Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to eat turkey, try cooking a roasted air fryer turkey breast! This roasted turkey breast recipe is so easy and it’s great for a naturally low carb dinner. Plus there is so many low carb recipes you can make with the turkey leftovers. So if you have an air fryer give this one a try!
You might also like this smoked turkey breast with easy brine recipe!
My son loves turkey breast. He’s 15 and eats two turkey club sandwiches for lunch everyday. So when I thought about cooking a roasted air fryer turkey breast I really had him in mind.
I knew we could eat it for dinner and have lots of leftovers for his lunch. It was really much easier than I thought and I will definitely no wait for Thanksgiving to roast a turkey breast.
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? I have a large air fryer basket and was able to cook a 6lb turkey breast. However I had to cut out the backbone to fit.
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. Or you can try to just use turkey pieces. The cooking time will probably be less but it’s doable.
The old air fryer I had used for this recipe was a XL Air Fryer by Cozyna (5.8qt). It wasn’t very expensive but it did have a large basket which is necessary to roast a turkey breast or chicken.
My new air fryer is a Chefman 6.3 qt digital air fryer. You can use it to dehydrate and it has a rotisserie spit! However I bought it after I made this turkey.
Brining 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 turkey 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 but for this recipe I kept it very simple.
The brine is made was just water, salt, Lakanto golden sweetener and garlic. I took the turkey breast and put it in a big stock pot then poured the brine in the pot to cover the turkey. I kept 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.
Air Fryer Turkey Breast Recipe
Here is how you roast a turkey breast in the air fryer. Note my turkey breast was huge. It was 6 lbs which was a bit too big for my basket so I cut out the back bone to fit it in the basket.
- First make sure your turkey breast fits in the air fryer basket. I had to cut out the back bone in mine. You might even have to carve the breasts off the bone or just buy turkey split breasts.
- Soak your turkey in a brine over night.
- Take it out and pat dry.
- Rub melted butter and seasonings all over the turkey breast.
- Place in the sprayed air fryer basket breast side down and cook for 30 minutes at 350°F.
- Turn over and cook for 55 minutes more at 350°F or until the internal temperature is 165°F.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.
How Long Should To Cook
Turkey Breast In The Air Fryer?
How long a turkey takes to cook depends on how big it 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.
The best thing to do is measure the internal temperature 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 6lb turkey breast I cooked it for 30 minutes breast side down, then flipped it and cooked for 50 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.
So figure roughly cooking for 12-15 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°F until the internal temperature is 165°F.
Low Carb Recipes
Using Turkey Leftovers
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.
Well if your family loves turkey, don’t wait for Thanksgiving and try cooking it in an air fryer. Now is the time to practice because every air fryer and turkey is different.
Who knows maybe you’ll cook your Thanksgiving turkey in air fryer this year! I hope this post gives you some tips for air frying a turkey breast. 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!
Roasted Air Fryer Turkey Breast
You don't need Thanksgiving to eat turkey, try cooking roasted turkey breast in the air fryer! This roasted turkey breast recipe is so easy and great for a naturally low carb dinner. Plus there is so many low carb recipes you can make with the turkey leftovers!
Ingredients
- 3-6 lb turkey breast, thawed
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- ¼ cup Lakanto golden or Swerve brown sugar sweetener or brown sugar if not low carb
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
Instructions
Brining the turkey breast.
- Clean and dab dry the t urkey breast. Make sure it fits in your air fryer basket. If it doesn't, try taking out the back bone or you might have to cut the breasts off the bone.
- Mix the water, garlic, salt and sweetener in a large pyrex measuing cup to make the brine.
- Take the turkey and place in a large stock pot or container so that you can cover with the brine. You might have to double the brine solution to cover the turkey breasts. Dont worry if the bones stick out of the solution. You just need enough to submerge the breast meat.
- Refrigerate over night.
Cooking the turkey breast in air fryer.
- Take the turkey out of the brine and dab dry. Mix the melted butter and poultry spice and rub all over the turkey breast.
- Spray the air fryer basket and place the turkey, breast down and cook at 350°F breast side down.
- Flip over the turkey and cook for 30- 60 minutes depending on how large your turkey is. You want an internal temperature of 165°F at the thickest part of the bird.
- Rule of thumb is 12-15 minutse per pound of bird. If you just have split turkey breasts it might take much less time. The nice thing about air fryers is that it's easy to take it out and check the temperature and just pop it back in.
- Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 333Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Kathryn
Have you tried the rotisserie option since you have purchased your new air fryer? I have the instant vortex air fryer oven with the rotisserie. If you have what is the temp and time that you used?
Denise
Hi Kathryn, I have only made a rotisserie chicken once and I’m sorry but I don’t remember the time or temp. I think I used whatever the manual that came with mine suggested. While it was really cool it was also messy so I haven’t tried it again. Sorry I’m not much help.
Debbie
The brine for your Roasted Turkey Breast sound delicious. Plus cooking the turkey breast in the air fryer seems to sound so much easier than roasting in the oven.