Slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter are everything that you want from turkey-flavorful, moist, and fall-off-the-bone tender-without the worry of heating up the house or having to constantly check a thermometer.
What’s your Thanksgiving meat of choice? In our house, it is 100% undoubtedly ham. Ham, ham, and more ham. Specifically, ham cooked in cola, which honestly just seems so basic that I have never bothered to write about it. To be honest, Philip doesn’t even touch the turkey on Thanksgiving, but he’ll tear write into that big ol’ hunk of ham. The problem with turkey, in his opinion, is that it is (a) dry; and (b) not very flavorful.
That’s a problem with cooking a gigantic bird all in one piece in the oven. It’s the existential problem with turkey…that big domed breast of white meat dries out well before the dark meat thighs have reached a safe temperature. Now, we’re all about dark meat turkey, but that’s a whole lotta white meat to be wastin’ so that’s probably not the road we want to go down.
Here’s the thing, though…unless you are planning to have a Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving, you don’t really have to cook a whole bird. These slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter take all of 10 minutes of active prep time and, no lie, they’re going to be the most tender and flavorful turkey you’ve ever eaten in your life. And if you’re a white meat lover, don’t worry…I’ve done this with a turkey breast and it was just as delicious. You don’t even need a carving knife-just use a fork to pull the meat off of the bones…it won’t take much effort! Two of these slow cooker turkey thighs give us enough meat for two dinners for two, but you can easily multiply it to meet the needs of your family. No oven (or thermometer) required!
How will you cook your Thanksgiving turkey?
Yield: 4 servings
10 minPrep Time:
8 hrCook Time:
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more for sprinkling
- 2 turkey thighs
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the butter, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined.
- Carefully loosen the skin of the turkey thighs, taking care not to pull it off. Use your fingers to spread half of the butter mixture under the skin of each turkey thigh. If not cooking the turkey thighs immediately, place them in a baking dish, cover with foil, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
- To cook, sprinkle the tops of the turkey thighs with salt and pepper. Place into a slow cooker and set to low for 8-10 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove the turkey thighs from the slow cooker and use a fork to remove the meat from the bones. Serve immediately or refrigerate for leftovers.
Notes
Cook time is inactive slow cooker time. Recipe can easily be multiplied to make as many turkey thighs as you wish. If you prefer white meat, substitute one turkey breast half for every two turkey thighs.
- Calories 256
- Total Fat: 23 g 35.38%
- Saturated Fat: 11 g 55%
- Cholesterol: 90 mg 30%
- Sodium: 1440 mg 60%
- Potassium: 15 mg 0.43%
- Total Carbohydrate: 1 g %
- Sugar: 0 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Vitamin A: 11.34%
- Calcium: 7 mg 0.7%
- Iron: 1 mg 5.56%
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Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker sage butter turkey thighs!
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