Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey is the best way to get a perfectly cooked turkey every time! Free up your oven so you can stuff it with great things like pie, bread, and stuffing!
Roasting a whole turkey in the oven is almost impossible to get crispy skin and juicy breast meat. If you are tired of stressing over Thanksgiving Day, we are going to show you a better way to turkey!
We separate the breast from the leg meat and cook them at different temperatures. Save all the turkey scraps for an Instant Pot Turkey Stock that transforms into an epic Gravy.
I HIGHLY recommend brining your turkey for 12-24 hours before cooking for a super juicy bird. Check out my Citrus Turkey Brine Recipe, where I show you just how easy making a brine can be.
My favorite part about this recipe is that you can leave the turkey in sous vide for up to 24 hours. Plenty of time to prepare green bean almondine, Boursin mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy.
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Why you should sous vide a Turkey
- This cooking technique resulted in the juiciest bird we have ever eaten! The only way to get perfectly cooked breast and thigh meat.
- Free up space in your oven for those delicious Thanksgiving Day side dishes. You can leave Turkey in the water bath for 24 hours, and it only takes 10 minutes to crisp up the skin.
- Leaves you with turkey scraps to make the most delicious Turkey Stock and Gravy.
Ingredients
- Whole Turkey - I suggest buying a pasture-raised, or an organic bird for the best flavor.
- Herbs - I only used sage but feel free to add rosemary, and thyme.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to break down a turkey
We are going to separate the breast meat and the leg and thigh meat so we can sous-vide them at different temperatures. So grab yourself a sharp boning knife and follow along.
Set up your Turkey Cutting Station
- Grab a large cutting board and place a damp towel underneath it to prevent it from moving. Place your sharp boning knife on top of your cutting board.
- Remove the neck from the cavity of your bird and set it aside for Turkey stock or gravy.
- Pat dry with paper towels. Dry the outside and inside of the turkey to make handling the bird easier.
- Place the turkey breast side up with the legs pointing to you.
Remove Legs and Thighs
- Cut a small slit between the breast and thigh on both sides.
- With your thumbs, fold back the leg and thighs in the opposite direction exposing the thigh joint on the bird. You might hear a cracking sound.
- Cut through the exposed joint on each side of the bird removing the leg and thigh meat. Tip- The knife should cut through the joint with ease.
Remove the Breast
- With the breast still facing you, it's time to remove the wings. Using your knife cut through the wing joint and set it aside for stock.
- Find the breast bone that runs down the center of both breasts. Using your knife, follow the bone and remove the breast meat on both sides of the bird.
Save the turkey scraps to make the most delicious Turkey Stock and Gravy. Brine the turkey for 12-24 hours before cooking.
Temperature Chart for Sous Vide Turkey
Turkey Leg/Thigh meat - Set your precision cooker to 150°F and cook for 12-24 hours in sous vide.
Turkey Breast - Set your precision cooker to 135° F and cook for 12-24 hours in sous vide.
Tip* Start by placing your leg meat in sous vide at 150°F for 12 hours or overnight. Turn down the precision cooker to 135°F, drop in the bag of turkey breast and cook for another 12 hours. Leave the turkey legs in while you sous vide the breast meat. Start a day ahead to give you plenty of time to cook your turkey.
How to sous vide a turkey
Making sous vide turkey is so easy, here's how to make it
Step 1:Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
Step 2: Pre-sear turkey in a cast iron skillet with a bit of oil. Set aside to cool.
Step 3: Place Turkey in 2-gallon ziplock bags with herbs. Keep the breast and leg/thigh meat separate. They will cook at different temperatures. Refer to my time and temperature chart for cooking instructions.
Step 4: Just before serving, sear the turkey in a cast-iron skillet again to crisp up the skin.
Turkey substitutions or swaps
- Chicken - There is not much difference between the two, and you can find whole chickens anytime.
- Turkey Roulade - Stuff your turkey breast with spinach, cranberries, and orange zest. Roll into a turkey roulade for a fun spin on Thanksgiving.
- Vegetable Wellington - If you are a vegetarian, this is a stunning main course for Thanksgiving! Here is a link to a great
Equipment
- Sous Vide Machine - This comes as no surprise since this is a sous vide recipe. I only recommend two. The one I use is an Anova Precision Cooker or the Breville Joule.
- Container - You can use a large stainless steel pasta pot or this plastic sous vide container.
- Bags - I like to use 2-gallon ziplock bags for the turkey parts.
Leftover Turkey Ideas
Try these ideas for your Thanksgiving day extras.
- Turkey noodle soup - One of my favorite things to do with leftover turkey is to turn it into soup the next day.
- Turkey Sandwiches - I love taking my leftover turkey, dill rolls, and cranberry sauce to make the most delicious turkey sandwiches.
- Turkey Pot Pies - Swap out the chicken for your turkey leftovers in this American classic.
Chef Tips
- Fill your sous vide container with hot water from the tap to help the precision cooker come to temperature faster.
- Pre-sear turkey pieces to make crisping up the skin at the end faster.
- We highly recommend doing a wet or dry brine on the turkey for the best results.
- You can leave Turkey inside sous vide hot water bath for up to 24 hours, giving you plenty of time to get those Thanksgiving sides ready.
- Save turkey necks, wings, and carcasses for turkey stock and gravy.
- This is a large bird so use large 2-gallon ziplock bags so everything fits.
- Only leave the turkey in the brine for 12-24 hours. Brining too long can alter the flavor of the turkey and start to cure the meat.
FAQ
Yes, but I don't recommend it. The best way is to separate the breast and leg/thigh meat and cook them at different temperatures. Cook turkey breast at 130°F for 12 hours and cook dark meat at 150°F for 12 hours. Cooking the whole bird can dry out the breast.
Leave your turkey breast in the bag to refrigerate. To reheat sous vide at 145° for 45 minutes. This technique is great to cook a Turkey ahead of time.
Yes, your can! Fill your pot or container with cold water and set your precision cooker to its lowest temperature. Place your bagged-up turkey under water to defrost faster.
Yes, place frozen bagged-up turkey in sous-vide at the same temperature. I would increase the time by 2-3 hours because your bird needs to defrost.
📖 Recipe
Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey
Ingredients
- 12 pound Turkey
- 8 leaves fresh sage
Instructions
- Fill up a large container with 10 quarts of water. Place your sous vide stick in the water bath and preheat to 150°F.
- At this point, remove your turkey breast and legs from the brine and rinse under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels so the turkey will get a nice sear. Note- if you did not brine your turkey, you will need to separate the breast and leg/thigh meat from the bird.
- In a large non-stick pan, sear turkey parts in a bit of avocado oil to get a nice sear on both sides. Cook for 2 minutes per side over medium-high heat. Set aside.
- Place breast meat in a large 2-gallon ziplock bag and leg meat in another ziplock bag. Divide sage leaves among the two ziplock bags. We will cook the legs first so place the breast meat in the refrigerator.
- Place the bag of turkey legs into the 150°F water bath and cook for 12 hours or overnight. Drop the temperature down to 135°F and cook breast meat for 12 hours while leaving the leg/thigh meat still in there.
- Twenty minutes before it's time to eat, remove turkey from sous vide. In a non-stick pan, sear turkey a second time to get that crispy skin. Enjoy your favorite Thanksgiving day sides!
Notes
Mike's Tips
- Start off by placing your leg meat in sous vide at 150°F for 12 hours or overnight. Turn down the precision cooker to 135°F, drop in the bag of turkey breast and cook for another 12 hours. Leave the turkey legs in while you sous vide the breast meat. It is important to start a day of ahead so you have plenty of time to cook your turkey.
- Fill your sous vide container with hot water from the tap to help the precision cooker come to temperature faster.
- Pre-sear turkey pieces to make crisping up the skin at the end faster.
- We highly recommend doing a wet or dry brine on the turkey for the best results.
- You can leave Turkey inside sous vide hot water bath for up to 24 hours, giving you plenty of time to get those Thanksgiving sides ready.
- Save turkey necks, wings, and carcasses for turkey stock and gravy.
- This is a large bird so use large 2-gallon ziplock bags so everything fits.
- Only leave the turkey in the brine for 12-24 hours. Brining too long can alter the flavor of the turkey and start to cure the meat.
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