Have you tried a pressure cooker turkey yet in your Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi yet? It’s easier than you think and frees up your oven on Thanksgiving Day! Take a look.
Time to understand how to cook a turkey in a pressure cooker! I am serious, it is possible to cook a turkey in Instant Pot and it comes out so moist and full of flavor in less than an hour! 101+ easy Instant Pot recipes here on The Typical Mom blog you can enjoy too. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Turkey
It doesn’t matter what brand you have at home. You can use a Mealthy, Crockpot Express or make it as an easy Ninja foodi recipe. The latter offers you more because then you can air fry the skin at the end.
from frozen
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. Forgetful? You can make Instant Pot Frozen Turkey Breast this way too in about the same cook time!
This is probably going to blow your mind. I have other ways of cooking this same bird below to choose from in case you end up with a bunch of guests but for a smaller group like 4-5 of you this is great. You don’t need a huge bird y’all unless you want a ton of leftovers.
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.
If you follow my blog at all you know I am all about easy 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!
Now why would you even bother doing this anyway?? I mean for years you made it in your oven so why should you consider doing it this way instead?
- 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
Ingredient Notes
You will want to fill the pot with cut up vegetables like carrots, celery and onions. For the liquid needed to steam everything I prefer 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 bird is. Beyond that it is just the turkey itself and seasonings. 8 pounds will fit in an 8 qt. pot
If you want bold flavors you can use this mixture we made for our turkey dry rub. 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.
Equipment
- 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 online if you lost yours
- Internal meat temperature chart and thermometer
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.
How to make the gravy
I think everyone has their own turkey gravy recipe handed down from years ago but in case you don’t you can follow this pressure cooker gravy. 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 thickener like cornstarch, bubble to thicken. 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.
Tips
When choosing the bird at the store keep in mind it’s size. For an 8 quart pot you will only be able to fit an 8 pound bird that is thawed and pliable. That is about the general rule, 1 pound per quart size, so 6 qt. would fit a small 6 pound turkey. In that case you might opt for our Butterball Turkey Breast recipe instead.
You will want to keep the meat elevated which is where the trivet comes into play. Under high pressure in your electric pressure cooker you want the hot steam to be able to rotate around the whole thing evenly.
A key to keeping it moist is to allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes before letting out remaining pressure. Always allow it to sit, covered, for 25 minutes to 30 minutes or so before carving it too to keep the moisture in as well. When doing this only cut what you’ll eat, leave the rest whole to save in the fridge and make our Leftover Turkey Recipe later.
How do you get the turkey skin crispy?
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.
- Spray skin with olive oil, this will be necessary for crisping
- Sprinkle seasonings over the top and all around to give it additional flavor
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 for a sheet pan turkey look. 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. OR make a.
Pressure Cooker Turkey
Equipment
- 1 trivet
Ingredients
- 8 lb turkey, must be thawed, this size fits into an 8 quart pressure cooker
- 1 c vegetable broth
- 3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
- 3 carrots, cut into large chunks
- 1 onion, sliced, large pcs.
- 4 cloves garlic
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.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For a smaller option, you can follow our Instant Pot turkey tenderloin recipe too. 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!
What does NPR mean for Instant Pot?
Side dishes
- Instant Pot stuffing comes out really good
- Sweet Instant Pot cranberry sauce is WAY better than canned and takes NO time at all
- Side dish of Instant Pot bacon ranch potatoes
- Our pressure cooker mashed potatoes are always a hit
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!
- 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 to release remaining pressure
- Allow meat to sit before carving.
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?
Yes, it will cook about the same.
If prefer to cook my whole turkey with stuffing in it.
Do I still cook it for 6 minutes per pound?
Thanks
I don’t stuff ever so I don’t know. It would be really wet this way.
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.
for an 8 lb turkey breast (no bone) in a 6 quart instapot, how much liquid should I use? Thank you. BW
1 cup minimum. Broth would be better!
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.
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
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.
for an 8 lb turkey breast (no bone) in a 6 quart instapot, how much liquid should I use? Thank you. BW
This turkey turned out so incredibly moist! The easiest turkey I have ever cooked!
yay for the win!
Would it be ok to put stuffing in the turkey?
Looks wonderful going to try this
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.
I have never used an old fashioned version
I am going to try this today. Hoping you can actually teach an old dog new tricks. We will see.
I’m worried about cramming the turkey in the instant pot, is there such a thing as it being too full for it?
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.