Never Stress Over Thanksgiving Turkey Again — Just Let Your Crock-Pot Do The Work

When I'm taking the turkey out of the oven on Thanksgiving, I get nervous. It's so easy to wind up with a dry bird despite my best efforts. Thankfully, there's an option other than letting your turkey dry out for hours in the oven — and it's as simple as using your Crock-Pot. While cooking your turkey in a Crock-Pot might not be the most conventional way to do things, it makes Thanksgiving prep way easier and can help you create an absolutely delicious dinner.

While cooking your turkey in a Crock-Pot is pretty simple, it's not quite as easy as just tossing the bird into the crock and letting it sit for a few hours. You can either use turkey breasts or a whole, bone-in turkey. Either way, you'll want to use a slow cooker with at least a 6- to 8-quart capacity. While you shouldn't have any problem fitting a boneless turkey breast into a slow cooker, you'll want to limit the size of a bone-in bird to ensure that it'll fit in the crock (consider cooking multiple turkeys in multiple Crock-Pots to ensure you have enough pounds of turkey for each person if you're serving a crowd). 

Once you've got your turkey and your Crock-Pot ready to go, line the bottom of the crock with aromatics to lend a ton of flavor to your turkey (think rosemary, thyme, onion, and whatever other flavors you'd like to enjoy). Let's take a look at a few other things you'll need to know to create a showstopping bird with the help of your trusty Crock-Pot.

There are a few things you'll want to keep in mind to successfully use a slow cooker for your Thanksgiving turkey. You can go ahead and brine your turkey as usual before you start the cooking process, and you'll want to make sure your bird is fully thawed before it hits the slow cooker. Some recipes recommend adding some liquid to the bottom of the crock to help keep the turkey moist, while others say that it's better to leave the liquid out, as the turkey will release liquid as it cooks. While your Crock-Pot can create a moist and juicy bird, you won't get the crispy skin you'd get from baking your turkey in the oven. You can transfer your bird to a broiler-safe pan and broil it for a bit at the end of the cooking time to crisp up the skin.

Of course, you'll want to make sure that your turkey is fully cooked before serving. Cooking time varies depending on your turkey's size and your slow cooker. Some recipes say you can count on about three to five hours of cooking time on high, or seven to eight hours on low. The USDA recommends making sure your turkey hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the breast, as well as the innermost parts of the thigh and the wing. If you decide to cook your turkey in the Crock-Pot this year, we have a feeling you won't go back to doing it any other way — it's tough to beat the moist, tender, flavorful result.