A juicy whole turkey recipe made completely in the slow cooker! No basting, no brining. Use this recipe, and you will have the juiciest turkey EVER!
When I was younger my mom always slow cooked her Thanksgiving Turkey. She would prepare the turkey the day before Thanksgiving, and then she would slow cook the whole turkey in the oven overnight. Yup, overnight. She’s actually wake up, a couple times to baste the turkey. I’m sorry, but I seriously ain’t got time to wake up to baste a turkey! Nope. Honey, I refuse. Heck, during the holidays, I already have to cook candied yams, stuffing, collard greens, sweet potato pie, and let not even get on the gumbo( depending on how man guest are coming..) So to make a long story short, I prefer to make my Thanksgiving ( Christmas & Easter too) turkey in the slow cooker. My turkey ALWAYS comes out super juicy, and the turkey recipe is fool proof!
So to get start with my slow cooker whole turkey, I gather up all my goodies. What do I use for my CrockPot Turkey? Everything that I use for my roast turkey recipe! I use onions, celery, garlic, fresh herbs, carrots, and even oranges & apples!
I know someone is going to ask ” why the oranges and apples?!”… So let me tell ya – oranges and apples flavor turkey perfectly! No it doesn’t make the turkey taste super sweet, or come out tasting like someone spilled orange juice all over the turkey. It simply adds flavor along with the other ingredients used!
The first thing I do is line my Slow Cooker with a slow cooker liner. It helps with the clean up, and it also works as a turkey bag. If you ever cooked a turkey in a bag, you know that it comes out all juicy & tender!!!
Next, I stuff the turkey cavity with a bunch of goodies.. You know the apples, oranges, herbs, celery…. Then I grab all the stuff that couldn’t fit into the turkey cavity, and toss it into the slow cooker.
Now it’s time to season the turkey. All you need is some olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder( how easy right?!) Once the turkey is seasoned, place it in the slow cooker, on top of the veggies & etc. Place the lid on the slow cooker, and set the slow cooker on low.
I usually make a 9 lb turkey, and it fits snug into my 6 qt Digital CrockPot. It takes a little work, but I’m usually able to get it in there. This is the slow cooker that I use for my turkeys 9 lbs and under.
If I have a turkey larger than 9 lbs, I usually use this slow cooker
Things to keep in mind before cooking a turkey.
Remember that you need plenty of time to defrost the turkey. Defrosting time depends on the size of the turkey.
| Time to thaw a turkey in the refrigerator | |
| 8 to 12 lbs. | 2 to 3 Days |
| 13 to 16 lbs. | 3 to 4 Days |
| 17 to 20 lbs. | 4 to 5 Days |
| 21 to 24 lbs. | 5 to 6 Days |
Slow Cooking Times on LOW
I usually make a 7-9 lb turkey. I’m sure that everyone won’t be making the exact sized turkey, so here is a little cheater below. Please keep in mind that some slow cookers run a little hotter, or cooler than others, so you may need to cook your turkey a little longer or shorter than I cook mine
| 8 to 10 lbs. | 8 – 9 hours |
| 12 to 14 lbs. | 10-12 hours |
Okay y’all, we covered all the important stuff. Make sure that you save this recipe on Pinterest!
Be sure to watch my slow cooker whole turkey video, and follow me on Facebook!
A JUICY WHOLE TURKEY RECIPE MADE COMPLETELY IN THE SLOW COOKER! NO BASTING, NO BRINING. USE THIS RECIPE, AND YOU WILL HAVE THE JUICIEST TURKEY EVER!
- 8-10 lb whole turkey cleaned & cavity emptied
- 3 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 medium sized orange using only half
- 2 medium apples any baking apples will do
- 2 medium onion yellow, white, or red, chopped
- 2 stalks of celery cut
- 2 large carrots peeled & cut
- 5 sage leaves
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
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Stuff the turkey cavity with apple slices, half of a orange, celery, carrots, garlic, onions, and the fresh herbs.
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There will be leftover vegetables, herbs, and apples. Set them to the side.
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Drizzle the turkey with 2 tbsp olive, or vegetable oil.
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Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over the turkey.
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Rub the turkey down, to make sure that the oil and seasonings all over.
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Now take the remaining vegetables & etc, and toss them in the slow cooker.
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FYI - as mentioned within my video & blog post, I like to use slow cooker liners.
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Drizzle the vegetables & etc, with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
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Now place the turkey in the slow cooker.
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Set the slow cooker on low, and cover with the lid.
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Now cook for 8 - 8 1/2 hours.
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Serve & enjoy the most juiciest turkey ever!
Side dishes to serve with this juicy turkey recipe..
Baked Candied Yams- Soul Food Style
Green Bean Casserole
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Corn Pudding Casserole
Southern Broccoli Casserole
Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese
I can’t wait to try this. We usually do one in the oven and one fried turkey but this year I need simple! This will work perfectly I love cooking in the crockpot.
Yeah, this is the EASIEST turkey recipe with the best results. You just put it in the slow cooker, and when it’s done- OMG!! So juicy!!
Please do give us more Holiday recipes for the slow cooker. Thanks. I will try this one for Thanksgiving, along with the sides.
I will share more. Thanks for coming by Margaret! 😀
Thank you…love to see more slow cooker recipes..
More to come 😀
I do this every year with either a turkey breast or a large turkey. If mine doesn’t fit, I just jam it in there and cover it with foil instead of trying to get the lid on, and it works every time!
Great tip on using foil!! I gotta keep that in mind! XOXO
Hi Rosey
Love your recipes
Will differly try this one. You should do more crockpot meals. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next
Hi Wanda! I will try to upload more CrockPot meals 🙂
Definitely going to use this for my turkey this year. Now that I’m handicapped and in a wheelchair I can cook Thanksgiving dinner this year. Yes I would like a couple more Crockpot recipes for Thanksgiving, especially if it’s a Seafood recipe!!! Crockpot cooking is the best. Thank you.
Hi Marta!! Yes, I love this recipe! This is my all time favorite turkey recipe. More slow cooker recipes to come 🙂
I would love more holiday recipes
More to come 😀
Hi Rosie! Now, I love a ton of your recipes and was wondering if you can put your stuffing in the turkey instead of the vegies? I’d love to try this turkey recipe as well but am havin a few folks over from out of town for Thanksgiving and don’t want to mess this year’s up. My mom like yours cooked in the oven but she always stuffed with stuffing. How would that work?
Hi there. The vegetables, and herbs inside the turkey actually season it. 🙂
These would be the same instructions for a turkey breast as well?
The turkey breast would probably take less time.
Curious – I’m looking to buy a slow cooker and checking cooking times for turkey in slow cooker and it’s only a couple of hours according to slow cooker directions. . Why the need to cook so long, 8hrs?. Is there a difference in outcome for the standard cooking time using a slow roaster vs the 8 hrs. Pls advise. Does the longer cooking time produce a juicier turkey Thx.
Carolyn, who LOVES your recipes!!! Where have you been all my cooking life
Hi Carolyn. I can’t speak for others, but this is how I make my turkey. It comes out amazing. I can’t tell you why they cook theirs for less time. 🙁 . There are so many different recipes, we all have different ways of cooking things 🙂
Hi Rosie! Any suggestion on how to make gravy with your slow cooker whole turkey recipe? I made your recipe for baked turkey wings last year and they were GREAT!!!— Thanks, Stefanie
Hi Stefanie. You can check out my slow cooker smothered turkey wings. I made a gravy with that one.
Hi Rosie
I checked the size of my Turkey and it is 16.5 pound. What are the Measurement will I have to use when it comes to the ingredients?
Hi Angie! You can double the other ingredients 🙂
This is just what I needed, Thank You so much for posting this recipe. My boyfriend was supposed to smoke a turkey for us this year, but he has been busy at work and forgot Thanksgiving was this week. So now I have to find a thawed bird and start cooking for tomorrow. LOL I will be sure to post how my turkey comes out.
So glad that you found my recipe!
Tried it for Thanksgiving, it was a hit!!!
Hi Rosie! I just wanted to thank u for sharing this recipe! I tried it today -happy Thanksgiving BTW!- and it came out perfect! I gotta thank Latanya as well, my turkey was 11 lbs and my slow cooker is 6 qtrs, so I had to use the aluminum foil instead of the lid, I just used an extra liner to cover the turkey from top to bottom and covered it with the foil.
Keep up the good work! Hugs – Paula from Florida
Thanks so much for trying my recipe Paula! XOXO
I made this turkey for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. I did have a few issues with it though. I could not find a turkey under 10 lbs. The smallest I could find was a little over 10 lbs. The lid would not fit on my 7 quart slow cooker, so I had to cover it with foil. I got up to check on it after about 7 hrs. and the broth had spilled over on the kitchen counter. Luckily I caught it before it ran down on the floor. I dipped out some of the juices and saved it to make the gravy. After about 8-8.5 hours, I turned it off. When I went to take it out of the cooker to put on a platter, it fell all to pieces, but it was so good! My daughter wants to cook one this way for Christmas and she doesn’t even like turkey. I will definitely cook turkey this way again! Thanks for sharing.