Looking to smoke a turkey this year but not sure where to start? Not to worry we have found the 10 BEST smoked turkey recipes for you to choose from.
Some of these recipes are for smoking a whole turkey and some are for smoking wings, drumsticks, or legs. Whatever you're looking for, we have the best recipes for smoked turkey.
For years my family would cook our Turkey in the oven, which tastes great but takes up a lot of valuable oven space that could be used for baking side dishes (and PIE!!). A couple of years ago we switched to this whole smoked turkey recipe on our Traeger pellet grill and everyone LOVED it, and the best part is it freed up their space in our oven!
Whether you're entertaining the whole family or cooking for just you, we've collected the absolute BEST smoked turkey recipes to get you through the fall!
Love turkey, but are not ready to try smoking it just yet? No problem, we have some super easy and delicious turkey recipes you can try without the smoker! Check out our roast half turkey breast recipe, and our turkey wings and turkey legs in air fryer!
Best Recipes For Smoked Turkey
1. Smoked Turkey Breast Bone-In (No Brine)
This is the absolute BEST smoked turkey breast recipe! If you're only feeding your household or even a couple of guests, this is the perfect smoked turkey recipe for you. We love that it is a no-brine recipe, that is still packed with flavor. Rub the turkey breast with your favorite turkey rub, or use our homemade recipe, slow smoke for one hour, then crank the heat and continue smoking for another hour and forty minutes. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
2. Smoked Whole Turkey- coming soon!
HTMLThis recipe is our family's FAVORITE for a large Thanksgiving gathering. Smoking the bird gives it an amazing flavor and our simple recipe couldn't be easier to follow. If you love using a pellet grill, and keeping your oven open for cooking other Thanksgiving sides and desserts (or for keeping them warm!) then this is the recipe for you!
3. Applewood Smoked Turkey
If you're smoking a turkey on a pellet grill like a Traeger, one of the great things is that you can use flavored pellets to enhance the flavors in your recipe. This smoked whole turkey recipe uses applewood pellets in conjunction with apple slices to give the turkey that incredible applewood flavor. If you're looking to switch up your smoked turkey this year, this may be the recipe for you!
4. Bourbon Brine & Herbed Butter Rubbed
Flavors of bourbon, citrus, herbs, and butter make this one of the most scrumptious smoked turkey recipes. Brining the turkey helps to lock in moisture while smoking. This recipe has over 1,000,000 views for a reason! Give it a try and see for yourself.
5. Pit Boss Smoked Turkey with Maple BBQ Rub
This smoked turkey with maple BBQ rub recipe is perfect to change up the flavor pallet at your thanksgiving dinner, (or as a replacement for chicken any time of year!) This recipe uses a spatchcock method that helps give you a crispy exterior with a moist and juicy center. You can use any pellet smoker for this recipe and butchering/spatchcocking the bird seriously cuts back your cook time!
6. Traeger Smoked Spatchcock Turkey
Another incredible spatchcock method for smoking turkey. The benefit of this method is that it cooks the turkey more evenly than cooking the turkey whole so that you don't risk ending up with some dry and some moist parts. This recipe tastes delicious, is fast, and is so easy! Keep the flavor classic and let the turkey flavor really come through.
7. Cajun Smoked Turkey
Is it getting hot in here? No? It's just this amazing cajun-smoked turkey! Make it as mild or as spicy as you'd like using their homemade blackened seasoning as a rub. This recipe uses a special brine, the cajun rub, and of course a pellet grill smoking method for a delicious end result. The blackened seasoning makes this turkey an especially great option for getting creative with leftovers.
8. Smoked Turkey Legs
Smoked Turkey Legs are a CLASSIC. My famaily loved the nostalgic surprise of smoked turkey legs when we made this recipe. This writer used a charcoal grill smoker, but any pellet grill will do the trick! YUM!
9. Apple Pecan Smoked Turkey Breast
Pecan pellets make this tasty apple pecan smoked turkey recipes so unique! Use a drip pan with liquid to help steam your smoking turkey and lock in the moisture. We LOVE this recipe becasue it brings a flavor pallet you often see with Thanksgiving, but not necessarily on the turkey! It really is unique and delicious.
10. Disneyland Turkey Legs (Smoked)
Skip the park (and even the pellet grill) with this smokey oven-roasted turkey legs Disneyland copycat recipe! It's super yummy, really easy and a perfect smoked turkey fix when you don't have time to smoke the whole bird (or visit a park!)
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
10 Best Recipes for Smoked Turkey
There are so many delicious smoked turkey recipes to try from this list! You can never go wrong with a classic smoked turkey breast with no brine and packed with flavor. It's so quick and easy, use our 5-minute turkey rub and smoke for a perfectly flavored turkey breast dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 turkey breast, bone-in (range in size 1.5 lb-5 lb)
- 1-2 turkey rub seasoning (store bought or our recipe below)
- 1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Bring turkey breast to room temperature before cooking. (About 30 minutes)
- Preheat your smoker (Traeger or other brand smoker) to 165 F on the "super smoke" setting if available on your pellet smoker.
- Rub turkey with your favorite store bought rub, or you can make your own with our easy turkey rub for smoking. (½ tablespoon garlic powder, ½ tablespoon ground onion powder, ½ tablespoon smoked paprika, ½ tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon fine sea salt, 1 /2Tbsp course ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon minced dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, and ½ teaspoon dried sage.)
- Combine equal parts olive oil and dry rub (1-2 tablespoon should be enough) to make a paste for turkey breast.
- Slightly loosen the skin of the turkey breast. Spread olive oil dry rub paste under the skin, and all around the turkey breast.
- Smoke the turkey breast for 1 hour at 165 F.
- One hour into your slow smoke, increase the temperature to 375 F and cook for an additional 1-2 hours. ( until internal teperaure of turkey breast reaches 160 F.)
- Once cooked, remove the turkey breast from smoker, tent it with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. After 10 minutes, carve and enjoy!
Notes
For this recipe, we used a small 1.5 lb turkey breast with the bone in. It took about 2 hours to smoke on our Traeger pellet grill. Turkey breasts vary in size and can be as large as 5 lbs. If your turkey breast is larger than 1.5 lbs, it will take longer to reach an internal temperature of 160 F.
We use a Traeger brand smoker. You can use any smoker or pellet grill smoker.
More Turkey Recipes
Looking for more delicious and easy turkey recipes? Check out some of our other favorites!
Leave a Reply