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Turkey breast cooked in the sous vide is extra tender, juicy, and flavorful! In a few very simple, hands-off steps, you’ll have fully cooked and delicious turkey breast for your next holiday or weeknight meal.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- The sous vide does all the hard work! Simply place all ingredients in a bag, drop them into your sous vide bath, and return to perfectly cooked turkey breasts every time. This easy dinner recipe is totally foolproof!
- It’s intensely moist and flavorful. By sealing your turkey breast in with all its seasonings, then cooking it low and slow for 3 hours, the meat absorbs as much flavor as possible.
- It features an extra crispy and delicious skin! The sous vide does an impeccable job at cooking the inside of the turkey, though it does very little for the skin. Therefore, we add a quick last step that takes just a few minutes and yields irresistibly crispy skin!
Key Ingredients
Boneless Skin-On Turkey Breast – Since this cut can be somewhat tricky to find, I recommend purchasing bone-in and skin-on turkey breasts. Then, simply cut away the bone before using the turkey breast in this recipe. The reason for removing the bones is to make for much easier carving and eating later on. Additionally, the reason for leaving the skin on, is so that we can crisp it up and add delightful texture to this overall meal. Though if you’re lucky enough to find this rare cut of meat without any bones, by all means pick some up and use it in this sous vide recipe!
Fresh Thyme – This refreshing herb is light, yet flavorful enough to compliment the turkey breast without overpowering its delicious flavors. Though feel free to use whichever fresh or dried herbs you’d like in this recipe! Fresh rosemary would make a great addition, as well as fresh sage and/or fresh oregano.
Chef’s Tips
- Depending on the size of your turkey breasts, they make take longer to cook in the sous vide. Therefore, to check on if your meat is done or not, simply insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. Once the thermometer reads 165° Fahrenheit, then the meat is cooked through and safe to serve.
- Add more or less flavor depending on your preferences! I’m a huge garlic fan, so will sometimes throw a few extra smashed cloves into my sous vide bag. Feel free to have fun with this recipe and make it your own!
- I typically use one gallon zip-top bags for my sous vide recipes, though I highly recommend using a two gallon bag for this particular recipe. Using a larger bag will guarantee that the seal of the bag sits atop the water line. Avoid a smaller bag which may cause the seal to sit below the water line and carries the risk of water getting inside your bag.
Delicious Side Dish Recipes to Pair with Turkey Breast
- Green Beans with Bacon
- Asparagus Salad
- The Best Air Fryer Broccoli
- Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
- Carrot Soufflé
- Oven-Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
- Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes
- Cheesy Spinach Casserole
Sous Vide Turkey Breast with Crispy Skin
Equipment
- Sous vide immersion circulator
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skin-on turkey breast 4-5 pounds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 garlic cloves smashed
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil
Instructions
- Set sous vide to 145° Fahrenheit.
- Pat the turkey breasts dry with a paper towel then brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
- Place turkey into a zip-top bag along with the thyme and garlic. Remove air from bag and place in the preheated sous vide bath, cook for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, heat butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then remove turkey breasts from bag and place in skillet skin-side down. Quickly sear for a few minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Remove turkey from skillet and set on cutting board to rest at least 5 minutes. Slice turkey and serve warm with desired sides.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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The best turkey breast!
We did the sous vide with a smaller breast, it didn’t have much skin so after 15 mins in oven when it didn’t brown we decided to just cut it and serve. It was moist and flavorful. 💯 we will do this again! Thanks
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Jen!
I ended up using my oven to brown the skin and it worked perfectly.
Glad the oven worked for you! Thanks so much for the review!
If the water is only 145 how does the meat get to 165?
While 165°F is the USDA’s guidance for food safety in regards to turkey, it’s actually safe to eat at lower temperatures as long as it spends enough time at that temperature first. Check out this article for more info, as well as this publication. Turkey should be at 145° for at least 10 minutes to be safe to eat, so the sous vide more than takes care of that. Also, you’ll be finishing the turkey on the stovetop, which will raise the internal temperature before you serve and eat it.