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This Garlic Herb Smoked Turkey Breast is tender, juicy, and flavorful thanks to using a simple brine and a homemade garlic herb dry rub. This turkey breast will be the highlight of your Thanksgiving or family dinner.
Are you planning a Thanksgiving meal? We recommend trying our Cornbread Dressing, Mexican Corn Casserole, and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes.
Why I Love This Recipe:
- Cooking Method: Using the smoker allows me to set this up and let it cook outside, freeing up my oven inside for all my favorite side dishes and desserts.
- Leftovers: Bone-in turkey breasts are great for cooking since you can use the carcass to make turkey broth, which you can use for soups. Not to mention, leftover turkey is great for many meals, including our Pot Pie recipe.
- Crowd Pleaser: Smoked turkey is always a hit whenever we serve it, especially with this garlic herb flavoring.
Ingredients:
Best Wood To smoke Turkey
For turkey choose a mild and sweet wood such as pecan, maple, apple, cherry, or mesquite.
How to Smoke Turkey Breast:
Prepare the Brine: Pour 2 cups of water into a medium-size saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the salt and sugar. Stir and continue heating until the salt and sugar have dissolved and the liquid is clear. Remove from the heat.
Add the fresh herbs, crushed garlic, and peppercorns. Then, pour in the four remaining cups of cold water and allow the brine to cool completely. Place the turkey breast in a large sealable bag or bowl with a lid. Pour the brine over the top, completely covering the turkey. Seal and place in refrigerator overnight.
Prep the Turkey: When ready to cook, remove the turkey from the brine, patting it dry to remove any excess brine. Add two teaspoons of the turkey dry rub into the butter. Stir together to combine. Using your hands, gently separate the skin from the turkey breast. Rub a portion of the herb butter under the skin on each breast.
Then, rub the remaining butter on the top of the skin. If the butter is sticking to your hands and not the turkey, use the back of a spoon to ensure a nice, even layer of butter over the breast.
Evenly sprinkle more of the dry rub on top of the butter, getting the top and sides of the breasts.
Smoking: Place turkey breast, breast side up, directly on the grates of the smoker. Cook for 3-4 hours until the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. The internal temperature will continue to rise as the turkey rests.
Remove the turkey from the smoker, placing it on a baking sheet or cutting board. Tent the turkey with foil and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Serving: To slice, cut the breast down the center to separate the two sides, then using a sharp knife, cut following the bone to carve out the breast. Lay the breasts down on the cutting board and slice thinly to serve.
Make Ahead and Reheating:
- Make Ahead: Smoke the turkey and slice it 1-2 days ahead of time. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
- Reheating: Place the sliced smoked turkey breast in a baking dish with a small amount of broth, cover with foil, and bake at 250 degrees F until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Serve With:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Turkey Gravy (made without drippings)
- Buttermilk Cornbread
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Southern Green Beans
Smoked Turkey Breast
Ingredients
Turkey Brine
Turkey Dry Rub
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Turkey Breast
- 6-8 pound bone-in turkey breast
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
Instructions
Brining the Turkey
- Pour 2 cups of water into a medium size saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the salt and sugar. Stir and continue heating until the salt and sugar has dissolved and the liquid is clear. Remove from the heat.
- Add the fresh herbs, crushed garlic and peppercorns. Then pour in 4 cups of cold water.
- Allow the brine to cool completely.
- Place the turkey breast in a large sealable bag or bowl.
- Pour the brine over top completely covering the turkey. Seal and place in refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to cook, remove the turkey from the brine, and pat dry removing excess brine.
Smoking the Turkey
- Preheat smoker to 250 degrees F using mesquite, maple, or apple wood.
- Combine the ingredients for the turkey dry rub in a small bowl.
- Prep the turkey by removing from the brine and removing excess from patting dry with paper towels.
- Add 2 teaspoons of the dry rub into the butter. Stir together to combine.
- Using your hands gently separate the skin from the turkey breast.
- Rub a portion of the herb butter under the skin on each breast.
- Then rub the remaining butter on the top of the skin. If you find that the butter is sticking to your hands and not the turkey, use the back of a spoon to ensure a nice even layer of butter over the top of the turkey breast.
- Evenly sprinkle more of the dry rub on top of the butter getting the top and sides of the breasts.
- Place turkey breast, breast side up, directly on the grates of the smoker.
- Cook for 3-4 hours until the turkey reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
- Remove the turkey from the smoker, placing on a baking sheet or cutting board. Tent the turkey with foil and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
- To slice, cut the breast down the center to separate the two sides, then using a sharp knife, cut following the bone to carve out the breast. Lay the breasts down on the cutting board and slice thinly to serve.
Notes
- Make Ahead: Smoke the turkey and slice it 1-2 days ahead of time. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
- Reheating: Place the sliced smoked turkey breast in a baking dish with a small amount of broth, cover with foil, and bake at 250 degrees F until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Modern Farmhouse Eats
