An easy way to cook your Christmas turkey with just 3 minutes of prep! This slow cooker turkey crown produces moist, juicy, and oh-so flavourful meat!
Serve with all the trimmings on Christmas Day and enjoy!
Ditching the oven and cooking your Christmas turkey crown in a slow cooker will free up lots of oven space for your delicious Christmas side dishes too.
👩🍳 Love your slow cooker? Take a look at my slow cooker roast beef and slow cooker whole chicken recipes too!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- Easy way to cook a turkey crown.
- Moist and tender meat.
- Free up oven space on Christmas Day.
- Minimal prep and maximum taste.
🛒 Ingredients
- Turkey Crown - A 2.5kg turkey crown will feed 6 people with leftovers. If your turkey crown is frozen, make sure it is fully defrosted before cooking it in the slow cooker.
- Onion - cut in half to act as a trivet in the base of the slow cooker.
- Olive Oil - helps create the rub and keeps the bird moist.
- Herbs and Spices - I like to make a flavourful rub for the turkey consisting of salt, pepper, smoked paprika, thyme, and garlic powder.
🥄 Equipment
Which slow cooker? I use a Morphy Richards Sear and Stew 6.5 litre slow cooker, which means I can brown and slow cook in the same pot as the slow cooker pot is safe to use on the hob! The 6.5 litre capacity serves 6-8 main portions, so it’s ideal for families and those that like batch cooking. There is also a 3.5 litre version for smaller households
🔪 How to cook a 2.5kg turkey crown in the slow cooker
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
Step 1: Peel and half an onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Step 2: Mix together the olive oil, herbs & spices and rub it over the turkey breasts.
Step 3: Place the turkey crown breast side up in your slow cooker and cook on high for 5 - 5.5 hours (check it has reached 74c temperature with a meat thermometer, and the juices are running clear from the thickest part of the bird). Baste with the juices every hour to ensure it remains moist and doesn't dry out.
Step 4: If you like your turkey skin really crispy, transfer the crown to a roasting tin, brush on some more olive oil, and bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.
💭 Top tips
- Make sure your turkey is fully defrosted before cooking it in the slow cooker. A 2kg – 2.3kg crown will take 20-23 hours to defrost, a 2.4kg – 2.8kg crown will take 24-28 hours, and a 2.9 – 3.5kg bird will take 29-35 hours.
- Remove the turkey crown from the fridge 1 hour before cooking, to let it reach room temperature.
- For crispy glossy skin, brush on olive oil and bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes, after it has finished cooking in the slow cooker.
- Always let your turkey rest before carving it to ensure it stays moist and juicy.
💡 Pro Tip - make sure your turkey crown will fit in your slow cooker. A 2.5kg - 3kg turkey crown will fit comfortably into a 5.7 - 6 litre slow cooker.
🍴 Serving suggestions
I serve this juicy slow cooker turkey crown on Christmas Day, alongside my slow cooker beef, roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips and carrots, slow cooker red cabbage, pan-fried Brussels sprouts, sausage meat stuffing, sweet potato dauphinoise, cauliflower cheese, devils on horseback, cranberry sauce, and bread sauce.
Use leftovers to make a turkey curry, or how about a turkey, brie, and cranberry toastie?
🥡 Storage
Store. Place leftover turkey into an airtight box and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. I usually make turkey curry (and lots of turkey sandwiches) with the leftovers!
Reheat. Cover with gravy and microwave until piping hot. Alternatively, you can lay turkey slices in your slow cooker, cover with gravy, and cook on low for an hour.
Freeze. Place leftover cooked turkey into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
❓ FAQs
A turkey crown is a turkey with its wings and legs removed. It is much easier and quicker to cook than a whole bird.
1 kg: 3 - 4 hours on high
2 - 3 kg: 4 - 5.5 hours on high
4 kg: 5 - 6 hours on high
Rest the turkey crown for at least 30 minutes prior to carving. This will ensure the juices have had time to redistribute around the bird.
😋 More slow cooker recipes to try!
Tried this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating in the comments!
Recipe
Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Crown
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg Turkey Crown defrosted if frozen
- 1 Onion
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
- Peel and half an onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs & spices and rub it over the turkey skin.
- Place the turkey crown breast side up in your slow cooker and cook on high for 5 - 5.5 hours (check it has reached 75c temperature with a meat thermometer, and the juices are running clear from the thickest part of the bird). Baste with the juices every hour to ensure it remains moist and doesn't dry out.
- If you like your turkey skin really crispy, transfer the crown to a roasting tin, brush on some more olive oil, and bake in a hot oven (220c) for 10 minutes. Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Make sure your turkey is fully defrosted before cooking it in the slow cooker. A 2kg – 2.3kg crown will take 20-23 hours to defrost, a 2.4kg – 2.8kg crown will take 24-28 hours, and a 2.9 – 3.5kg bird will take 29-35 hours.
- Remove the turkey crown from the fridge 1 hour before cooking, to let it reach room temperature.
- For crispy glossy skin, brush on olive oil and bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes, after it has finished cooking in the slow cooker.
- Always let your turkey rest before carving it to ensure it stays moist and juicy.
- To Store. Place leftover turkey into an airtight box and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. I usually make turkey curry, and lots of turkey sandwiches with the leftovers!
- To Reheat. Cover with gravy and microwave until piping hot. Alternatively, you can lay turkey slices in your slow cooker, cover with gravy, and cook on low for an hour.
- To Freeze. Place leftover cooked turkey into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
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Dannii
This is always our go-to for Christmas. So easy
kushigalu
This turkey looks perfect. Pinned for Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing.
Tara
Oh wow! This turkey looks absolutely perfect. You had me at just 3 minutes of prep.
Tavo
We made this turkey last year, and now we made it again as we are spending wintertime in South America these days. Everyone loved the recipe!
Kathryn
This was such an easy way to cook turkey and it was the incredibly tender. I am craving it again so I need to make it again this week, thanks for sharing!