Say hello to our new favorite turkey brine recipe! Try our turkey brine for turkey with amazing flavor, soft and tender meat, and crispy skin. We highly recommend it to anyone preparing a turkey.
If you’re on the fence about brining your turkey, just do it! This turkey brine is a game-changer, adding incredible flavor and making your roasted turkey savory and delicious while tenderizing the meat (trust me on this one).
We teamed up with our friend, Chef Richard Hattaway, to develop this turkey brine recipe, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. I was determined to make sure that brining was truly worth the effort, and I am 100% confident that this brine delivers. It makes the best roasted turkey I’ve ever had, and you can bet I’ll be using it for every Thanksgiving turkey moving forward.
Key Ingredients
- Salt: I use kosher or good-quality sea salt for my turkey brine. Avoid using iodized salt, as it can give the turkey a metallic taste. When measuring salt for your brine, use a scale or our specific volume measurements in the recipe below (we have provided them for Morton’s and Diamond Crystal). Look at my photo below. Both bowls are holding 4.5 ounces of salt. The Diamond Crystal salt flakes are fluffier and bigger, taking up more space than Morton’s salt. You don’t need to worry about this if weighing your salt, but if you use volume measurements (cups/tablespoons), you must know about it.
- Sugar: If I’m going to brine a turkey, I want it to be flavorful. The brown sugar added to our brine recipe helps tremendously with this. The combination of salt and sugar in our brine recipe pulls some liquid from the turkey meat and replaces it with the brine, adding so much flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce: This adds a lovely savory, umami flavor to our brine (and ultimately the turkey meat).
- Pepper: Richard adds a lot of black pepper to his brine, and I love it. Black pepper does a fantastic job of convincing you something is well-seasoned (that’s why so many chefs always season with salt AND pepper when cooking).
- Garlic: This brine avoids citrusy flavors and focuses on savory flavors instead. Whole heads of garlic, lots of fresh thyme, and bay leaves make your turkey taste amazing.
How to Brine a Turkey
I brine my turkey for 2 days. Turkeys are large, and the brine needs time to work through the bird. If you do not have 2 days, we still recommend leaving your turkey in the brine for at least 1 day (trust me, 1 day in this brine will produce a more flavorful turkey than not brining at all).
I use a large, heavy-duty brine bag sold in kitchen stores and online. You can also use a 5-gallon bucket with a food-safe liner. Don’t worry if the turkey is not entirely submerged (ours wasn’t in our video or photo below). If this happens to you, flip the turkey in the brine halfway through brining.
Store your turkey in the brine at or below 40°F (4°C). Here’s the USDA’s guide for safely brining a turkey.
If you have the space (or a second fridge), you can brine the turkey in your refrigerator. Place your bag or bucket into the fridge. I put my brine bag into a roasting pan.
If you do not have enough space in your fridge, use a brine bag and place it in a well-insulated, ice-filled cooler. If you use a cooler, check the temperature of the ice water regularly to ensure that it stays below 40°F (4°C). While I use my roasting pan to hold my brine bag when using the fridge, the pan doesn’t fit inside my cooler, so I put the bag directly into the ice without a pan underneath. Brine bags are thick, so you should not have any issues with them leaking (just keep something sharp away from them).
I never rinse my turkey after brining it. You might see some recipes call for rinsing, but it’s not necessary with our turkey brine. We’ve done side-by-side taste tests with rinsed and unrinsed turkeys and found no difference in saltiness. I promise your turkey won’t be over-salted!
I’ve got one more tip for you! If you are like me and love crispy turkey skin, after removing it from the brine, let your turkey air-dry in the fridge overnight. I place it on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. I love this step because my brine is out of the way, and my turkey is perfectly brined and ready to roast the next day.
Thanksgiving Turkey Timeline
If you are like us, you don’t roast many turkeys throughout the year. Most of us really only roast them around the holiday season.
Here’s our timeline for thawing, brining, and roasting turkey. I will use Thursday as our goal since that’s how Thanksgiving falls in the US, but you can easily move the days around to fit your intended roasting day.
This timeline assumes a thawed turkey. To safely thaw a turkey, do it in the refrigerator. Plan on 24 hours in the fridge for every four to five pounds of turkey–so a 16-pound turkey will take four days to thaw.
- Monday: Brine the turkey
- Wednesday night: Remove turkey from brine, place it onto a rack set inside a roasting pan or rimmed sheet pan, and refrigerate overnight
- Thursday: Roast the turkey, allowing approximately 14 minutes per pound, in an oven preheated to 325°F (162° C). Here’s our roasted turkey recipe.
Incredible Turkey Brine
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Use this turkey brine for turkey with amazing flavor, soft and tender meat, and crispy skin. We highly recommend it to anyone preparing a turkey.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 (12 to 20 pound) turkey, thawed
2 gallons (7.5L) cold water
4.5 ounces (128g) kosher salt or good quality sea salt; see tips for volume measurements
3/4 cup (160g) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) Worcestershire sauce or Pickapeppa sauce
1 tablespoon (10g) coarse ground black pepper
1 onion, quartered
2 whole bulbs garlic, cut in half
1 bunch fresh thyme
5 bay leaves
Directions
- Make the Brine
1In a large pot, combine 2 quarts (8 cups) of water, salt, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, onion quarters, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.
2Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the salt and sugar have dissolved completely.
3Allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
- Brine the Turkey
1Place the turkey in a lined 5-gallon bucket or brine bag.
2Pour the room-temperature brine over the turkey, then add the remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) of cold water to the bucket or brine bag. If using a brine bag, be careful to hold the sides of your bag so they don’t flop down as you pour — another set of hands from a friend is very helpful.
3Remove as much air as possible from the liner or bag and secure it shut. Place the bucket or brine bag in the refrigerator or ice-filled cooler.
4Brine the turkey for two days. To ensure that all areas of the turkey are brined, flip it halfway through the two-day brine — allowing any areas not entirely submerged to soak in the brine.
- Air-dry the Turkey
1Remove the turkey from the brine and place it onto a roasting rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Do not rinse the turkey.
2Refrigerate overnight before roasting the next day. We roast turkey in an oven preheated to 325°F (162° C) and highly recommend roasting the turkey with our turkey butter.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Salt: Diamond Crystal salt flakes are fluffier and lighter than Morton’s kosher salt. For Diamond Crystal kosher salt: use ¾ cup + ½ tablespoon. For Morton’s kosher salt: use ⅓ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons.
- Brine bag: Place in a roasting pan to prevent spills. We recommend using a heavy-duty brine bag.
- Cooler: Check ice water temperature regularly to ensure it stays below 40°F (4°C).
- Crisp skin: For best results, air-dry the brined turkey overnight in the fridge. If you are out of time, pat dry before roasting.
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First time trying a brine on my Thanksgiving turkey. It was over the top FANTASTIC! I received so many compliments. The turkey was so moist and everyone wanted the recipe for the brine. Since then I used it on pork chops and once again WOW!! Moist and juicy prok chops. I am a BRINE CONVERT! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
We tried the brine recipe for the first time. It will be my go-to from now on. It was the best turkey breast we’ve ever made. Thank you for the recipe!!
We used your brine, roasted turkey, and gravy recipes for both a 12-pound and 13-pound turkey. It was excellent! I usually cook two smaller turkeys because the white and dark meat cooks much more evenly.I followed your brine, roasted turkey, and gravy recipes. We brined for forty-eight hours and dried each turkey (uncovered) overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning, I took the turkeys out an hour before cooking and removed the turkey from the oven after the temperature reached 57° for at least one minute (see ThermoWorks 7log10 USDA time temperature table). We let each bird sit for forty-five minutes before carving. I carved all the dark meat for presentation while the breast meat continued to cool. We placed everything back in the oven with some of the leftover broth to warm before serving. The moisture retention was phenomenal.I have to admit I was scared of the 48-hour brine along with the use of salted butter. I have trust issues! It turned out perfect. Finally, we basted every half hour and tinfoil tented just the breast portions for the last hour of cooking. This has become our default recipe.
Can you make gravy from the pan drippings if you brine the bird?
Yep, definitely.
After drying out the bird overnight, should I take it out of the fridge a couple hours before roasting to let the turkey “warm up” to room temperature?
To ensure a safe and perfectly roasted turkey, skip the room-temperature warm-up. While it might seem logical, letting your turkey sit out on the counter actually increases the risk of harmful bacteria growth. Instead, ensure your turkey is fully thawed in the refrigerator, then cook it straight from the fridge.
Hello! Why does it matter that you start with only 8 cups when cooking the brine, even though the rest is added right after? If we were to use all 2 gallons when adding the seasoning, would it affect the overall taste in any way?
We only heat 8 cups of the water with the seasonings and then cool it down with the remaining water (cold). You do not want to place your turkey into hot liquid. The brine needs to be at room temperature or cold before adding it.
My turkey wasn’t thawed Monday, so I had to wait until today, Tuesday afternoon, to brine it. Should I still take it out of the brine late tomorrow evening and refrigerate overnight, or would it be better to let it brine until Thursday morning?
I really like the crisp skin after air drying in the fridge so I’d wait until I’m ready to go to bed, and then take the turkey out of the brine. Your turkey will still pick up lots of flavor from the brine even though you are not brining as long as suggested.
I made the brine and cooled it to room temp. I pulled my fresh turkey out of the fridge, but my turkey is partialy frozen! Can I save the brine in the fridge?
Yep. It can stay in the fridge without any issues.
Hi! I don’t have a kitchen scale to weigh the salt. How many cups would that be? Tysm!
Hi Yasmin, Tips for this are below the recipe. I’ve copied and pasted them here: Diamond Crystal salt flakes are fluffier and lighter than Morton’s kosher salt. For Diamond Crystal kosher salt: use ¾ cup + ½ tablespoon. For Morton’s kosher salt: use ⅓ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons.
Quick question – in the video I think you say 1tsp of pepper, but the written directions call for 4. Just looking for the appropriate amount.
Thanks!
Hi Caitlynn, 1 tablespoon is perfect. I’ve updated to make it more clear.
Is there a recipe for the turkey butter you mention?
Hi Autumn, You can find it here: Roast Turkey Recipe
Can I dry the turkey with a hair dryer..It won’t get into brine until tonight. Tues.Leave it until Thursday morning and try drying with hair dryer?
Hi Arlee, I’d skip the hair dryer. Instead pat the turkey dry with paper towels before adding your butter/herbs for roasting. The skin will not be as crisp, but it will still be delicious.
Should I save some of the brine in the roasting pan to baste the turkey as it cooks? How much liquid normally comes out of the turkey as it cooks, anyway?
I am so glad you asked! When basting a turkey, you want to pour fat over the bird. Basing with juices/brine alone doesn’t really do much. You really want to use a spoon or turkey baster to gather the fat floating on top of the liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan and then pour that over.
Hello I plan to brine my turkey tomorrow! SOOO EXCITED for your recipe. Quick question when I take the turkey out of the brine to air dry do you pat it dry before placing it in the fridge?
A quick pat dry is fine (just so it isn’t soaking wet), but don’t stress to much about it.
Looks delish. Gonna try it this thxgiving. Where can I find the herbed butter recipe and methodology?
Hi Lee, Here’s our roast turkey recipe which has the herb butter!
Quick question. I am preparing to try this but the meat man said a salt solution is used in most turkeys and to use much less salt. Any thoughts?
Many turkeys are indeed pre-brined, but I still find that our brine adds extra flavor. Think of it as a little insurance policy for a super flavorful bird! Also, because of osmosis, the salt concentration eventually balances out between the brine and the turkey, preventing it from becoming overly salty.