Are you nervous to roast a whole turkey by yourself? Are you cooking for just you and your partner and don’t want a huge mess or a lot of leftovers? If you said yes to any of those questions, this is a perfect recipe for you! By cooking turkey tenderloin, we are using the leanest part of the turkey—and no bone so it cooks quick! This year my Hubs & I are staying in Vegas by ourselves… Which means, we have to do all the cooking… And by WE, I really mean ME (lol). I LOVE Thanksgiving, but I also want simplicity. This recipe below is perfect for just 2 people (with some leftovers) or, add a few extra packages of turkey tenderloin to cook for more. It is still full of flavor and juicy (if you use the right spices) PLUS has less fat than your traditional whole turkey.
What You’ll Need:
Crock Pot – (If only using 1 package of turkey tenderloin, you can get away with cooking this in a small pot. If doing 2 or more, I suggest using a larger one so it cooks evenly)
1 package (2 breasts) boneless skinless turkey tenderloin (or more if you are serving more than 3 people and/or want leftovers) – I use Jennie-O brand
1 tbsp olive oil (or butter or other oil of your choice)
1 tbsp squeeze chunky garlic OR 2-3 fresh peeled and finely chopped
2 whole onions (yellow or white)
4-6 celery stalks
2 bay leaves
1 tab of chicken bouillon (or chicken broth, bone broth, etc. Just enough to fill bottom about 1.5 inches)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper (I love McCormick’s Garlic Pepper)
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dried rosemary
**These are not required, but if you are making this for Thanksgiving, I highly recommend them!!
20g chopped green onion
2 tsp ground sage
2 tsp ground marjoram
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
Directions:
Pull out your handy-dandy crock pot and spray cooking spray on the bottom. Pull out your chicken tenderloins, wash under water then coat in olive oil. Now throw on the pepper, poultry seasoning, ground sage & marjoram and salt—be sure to coat both sides.
Chop up your celery and 1 of the onions into small or medium chunks and drop in crock pot. Cut your 2nd onion into thick slices. This is what you will place the meat on (for flavor). Pour in your chicken bouillon/broth/bone broth in over the chopped vegetables. Add in your bay leaves, rosemary, oregano and thyme. Now place your coated turkey tenderloins in the crock pot. Each tenderloin should be placed on top of 2 of the thick slices of onion. Cover and set on low for 2 hours. Once timer goes off, check the meat using a meat thermometer (should read about 160 degrees). Add additional time if necessary. Once ready, pull the meat out and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. For reference, it takes 2.5 hours on low in my crock pot using the Jennie-O tenderloins.