Sous Vide Turkey Breast

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Cook the perfect turkey breast every time with this Sous Vide Turkey Breast recipe! It takes just 3 hours to cook and turns out moist, juicy and tender!

If you love turkey for the holidays (or any day of the week!), but couldn’t be bothered with cooking a whole turkey, you’ll love this sous vide turkey breast recipe.

Overhead view of sous vide turkey breast sliced and arranged on a platter.

The sous vide method is a delicious alternative to oven roasted turkey. It only takes 3 hours to cook, and the controlled water bath ensures the turkey stays moist and juicy. No more dry turkey breast!

This recipe is perfect for a small holiday gathering or for meal prepping during the week. And when you forgot to plan, you can try this sous vide frozen chicken breast too!

We love to sous vide a few turkey breasts on the weekend and use it for weekday lunches and dinners. Some of our favorites include turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pies and creamy turkey lasagna.

While this is a recipe for white meat lovers, if some of your dinner guests enjoy dark meat, no worries. You can always prepare these buttery roasted turkey thighs in the oven, these sous vide turkey legs or these sous vide turkey thighs and add them to the dinner menu!

Jump to:

Why this recipe works
What is Sous Vide?
Other sous vide recipes
Ingredients
Step by step instructions
How to make the turkey gravy
Expert tips
Common questions
Make ahead instructions
Make it a meal
Recipe
💬 Comments

Why this recipe works

You don’t need to use the oven! You just need to brown the turkey breasts on the stovetop and then the sous vide does the rest. Just slice the turkey and make the gravy before serving. So easy!
It’s almost impossible to overcook turkey breast using the sous vide method. When you roast turkey breast in the oven, you can easily overcook it and dry it out. With the sous vide water bath, the turkey stays at a set temperature, so it’s moist and tender every time.
You don’t need to worry about basting a turkey! The turkey breasts are sealed in a bag with seasonings so it absorbs all the flavor as it slowly cooks in the water bath. The remaining juices in the bag also make a delicious gravy!

Up close view of sous vide turkey breast slices.

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What is Sous Vide?

Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator (i.e. the sous vide machine). This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.

Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.

To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking and the benefits of sous vide cooking."

What is the Water Displacement Method?

The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).

Use a clip (I use sous vide magnets) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.

Tools Used

You will also want to check out these posts on the best sous vide containers and the best sous vide bags for more information!

Other sous vide recipes

Ingredients

The following are some of the key ingredients to make sous vide turkey breast. For the full list of ingredients and quantities, please see the recipe card below.

You’ll need 3 pounds of turkey breast for this recipe, or about 2 large breasts. I like to use boneless, but you can use bone-in if you prefer. You’ll also want to use turkey breast with the skin-on. (You’ll brown the skin before the water bath and it will add flavor to the turkey as it cooks).

Some of the seasonings sealed in the bag with the turkey include fresh thyme, dry white wine, shallot and honey.

If you can’t find fresh thyme, you can use dried thyme. Just reduce the amount to one-third as dried herbs are usually more potent than fresh.

For the dry white wine, go for a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. If you’d like to omit the alcohol, you can just substitute chicken broth.

If you don’t have a shallot on hand, yellow or red onions are a good substitute. And, for the honey, you can always replace it with maple syrup.

For the gravy, you’ll need some basic ingredients to go along with the bag sauce (juice from the bag the turkey cooked in). This includes flour, butter, pepper and whole milk.

You’ll want to be sure to use whole milk as the higher fat content creates a richer gravy.

Step by step instructions

Heat a sous vide water bath to 140F degrees.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the cooking oil.

Add the turkey breasts and brown on both sides (about 2-3 minutes per side).

Remove and set aside to cool.

Add the turkey breasts and remaining ingredients to a vacuum sealable bag (or zip lock freezer bag if using the water displacement method) and seal.

Turkey breasts with seasoning ingredients vacuum sealed in a bag.

Place the bag in the sous vide water bath and cook for 3 hours.

Remove from the water bath and remove the turkey breasts from the bag, reserving the bag juice.

Remove the skin from the breasts (it's too rubbery to eat), slice and serve with the gravy (below).

How to make the turkey gravy

Heat the flour and butter in a skillet over medium heat, whisking until a paste forms.

Slowly whisk in the bag juice.

Slowly whisk in the milk, a little at a time, until a gravy forms. **add more milk if needed.

Season with the pepper and serve with the turkey breasts.

Side view of sliced turkey breast arrange on a platter.

Expert tips

Make sure you remove the air and seal the bag properly before adding the turkey breasts to the water bath. This will keep bacteria out of the bag.
Check on the turkey breast to make sure the bag doesn’t start floating in the water bath. This is for food safety reasons but also to ensure the turkey cooks evenly.
If the turkey breasts start to float, just open the vacuum sealed or ziploc bag, let the excess air out and then reseal it.
You can also get a sous vide sinker weight and use it to weigh down the bag. A heavy towel also works.
When browning the turkey breasts, make sure you only do so for 2-3 minutes per side. If you leave them for longer, the skin may burn.
The turkey skin will be rubbery when it comes out of the water bath. I usually remove and discard it. If you enjoy crispy turkey skin, you can broil it separately in the oven.
This recipe makes enough for about 6 servings. If you have leftovers, check out these recipes for using leftover turkey!

Common questions

What temperature do you sous vide turkey breast?

For the best results, set the temperature of your water bath to 140F degrees. At this temperature, the turkey breasts will take just 3 hours to cook.

Is it safe to eat turkey that has been cooked at 140F degrees?

Yes! When you sous vide turkey, you’re essentially pasteurizing it. So, even though you’re cooking the turkey to just 140F degrees, you’re holding it at that temperature for a longer period of time compared to traditional oven cooking. **This article from Serious Eats includes helpful information on sous vide turkey temperature, timing and safety.

Do you need to brown the turkey breast before adding it to the water bath?

It’s not essential, but I prefer to do this as browning the skin on the turkey first adds flavor to the turkey breasts as they cook in the water bath. This flavor also transfers to the gravy as it’s made with the bag juices.

Can you overcook sous vide turkey breast?

It’s difficult to overcook turkey using a sous vide. The longer you cook the turkey, the softer the meat will be, but it won’t dry out. If you leave it for a few extra hours, however, the texture of the turkey will start to get mushy.

Can you sous vide frozen turkey breast?

Yes, you can sous vide frozen turkey breast. You’ll just need to add another hour to the cooking time in the water bath. With that said, since we’re browning the turkey breasts before adding them to the sous vide water bath, I suggest letting your frozen turkey breasts defrost first.

Overhead view of sous vide turkey breast cut into slices.

Make ahead instructions

Using the sous vide method, you can cook the turkey breasts in advance and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To do this, once the turkey breasts are cooked in the water bath, plunge them into an ice bath to bring their temperature down quickly. Once fully cooled, store the vacuum sealed turkey in the fridge.

When you’re ready to eat, place the bag of turkey breasts in a water bath set to 140F degrees and keep them there until warmed through. Then, open the bag, slice the turkey and make the gravy as per the recipe instructions.

Make it a meal

Whether you’re serving these sous vide turkey breasts for a weeknight dinner or holiday meal, here are a few of our favorite sides to go with it:

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