Air Fryer Turkey Breast Recipe - Skinnytaste (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to bake or air fry a turkey? ›

This year, make your turkey in the air fryer! It takes way less effort with far better results and you are guaranteed to have crispy skin and juicy turkey! Also it is a phenomenal way to make a smaller Thanksgiving. Cooking just the breast also ensures you won't end up with dry meat!

Rub one side of your triangle with olive oil and shape the foil (oil-side-down) over the turkey breast, then remove foil; it will shield your turkey breast and keep it from getting dry. You'll apply this shield later in the roasting process.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

The answer is yes! With an oven or range that has Air Fry mode, you'll be able to crisp up your turkey in just a few hours on Thanksgiving morning. Air Fry mode will also save you tons of time, giving you a chance to work on all your other delicious side dishes, such as green beans, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

The great news about air fryers is that you can use foil along with parchment paper to cook your food in an air fryer. Just remember that if it's safe and effective to use in a conventional oven, it will work just fine in an air fryer.

For an evenly cooked turkey, bring it to room temperature before air frying. This helps prevent the outside from cooking too quickly while the inside remains undercooked.

For the best roast turkey breast, roast at 325℉. You'll get juicy meat and crispy skin with an incredible flavor. If you need to cook it a little faster, you can raise the temp to 350 degrees and cook for about 15-18 minutes per pound.

It doesn't matter if you're roasting, frying, or smoking your turkey, there's no need to give it a rinse unless you've brined it (more on that below). Cooking the turkey kills any bacteria, but washing a turkey before you cook it opens the door to dangerous cross contamination.

If, on the other hand, you first brine it in a mild saltwater solution for several hours and then soak it in a marinade of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for a few hours more your cooked turkey breast will be moist, flavorful and taste like wild turkey should.

"Often, consumers will inquire about adding water to the bottom of their roasting pans. We do not recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan. Cooking a turkey with steam is a moist heat-cook method and is acceptable, sure, but is not the preferred method for cooking your turkey."

Do you cook a turkey breast cavity up or down? ›

The United States Department of Agriculture advises to cook a whole turkey breast side up during the entire cooking time. Turning over a large, hot bird can be dangerous and it's very easy to tear the skin, making the finished product less attractive.

But if you are roasting the turkey, be it whole turkey, breast, or leg on a regular roasting pan, foil is a good option. Basically the foil works in the same way a lid works—by trapping steam so the turkey stays moist throughout the roasting process. Simply tent the foil so that it loosely covers the whole turkey.

Luckily, with an air frying range, your turkey will always come out with a perfectly crisp outer skin without sacrificing any juicy flavor. This way, you won't need cranberry sauce to save your meal, but you can still enjoy it on the side.

When you use an air fryer to roast, it will default to a higher temperature and cook for a shorter amount of time than it does while air frying.

A good general rule of thumb when converting a conventional oven recipe to an air fryer recipe is to reduce the temperature by 25-50°F and reduce the cooking time by about 20%.

Along with being user-friendly, air fryers also harness the ability to roast, fry, dehydrate and, yes, even bake. Considering air fryers are essentially small convection ovens, it shouldn't be too surprising that you can easily whip up cakes, muffins and bread in the compact appliances.

Deep-frying a turkey is a vastly superior option for countless reasons. The most important: Like everyone who's ever tried it will tell you, it tastes better than roast turkey. The white meat is moister, the dark meat is even more flavorful, and the skin, while not always totally crispy, is never slimy and gross.

Probably not, but that depends on what you're cooking. We've tested air fryers before and found that while they do what they claim, most foods come out just as good or better in a conventional oven. Still, certain foods tend to be better-suited for air frying.

It's personal preference whether you choose to cook a turkey breast-side up or breast-side down. The United States Department of Agriculture advises to cook a whole turkey breast side up during the entire cooking time.