Animal, Nature, and Travel: Taste-bud Journey: Crockpot Turkey Tenderloins

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for cooking turkey tenderloins using the crockpot setting of my Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ. It was inspired by browsing several crockpot cookbooks in the past plus using a touch of my own creativity.

With the fork-tender turkey that was produced:

I ate the above-pictured entrée the first night.
I set aside enough leftovers of this turkey, mashed potatoes, Stove Top Stuffing, and peas for another meal.

The rest of the turkey was frozen for future turkey sandwiches or recipes that call for chicken or turkey.

Recipe

2 large turkey tenderloins. The pot of the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ is large enough to hold 6 quarts; therefore, I certainly could have made a much larger turkey. But since I live alone and also wanted to save money, I bought Jennie-O All-Natural Turkey Breast Tenderloins (24 oz.) from Publix for less than $8. As you can see, it contained two very large tenderloins.

4 teaspoons of Chicken Bouillon powder added to four cups of water

3 tbsp onion flakes
1 tsp sea salt plus enough salt to salt both sides of each tenderloin
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tbsp Cornstarch

Gravy Ingredients

2 tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Turkey drippings from crockpot

Procedure

Step 1: Wash the turkey tenderloins. Salt both sides of the turkey. Then, set aside.

Step 2: In a 4-cup measuring cup, pour in 4 cups of water, 4 teaspoons of Chicken Bouillon powder, 3 tablespoons of Onion flakes, 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch, and 1 teaspoons of Xanthan Gum. Pour this into the crockpot. Turn on the stovetop setting. Stir. Cook this until boiling.

Step 3: Turn off stovetop setting. Add in the turkey tenderloins. Rather than perching the turkey in the basket, I set them directly into the liquid as I wished the turkey to get infused with as much flavor as possible.

Step 4: Put on the lid. Turn on the crockpot setting with defaults to four hours cooking time.

Step 5: At the end of the four hours, the machine turns itself off but remains warm. Use tongs to pull out the turkey onto a large serving dish. The turkey will be so fork tender that it will easily break itself into multiple small-serving-size pieces.

Step 6: Make the gravy and whatever side dishes you wish to serve with the turkey. Personally, I like Stove Top Stuffing (turkey-flavored), Mashed Potatoes, and peas.

Step 7: To make the gravy, turn back to the Stove Top setting on the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ. In a measuring cup, add in two tablespoons of cornstarch and one-half cup of water. Stir until well-blended. Then, spoon in a few tablespoons of the turkey drippings from the crockpot. Mix together again. Once thoroughly blended with no lumps, pour that into the Ninja cooker. Close the lid. Cook this until boiling. Afterward, turn the Ninja to off and unplug. Remove the lid. The gravy should be nice and thick.

Step 8: Now, you are ready to plate your food: turkey, side items, and enough gravy on top per personal taste and preference. Eat and enjoy!

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.