Sous Vide Turkey Breast (2024)

Perfection! Sous vide turkey breast is impossible to beat for moist, tender, succulent turkey – EVERY time. Amazing results with this method – guaranteed.

And don’t just think Thanksgiving. Turkey can be a light summer dinner, too, when served with lighter sides and accompaniments such as peach chutney, mango salsa, savory peach sauce or cranberry relish.

Why sous vide a turkey breast

If you’ve read any of our other sous vide recipes, you’ll know that I’m completely sold on the sous vide method for its easy, walk-away, stress free benefits.

Once you master a few simple rules, you are pretty much sure to achieve tender, moist meat with precise control over the done-ness you choose.

Unlike the oven or grill, the temperature is the same from edge to edge and not, for example, overcooked on the outside and under cooked in the middle. Incredibly reliable.

As for turkey, I hate, hate, hate dry-as-a-bone turkey that you can choke on if not soaked in gravy. With traditional methods, a whole turkey is tough to get right as the different parts of the turkey cook at different rates. Turkey breasts are easier, but you often still have to hold your breath when you slice into it.

With the sous vide turkey, there are no surprises. Just a simple boneless turkey roast recipe, cooked sous vide to achieve a juicy, succulent, tender turkey breast every time.

For a few tips and tricks we’ve learned in the last couple of years about sous vide cooking (after lots of practice and research), take a look at our post on Best Sous Vide Recipes.

Cooking Temperatures and Time

I do suggest experimenting with your preferred ‘cook’ from super soft and moist to the more traditional.

There are some wonderful websites that show clear pictures of the different levels of ‘cook’ to help you choose. Here is one from Serious Eats on Sous Vide Turkey Breast.

For this recipe, I used a temperature of 144F for 2 3/4 hours and the turkey was outstanding – flavorful, tender and juicy. If you prefer your turkey a bit more well done with no pink at all, cook it at 145-146F.

Note that you can do 2-3 half-breasts at the same time if you have a large enough vessel.

Great Side dishes for sous vide turkey breast

Everyone has his/her favorite sides for turkey on Thanksgiving or other times. Here’s a few of ours:

• Vegetable quinoa stuffing (pictured above with the turkey)
• Vegetarian stovetop stuffing
• How to make homemade stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Thanksgiving side dishes (includes gravy, sides, stuffing, cranberry sauce and more)
• Pearl couscous with vegetables and apricots

And don’t forget gravy!

• chicken gravy without drippings in 8 minutes (use turkey broth if you have any, including juices from the sous vide bag, strained) or
• turkey gravy without drippings (make ahead from scratch)

Make Ahead

• To prepare ahead, the turkey breast can be seasoned, sealed in a vacuum bag and refrigerated for a couple of days before cooking.
• If cooking the same day, you have an additional 2 hour window to keep the turkey in the sous vide bath (up to 5 hours total) without affecting the temperature and texture.
• To cook it a couple of days ahead, sous vide the turkey, cool it down for 10-15 minutes in an ice bath, then place bag with the turkey in the fridge. To warm the turkey (retherm it), place in water bath at 140F/60C for 45 minutes to an hour. Then pat dry and sear if desired.

Other turkey recipes you might like

• glazed sous vide turkey thighs
• grilled turkey breast
• bone-in turkey breast with pear chutney

How to make sous vide turkey breast

Sear skin in hot pan for 1-2 minutes with a touch of oil for a nice presentation.

This recipe has been updated from the originally published recipe in 2017.