Simple Turkey Brine Recipe
Using this Simple Turkey Brine will ensure that your Thanksgiving turkey is incredibly tender and moist!
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Simple Turkey Brine Recipe
What is a Brine
A brine is a salt solution that is often used to tenderize and moisturize meat. You can also add additional ingredients to the saltwater solution to infuse the meat with additional flavor.
There are two types of brines: a wet brine and a dry brine. This simple turkey brine is a wet brine.
Benefits of Using this Simple Turkey Brine Recipe
The simple brine solution creates an incredibly moist turkey. No more worrying about dry roast turkey at your Thanksgiving dinner!
Tools Needed to Make this Simple Turkey Brine
You’ll need a few different tools to prepare this easy turkey brine recipe. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:
- Large Stock Pot – to prepare the citrus turkey brine recipe in.
- Measuring Cups and Spoons – to measure the ingredients for this citrus brine.
- Brining Bag or Large Container – to place turkey in during the bringing process. Make sure it is large enough to fit the entire turkey plus the cooled brine.
Simple Brine Ingredients
- Morton Kosher Salt
- Brown Sugar
- Black Peppercorns
- Bay Leaves
- Cold Water
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to prepare this easy turkey brine recipe, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make a Basic Brine Recipe
Making a basic turkey brine couldn’t be easier! Here is a quick overview of the process:
- Add the salt, sugar, whole peppercorns, and bay leaves to a large pot with a gallon of water.
- Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let the hot brine cool.
- After the hot water has cooled, add the cold water.
- Once the turkey brine recipe has been prepped, you can move onto brining and cooking the turkey. Keep reading for more details!
The above is simply a quick summary of this simple turkey brine. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Tips for Making this Simple Turkey Brine
- Don’t forget to thaw your turkey! Thawing a turkey correctly is crucial in the Thanksgiving preparation process. Before you get started, head over to my How to Thaw a Turkey tutorial where I share the safest (and easiest!) ways to thaw a whole turkey, turkey breast, turkey wings, or turkey legs as well as one way you should NEVER thaw a turkey.
- Make sure you use kosher salt, not table salt. This recipe specifically uses Morton brand.
- Keep the liquid to salt ratio when adjusting the amount of brine you make. If you need a smaller amount of brine, make sure to decrease all of the ingredients in this simple brine recipe, not just the liquid.
Simple Turkey Brine FAQs
Got questions about preparing this simple turkey brine? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.
Can I Use this Simple Brine with a Frozen Turkey?
Use a fresh turkey for best results. Frozen turkeys often have excess salt added. Soaking a frozen turkey in this simple brine could cause it to become too salty.
How Long Should I Brine my Whole Turkey?
For a 12-16 lb. whole Turkey I typically brine for 12-24 hours. A larger bird will need more time in the salt water solution.
Turkey Brining Time Guide
- Whole Turkey: 12-24 hours
- Turkey Breast: 4-8 hours
- Large Whole Chicken: 3-5 hours
- Cornish Game Hens: 1-2 hours
Can I use a Turkey Breast instead of a Whole Turkey with this Easy Brine?
Yes! However, the brining process will take a lot less time with a smaller piece of meat. A turkey breast will only need around 6 hours to soak in this easy brine.
Can I Use this Simple Brine for Other Cuts of Meat?
Of course! Brines are commonly used for turkeys at Thanksgiving, but this works well for a whole chicken, chicken breasts, pork chops, and pork roasts.
Simply adjust the brining time. Small cuts like a chicken breast or pork chop need only 30 minutes-1 hour.
Try this Simple Turkey Brine!
Next time you’re looking for an easy brine recipe to use for your Thanksgiving turkey, give this Simple Turkey Brine a try!
Did you think your Thanksgiving menu had the juciest turkey? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this great recipe.
On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me @goodlifeeats and #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see what you’re cooking up in your kitchen!
Planning to make an old-fashioned stuffed turkey for Thanksgiving? The end results will be delicious so long as you take the proper precautions to cook the stuffing properly! Check out my How to Roast a Stuffed Turkey tutorial so your bird turns out moist and juicy and the stuffing gets fully cooked through.
More Thanksgiving Turkey Brining Recipes
Brining a turkey in this Rosemary Beer Brine will tenderize the meat and infuse it with a TON of flavor for Turkey Day.
Fresh Herb Citrus Brined Turkey combines lots of fresh herbs with a subtle hint of citrus for flavorful, juicy meat.
Brining your turkey with this Apple Cider Sage Brined Turkey before roasting will not only infuses the meat with the delicious flavors of fresh apple cider and sage, but it will help keep the meat moist and tender.
Want to try something different than a wet brine? Dry brining a turkey with this Garlic Herb Peppercorn Dry Brine is really simple and produces juicy, seasoned turkey meat.
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Have you ever brined a turkey?
Simple Turkey Brine
Ingredients
- 16 pound turkey
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
- 8 cups boiling water
- 24 cups cold water
Instructions
Making the Simple Turkey Brine
- Add the kosher salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and bay leaves to a large pot with 8 cups hot water (1/2 gallon).
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat and let the mixture steep until completely cool.
- Stir in 24 cups of cold water. Do not use less water as the solution will not be the proper ratio and your turkey will turn out too salty.
Brining the Turkey
- Remove turkey from the packaging. Discard the giblets (or save for another use). Rinse the turkey inside and out.
- Place the turkey breast side down in a container large enough for the turkey and the brine. Pour the brine solution on top.
- Allow the turkey to soak in the cold brine for 12-24 hours.
Roasting the Brined Turkey
- Transfer turkey to roasting pan and discard brine.
- Place a quartered onion inside the turkey cavity and a few stalks of celery in the roasting pan. Pour several cups of chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan.
- Use a V-rack in your roaster. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place turkey, breast side down, on V-rack. Brush back and sides with melted butter. Roast for 45 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and close door. Baste the turkey’s back with the drippings. With a wad of paper towels in each hand, turn the turkey on its side so one leg and wing are up.
- Brush exposed area of turkey with pan drippings. If broth has evaporated, add 1/2 c more. Return to oven and roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove turkey and turn to other leg/wing side. Baste with the pan drippings. Add more broth if necessary. Roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove turkey and turn breast-side up. Baste. Roast 35-55 minutes longer, until meat thermometer inserted in breast registers 160-165 degrees and the leg/thigh registers about 170.
- Check to make sure broth has not totally evaporated, otherwise the drippings will burn and you cannot make gravy out of them.
- Transfer turkey to platter and allow to rest 20-30 minutes to redistribute juices. Use the time to prepare the gravy, etc.
Notes
Kosher Salt
Do not use table salt or fine sea salt as it will be much too salty. This recipe calls for coarse Kosher salt, preferably Morton brand.
Depending on the brand of kosher salt you use, you'll need different amounts of salt because the different brands available on the market have different densities. I use Morton's kosher salt in this recipe, however here are the conversions:
- Diamond Crystal 2 cups salt per gallon of liquid.
- Morton's kosher 1 cup salt per gallon of liquid.
Brining Time Guide
For a smaller turkey you may make less brine; however, be careful to do so with the original proportions of ingredient still intact. Too much salt will leave you with an incredibly salty turkey.
Also, birds less than 10 pounds will likely not need to soak for the full 24 hours to achieve the desired results.
- Whole Turkey: 12 - 24 hours
- Turkey Breast: 4 - 8 hours
- Large Whole Chicken: 2 - 6 hours
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 857Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 494mgSodium: 467mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 130g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy. This provided information is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Ashley says
Ooh, yum! My dad brined his turkey this year too, and it was THE best turkey any of us had ever had…so moist. I love the look of your berry pie, it is beautiful! I got your package today and couldn’t wait for Christmas to open it…thank you soo much! Everything is just darling. I love the little sweater outfit! I’m excited to test out that cool blanket too. Thanks so much for everything, and Jordan says thank you too. You’re the best!