Crock Pot Thanksgiving Whole Turkey Recipe

I know what you’re thinking: a Crock Pot Thanksgiving whole turkey recipe? You read that right! Whether it’s Thanksgiving Day or you’re having a small gathering of family and friends, you can make an entire turkey in your Crock Pot. 

Slow Cooked Turkey Perfection

It slow cooks to perfection on its own, so there’s no basting and no wasting time—or heating up the house for hours on end while roasting your bird.

The slow cooker recipe is the effortless way to ensure that your turkey meat comes out juicy and wonderful every time, and you won’t have to watch it like a hawk, either.

Roasting a turkey in the oven requires attention. I set alerts in my phone so I don’t forget to baste it. And I set the kitchen timer too. Now, though, I don’t have to do that, and I still get tender turkey breast and juicy meat just by putting the whole thing in my slow cooker.

It is one of the absolute easiest ways to cook a turkey. Honestly, if you’ve roasted a whole turkey before and were disappointed that it came out dry, you need to try this method. You’ll never go back to the oven-roasted way again!

Ingredients For The Easy Crock Pot Turkey Recipe

• Butter
• Salt and black pepper
• Minced garlic
• Dried thyme
• Minced onion
• Dried parsley
• Dried rosemary
• Chicken Broth
• 8-12 pound whole turkey

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

Size Of The Turkey

For this recipe, my turkey weighed between 10 and 12 pounds, and I used a six-quart slow cooker. If you have a larger one, you can easily fit the bird in it. This recipe fed about four people, including two growing teenagers.

Tips

Obviously, you will need to choose a turkey that will fit your slow cooker’s size. A 10—to 12-pound turkey works with large Crock Pots and is the perfect size to feed a small family.

For this recipe, I used a turkey between 10 to 12 pounds. It was a little big for my Crock Pot, so I covered it with aluminum foil and placed a cookie sheet underneath to catch any liquid that might drip over.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Start by adding the butter to a mixing bowl.

You’re going to need lots of butter, just like you would for roasting it the traditional way in the oven.

Toss in the salt and pepper.

Add the minced onion to the bowl.

I like to keep minced onion on hand in the pantry because you never know when you need some onion flavor.

Add the minced garlic next.

Next, add the thyme, parsley, and rosemary to the bowl and mix all of the ingredients.

Pat the turkey dry with paper towels, and then slather the butter all over it. Take a spoon and slide it under the skin on the breast to lift it a little, and slather some butter under the skin, too.

Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the slow cooker.

Because the turkey was a bit large, it wouldn’t fit under the lid, so I used about three pieces of aluminum foil to cover it.

If you need to take this route, make sure it’s on top of a large enough cookie sheet because you might end up with a little condensation dripping out, and you won’t have a mess all over the counter.

Then cook on low for about 8-10 hours. So easy!

Check the temperature when it’s done cooking.

For all turkeys, make sure you use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the turkey, which should be 170F in the breast and 180F in the thigh.

I used a digital thermometer to check the temperature. Make sure you don’t accidentally let the thermometer touch the bottom or side of the Crock Pot, or you’ll get an incorrect reading.

Of course, a turkey dinner wouldn’t be the same without that crispy skin. After it cooks in the slow cooker, I like to place it under my broiler to make it nice and brown on top. 

Be sure to remove any plastic or anything that might be holding the legs together before you put it in the oven.

Take a spoon and spoon some of the liquid over the turkey, and then place the turkey under the broiler for a few minutes. Be sure to watch it, as it can brown very fast.

You can either pour off some of the liquid to make more of the bird crispy or leave it in the Crock Pot.

If you are making gravy, be sure to save that liquid.

While this recipe is for the whole bird, you can easily do it with bone-in or boneless turkey breast, too.

How To Store The Turkey

Store the turkey in an airtight container and keep it refrigerated.

Also, I made turkey gravy from the drippings.

Incidentally, this recipe frees you up, so you’ll have plenty of time to make other sides like green bean casserole and sweet potatoes. 

More Recipes For Your Thanksgiving Menu

• The best homemade canned cranberry sauce (seen in the picture above).
• Cheesy green bean casserole
• Green beans and bacon
• Sweet potato casserole
• Mashed potatoes
• Classic pecan pie
• Old-fashioned chocolate pie
• Pumpkin pie
• Pecan pie cobbler
• Southern butter pecan pound cake from Julia’s Simply Southern