Thanksgiving Turkey in the Crock Pot

Howdy folks!  Today is the big day.  Bring on the main course!  Mandy and I have been sharing a few Thanksgiving recipes this month and I have been itching to share my easy turkey secrets with you.  You see, I take my turkey prep very seriously…whether I’m feeding a crowd, like tonight at my high school dinner club’s (7th?) annual Thanksgiving feast, or it’s just my family of three chowing down.  Thanksgiving meals set the bar for all other holiday meals in my book so when it comes to the main course…it’s go big or go home.  But how do I serve up the tastiest turkey to different sized crowds without intense advance prep and close oven monitoring and basting all day long?

Crock Pot Turkey Breast (My go to for a small group)

Turkey breast (preferably 7 lbs or less)

1 apple, sliced

1 onion, quartered OR 1/2 c frozen chopped onion

garlic salt

onion powder

parsley

pepper

2 c chicken broth

Place turkey breast in slow cooker with cavity facing upwards.  Fill cavity with apple slices and onions.  Sprinkle with seasonings.  Pour broth into slow cooker.

Place cover over turkey breast.  If it doesn’t quite sit flush (my turkey breast was 7 1/2 lbs this time and left my lid teetering) tent lid with foil to help hold in heat.  I also stuck a 5 lb bag of potatoes on top for a few minutes to help it settle.  Don’t leave those taters on too long though, or they might start to cook!

Set it and forget it for 8 hours.  When you come back, you’ll be greeted with this…which, admittedly, doesn’t look all that appetizing, what with the bone sticking out of the top left side, the apples, which have turned all dark, and no golden brown color on the turkey like you get in the oven…but this is another one of those times when you really need smell-o-vision for your computer.  So. Darn. Good.

Good luck getting that bad boy out of the crock pot in one piece.  See how the bones are already sticking out of it randomly?  That’s one tender bird in there.  Scoop out and discard what’s left of the apples and onions (they are mostly disintigrated at this point) and begin the process of removing the turkey.  When you’re done you’ll have a platter of glorious, tender turkey breast…

And a pile of absolutely clean bones that just slid right out of the turkey.

Finding the wishbone has never been easier my friend.

Don’t forget to save those drippings to whip up some gravy if you’re into that sort of thing.  I’m a big fan of homemade gravy to slather all over my Thanksgiving dinner…yumm-o.

Wanna see how I feed a BIG crowd without a lot of fuss?  Come back later this week to find out!