Frozen turkey in Instant pot
How to cook a Frozen Turkey in your Instant Pot aka Instapot!
Frozen Turkey in the Instant Pot! Say it isn’t so! Why not Free up your oven to make other dishes like Green bean casserole, stuffing, pies, or any other things that require baking. Turkey’s take forever in the oven and most of the time turn out Dry and you have to drown it in gravy to make it edible. Why not cook your turkey in the Instant pot? Better yet, why not cook it from frozen?
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You may be asking yourself.. Can you actually cook a frozen turkey?
Can you even cook frozen meat in an instant pot?
Can you cook a turkey breast from frozen?
The answer to all of these are YES!
WHAT? OMG Felicia did you say cook it frozen?? Why yes, I did! Most of the time we don’t have the time to take something out to thaw for dinner or we just Spoof and forget. (Me I’m so terrible about this) Can you relate?
Well, when I found out you could cook a whole Frozen Turkey breast in the Instant Pot…..well you best know I was all over that! Of course, being me, I wanted something Really Easy and fool proof that even my kids can do it if I wasn’t able to (or just didn’t want to lol). So, I put in my Frozen Turkey in the Instant pot into Pinterest and went to work.
I didn’t realize how many recipes and different ways you could do this. You can even cook a small whole turkey in the Instant Pot, frozen even… but I haven’t dared that one yet because it is a bit more complicated than just the breast. But I do know it is possible and I will be trying it very soon.
I want to give my readers something easy as all my recipes are. I don’t want you all feeling lost or overwhelmed at any time. I am a simple gal who likes simple things in life, especially when it comes to cooking. Here’s a few other Instant pot posts that are so easy:
5 Instapot recipes you didn’t know you could cook in your Instant Pot
Easy Brown Lentil Soup in the Instant Pot
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Ok back to the recipe. Here is the recipe for a 3.5LB turkey breast in the Instant Pot. Cooked from frozen. If you want to thaw and cook just adjust the time by about 20-25mins.
Instant Pot Turkey
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Trivet that comes with your instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning or make your own with the recipe below ?
- 1 Turkey breast 3.5LBS
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Thyme
- 1 tsp Tony Chacheres' Creole seasoning If you don't know what it is Look below and click my affiliate link
- 2.5 Cups chicken stock you can also use turkey stock or vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp corn starch/ arrowroot powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- First use a small pair of scissors to remove the plastic
and netting (this can be tedious with the netting but the finer your scissors
are the better) and carefully pull off. - Remove gravy packet
- Pour your stock into your Instant Pot
- Place your trivet into the Instant Pot
- Place frozen turkey into IP and rub with Oil and or
butter if you like. - Season turkey with all seasonings thoroughly
- Open up gravy packet and place on top of turkey (it’s ok
it will still be frozen too ) - Close your lid and make sure the valve is set to sealed
and put on High pressure for about an hour. - Natural release for 10 mins then quick release to get out
the rest of the pressure. - Take Turkey out and set aside so the meat can rest.
- Turn the IP to Sauté and Remove ¼ cup of liquid and Whisk
in the arrowroot powder or cornstarch into the 1/4C - Pour back into the IP and whisk until desired thickness.
- Slice turkey and pour gravy on top or on the side
Notes
If you wanted to cook a bigger turkey, say a 5 lb frozen turkey breast in your instant pot, that would be do able in your 6 quart, but if you want a 7 lb frozen turkey breast I would cook that one in an 8 quart.
Make your own poultry seasoning using
- 3 teaspoons ground sage
- 3 teaspoons ground thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground marjoram
- 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1 ⁄8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
Mix all together and store in an air tight container for up to 6 months.
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I have a couple turkey breasts in my freezer and am more than ready to try this. It looks like it will work just fine and I LOVE turkey.
Do you know what the internal temperature in the thickest part of the turkey should be to be done?
Hi Richard!
Thank you for wanting to try this! Always cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. For breasts I always try to get it right at 165 to 170 because you don’t want to over cook a breast. Thank you
Gravy packet frozen in cavity. Now what?
Run some water on the packet and get it lose enough to take out
It works with turkey breast, but does it also work with turkey drumsticks from frozen?
Yes it will!
Today is the day! 52 minutes to go, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Thanks for the recipe!
Can’t wait to see it!!!
I have a 8 lb turkey still frozen. Is 1 hour still ok?
Hi Heather! If you are cooking a 8lb turkey make sure it fits in your IP I would suggest the 8 or 10 quart not the 6 quart. I think the time should be raised maybe half an hour more or one more hour. I haven’t cooked that big of a turkey in the IP yet. Start out with adding another 30 mins. Let me know how it goes! Thank you for commenting.
I have a 3.7 lb frozen turkey is it ok to go past max line and still come to pressure
I would say yes as long as you can shut and lock your lid with ease.
Cooking a frozen food without thawing!! Wow!! This is soooo amazing. Love this recipe of yours for Frozen Turkey, Felicia. Looks simple and easy to make and of course must be juicy, tender and flavorful. Are you making it this Christmas?
Hey Shilpa! I made this for Thanksgiving 🙂 It turned out sooo amazing and my hubby who doesn’t care for turkey loved it!
My turkey breast is 7.7 lbs. will it still work in a 6 qt instapot? Also have two frozen turkey thighs. Could you do those with the breast. This is the first time I have made a turkey breast for thanksgiving.
Thanks
Cooking an entire turkey from frozen is so convenient!
I never really cook turkey (we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in South Africa) but I think I need to get an Instapot just to cook chicken. It seems so easy and I’m all for easy dinners!
I was considering this for Thanksgiving. Thanks for showing me how!
This is such a magnificent idea. The turkey literally falls off the bone it’s so juicy! Thanks for sharing.
Oooh lovely! Nothing as good as a turkey for Christmas. I was actually under the impression that it takes much longer to cook, but now I know! We usually eat turkey at my inlaws and they cook it in the instant pot and it’s always so soft and delicious!
Never thought of this! I need to get an instant pot!
Ok, so I was already shook with the abilities of the InstaPot but now I am really shook! I got an Instapot I think 2 Christmas’s ago during one of Amazons crazy sales and was super intimidated to even use it. It took some time but once I figured out how it was smooth sailing. It really is amazing how you can put things in frozen and in a short amt of time you have a whole meal with very little effort. Whoever created the Instapot needs a big hug.
These are great for times when I don’t plan ahead. So easy to cook. I have never tried a whole turkey or chicken but going by your post, it sounds extremely easy to make. I try a lot of different variety of rice – with vegetables, chicken and even lamb. Takes just 12 minutes for the meal to get ready.