This couldn't-be-easier main dish is perfect for holidays or any day of the week!
Ohmagoodness, you guys. As I type this, I'm sitting at my desk, looking out of my picture window and watching these gorgeous, big fat snowflakes turn everything around me into a winter wonderland. It's kind of mesmerizing and absolutely lovely. Makes me want to light some candles (ya know, if I didn't have kids) and work on my hygge. It also has me wondering why in the heck we didn't get the Christmas lights up last weekend when it was so nice out? Aaand... the hygge spell is broken. Sometimes I can't even help myself.
It's ok. Those lights are the husband's job anyway, so I'm not going to give it another thought. Love you, husband!
<mentally re-lighting my candle - hold please>
Aaanyway... So I know this one is coming in under the wire, but I figured if it's too late for Thanksgiving there's always Christmas! And you need, nay, NEED this ridiculously easy recipe in your life. I'm telling you, once you make this, you're going to be saying to yourself "Why do we only have turkey on Thanksgiving when we can have it ALL YEAR ROUND?" And you'll be making an excellent point.
Have you ever tried making a turkey breast before? I have. Many, many times without what I would consider success. Truth-be-told, I'm a dark meat person. It's so hard for white meat to just be juicy, ya know? Seriously get with it, white meat. I'll take a thigh, please. Or two.
Until now, of course. Trying out the turkey breast in the slow cooker was freaking life changing. I still can't believe how simple it is. Here are the simple steps:
- Mix together a little softened butter and some tasty spices, set aside.
- Slice a large onion into 4 thick rings, place in the bottom of slow-cooker. <-- Don't skip this
- Place the turkey breast on top of the onions in the slow cooker. Pat dry.
- Coat with the butter mixture, cook on low for 4 hours.
- Put turkey under the broiler (on high) for 5-10 minutes until browned.
No basting, no brining, no general messing around. Just perfectly juicy turkey with two awesome sauces <-- we'll get to those in a minute.
Can I also just say how absolutely fantastic it is to have my oven completely available all day long for all of the absolutely necessary side dishes?? Ya know, for the sweet potatoes and the stuffing and the broccoli cheese casserole... <-- Just realizing that I need to get some broccoli cheese casserole up on the blog. Anyway, words cannot express how happy this makes me. You know what I'm talking about. It's such a pain trying have everything hot and ready all at once, isn't it? No longer, my friends.
I used a 3 pound turkey breast which was perfect for my family of 4, in fact it fed us for two days. If you're 21 Day Fixin', this 3 pounder makes 12 Red servings. Convenient, because you can easily slice these into 12 thick slices (or 24 thin ones if you'd prefer) and that's what I did.
Ok, let's talk sauces. I'm giving you two options here; one traditional, the other, not so much. You can make just one if ya like, or you can make 'em both (they're both super easy) if you're feelin' saucy. <-- I know, I know.
The first is a mostly traditional gravy. I just added a little thyme and plenty of black pepper, 'cause that's how I likes it.
The second is what you make when you wanna get a little jiggy with it. It's a sage-pecorino cashew sauce. Oh man. Let me just say that vegans know about stuff. It's rich, velvety and basically all things divine. Those flavors are so delicious together and when you add a little Low-Sugar Apple Cranberry Sauce on the side... OMG - Thanksgiving heaven.
📖 Recipe
21 Day Fix Slow-Cooker Turkey Breast with Two Sauces
Ingredients
Turkey:
- 1 turkey breast roast (3 lbs) - it comes with a gravy packet, I just discarded it
- 1 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (regular paprika is fine too)
- 1 large onion, sliced into 4 thick slices
Sage-Pecorino Cashew Sauce:
- 1 ½ cups whole, unsalted cashews (or a 6 oz bag, can be whole or pieces)
- 6 large sage leaves, or more to taste
- 2 ½ Tbs grated pecorino cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 cup water (plus more for soaking)
Thyme-Black Pepper Gravy
- Drippings (strained) from the turkey in the slow cooker + enough broth to make 2 cups
- 2 Tbs unsalted butter
- 3 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour (regular whole wheat flour should work too, but I tested with pastry flour)
- ⅛th teaspoon salt
- 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
- fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Turkey:
- Mix together the softened butter and the spices, set aside.
- Lay your onion slices flat on the bottom of your slow cooker (in 1 layer)
- Remove the packaging, inner netting and gravy packet from the turkey roast, discard. Place on top of the onions in the slow cooker. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Spread the butter mixture all over the top and sides of the turkey breast. Cook on low for 4 hours. (Breast should be at 165 degrees.)
- Remove from slow cooker and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Place the turkey on a baking sheet and put under the broiler (on high, with the rack in the lower third of the oven) for 5-10 minutes or until browned. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn!
Sage-Pecorino Cashew Sauce:
- While the turkey is cooking, soak your cashews. Just put them in a container and cover with water for 2-3 hours. Drain.
- In a food processor or blender, blend together the soaked cashews, 1 cup of water, pecorino, salt and sage until very smooth. If your mixture doesn't look super smooth, then you didn't blend it long enough. Blend, blend, blend!
- Add black pepper to taste.
Thyme-Black Pepper Gravy:
- After the turkey and the onions have been removed from the slow-cooker, strain the liquid into a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup. Add enough chicken or turkey broth to make 2 cups.
- In a medium pot on medium heat, add the butter until melted. Then whisk in the flour, cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the broth until there aren't any lumps, then add in the salt and the thyme (I just left the leaves on the stalks), whisking until it comes to a boil and thickens. Add black pepper to taste.
- At this point, you can remove the thyme sprigs or you can leave them in if you'd prefer. I like to leave them in just because they look pretty. Up to you.
- Serve the turkey with the sauces!
Notes
21 Day Fix Container Counts per Serving:
- Turkey: 1 Red, ¼ tsp
- Cashew Sauce: 1 Blue
- Gravy: ½ tsp
Weight Watchers Freestyle Points:
- Turkey: 0
- Cashew Sauce: 3
- Gravy: 3
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1/12 of the breast; Cashew Sauce: 2 Tbs; Gravy: 2 ½ TbsAmount Per Serving: Calories: Turkey:158 Cashew Sauce: 80 Gravy: 26
More Turkey Day Yums:
Did you make this and have leftovers? Try out this sandwich:
Kai says
Just curios about the lemon and the shallot in the picture... Would you recommend using those while broiling? Cooking tomorrow.
Stephanie says
Hey Kai! The day I took the photos, I used them underneath the turkey in the slow cooker. However, I personally didn't like the way the gravy came out with the lemon and when I finalized the recipe ended up not using it (and I had run out of shallots, so I wrote "onion" in the recipe because that's what I used) - You could use either onion or shallots though. I hope you love it, it's a family fave!
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
I have serious photo envy right now...and turkey breast envy because that looks gooooooodddddd girl! Thanks for posting cashew gravy for all the vegans and healthy people but I'll take that whole gravy bowl of the real stuff. I'll be eating the cashew gravy on Jan 2, 2017, when I've realized that I've gained 50 pounds from eating all the real gravy over Thanksgiving and Christmas. #fatbutt
And a double YAY to all the hubby out there who have to do outside stuff with a bunch of snow on the ground! I'll be sitting inside eating turkey gravy while my hubby is snow-blowing the driveway and putting up lights 😉 Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family 🙂
Stephanie says
Hahaha... thanks, girl!! I'm seriously dying over here! #fatbutt <-- I'm so with you! I totally ate all the real gravy ;-) One of my fav parts of Thanksgiving is one of those white dinner rolls with some butter, dipped in gravy. Come on! So good. My hubs is out of town for a few days for work, but I can't wait to put him to work this weekend on those lights! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Karrie!
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
Mind blown! Blown, I tells ya! Turkey breast in the slow cooker? How awesome is that? And that sage pecorino cashew sauce? You know that is tasting good on a shoe<---note to self, don't try that 😉 And Thyme Black Pepper Gravy? Girl, you are knocking it right out of the park with all this. Too bad I couldn't reach into my screen and grab some of this 🙂 Pinned, of course! We had our thanksgiving in Canada last month so this would be absolutely perfect for Christmas for hubby and I. And I could possibly eat turkey every.single. day. Love it!!
So, you have snow? No snow for us here yet, but that's ok. If we only had snow for one day (and that day being Christmas day), I would be content. I particularly don't like driving in it. But, if we do have snow, I just as well see a big storm than a little, ya know? Funny, isn't it? Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! XO
Stephanie says
Haha... thanks, girlie! Yeah, I'm thinking only resort to cashew sauce on a shoe if you're seriously desperate 😉 I'm with you! I was so excited about this recipe exactly because it's so easy to make all year long... gimme all the turkey! Yes! So much snow and I'm loving every second of it! We bought studded tires so it's really not too bad driving in it either. I agree, I think a lot is better than a little if you're going to get it... a lot looks beautiful, a little looks slushy and gross, right?! Thanks, Dawn!