The Best Smoked Turkey Breast

23 reviews

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This smoked turkey breast is not only flavorful, but juicy to boost. Cider-brined turkey breast combined with a sweet and savory sweet rub makes for a turkey breast that is just as good for a weekday dinner as it is served on a special occasion.

Sliced turkey breast on a plate next to brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes with text overlay - Smoked Turkey Breast.

Smoked Turkey Breast

This recipe is for (no bias here) the best smoked turkey breast you’ll ever have. We begin with a delicious apple cider brine, season with my KILLER turkey rub, and finish up with a few hours in the smoker. These three elements combine to bring you a tender, juicy turkey breast that is like no other. Don’t take my word for it, try it yourself!

Smoking a turkey breast also infuses the turkey with amazing smoky flavor. Between the brine, seasoning, and the smoke, you can guarantee that this turkey will taste completely incredible. It’s also a great option if you’re wanting a delicious holiday meal but you’re only cooking for a few people.

This recipe calls for a boneless turkey breast, but you could also cook it with bone in turkey breast. It might be easier to find one over the other, but if you can find a boneless turkey breast over a bone in turkey breast, go with the boneless.

Apple cider being poured over a turkey breast.

Smoked Turkey Breast Brine

Let’s take a moment to talk about the turkey breast brine in this recipe. This isn’t your mama’s turkey brine. No, no. It’s packed with so many amazing ingredients with the main goal of adding flavor, moisture, and tenderness to your turkey breast.

Make sure you have the following on hand prior to making this brine.

  • 3 cups apple cider
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub
  • 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoon onion powder

Turkey breast being seasoned with Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub.

Smoked Turkey Breast Rub

When seasoning this turkey breast, there are two great rub options to try:

1. Sweet Rub

I find that a good sweet rub is best to compliment the apple cider brine and smoke flavor.

If you like that sweet heat BBQ flavor, you can go with my homemade sweet rub. It combines 8 ingredients (including brown sugar and smoked paprika) that never overpowers the flavor of the meat. You can make your own Sweet Rub at home by following my recipe on this site.

For those of you who have been long-time Hey Grill Hey followers, you likely know how often I use this sweet rub. It’s my go-to, and one that I’m happy to share with my friends. If you want to stock up on this great rub, you can purchase my Signature Sweet Rub from Patio Provisions. We also sell 2-pound refill bags so you never have to worry about running out!

2. Turkey Rub

If you want to combine BBQ and traditional turkey flavors, I highly recommend my new Smoked Turkey Rub Recipe. It’s got BBQ zing with a great addition of traditional turkey herbs and spices. I think it’s pretty bomb!

Seasoned turkey breast on the grill grates of a smoker.

How to Smoke a Turkey Breast

Guys, smoking turkey breast only requires 4 steps; it’s so easy! This is one that you can’t mess up. It’s a good one to try when you’re ready to branch out from simple turkey, and you want to try something that takes a little more time and effort. Here’s how to smoke a turkey breast:

  1. Brine the turkey. Whisk all ingredients for the brine in a bowl. Submerge the turkey breast in the brine, and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
  2. Add some flavor! Remove the turkey from the brine, and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the turkey breast with my Best Sweet Rub Recipe or my Smoked Turkey Rub. You can also purchase my Signature Sweet Rub pre-made and delivered straight to your door from Patio Provisions.
  3. Put that turkey in some smoke. Get your smoker going at 275 degrees F. You can use whatever wood you have on hand, but apple wood goes great with this turkey breast (it compliments the cider brine perfectly!). Smoke for 3 hours, or until the internal temp of the turkey breast reaches 165 degrees F with an internal thermometer.
  4. Rest and enjoy. Remove the turkey breast from the smoker, cover it with foil, and rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey Breast

It will take approximately 3 hours to fully smoke a turkey breast when your smoker is consistently running at 275 degrees F. Keep the ol’ meat thermometer on hand (I used my instant-read thermometer for this smoke) and pull the turkey breast off the smoker when the internal temperature of the thickest part of the turkey breast reaches 165 degrees F.

The FDA recommends turkey breast be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165 degrees F, and for this turkey breast, that’s the exact temperature you want to be watching for. The turkey will come off safely cooked and beautifully moist.

Sliced turkey breast on a plate next to brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes.

More Smoked Turkey Recipes

It’s turkey season, baby! Turkey for me, turkey for you! And yes, I would highly consider eating turkey in my big brown shoe. Not only is turkey the quintessential main course for Thanksgiving, but it’s great on Christmas, and for Sunday dinner.

And with Hey Grill Hey by your side, you can make a different turkey for each occasion, and each one will come out bursting with flavor and perfectly cooked. Check out more smoked turkey recipes below:

Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe

Smoking a turkey breast for your family should be easy, and Hey Grill Hey is here to help! Here at Hey Grill Hey, we’re in the business of helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a backyard BBQ hero. You can find more of my smoking and grilling recipes here on my website (browse the Homepage for inspiration) on InstagramYouTube, or our Facebook Page.

This post was originally published in November 2019. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.

The Best Smoked Turkey Breast

By: Susie Bulloch (heygrillhey.com)
5 from 23 votes
Smoked Turkey Breast is flavorful and oh-so juicy! Cider brined turkey breast combined with a savory turkey rub or sweet rub make for a killer turkey breast.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Brining Time8 hours
Total Time11 hours 15 minutes
Servings6 people

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Ingredients
 

  • 1 4-5 pounds boneless turkey breast fresh, not previously brined
  • 1 Tablespoon Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub or Turkey Rub (recipes in notes)

Cinder Brine

Instructions
 

  • Make the brine. Combine all ingredients for the brine in a large bowl and whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve.
  • Brine the turkey breast. Submerge the turkey breast in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
  • Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees F. Apple wood goes great with this meat to compliment the apple cider.
  • Season. Remove the turkey breast from the brine and pat dry. Sprinkle the turkey breast on all sides with Sweet Rub or Turkey Rub.
  • Smoke. Place the turkey breast on the smoker, close the lid, and smoke for approximately 3 hours or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F.
  • Rest and enjoy. Remove the turkey from the smoker. Cover lightly with foil, let rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 93.9kcal | Carbohydrates: 20.45g | Protein: 1.21g | Fat: 0.73g | Saturated Fat: 0.28g | Cholesterol: 0.09mg | Sodium: 14.87mg | Potassium: 226.23mg | Fiber: 1.37g | Sugar: 11.85g | Vitamin A: 194.6IU | Vitamin C: 2.22mg | Calcium: 92.85mg | Iron: 2.95mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About

FOUNDER/BBQ BOSS LADY

Susie is the BBQ Brain behind the Hey Grill Hey website. Her passion for smoked meats and developing fun, new recipes have landed her on the Food Network, cooking turkeys with Shaq, and on a couple of Guinness World Records. When she’s not grilling, she is hanging out with Todd and their three kids, preferably outdoors!

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Recipe Rating




Reader Reviews

117 Reviews

  1. Seth T says:

    Hi it seems near me all I can find is pre cooked turkey breast was planning on getting on from sams club, would that work good or should I change anything

    1. Hey Grill Hey says:

      Turkey breasts can be tough to find this time of year, but you should be able to find them at your local grocery store or butcher. If you don’t see it on the shelf, talk to the people at the counter.

      1. Seth T says:

        Its not that hard to find turkey currently but its hard to find raw boneless turkey breast with no brine/seasoning is there a brand you recommend?

  2. Donny Steinberg says:

    Can i use the brine as gravy if i then boil it?
    If not, what do you recommend to be a good gravy?

  3. Michael P McCarthy says:

    Hi, I made my 3 lb turkey breast the way you did but mine came out somewhat dry, any ideas what I did wrong?
    I brined it for about 12 hours, smoked it at 275 until it hit 165

    1. Hey Grill Hey says:

      Hey, sorry to hear about your experience. If you have a smaller breast, you could take the temp down to 225 so the fat still has time to render but the meat won’t dry out as fast. Each piece of meat and smoker is a little different. I would definitely check the output temperature of your smoker with a reliable external thermometer.

  4. Jen R says:

    Found the Heygrillhey page last week when looking for a smoked baked beans recipe. Fantastic! Google brought be back as I searched for a smoked turkey breast recipe and once again a fabulous result! I didn’t use the cider brine as the turkey breast I bought was already brined but I did try out the rub recipe. Everything was delicious!

  5. Gregory Zurawicz Jr says:

    I always thought hot and fast was preferred…

    Does the skin get crispy as low as 275?

    1. Hey Grill Hey says:

      This method is going to give you more of a tender, bite-through skin. You can go hot and fast for a few minutes at the end if you want a bit of a sear.

  6. Marc Weinstock says:

    This was my first “big” piece of meat I smoked. It turned out great. I used a turkey roast, which is white and dark meat compressed into a 3-pound breast-looking hunk of meat. I brined as directed, but couldn’t find apple cider so I used apple juice. I smoked this on a Pit Boss pellet grill at 250 for 3 hours. Let it rest for about a half hour and it was perfectly cooked and juicy. Love Hey Grill Hey, have watched many You Tubes and just printed out my next smoke: Jerk chicken wings. Thanks Susie, keep up the great work !!!

  7. Jorge says:

    Excellent recipe we tried and it worked well.

  8. Julie says:

    I want to make this but can’t find any apple cider. Can I substitute anything?

    1. Hey Grill Hey says:

      You can use unsweetened apple juice if you can’t find cider.

    2. Dee says:

      I am smoking a full bone-in turkey breast now using this recipe. I went to Kroger and they have apple cider in the produce section.

  9. Terry says:

    Question? I have a frozen 5LB butterball leftover from Thanksgiving. No rain this weekend! Can I use the brine recipe?

    1. Hey Grill Hey says:

      Absolutely, but you’ll probably want to soak the turkey first. Soak overnight in a bucket full of water in the fridge to remove the previous brine, and then re-brine with this recipe!

      1. Steve says:

        I was wondering if brining longer would hurt anything? I will be smoking this while camping and wondered if I could put the turkey in the brine Friday and not smoke til Saturday afternoon

        1. Hey Grill Hey says:

          Up to 24 hours is totally fine. If you go longer than 2 days, the taste and texture of your turkey will start to get affected.