Air Fryer Turkey Breast (keto)

Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to eat turkey, try making an air fryer turkey breast! This roasted turkey breast recipe is so easy and you end up with crispy skin and juicy white meat. It’s a naturally low carb dinner, plus I have many low carb recipes you can make with the turkey leftovers.

You might also like this smoked turkey breast with easy brine recipe!

When I first made this air fryer turkey breast years ago, I did so for my son who had wanted a turkey club sandwich for lunch every single day. This was an easy way to have lots of homemade lunchmeat!

However today we had this for dinner and now my husband is hooked and wants me to put this in the meal planning rotation. Making a turkey breast in the air fryer gives you crispy skin and juicy meat. Part of that is from brining the roast the overnight which is a simple brine and easy to do.

So we ate roast turkey for dinner and had lots of leftovers for lunch and even snacks. So you don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to roast a turkey breast. Make it in the air fryer!

Can you cook a turkey breast in the air fryer?

Yes you can! The important thing to note is will the turkey breast fit into the air fryer basket? My newest air fryer is just a cheap model I bought but it has an 8 qt basket. You need to have a decent size basket to make a 6-7 pound turkey breast. I even had to split it a bit to make sure it fit nicely in the basket.

I know there are all kinds of air fryers out there. If your basket won’t fit a whole turkey breast you can try to split the breast in half. Just use kitchen shears like mine and cut down through the breast bone. Or you can try to just use turkey pieces.  The cooking time will probably be less but it’s doable. 

I’ve had 4 air fryers over the last 8 years and I use them a LOT. I like the big basket models like this one and with simple features. I rarely use any other function than air frying. My most recent one was from Ollies and one of my favorite ones was from Aldi.

First you should brine the turkey breast.

A brine is simply a salt and water solution that you soak your turkey in to keep it moist and to add a bit of flavor. Because the breast is such a lean meat it can get dry and tough and the brine helps with that. Learn more about brining turkeys here.

I have a brine recipe I use for both my smoked turkey breast and smoked salmon that has quite a few ingredients including other herbs and spices but for this recipe I kept it very simple.

The brine is made was just water, salt, Lakanto golden sweetener (or just brown sugar) and garlic. I put the turkey breast in a big stock pot then poured the brine in the pot to cover the roast. Then I placed it in the refrigerator overnight.

The basic brine recipe is 4 cups of water + 2 tablespoons of salt + ¼ cup Lakanto golden (or brown sugar or other sweetener) + 1 tablespoon crushed garlic. You might have to double or even triple this recipe depending on what type of container you put your turkey in to brine.

How to make an air fryer turkey breast.

Here is how you roast a bone in turkey breast in the air fryer. Note I made a bone in turkey breast that was almost 7 pounds which was a bit too big for my basket. So I cut down the breast bone to fit it in the basket. 

1. First make sure your turkey breast fits in the air fryer basket. I had to cut out down the breast bone in mine with kitchen shears. You might even have to carve the breasts off the bone or just buy turkey split breasts. 
2. Soak your turkey in a brine over night.
3. Take it out and pat dry.
4. Preheat air fryer at 350°F for 5 minutes.
5. While that is preheating rub melted butter and seasonings all over the turkey breast. (see pic above) Note you can use olive oil or avocado oil instead of butter if you prefer.
6. When ready to cook, spray the basket with nonstick cooking spray. Then place in the basket breast side down and cook for 30 minutes at 350°F.
7. Turn the roast over and cook for 40-55 minutes more at 350°F or until the internal temperature is 165°F using an instant read thermometer. Mine took 1 hour 10 minutes total. 
8. Take it out and cover with a piece of aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

How long does it take to roast a turkey breast in the air fryer.

How long it takes depends on how big the breast is. A rule of thumb is to cook a turkey 12 – 15 minutes per pound in the oven. However since we are making this in the air fryer it should be quicker and on the lower end of this estimate so try 10-15 minutes.

The best thing to do is measure the internal temperature with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the bird. When it reaches 165°F it is done. Take it out and let it rest for 10 minutes.

For my almost 7 pound turkey breast I cooked it for 30 minutes breast side down, then flipped it and cooked for 40 more minutes. That’s the nice thing about an air fryer. You can take it out easily, take the temperature and pop it back in if it’s not done. Note cooking times will vary depending on the size of your roast and your air fryer. If you cooking a boneless turkey breast it might take less time than my bone in roast.

So figure roughly air frying for 10-15 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°F until the internal temperature is 165°F.

Low carb recipes using leftover turkey.

You can use leftover turkey in any recipe that calls for rotisserie chicken. I just made a low carb creamy turkey soup and mentioned all of this. So in case you didn’t see it, for some low carb leftover turkey ideas try these:

• Add cooked turkey in soup like this creamy chicken and sun dried tomato soup.
• Stuff crepes with the leftover turkey along with a cream sauce like this creamy chicken crepes recipe.
• Substitute turkey in casseroles like this cheesy chicken & broccoli casserole
• Mix turkey with an Alfredo sauce and top zucchini noodles.
• Make these low carb stuffing waffles and top with turkey and cranberry sauce.
• Here are 21 leftover turkey keto recipes to try.

Well if your family loves turkey, don’t wait for Thanksgiving and try this air fried turkey breast. Now is the time to practice because every air fryer and turkey is different.

Who knows maybe you’ll cook your Thanksgiving turkey in the air fryer this year! I hope this post gives you some tips to help you. It’s such a good low carb food to have on hand for dinners, sandwiches, soups, casseroles etc.

A note about the nutritional information.

This was difficult to figure out because I’m not sure how much turkey meat I actually got from the roast. Also it’s hard to tell how much brine is absorbed but if you are using a sweetener there should not be any carbs and you aren’t really eating the garlic though the juice might be absorbed. So in the end I overestimated to be safe but please do your own calculations.  

Based on 6 servings, 1 serving is: 330 cals
14.5g fat / 2g carbs / 0.2g fiber / 39.7g protein =  1.8g net carbs

You might also like my friend Taryn’s sugar free cranberry sauce or air fryer whole chicken!