If you’re looking for a super easy and foolproof turkey recipe to feed a small group this Thanksgiving, let me tell you—sous vide turkey breast is where it’s at.
Why Sous Vide Turkey Breast?
White meat like turkey breast is tricky. A traditional oven ends up creating a large temperature gradient where the edges are overcooked and the middle is underdone. But with sous vide, everything is even and juicy.
Sous vide cooking involves seasoning the meat, sealing it in a bag, and then cooking it in a water bath with precise temperature control. This low temperature and long time cooking method helps the meat become super tender while keeping all its natural juices and flavors.
Sous vide cooking means precise temperature control, offering reliable, moist, and tender results. Plus, it’s super easy and almost hands-off during the cooking process.
Especially when using the Typhur All-in-one sous vide machine, which packages all essential sous vide accessories like a Sous Vide Container, Vacuum Sealer, and Vacuum Bags. This simplifies the entire process of meeting the needs of home chefs. With built-in 50+ recipe guides featuring temperature and cooking time presets, including for Sous Vide Turkey Breast, achieving professional results at home becomes a breeze.
The best thing is its schedule cooking mode features a delayed start of up to 9 hours, allowing you to cook your food ahead of time and have it ready when you get home. Meanwhile, it ensures that your food stays out of the temperature danger zone for food safety.
Sous Vide Turkey Breast Temperature and Time
Cooking turkey breast sous vide lets you cook it to the exact temperature you want, for just the right level of doneness. I recommend cooking the turkey breast at 143°F (62°C) for 3 hours. This temperature ensures the turkey comes out perfectly tender, juicy, and moist. The meat will be white throughout, without any of that dry, overcooked texture.
You might be thinking, “But doesn’t the FDA recommend cooking turkey to an internal temperature of 165°F?” That’s a general guideline, because food safety relies on both temperature and time, cooking at a lower temperature for a longer time still kills bacteria and pathogens, just in a different way. For example, turkey cooked and held at 140°F (60°C) for 30 minutes is just as safe as turkey cooked at 165°F for 10 seconds.
Related: Turkey Temperature Guide
Sous Vide Turkey Breast Ingredients
For this recipe, I use skin-on, boneless turkey breast. Now, while the sous vide method won’t get the skin crispy, you can easily fix that by giving the cooked turkey a quick sear in a hot pan.
To season, I just throw together kosher salt, unsalted butter (or olive oil), fresh cracked pepper, fresh thyme, and a whole garlic clove (skin on, just crushed)—simple, but packed with flavor.
How to Sous Vide Turkey Breast
Time needed: 3 hours and 30 minutes
- Prepare the Sous Vide Bath
Start by adding enough water to your sous vide container to fully submerge the turkey breast. Attach your sous vide circulator to the container and preheat the water to 143.6°F (62°C). While the water heats up, go ahead and prepare the turkey.
- Season the Turkey Breast
Remove any excess fat or connective tissue from the turkey breast. Season generously with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Then, place the turkey in a vacuum bag with a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter or olive oil, along with a sprig of fresh thyme and a crushed garlic clove.
- Seal the Bag
Using your vacuum sealer, seal the bag tightly, making sure all air is removed.
- Cook the Turkey Breast
Once the water bath reaches 143.6°F (62°C), carefully place the sealed bag with the turkey into the water. Let it cook for about 3 hours.
- Finish with a Sear (for Crispy Skin!)
After the turkey is done cooking, carefully remove it from the bag and pat the skin dry with paper towels (this is key for getting it crispy!). Heat a pan over high heat, add a bit of oil, and sear the skin for 2-3 minutes until it turns golden and crispy.
And that’s it! You’ve got yourself a perfectly cooked turkey breast that’s tender, juicy, and beautifully crispy on the outside. Enjoy!
Other Turkey Recipes you Might Like
Sous Vide Turkey Breast
Video
Equipment
- Vacuum Bag
- Vacuum Sealer
- Sauté Pan
- Tongs
- Spoon
- Kitchen Paper
- Chef Knife
Ingredients
For Sous Vide Cooking
- 1 each turkey breast skin on
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil
- 20 turns fresh cracked pepper
- 4 sprig fresh thyme
- 5 each garlic clove, whole skin on crushed
For Searing
- 2 tbsp high temperature oil (canola oil, grape seed oil, avocado oil)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter (for basting)
Instructions
- Add enough water to the sous vide container to ensure that the ingredients are fully submerged and the minimum quantity of water is reached. Complete setup by securing the circulator tower to the sous vide container.
- Preheat the water bath to 143.6℉ (62℃). While the water bath is heating to the target cooking temperature, please move on to preparing the turkey breast.
- Remove any excess fat or connective tissue from the turkey breast.1 each turkey breast
- Moderately season the turkey breast with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper before placing it in the vacuum bag along with olive oil or unsalted butter, garlic, and thyme.2 tsp kosher salt, 2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil, 20 turns fresh cracked pepper, 4 sprig fresh thyme, 5 each garlic clove, whole skin on crushed
- Using the vacuum sealer, make sure that the turkey breast is completely sealed and that any excess air has been removed from the bag.
- When the water bath reaches the target temperature of 143.6℉ (62℃), carefully place the sealed turkey in the water bath making sure that it is completely submerged in the water. Sous vide for 3 hours.
- Once the turkey breast has finished cooking, carefully remove it from the water bath. Remove the turkey breast from the bag along with the herbs and garlic to a paper towel-lined plate or a sheet tray. Before roasting, thoroughly dry each piece of turkey with a paper towel.
- Place a sauté pan over high heat and add high-temperature cooking oil. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, add the turkey to the pan and sear for approximately 3 to 4 minutes. When searing the last side, add the butter to the pan and spoon the aromatic butter over the turkey.2 tbsp high temperature oil, 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- Serve as desired!
Nutrition PER SERVING
(Nutrition information is calculated automatically by Spoonacular API and should be considered an estimate.)
