Have you tried a pressure cooker turkey yet in your Instant Pot? It’s easier than you think and frees up your oven on Thanksgiving Day! Take a look.
Now that it is nearing the holidays it was time to cook a pressure cooker turkey! I am serious, it is possible to cook a turkey in your Instant Pot and it comes out so moist and full of flavor in less than an hour! No more bags to use to keep in the moisture when cooking a turkey in the oven. Just pop it in for a 45 minute cook time with some broth and vegetables and you can walk away. It will come out perfect every time. We have 101+ easy Instant Pot recipes here on The Typical Mom blog you can enjoy too. (originally published 9/18. affiliate links present)
I bet you never thought of making a pressure cooker turkey huh?
If you follow my blog at all you know I am all about easy Instant Pot recipes, especially during the holidays when you have multiple dishes to cook. I started by cooking this Instant Pot ham and was amazed at how easy it was and just how juicy it came out!
What size turkey will fit in an Instant Pot?
- An 8 lb. turkey fit in our 8 qt. pot. I wouldn’t buy one larger than that.
- You need the lid to shut and a bit of space in between the meat and the top too to cook properly.
Why would you cook a turkey in an Instant Pot
- It frees up your oven during the holidays
- Great idea for those living in small spaces or if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving in an RV
- Cooks much faster than in an oven
- Allows you to cook turkey more often because it takes less than an hour
- Pressure cooker turkey comes out moist without having to put it in a bag
Here is what the pot looks like before you lower your turkey inside your Instant Pot.
It’s filled with cut up vegetables and vegetable broth. Of course you could use water instead but I use broth every chance I can because it has so much more flavor.
- You also have the ability to add more or less depending on how large your turkey is.
- If you’re looking for how to cook a moist turkey breast recipe in your Instant Pot we’ll share those instructions too.
Equipment you’ll need to make a turkey in electric pressure cookers
- 8 qt. Instant Pot– 6 qt. would work for just a pressure cooker turkey breast.
- Some pressure cookers have 10 qt. sizes so you could fit a larger bird in that
- Trivet – the one that comes with your Instant Pot works great, you can get a replacement trivet here
- Internal meat temperature chart and thermometer
If you want bold seasonings you can use this mixture we made for our smoked turkey recipe. You can also just use salt, pepper, and garlic. That part is totally up to you.
- If you crisp the skin after it’s cooked you’ll want to add a bit of additional seasonings before you do that so it really sticks.
Pressure cooker turkey ingredients needed
- Turkey – thawed, 8 pound turkeys will fit in an 8 qt. pot
- Carrots
- Onion
- Celery
- Garlic whole cloves
- Vegetable broth – way better than using water
- Spices – rub on outside skin, or leave turkey plain if desired
- Use our turkey dry rub recipe
- Seasoned salt and black pepper
- Garlic powder and/or salt
- Thyme
- Have slid slices of lemon under the skin too
- Trivet – I like this one with handles
I’m sure you’ve learned by now, but cooking in a pressure cooker makes everything so moist without a bag needed (yay).
This is the only way I make Instant Pot whole chicken now, it just turns out fall off the bone delicious in 1/3 of the time it would in the oven and is so tender.
Once your pressure cooker turkey is done you’ll have amazing drippings in the bottom of the pot. So you can add those to a pot and make turkey gravy if you wish.
- I think everyone has their own gravy recipe handed down from years ago but in case you don’t you can follow this turkey pressure cooker gravy recipe.
- Remember that you can use the saute function to make your gravy instead of dirtying another pan and making it on the stove. That is up up to you.
- Put it on saute using the drippings already inside your pot. Remove vegetables, and add other ingredients to make a thick sauce for your gravy if you desire.
Pour some generously over your moist white meat and dark meat and enjoy a wonderful meal.
The general rule for cooking a turkey in your Instant Pot is to cook it for about 6 minutes per pound so this one was set for 48 minutes, 45 probably would’ve been fine too.
- To gauge how long meat takes to cook or how long it takes to cook an Instant Pot turkey breast use this printable chart.
- A key to keeping it moist is to allow a natural release for 10 minutes before letting out remaining pressure.
- Always allow it to sit for 25 minutes or so before carving to keep the moisture in as well.
If you don’t have a pressure cook this is how to roast a turkey with just salt and pepper in no time in the oven!
Set to high pressure with a cook time of just 30 minutes to 60 minutes (depending on size) it’s a great way to cook holiday dinners.
More Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipes
What are the most important steps to remember when making an Instant Pot turkey?
- Natural pressure release at the end.
- What does NPR mean for Instant Pot?
- Just this, allowing steam to naturally release.
- That means do NOT touch the steam valve for 10 minutes once timer beeps.
- After that, then flip it so the rest bellows out.
- What does NPR mean for Instant Pot?
- Allow meat to sit before carving.
If you are looking for an alternative way to cook a 1 hour turkey try our sheet pan turkey directions too! The skin gets REALLY crispy that way and you can really layer on the herbs and seasonings.
Here are a few easy Christmas brunch menu ideas too!
What do you serve with Thanksgiving dinner?
You don’t have to use more Instant Pot recipes for side dishes, but I do. Use your oven if you wish, I just like cooking everything at the same time so it’s all warm when dinnertime arrives.
- Instant Pot stuffing comes out really good
- Sweet homemade cranberry sauce is WAY better than canned and takes NO time at all
- Best sweet potato casserole can be made in your pressure cooker or Ninja Foodi too
- Side dish of Instant Pot bacon ranch potatoes
Whatever you serve it with I guarantee this will turn out fall apart tender and delicious for everyone. You may never cook a turkey in your oven ever again!
How do you get crispy turkey skin?
Let’s start by saying that if you LOVE crisp turkey skin you may want to smoke it or roast it in the oven to begin with. You can get it crispier than when you pull it out of your pot, but it will be a bit different than oven roasted.
First things you’ll need to do are:
- Spray skin with olive oil, this will be necessary for crisping
- Sprinkle seasonings over the top and all around to give it additional flavor
Here are your options:
- You can crisp the skin at the end using the CrispLid for Instant Pot
- Rotating the bird would be necessary for this
- It is not going to brown it evenly because it needs to be facing neck up in order to fit
- The best option is to transfer it to a large pan and throw it under your broiler
- If you have a Ninja Foodi just set to air crisp at 400 degrees for a few minutes until it’s browned as much as you like.
- This method may not work because of the size of the bird. You’d need an 8 qt. pot and because of the different configuration of the pot it may only fit a 6 lb. turkey. I haven’t tried this yet.
Pressure Cooker Turkey
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add your vegetable broth (could use water), celery, carrots, onion and garlic cloves into your pressure cooker pot.
- Put a trivet on top of your vegetables and broth so it is flat.
- Rinse your turkey and remove all items from inside cavity.
- Rub any spices you'd like on the outside skin of your whole turkey if you desire, or leave plain.
- Set turkey on your trivet with neck facing up as shown in top photo of post.
- Close your lid and steam valve and set on high pressure for 6 minutes per pound so at 8 pounds (pretty close to as large as an 8 quart could really handle) you'll set it for 48 minutes (think 45 minutes is better, comes out a bit more moist).
- Do a natural release for 10 minutes, then release rest of pressure.
- Serve or if you'd like the skin to crisp up a bit put your pressure cooker turkey on a baking sheet. Spray top with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings and put under your broiler for about 4 minutes until skin crisps to your liking.
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Christina says
I have an 11 lb turkey and 8 qt pressure cooker.. will this work and can i cook it frozen? I guess maybe not for frozen since it has the giblets etc in the cavity..but is it possible?
Marisa says
I’ve never used my IP for this, but I’m definitely trying it this year!! I’ve always used my roasted and lathered my turkey in butter and wrapped in a cheese cloth. Is none of that necessary, to help make the turkey moist while using the IP?
Lena says
I am yet to try this. What would happen if I don’t use a trivet and just nestle the turkey in the veggies and water?
The Typical Mom says
That would probably be fine as long as it’s lifted off bottom
Vampy says
I just cooked a 14.75 turkey in my 13 quart Nuwave electric pressure cooker using some of your instructions. I like how you put it in breast down so that’s what I did. I also skinned most of the bird because we don’t eat skin. I left skin on the breast to keep it moister. But I didn’t use the trivet instead I put about 4 cups of water in the bottom and put the turkey in a Crock Pot liner so I could lift it out. My turkey was a tiny bit frozen so I cooked it for 90 + 10 extra minutes. I let it slow release at least 30 minutes. I lifted out the oven bag with turkey then drained the liquid in a large container in the sink and saved it. I do have a 6 quart IP so I saved all the bones, neck, gizzard and heart and put them back in my IP with that broth another 120 minutes on stew with 20 minute slow release and strained them. I have never had a gizzard that could be torn apart with my fingers before. It wasn’t tough at all. The turkey was tender and delicious and falling off the bones. I’ve also never had bone broth that was so thick and gelatinized when cooled.
The Typical Mom says
So glad it came out great
Sam says
You shouldn’t have to add much time if it was a little frozen. The time doesn’t start counting down until the pot reaches pressure, and it normally couldn’t reach pressure until it has thawed as the liquid boils. When you make soup on the stovetop, for example, the soup won’t boil until any frozen ingredients have thawed.
Cookinmom says
Hello, thank you for this recipe! However, I have a 6 lb turkey. Should I keep the time the same?
The Typical Mom says
If it is smaller I might adjust to 40 min? Haven’t done it but is an educated guess.
Sheila says
I made our 11 pound turkey this way for Thanksgiving and it was not dry in the slightest! I can’t wait to try a whole chicken. Thank you for the recipe!
The Typical Mom says
Yay glad it was a hit during the holidays for y’all.
Christina says
What size pressure cooker did you use for 11 lbs?
Sam says
I cooked a 10 pound turkey in an 8 quart Instant Pot. I cooked it 6 minutes for every pound – 60 minutes, but it was a little over cooked (even without putting it in the broiler). However, it was still moist and so tender it literally fell apart when I removed it. I don’t think I’ll ever cook a small turkey any other way.
Norma Castro says
I have an 8 quart pressure cooker the turkey didnt fit so we cut.it up should i put it in the power cooker in piece?
Charles M Barnard says
Yes, it will cook about the same.
Nancy says
If prefer to cook my whole turkey with stuffing in it.
Do I still cook it for 6 minutes per pound?
Thanks
The Typical Mom says
I don’t stuff ever so I don’t know. It would be really wet this way.
Sam says
That probably won’t turn out well because the stuffing would act like a sponge soaking up the liquid necessary for pressurization. There is usually only about a cup of liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid left, it will never reach pressure. Furthermore, you’ll end up with soggy overcooked stuffing, e.g. wet bread. And perhaps worst, the stuffing prevents heat from reaching the interior of the turkey, leading to a dangerously undercooked interior. Increasing time would overcook the exterior, resulting in an uneven turkey. It’s probably best to make stuffing separately on the stovetop with the turkey broth.
Barbara W says
for an 8 lb turkey breast (no bone) in a 6 quart instapot, how much liquid should I use? Thank you. BW
Betty Relph says
1 cup minimum. Broth would be better!
Sam says
I’m curious to know why broth would make a difference since the turkey is raised on a trivet, never really touching the broth. The only seasoning that seems to matter is what you rub on the turkey.
Jo Anne M Matzuka says
Just ordered an 8 quart pot after returning a six quart when I realized the capacity was more like 4 instead of 6. Your Turkey Recipe looks so good but I do have a question. Somewhere I read that the 8 quart requires 2 cups of liquid. Your recipe calls for only one. Is that safe? Thanks
The Typical Mom says
Yes but when cooking a whole chicken or turkey like this it will create a lot of juices when cooking so in the end there will be much more than 1 cup of liquid. You’re good.
Barbara W says
for an 8 lb turkey breast (no bone) in a 6 quart instapot, how much liquid should I use? Thank you. BW
wilhelmina says
This turkey turned out so incredibly moist! The easiest turkey I have ever cooked!
The Typical Mom says
yay for the win!
Brandy says
Would it be ok to put stuffing in the turkey?
Sharon says
Looks wonderful going to try this
Umi says
How do the cooking times differ for Instant Pot vs traditional stove top pressure cooker? I have a small IP but for this recipe I’ll have to pull out the old stove top version. I have a 6 pounder bone in breasts that’s is currently marinating in Indian curry spices with yogurt, that I’d like to steam cook then finish under the broil as a final crisping step. Please help, how should I adjust.
The Typical Mom says
I have never used an old fashioned version
Netta Polansky says
I am going to try this today. Hoping you can actually teach an old dog new tricks. We will see.
Lacie k says
I’m worried about cramming the turkey in the instant pot, is there such a thing as it being too full for it?
The Typical Mom says
Typically you don’t want to fill much more than 3/4 of the way full, this was a bit more than that just with the neck end poking up a bit but if you buy one the size/weight I did you should be just fine.
Tobi says
This was amazing! We got a whole 10lb turkey in my 8quart instant pot. When we pulled it out it literally fell off the bone. It was so moist and and delicious.
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it.
Carolyn Kelly says
Great idea. Sign me up for recipes
The Typical Mom says
There is a link to sign up above the comment section of each post.
Karen Otter says
I use pint (for 2 people) quart (for family) sterilized canning jars and lids and stuff cooked turkey in it, leaving an inch and 1/2 or so space from the top of the jar and pour in stock til 1/2inch from top (gives room in jar when product freezes) and screw on a lid and freeze. It stays moist, can be used in soup, cassaroles, turkey salad, sandwiches etc.
Patrice Gallentine says
You freeze jars? Really?
Teresa says
I had to take the little stand out and we put the turkey in without it so it would fit. Is that going to cause a huge problem?
The Typical Mom says
If you put it directly on the veggies at the bottom it should be just fine.
Sandra says
Do you think I can use the ten pound turkey I got free from work?
The Typical Mom says
As long as it fits in your IP.
Stephanie says
I added fresh herbs inside the turkey and it added the stuffing taste to it. It was delicious!
The Typical Mom says
Great idea, glad you loved it!
Elizabeth Tracey says
Saw this and automatically knew I was going to make it for dinner tonight. I added shallots to the veggies. So so good and incredibly easy. Definitely adding this to our monthly recipe list.
charles says
After cooking a turkey breast, can I safely freeze any left overs? And if so how long would recommend before using them.
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t ever refroze the meat, I just use for leftover recipes for a few days after that. If it was previously frozen I probably wouldn’t refreeze.
Kathy Mitchell says
Cooked meat can be frozen for later use. You just shouldn’t refreeze raw meat that was previously frozen and then thawed. Did that make sense? ?
Vampy says
I have frozen baked turkey and it changes the texture. It got really stringy and wasn’t good. I have found if you vacuum seal the packages first it won’t change the texture. I’m not sure if it will be the same with pressure cooking. If anyone has any tips on this I’d like to know.
Julie Evink says
SAY what?! I can cook a whole turkey in my IP! Sign me up! Trying this next week. Thanks dear!
Brandi says
I am a huge instant pot and any other pressure cooker fan myself and couldn’t walk by a perfect whole turkey recipe!
Claudia says
Wow i never knew this would be possible i have an 8 quart going to give it a go thanks