Do you know what's more exhausting than spending hours shopping on Black Friday? It's spending the entirety of Thanksgiving cooking dinner. Before the pandemic, many households would invite family and friends over and spend all day roasting a whole turkey, preparing countless side dishes, and then serving it before falling asleep on the couch during the third quarter. Entertaining and preparing a Thanksgiving dinner with the roasted turkey and all the fixings is exhausting. So why not keep things simple this year and prepare an air fried turkey breast? Take back all those hours in the hot kitchen and put your air fryer to work!
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Can You Air Fry a Thanksgiving Turkey?
Dig out that air fryer basket for the best turkey you've ever had! I am personally not the biggest fan of turkey because it dries out so easily. However, since this air fryer recipe has a shorter cooking time and focuses just on the boneless turkey breast, the turkey comes out considerably juicy with crispy skin. The only downside is that there is no bone-in pieces such as legs or thighs if dark meat is more your style.
It is possible to place an entire turkey in an air fryer oven, it's just got to be big enough to handle it. For me, I'm gonna stick to an air fryer turkey breast for my current appliance size.
What are the Benefits of Air Fried Turkey?
Not only is the total time cut down, but air frying a turkey also frees up oven space for your other sides. Now you have a spot to cook all your sweet potatoes! It's healthier than a deep-fried turkey recipe too.
How to Air Fry a Turkey Breast
Whether this is for Thanksgiving or a weeknight meal, this air fried turkey breast is a snap to put together.
Remove the turkey breast from the packaging and dry the skin.
In a small bowl make the herb butter by combining the softened butter with sage, thyme, rosemary, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. Rub the mixture under the turkey skin and on the turkey skin.
Preheat your air fryer to 350F.
Place the turkey breast skin-side down and cook for 25 minutes. Flip and cook the turkey skin-side up for 35 minutes. Using an instant-read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the turkey breast and remove it from the air fryer when the internal temperature of 160F has been reached.
Cover the breast with aluminum foil and let the turkey rest for 10 minutes. Carve the juicy turkey and enjoy!
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Air Fryer Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 1 3-lb boneless turkey breast
- 3 Tbsp butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl make the herb butter by combining the softened butter with sage, thyme, rosemary, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. Rub the mixture under the turkey skin and on the turkey skin.
- Preheat your air fryer to 350F.
- Place the turkey breast skin-side down and cook for 25 minutes. Flip and cook the turkey skin-side up for 35 minutes. Using an instant-read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the turkey breast and remove it from the air fryer when the internal temperature of 160F has been reached.
- Cover the breast with aluminum foil and let the turkey rest for 10 minutes. Carve the juicy turkey and enjoy!
