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How to cook turkey breast in an instant pot or electric pressure cooker

If you haven’t already used an electric pressure cooker to cook turkey breast, it could change your whole approach. Turkey comes out astonishingly juicy and full of flavor. And, since you’ll be adding broth, stock, or water to the pressure cooker, it’s fairly simple to make gravy to go along with your meal.

Read on to see how to cook a delicious, juicy turkey in an electric pressure cooker.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Remove the turkey breast from the package, boneless or skin on, and place it in the instant pot.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of water, stock, or broth into the instant pot.
  3. Cook on high pressure for about 10 minutes (for about 1.5 pounds of turkey) to 25 minutes (for about 4.5 pounds) or until the turkey is tender. Verify that the internal temperature of turkey breast reached 165˚F with a meat thermometer. As a general rule, cook poultry in an electric pressure cooker for approximately 6 minutes per pound. Please note that cooking times may vary depending on the instant pot you’re using.

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER TURKEY BREAST

One of the best things about cooking turkey in an instant pot is that you can make delicious turkey relatively quickly. The next best thing is probably that you can cook enough turkey to have a few meals’ worth of leftovers.

Pro-tip: prepare turkey on a Sunday so you have food ready for meals throughout the week. As for what to do with leftover turkey breast, here are a few ideas.

Try this Turkey Benedict! Pairing leftover turkey with a few poached eggs and a creamy hollandaise, you’ll have a tasty, decadent, yet high protein breakfast or brunch.

For a great lunch or dinner option, check out our Turkey Miso Ramen recipe.

For more inspiration, explore our other turkey recipes.

INSTANT POT TURKEY BREAST FAQs

Fresh turkey should be cooked for approximately 6 minutes per pound in an instant pot. If the turkey is frozen, it should be cooked for 10 minutes per pound in the instant pot. (Note: we recommend that you always thaw turkey before cooking it.) Finally, after the turkey is cooked, let it rest on a cutting board until it’s cool. This lets the juices settle and ensures the turkey is moist when you eat it.

Always cook turkey to 165˚F as measured by a meat thermometer.

We recommend cooking turkey breast fresh or thawed. The challenge with cooking frozen turkey breast is that the outside will always cook faster than the inside, which also means the outside will dry out faster than the inside.

If crispy skin is your favorite part of the turkey, you’ll need to broil it for a few minutes after taking it out of the pressure cooker.

Brining is key to cooking a moist turkey and most of our turkey comes already brined. If, however, your turkey doesn’t come brined, we recommend brining it for 24-48 hours. Learn how to brine your own whole turkey in our How-To section.

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