Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Best Smoked Turkey Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Ever wondered how to smoke a turkey? This is the best smoked turkey recipe we’ve tried. Free up the oven and learn how to make an amazing dinner of smoked turkey stuffed with fruit, herbs and aromatics.
Summer is often the time we make smoked pork tenderloin or smoked meatloaf, but fall is perfect for testing out smoked turkey recipes for Thanksgiving.
Traditionally, my family traditionally cooks a whole turkey in an oven bag for our Thanksgiving turkey. But every now and then we like to try something new. We came across this turkey recipe on Allrecipes.com and it got amazing reviews so we had to give it a try. It was the juiciest turkey I’d ever had. Absolutely delicious!
What is the best smoker for smoked turkey?
We’ve cooked smoked turkeys two ways:
- Electric Smoker: We had a Masterbuilt smoker when we first started smoking meat. It worked great! It was small and easy to take care of, but could easily hold two turkeys. See the one we had here.
- Pellet Grill Smoker: This summer, we upgraded to a Traeger wood pellet smoker. My husband is 100% in love with this grill. Not only does it easily smoke meat, but it grills up hamburgers and chicken beautifully too. See the grill we love.
What flavor wood chips for smoking turkey?
We like to use wood chips with a slightly sweet flavor such as apple, apricot, cherry, peach or maple. Hickory is stronger but is always a classic and gives an even smoky flavor! Mesquite also goes well with turkey.
How do I prepare a turkey for smoking?
Although it is common to rinse a turkey before cooking, the USDA does not recommend this because it can spread germs around your kitchen in doing so. If you are making a turkey brine recipe, then you should definitely rinse it, but otherwise, there is no need to rinse!
Place the turkey in a large roasting pan (we often use disposable for easy cleanup). Remove the neck and giblets. You can save these for another use (we use them for gravy) or discard them. Take paper towels and pat the turkey dry. You do this so the seasoning will stick to the bird.
What is a good seasoning for turkey?
Often times you can get creative and put a dry spice rub all over the outside of the turkey, but for this recipe we kept it simple with minced garlic and seasoned salt.
Most of the flavor for this turkey is coming from ingredients being baked inside the cavity, so garlic and seasoned salt just help add to that flavor.
Still convinced you need more seasoning? Try thyme, rosemary, paprika, onion powder or even brown sugar.
What can I put in the turkey cavity for flavor?
When I saw the combination of ingredients that when inside this turkey, I was initially confused, but immediately went to excited. Coca-cola, apple, onion, butter….I mean really. It doesn’t get much better than that! And we love using soda in our Dr. Pepper pulled pork and crockpot ribs.
The apple and cola help add a little sweetness. The butter and onion make the drippings that you’ll use to baste the turkey so rich. Sometimes we had a little celery or carrots. And the turkey gravy you could make from this? Amazing. Tweak the ingredients if you’d like, but this combo is fantastic.
Is basting the turkey really necessary?
If you want to make the best smoked turkey recipe, then yes, I recommend basting. The skin and the foil help to keep the turkey juicy on its own, but since you’ll have to be checking on the turkey in the smoker a few times anyway, go ahead and baste it. You won’t regret it.
How long does it take to smoke a turkey?
It’s good to plan 30 minutes per pound when you smoke a turkey between 225-250 degrees F. Our turkey was 13 pounds and took about 7 hours in the smoker to reach 180º Fahrenheit. Check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer.
Test the temperature in the thickest part of the the thickest part of the turkey breast or the innermost part of the thigh, making sure you don’t touch any bones.
What To Serve with Smoked Turkey
Now that you have the best smoked turkey recipe, here are some side dishes to serve with it:
- Green Bean Casserole
- The Best Mashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Corn Casserole
- Buttery Soft Rolls
- Turkey Stuffing
Have leftovers? Try this turkey casserole! And if you like this recipe, you may also like our smoked shrimp or whole smoked chicken.
Best Smoked Turkey Recipe
Ever wondered how to smoke a juicy turkey? This is the best smoked turkey recipe we’ve tried. Free up the oven and learn how to smoke turkey stuffed with fruit and aromatics for an amazing turkey dinner.
Servings 15
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 13 pound whole turkey (thawed)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 24 ounces cola flavored soda pop (We used Coca Cola)
- 1 large apple (quartered)
- 1 large onion (quartered)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey, and pat the turkey dry. 13 pound whole turkey
- Rub the minced garlic all over the turkey, then sprinkle the entire outside of the bird with seasoned salt. 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
- Place the turkey in a large roasting pan or disposable aluminum pan. Stuff the large cavity of the bird with the remaining ingredients. Cover the turkey loosely with foil. ½ cup butter, 24 ounces cola flavored soda pop, 1 large apple, 1 large onion, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- Prepare the smoker and heat to 250º Fahrenheit. Place the turkey in the smoker and baste every 1-2 hours with turkey juices from the pan.
- Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 180º Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the thigh. It’s good to plan 30 minutes per pound when you smoke a turkey between 225-250º Fahrenheit. This turkey was 13 pounds and took about 7-8 hours to get to temperature.
- Remove the turkey from the smoker and allow it to sit, still covered with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the feeding about 15 people, with 1 serving being 1/15 of the turkey. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 479kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 60g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 217mg | Sodium: 1764mg | Potassium: 667mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 1.6mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2.6mg
Best turkey I have ever made…and my first on the Traeger! Easy recipe! Basted every two hours and the meat fell off the bone! Skin was perfect!
Trying this tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m so excited
Thank you for this recipe. My family loved it! “Im now the official turkey cooker from now on”, they said. I used plum wood in an all natural wood smoker! I vented my foil a little more during the smoking process to obtain a more robust smoke flavor, but the foil was absolutely necessary to lock in all that good flavor, and keep it moist. Thanks again. Keep up the good work!
I always put my turkey directly on the grate with a drip pan underneath. I’ve also never covered my turkey.
That said, do I just pour the soda in the cavity all at once?
What can I use in place of an apple? For some reason I don’t have one today haha!
If I don’t want to get up at 3 am to start the smoker, is there another optional temperature to cook it overnight? I have a Masterbuilt electric smoker and a 16 lb turkey
Should I remove the turkey when I baste to prevent the heat from spiking? I have a drum smoker.
Hi, using your recipe as I type! I am smoking it in my electric Masterbuilt along with a brisket. I was wondering if you turn the turkey around at some point. It’s sitting in about 1.5 inches of broth of fluids and butter in the roasting pan. My wife said you typically do that with oven roasted turkeys.
So what effect does the wood chips have if we are covering the turkey in the smoker?
What flavor chips are best & do you recommend mixing different types of chips?
Would this recipe still work if the turkey was made in the oven instead of a smoker?
I love the sound of this recipe and I have cooked turkeys many different ways. This year I will be using my BBQ and chips (in smoker container) for that flavor. I believe you will say to cook turkey in pan still. How often do I replenish the chips?
The internal temperature should be 165 degrees in the thighs and 155 in the breast . 180 Degrees will dry out the turkey.
What is the purpose of smoking it if you are going to cover it with foil from the beginning? If it is covered, the smoke never hits the bird. You might as well use an oven, right?
I have two turkey breast to smoke. Should I still smoke 30 min per pound?