the Instant Pot, measure out 2 cups of the pan drippings. You can cook it in the Instant Pot or on the stove in saucepan. Add ¼ cup of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. It will make a smooth and clear gravy. If using flour, use 3 tablespoons (add more if needed). The gravy will be cloudy.
How long does it take to cook frozen turkey breast in the Instant Pot?
My boneless turkey breast was 3 lbs and pretty rock solid frozen. After 55 minutes of cooking, the center of the breast was not reaching 165 degrees F so I added 8 more minutes of cooking time and it was perfect. If you bought turkey breast straight from the open freezer in your store and brought it home, 55 minutes for a 3 lb breast should be enough time to cook it thoroughly. Always check with the kitchen thermometer to make sure the turkey is at least 165 degrees F.
My Instant Pot took 8 minutes to come to pressure and 12 to release the pressure naturally. Once you add up the time (total timing: 75 minutes) it may seem like a lot but don't forget that the turkey breast we are using is frozen. No thawing time is needed!
If you are cooking thawed boneless turkey breast, cook for 5 minutes per pound.
What to serve with boneless turkey breast:
Check out my Instant Pot Guide for Beginners, filled with all the info you need to get started with your new appliance!
If you like this recipe and make it, let me know in the comments below! Don't forget to rate it if you enjoyed it!
Instant Pot Boneless Turkey Breast with Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lb frozen boneless turkey breast
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chopped poultry herb mix sage, rosemary and thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ white onion cut into slices
- 1 celery stalk cut into 3 pieces
- 2 garlic cloves
Instructions
- Start by setting the trivet in your Instant Pot. Add 1½ cups of water to the stainless steel insert.
- Run the frozen turkey breast under warm tap water to release the gravy packet. I never use the gravy that comes with turkey, so I discarded it.3 lb frozen boneless turkey breast
- In a small bowl, whisk together oil, paprika, herb mix, salt and pepper. Rub all over the turkey breast.1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, ¼ teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon chopped poultry herb mix, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Set turkey breast on trivet and arrange veggies around it.½ white onion, 1 celery stalk, 2 garlic cloves
- Set the Instant Pot to 55 minutes for a 3 lb turkey breast, on manual setting and high pressure. The Instant Pot will take about 8 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once done, let the pressure release naturally, it may take about 12 minutes.
- If you want to save on calories, remove the skin and slice the turkey breast to serve. You can also, pour a tablespoon of the juices from the bottom of the Instant Pot insert all over the cooked turkey breast and pop it under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
- Once the turkey breast is out of the Instant Pot, measure out 2 cups of the pan drippings. You can cook it in the Instant Pot or on the stove in saucepan. Add ¼ cup of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. It will make a smooth and clear gravy. If using flour, use 3 tablespoons (add more if needed). The gravy will be cloudy.
Jola says
With this recipe, I got a juicy turkey breast that I could only dream of. It came out perfectly, and that's key.
Valerie says
Yes this was delicious! I did cook an extra 8 minutes. I used dry herbs that’s what I had in my pantry, I also used coconut oil because I was out of olive oil.
I used chicken stock instead of water, would have used turkey but didn’t have any on hand. I added an extra tablespoon of corn starch and a little butter to make the gravy.
Definitely a keeper.
Thank you.
Deonn Wiese says
My Turkey breast is thawed out how long do I put it in ip?
Thank you
Marlene Elizabeth Paul says
When cooking a thawed boneless breast for 5 minutes per pound, how long is the Natural Release?
Kathy Lambert says
How do you get the string bag netting off of the roast? The first time I did one of these roasts in the IP I cooked it in the bag but it was such a messy hassle to remove it. This time I tried cutting it off before I put it in the IP but some of it was way down into the meat and I couldn't get to it. There has to be a secret.
Jennifer says
My whole family loved it. Easy to make, and freed up the oven and stove top to make other items for our impromptu turkey dinner.
Anna says
That's absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much, Jennifer!
Sandra says
First of all, I knew with my amazing psychic abilities that this wouldn't be good -- not the recipe, but a giant skinless (ick, dry, why did I order this from the farm?) turkey breast turning into a delicious meal was going to be impossible. But I already bought it (great source of protein, I was thinking, and I'm doing the Whole30) and, as it turns out, it's really, really good! It reminds me of high school lunches; everybody's favorite day was Thursday, which was "Turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes" day, and it was always yummy.
I put all this in the Instant Pot and then left for a few hours. My husband was home, so after the pressure went down without venting, he checked on it. He said it was "hard" (whatever that means!) so he put it back on for another 10 minutes (I had a 4.5 lb breast from a local farm and I tried 23 minutes). I made a gravy (there was barely 2 cups liquid there) using arrowroot powder. My only regret was that I didn't make mashed potatoes. The turkey was just the right texture, sort of falling apart but still in slices.
By itself it was OK, but for me the gravy is mandatory. (When I'm off Whole30, I'll probably make some cranberry sauce too). I microwaved a potato and put the turkey on top with gravy over it all, and I'm still blissful. In fact, I think that's what I'm going to have for breakfast! (If you don't know anything about the Whole30, it's suggested that you have "First meal, second meal, and third meal," rather than categorizing things in a tradition way and having eggs and sausage or bacon until you never want to see an egg again; works for me!)
Thanks for the one recipe I've made lately that I was certain would be lousy and turned out to be a favorite!
Michelle says
This turned out great! We had a 3Ib turkey breast and set it in the Instant Pot for 60 minutes (1 hour) plus the time it took to get to pressure. I let it manually release for 8 minutes before venting it. This was so juicy and amazing. I can't wait to use this recipe so I can make turkey noodle soup and turkey pot pie!
Anna says
Thank you for making my recipe, Michelle! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Mike Thomas says
55 min plus the 12 min from frozen still raw in middle.
Anna says
Hi Mike! Sometimes the turkey can be frozen rock hard. You can place it back and cook for 10 more minutes. I hope this helps!
Diane says
Excellent recipe. I cooked for 65 minutes just to be sure and I think I’ll go to 75 minutes next time. The seasoning is very nice and the gravy turns out delicious. Thank you and it’s so nice to use the Instant Pot for perfectly moist turkey.
Anna says
Thank you so much, Diane! I am so glad the turkey was a success!
Joan says
How long to cook a frozen 5pound turkey breast?
Kim says
I keep finding similar recipes and they all call for sauteing of veggies etc.... Whats with the veggies? Are they really necessary? Like if I just put the trivet in and the chicken broth and frozen turkey will it still cook since there are no veggies with it? Sorry but we like to have open faced turkey sandwiches and I forgot to pull the turkey yesterday to thaw it properly. So I came to the internet to learn if I could cook a frozen one in the IP. Please let me know what the big deal is for veggies and if they can be omitted!
Chloe says
I think the veggie flavor is to infuse the drippings with flavor to them turn it into gravy. If you aren’t making gravy you probably don’t need the veggies, just the stock liquid at the bottom so you don’t get a burn notice.
Sandra says
The gravy was easy and delicious, and I'd highly recommend using the veggies. I think it's more flavorful that way. I also think the turkey itself is probably better steaming in there with all that onion, celery, and garlic. But I agree with the previous reply -- if you're not going to make gravy, you could probably skip the vegetables. But I definitely needed the gravy -- no matter how good, I'm not a big fan of turkey breast because it's always a little dry. This one was as moist as it gets, but still better with the gravy.
Molly says
Question. How long to cook for a thawed 3lb. Butterball turkey breast. Also, sear or not
Jean says
I did not sear mine but went by the 5 min per pound for a 3 pound thawed breast. The thermometer read only 126 after 20 minutes plus pressure up and 12 min release. Trying now for another 20 minutes cooking time. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Donna Coombs says
I cooked a 3# thawed Butterball breast tonight, using 6 minutes/pound as suggested. As like you, mine was only reading 120 degrees so I put it back to pressure for another 8 minutes with a natural release in pressure (10 minutes). It was reading 185 degrees after that and came out delicious and moist. I did broil it for 4 minutes to brown the top a bit. Did not alter ingredients in original recipe.