This herb air fryer turkey recipe makes the ultimate crispy turkey breast that’s unbelievably moist and cooks in less than one hour. Air fryer turkey breast is perfect as a holiday meal, or even a weeknight dinner since it cooks so quickly!
If you love your air fryer like we do, then check out our other air fryer recipes for air fryer chicken wings and air fryer pork chops. If you’re needing side dish ideas for the air fryer turkey breast, we like to serve this with our popular cold broccoli salad or our spinach salad with a hot bacon dressing.
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Air Fryer Turkey Breast
We just purchased our air fryer this fall and we’ve been air frying up a storm! 14 days of air fryer dinners is what I told my husband would be happening. Our first recipe was actually air fryer chicken wings, and after making 4 batches of wings, we’ve deemed these to be the best ever!
After tons of research, we decided to purchase an air fryer/toaster oven combo and it replaced our old countertop toaster oven. Instant Pot sells another model through Walmart will most of the same features but for less.
Since we’re just having a small group for Thanksgiving this year, I instantly knew I needed to perfect an air fryer turkey breast before people came over. I do have to say, having an air fryer Thanksgiving turkey truly makes for the simplest holiday dinner ever!
Not only does it free up valuable oven space, but it cooks up in less than an hour and it turns out super crisp and moist every time.
Wondering if you can cook a whole turkey in air fryer? The answer would be no, many of the largest air fryer models still have a maximum capacity of 4 lb, and some have even a smaller capacity. Using an air fryer to make an air fryer turkey breast recipe or an air fryer turkey leg are ideal since they’re often in the 2-4 lb weight limit range.
Why This Recipe Works
- Quick-cooking a turkey breast in an air fryer makes for a super crisp yet really juicy turkey
- Adding your favorite dried herbs adds extra flavor that makes this perfect for your holiday table–in less than one hour!! Oven roasted turkey breast takes 1.5 hours to bake!
- Removing the turkey slightly before it’s done and letting it rest, makes it super moist every time since it allows the juices to distribute
- Flipping the turkey halfway gets the skin nice and crisp on both sides
Ingredients for Crispy Herb Turkey (Air Fryer)
When you’re cooking a turkey in an air fryer, not many ingredients are needed. Just a little seasoning, crispy skin, and moist and juicy turkey is all that’s needed to make the perfect air fryer turkey breast recipe.
My grocery store only had 2.5-3 lb turkey breasts in stock, yet you CAN find them bigger. Buying a turkey breast up to 4 lb will still fit into most air fryers. Double-check your owner’s manual so that you don’t end up purchasing a turkey breast for your air fryer that’s bigger than it can hold.
A larger turkey breast will take a little longer to cook, the key is just to make sure to periodically check the temperature and make sure it doesn’t get cooked too long.
- 2.5-3 lb turkey breast
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp + garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp + herbs de Provence
- 1 Tbsp butter, melted
Herbs de Provence is my favorite go-to mixed herb seasoning blend, but feel free to use Italian seasoning or simply dried herbs that go well with turkey like dried thyme, oregano, and rosemary.
Air Fryer Turkey Recipe Steps
Cooking air fryer turkey breast is super simple! It’s amazing how stressful cooking a whole turkey can be in an oven, yet cooking just the popular breast when you have a small group makes cooking turkey a breeze.
We’re guilty of just cooking turkey one to two times per year, but now with an air fryer and a turkey breast, this will definitely become a year-round staple!
The cooking steps are similar to all of our air fryer recipes, coat both sides of the protein with a little oil and herbs, roast on one side, then flip half way to get both sides nice and crisp. It’s hard to believe you can cook an entire moist yet crisp turkey breast (air fryer kind that is) in under one hour!
Mix the oil, garlic salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence in a small bowl.
Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray to help make clean-up easier.
With paper towels pat the turkey breast on both sides to remove the extra moisture. This is one of the keys to getting that extra crispy air fryer turkey breast skin.
Brush both sides of the turkey breast with the oil and herb mixture.
And place the turkey on the air fryer rack with the breast piece facing down.
Turn the heat to 350F and cook for 25 minutes. The turkey is already getting nice and crisp just after 25 mins!
Carefully flip the turkey, here’s a photo of what our air fryer turkey breast looked like after we flipped it so the breast side was facing up. Now it’s time to get the top breast piece crispy too.
Brush the turkey breast with the 1 Tbsp of melted butter.
Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
Remove the turkey from the air fryer, cover it with aluminum foil and let the turkey breast rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Letting the meat rest is a super important step, it lets the internal juices that pool to the middle settle and redistribute to the rest of the meat, which makes every bite juicy.
Making Oven Roasted Turkey Breast
If you came across our air fryer turkey breast recipe and you DON’T have an air fryer and are wondering how to cook this easy turkey breast in the oven, here’s how to adapt the recipe.
The steps are virtually the same, but it’ll take a little bit longer to cook in the oven. If you have a convection oven, the air circulates in a similar way as an air fryer. Many people even say if you do have a convection oven, do you really need an air fryer too? I have both yet still love having an air fryer too.
In a convection oven, lower the temperature to 325F, if you have a regular oven the temperature should be 350F. Make sure the oven rack is in the center of the oven.
Follow all of the recipe steps above except there’s no need to flip your turkey breast over. After 1 hour of cooking a 3 lb turkey breast, open the oven and baste the turkey breast with butter.
Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165F, which could take another 20-30 minutes.
If the turkey breast seems to be browning too quickly, loosely cover it with foil.
Let rest covered with foil for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Turkey Tips
- You can make an air fryer turkey leg using the same method, just cook until a thermometer reads 165F.
- Air fryers heat so quickly, preheating isn’t necessary
- In our Omni Plus, the air fryer rack position is too high up for something large like a turkey breast. We lowered the rack to the center and that worked well for this recipe.
- Depending on your air fryer model, you can use the rotisserie instead of setting the turkey breast in an air fryer basket. Make sure not to use a turkey breast larger than your owner’s manual recommends or it could break the rotisserie.
- Skip the dried herbs for simple air fryer turkey
- You can cook a larger turkey breast than the 2.5 lb we used, many models allow for a 4lb piece or meat or roast
- To cook the turkey breast in the oven, use the same steps, it just might take a little longer to cook.
Other Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe
- Air Fryer Boneless Pork Chops
- Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes
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Crispy Herb Turkey (Air Fryer Recipe)
This herb air fryer turkey recipe makes the ultimate crispy turkey breast that's unbelievably moist and cooks in less than one hour. Air fryer turkey breast is perfect as a holiday meal, or even a weeknight dinner since it cooks so quickly!
Ingredients
- 2.5-3 lb turkey breast
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp + garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp + herbs de Provence
- 1 Tbsp butter, melted
Instructions
- Mix the oil, garlic salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence in a small bowl.
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray to help make clean-up easier.
- With paper towels pat the turkey breast on both sides to remove the extra moisture. This is one of the keys to getting that extra crispy air fryer turkey breast skin.
- Brush both sides of the turkey breast with the oil and herb mixture and place the turkey on the air fryer rack with the breast piece facing down.
- Turn the heat to 350F and cook for 25 minutes.
- Carefully flip the turkey and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165F when a thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
- Brush 1 Tbsp melted butter on the turkey breast after flipping.
- Let the turkey breast rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- You can make an air fryer turkey leg using the same method, just cook until a thermometer reads 160F.
- Air fryers heat so quickly, preheating isn't necessary
- Depending on your air fryer model, you can use the rotisserie instead of setting the turkey breast in an air fryer basket. Make sure not to use a turkey breast larger than your owner's manual recommends or it could break the rotisserie.
- Skip the dried herbs for simple air fryer turkey
- You can cook a larger turkey breast than the 2.5 lb we used, many models allow for a 4lb piece or meat or roast
- To cook the turkey breast in the oven, use the same steps, it just might take a little longer to cook.
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Tracy says
There actually are air fryer ovens that will do up to a 10lb turkey. Just wanted to clear up this mistake. I actually thought this recipe was for an entire turkey. My bad I guess. Disappointed because finding a recipe that isn’t strictly for the air fryer for an entire turkey has proven difficult.
Ashley H. says
I am cooking this for Thanksgiving but I have a larger bone-in turkey breast so I am cooking in the oven. I will cook according to the weight, but I am wondering, since I am not cooking in an air fryer, do I still need to flip the turkey as directed in Step 6?
Sheri says
Hi. Would the turkey breast be bone-in or no bone? Thx!
WholeLottaYum says
This was a bone-in turkey breast!
Kacee Conklin says
I often get a half turkey breast or drumsticks since I cook just for myself. I would make it in my Cuisinart toaster/convection oven so I am looking forward to getting one and cooking it in my Cuisinart toaster/convectons/airfryer/broiler oven (Costco of course). We always had bread stuffing when cooking a turkey. We’d save bacon fat and mom would saute onion, celery and Bell’s Poultry spice in the bacon fat and then put over the bread for the stuffing. Yum. There’s nothing to stuff so instead of margarine or butte,r I use bacon fat in for my Stove Top dressing. It’s actually not bad! And gravy of course. 🙂
WholeLottaYum says
That sounds delicious, Kacee!