Welcome back to our next post in the Cooking Meat for the Freezer in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker! If you happened to miss last week’s post you can catch up by clicking on this link: How to Cook Beef for the Freezer in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
This week we’ll be sharing some tips and recipes focusing on turkey. And just in case you didn’t know, turkey is great every month of the year, not just in November.
One of the beautiful things about turkey is that you can easily use it in place of chicken in so many recipes. It allows for a slight change of pace and it’s really easy to cook up lots of it to freeze ahead and add to recipes in a flash.
You will want to consider using a smaller turkey, or cutting it up before cooking because they are so much larger than chicken and typically will not fit in an instant pot whole.
How to Cook Turkey for the Freezer in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
The Instant Pot Pressure Cooker is a great way to cook a turkey breast. Be warned though – a whole turkey won’t fit inside a pressure cooker, unless it’s very small. You’ll want to use a turkey breast or boneless turkey roast instead.
Add at least 2 cups of water or more. You can also add onions, celery, salt, pepper and other seasonings as you like.
Turkey cook times:
- Boneless turkey roast: 15-20 minutes thawed or 30-35 minutes frozen
- Turkey breast with bones: 25-30 minutes thawed or 40-50 minutes frozen
Here’s a quick video for you with tips for cooking a turkey breast in your pressure cooker.
Ideas for using frozen cooked turkey
Substitute the chicken in any of these for Turkey cooked in the instant pot.
Turkey Broccoli Picnic Pita Pockets
Creamy Turkey Florentine Quesadillas
15 Minute Skillet Turkey Curry
Easy Turkey and Tortellini Kale Soup – substitute turkey for the chicken in this recipe.
Quick and Easy Chipotle Turkey Bowls
Easy Turkey Alfredo Pasta Bake
Get more ideas for recipes you can swap Chicken for Turkey in this post of 30 ways to use up leftover Thanksgiving Turkey. And then there’s also this post 10 Recipes to Use Costco Rotisserie Chicken (or Leftover Turkey) and you’ll find even more ideas for using turkey in this post Ingredient Spotlight: How to Use Leftover Turkey
Tips for freezing cooked turkey
- Zip top freezer bags, freezer tape and a sharpie or two are your best friends here. Since cooked turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months, you’ll want to label each bag and include the date it was cooked.
- A good rule of thumb is about 3 cups of cooked turkey per bag. If you have a specific recipe in mind for your turkey, you’ll find some good ones listed in the next section, then include further prep instructions and sides that you may want to add.
- Be sure to cool your cooked turkey before sealing it in the zip top bags to prevent ice build up and freezer burn.
- For more extensive tips on everything you ever wanted to know about storing meats in the freezer, check out this post about Freezer Cooking. And then there’s this post with all sorts of Tips and a Recipe Roundup of Freezer Meals
- If you are new to pressure cooking and the instant pot, check out my honest review of two brands I own, the Instant Pot vs. Cuisinart
What are you cooking in your Instant Pot?
If you own an instant pot, what meats have you already cooked in yours? And if it’s still on your wish list, where would you start? New appliances can be a bit intimidating, but hopefully, you’ll find enough inspiration here to tackle you Instant Pot and be an expert in no time.
If you’re already enjoying your Instapot, then you’ll want to check out my 10 Best Instant Pot Accessories post to see how you can do even more with your new appliance.
And for those of you still dreaming of your Instant Pot, you can use your slow cooker in the meantime. Whichever method you choose, having your meats already cooked and frozen sure does cut down the time and stress of fixing dinner.
We’ll have more meats, tips and recipes for you in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back.
Holly says
It needs more than 35 minutes frozen. Mine came out raw inside after only 35 minutes.
Christina says
Please update your post. If frozen, it needs to cook for more like 50 minutes. Very disappointing.
Tiffany says
Christina, I update those times. I know it’s frustrating when something doesn’t get done in the time stated on a pressure cooker recipe. I’ve had it happen too. If it does happen, you can reseal the pot and bring it to pressure again (that doesn’t take long since everything is hot) and set it to cook a while longer. Times online for pressure cookers to cook meat vary widely. I even saw that someone said a whole, frozen chicken could be cooked in a pressure cooker in one hour, including the time to come to pressure. I’m not sure that’s possible unless it’s a very small chicken.
Christina says
Thanks for the quick reply. It was my second meal that I tried that didn’t go well. After turning it back on and adding more time, it turned out perfectly. Thanks!
Kaelan D Caldwell says
Do you know about what size of turkey breast with bones will fit in a 6 qt instant pot lux60
Tiffany says
I’m not sure on the size of the turkey breast. Not too big though. I’d go with one of the smaller ones they sell.
Barb says
What difference does it make if only using a half of a turkey breast with wing? Should I lower the time! Can’t find any recipes that use only half a turkey breast
Tiffany King says
You can probably reduce the time by a bit, especially if it’s thawed out.