This bone-in Traeger smoked turkey breast is perfect for a smaller holiday gathering or a regular family dinner. By using a dry brine and a simple homemade herb butter it locks both the flavor and moisture in, keeping it juicy and delicious. Cook up this turkey breast on your Traeger grill and leave your oven open for other foods!
Smoked whole turkey breast gives you all the feeling of a traditional holiday without as many leftovers. And while leftovers can be great – I can’t resist a mashed potato pancake or a cranberry sauce muffin – sometimes it’s more than you can handle.
I’ve smoked a turkey on my Traeger pellet grill for at least the last 5 years and it turns out amazing every time. And cooking just the breast is truly not that different – you just need to get the ratios of the dry brine and herb butter correct.
If you change your mind and decide to go all in, check out my whole smoked turkey recipe. Otherwise, keep reading to learn about smoking a bone in turkey breast on a pellet grill.
There are 3 main keys to smoking turkey, whether you’re doing a whole smoked turkey or just the breasts. You need to:
- spatchcock your meat;
- dry brine your meat; and
- know the internal temperature of your meat.
I’m going to give short and simple instructions for all three, but if you want more details you can look at my posts on how to spatchcock a turkey and how to dry brine a turkey. While they are geared toward whole turkeys, the concept will be exactly the same when smoking a bone in turkey breast.
You’ll also want to check out my post on how to use a meat thermometer so you can quickly assess when your bird is done cooking.
Ingredients
- Bone-in turkey breast – this typically comes with both breasts instead of a single, so you’re getting the trunk of the turkey without the legs or wings. And a lot of times it’s frozen, so you’ll need to thaw it before beginning. This recipe uses a 6 pound bone-in turkey breast, so if you have a smaller or larger one you’ll want to adjust the salt and seasoning a bit.
- Kosher salt – I use Diamond Crystal brand, but you can use other brands. See my tips section for deciding how much to use.
- Fresh herbs – sage, rosemary, and thyme. You can usually find these packaged together at the grocery store and are labeled as a poultry herb blend.
- Butter – I typically use salted butter as my husband loves salty foods, but you can use unsalted if you’re trying to watch your sodium intake. You could also use ghee or another type of solid fat, like duck fat.
Smoking a Bone In Turkey Breast
These are the simple steps for smoking a turkey breast in an electric smoker. These directions are condensed – more detailed instructions and specific measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to spatchcock a turkey breast
Get yourself a pair of poultry shears or kitchen shears and cut the backbone out of the turkey breast. You’ll make the cut right next to the backbone, all the way down along each side.
Remove the backbone, then use a knife (or the shears) to score down the middle inside of the turkey. Press against the edges of the turkey with your hands to flatten it, then flip it over and press down on the breasts to flatten it a little more.
If you hear bones or cartilage crack, don’t worry! It’s perfectly fine if that happens, and it probably will happen.
Jessica
This recipe was 100% spot on. From the dry brine to the spatchcock…. Juiciest and tastiest turkey I have made to-date. All of my guests kept raving about how good it was. I did not have any fresh herbs on hand, so I just used dried thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and smoked paprika in the butter mix. I did have some fresh taragon so I threw that in there too. It was a huge success! Thanks again for posting this easy to follow and delicious method.
Taryn Solie
This makes me so happy Jessica! Thank you for sharing.