Cranberry Braised Turkey Wings – Pressure Cooker Recipe

pressure cooked turkey wings
Poultry wings don’t get much respect – they are small, bony and often chucked into stock.  Turkey wings, because of their size, are the exception. The meat from a turkey wing is equivalent to (often more than) the meat of a whole chicken leg.

Turkey wings can be fully cooked in 15 minutes under pressure. The legs (almost 6″ across) require a good 25-30 minutes under pressure. While sliced turkey breasts only need about 5-7. Wings are right in the middle. I recommend using only the same cut of turkey for this recipe to compensate for these differing cooking times.

What to do if you have a whole turkey to pressure cook? Use the phased cooking technique: First, brown all of the pieces. Then, pressure cook the thighs for 10-15 minutes. Next, add the wings and pressure cook for another 15 minutes. Finally, add the breast and pressure cook for another 5. It’s laborious but doable.

This type of recipe is where the pressure pan (a low, wide pressure cooker) excels. They are roomy enough to brown everything at the same time and allow for all of the meat to stay in contact with the bottom of the pressure cooker (where there is the most heat).

You can absolutely make this recipe in the standard 6-8qt pressure cooker – though it will be difficult to have all of the meat perfectly cooked – as some of it will be boiled in the braising liquid and some of it will be steamed. I recommend “standing” rather than stacking the wings to achieve similar results to the pressure pan.


Cranberry Braised Turkey Wings – Pressure Cooker Recipe

Pressure Cooker Accessories Pr. Cook Time Pr. Level Open
Pressure Pan or larger  none 15 min.  High (2)  Natural

2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Oil
4 Turkey wings (2-3 lbs)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 cup Dry Cranberries or “Crasins” (soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes) or 1 1/2 cup Fresh Cranberries or 1 cup of canned cranberries, rinsed
1 med Onion, roughly sliced
1 cup shelled Walnuts
1 cup Freshly Squeezed Orange juice (or prepared juice with no added sugar)
1 bunch Fresh Thyme

In the pre-heated pressure cooker, on high heat without the pressure cooking lid, melt the butter and swirl the olive oil. Brown the turkey wings on both sides adding salt and pepper to taste. Make sure that the skin side is nicely colored. Remove the wings briefly from the pressure cooker and add the onion, then on top of that add the wings (pretty browned skin side, pointing up), cranberries, walnuts, a little bundle of Thyme. Pour over the orange juice over the turkey.

Close and lock the pressure cooker. Turn the heat up high and when the pan reaches pressure, lower the heat and count 15 minutes cooking time at HIGH pressure.

When time is up, release pressure using the Natural method – move the pressure cooker to a cool burner and do not do anything, wait for the pressure to come down on it’s own (about 10 minutes). If the pressure has not come down in 10 minutes, release the rest of the pressure using the Normal pressure release – push, twist or lift the button or valve to release pressure.

Remove the thyme bundle and carefully remove the wings to a serving dish (they may be so tender they could fall apart). Slide the serving dish under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the wings are sufficiently caramelized.  In the meantime, reduce the contents of the cooker to about half. Pour the liquid, walnuts, onions and cranberries over the wings and serve.

Serves 6-8


Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min