Honey Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe
This Honey Smoked Turkey Breast is a boneless, skin-less Turkey Breast smoked on my Traeger Pellet Grill – and then topped with a Honey Glaze and raw, turbinado sugar to create a sweet and crispy bark. EQUIPMENT USED IN THIS RECIPE:- Boneless Turkey Breast sourced from The Butcher Shoppe in Pensacola, FL
- Swine Life Mississippi Grind
- Butcher’s Bird Booster Honey
- Thermoworks DOT Temp Probe
- Clear Plastic Shaker
- HowToBBQRight 12inch Slicer Knife
Honey Smoked Turkey Breast
Description
Instead of roasting the turkey breast in the oven, I cook it outside on my pellet grill and create a sugary crust on the outside by adding a brown sugar/honey glaze at the end and topping it with raw, turbinado sugar. The heat from the pit melts the glaze and gives it a sweet, crunchy texture that goes excellent on turkey.
Ingredients
- 2 turkey breast boneless/skinless
- 1/4 cup Swine Life Mississippi Grind Seasoning
- 2 cups Butcher BBQ Bird Booster Honey Injection
- 2 sticks butter – melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon apple juice
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar/sugar in the raw
Instructions
- Prepare pellet smoker for indirect cooking at 300 degrees using pecan pellets for smoke flavor.
- Remove skin from turkey breast if present and trim excess fat. Season both turkey breast with Mississippi Grind seasoning. Mix Bird Booster Honey according to package directions and inject about 8oz into each breast spreading the injection sites around in a grid pattern.
- Place turkey breast on pit and cook until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees about 1 hour 30 minutes. Baste with melted butter every 20-30 minutes to keep turkey breast moist and to help brown the outside.
- Combine brown sugar, honey, orange juice, and apple juice in a small pot over medium low heat. Stirring just until the sugar dissolves and the mixture has a syrup like consistency.
- Baste each turkey breast with the brown sugar/honey mixture and dust with the turbinado sugar.
- Continue to cook until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Remove the turkey breast from the pit and rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
I start with large boneless, skinless turkey breast. These can be a little hard to source, but if you give Kevin a call down at The Butcher Shoppe in Pensacola, FL he keeps them in stock. You could also trim the breast off of a bone-in version found at your local grocery store. The turkey breast I bought came boneless with the skin intact. I trim the skin off as well as any excess fat or silver skin.
To season the turkey I use Swine Life Mississippi Grind. It’s my go-to poultry seasoning because it has a great blend of savory and sweet spices; it also makes a pretty color on the outside after it cooks.
Then each breast is injected with Butcher BBQ’s Bird Booster Honey injection. Simply mix it up according to package directions: 1 scoop to 2 cups of water. You can substitute 1 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup water, and 4 Tablespoons melted butter.
The turkey breast then goes on the Traeger running at 300 degrees. After 30 minutes, baste each breast with melted butter and cook until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. I use a Thermoworks DOT internal thermometer to monitor the temperature.
To create the “Honey Baked” effect on the outside of the turkey breast I mix 1 cup of Brown Sugar with 1/4 cup of Honey and 1 Tablespoon each of orange juice and apple juice. Combine the mixture in a small pot over medium heat just until the sugar melts and it turns into a syrup. Brush the glaze over each breast and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
Continue to cook the turkey breast until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. At this point the turbinado will have melted leaving a sugary crust on the outside.
Remove the turkey breast from the pit and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. The internal temp will carry over to 165. Slice the breast into 1/4” thick serving slices or you can even shave it for awesome turkey sandwiches.
This makes a great Easter Dinner recipe – especially if you are looking for something different than a traditional Ham this year. Enjoy!
Malcom Reed
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Looks great can’t wait to try. Try to watch all your videos, I’ve tried some of them.
Can you do the turkey breasts on a Webber don’t have a smoker?
★★★★★
sure – just set your grill up for a two zone fire
I don’t have this injection can you give me an idea of what is in it?
Check it out here.
https://h2qshop.com/collections/butcher-bbq/products/butcher-bbq-bird-booster-honey-injection
I’ve made this recipe for two Thanksgiving’s and multiple other occasions. It’s a hit everytime. I got a request to somke a couple Turkeys this Memorial Day. Always happy to oblige.
Great video and recipe….on your Malcom ribs…how would you change the recipe if you cooked your ribs on your Kamado grill? How would you adjust your grill for direct and indirect cooking….Keep up the good work! It is much appreciated…..any trips planned to the West coast in the future?
★★★★★
not right now.. but I would love to
Curious what size turkey breast for this recipe and how many a single breast would serve. Thanks
Did this with a wild turkey breast and served it alongside your apple and apricot smoked ham. It was a big hit today!
5 stars! Done this twice and both times were amazing. So succulent and tender. I will say at the end Of one cook I did brush a little bbq sauce to add another bit of flavor. Great recipe! Delicious.
★★★★★
Where do you order your meat? Those turkey breasts are amazing looking. I am not able to find anything that large where I live.
I like to get my meat from https://www.facebook.com/TheButcherShoppeEastPensacola/
The best butcher around – and he will ship anywhere!
Can I do this with the skin left on?
You won’t get that bark – but you can do it with the skin left on.
Going to try this style but with a pork loin. Have you tried that yet?
★★★★★
Oh yea!! Turns out great!
Have done this recipe several times (on BGE) and its great. We add some smoked bacon (seasoned with The BBQ rub and turbinado sugar), lettuce, cheese and put on TX Toast and make a club sandwich out of it and its awesome.
★★★★★
What size turkey breasts did you use?
Is there a reason you don’t brine the breasts?
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! The most common comment that I get when I serve it is, “I didn’t know that Turkey could taste this good!” The Mississippi Grind is a key ingredient. Like Malcolm I love the savory and sweet mix.
Malcolm,
What is your average cook time from start to taking the breast off to rest?
Cooked this tonight, delicious!
★★★★★
Mine took right at an hour and a half.
Tried this recipe – I have a stick-burner & used a combination of Hickory & Pecan – ran temp around 225. I did not inject, & the glaze was a little thick, so added a little more Apple Juice and Orange Juice.
Pulled at 154 and let rest – even without the injection, the turkey was still moist – the crust was by far the best I’ve ever made on a Turkey Breast – will smoke ’em this way in the future.
New family favorite. Thank you.
★★★★★
What size turkey breast is this?
I have done this twice, and it was fantastic both times. Did you leave the loins intact with the breast or remove them? I had to debone the turkey breast both times I did this recipe, and in the process I separated the loins. I prepared them the same way and put them on the Traeger right along side the breasts.
★★★★★
This recipe was great and the turkey breast came out amazing! Very happy with the results. Thanks Malcom!
★★★★★
I have made this recipe over a 1/2 dozen times. It is my favorite turkey recipe. I have made it for family gatherings and for friends and know they always keeps asking to bring my smoked turkey breast. It is OUTSTANDING.
★★★★★