Description
Our delicious Turkey Injection recipe adds a ton of flavor and moisture to your Thanksgiving Day turkey before you cook it any way you want!
Ingredients
Scale
Injection Recipe:
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced (or 1 smashed garlic clove)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1–2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1–2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 1–2 fresh sage leaves
- 1 bay leaf
Other:
- whole turkey, turkey breast or turkey tenderloin
- meat injector
Instructions
- Butter Mixture: Combine turkey injection ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to medium-high heat and allow butter to melt. Stir to combine and let gently simmer 5-10 minutes.
- Prep Turkey: Meanwhile prepare the raw turkey: ensure it is fully thawed, let it sit out for 1 hour to come to room temperature, pat it dry with clean paper towels and place in a roasting pan.
- Meat Injector: Remove melted butter mixture from heat and strain (if there are large bits in the liquid it will clog the injector). Ensure you have a cap on the end of the meat injector so when you pour the liquid in, it doesn’t run straight out. Fill the injector and place the plunger on top.
- Inject Turkey: For best results, make 3 injections across the breast. Do this by inserting the meat injector firmly in the turkey breast. At each injection site you will adjust the injector at three different angles so you are getting 3 injections shots in the breast for every 1 hole (you don’t want too many holes or you will lose moisture). At each angle, give the injector a little push to insert some of the butter mixture. Repeat in the turkey thigh, making 2 injections holes (insert injector in 3 different directions within in each hole). If any liquid comes running out of an injections site simply rub into the turkey skin on the exterior of the turkey.
- Leftover Liquid: If you have leftover injection liquid simply pour it into the bottom of the roasting pan for basting.
- Night Before: For best results (& if you have the time), inject liquid the night before cooking and leave in the refrigerator (covered) overnight.
- Cook Turkey: Feel free to cook the injected turkey any way you want, highly recommend following our easy tutorial on how to cook a turkey!
Notes
- Garlic: feel free to use 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.
- Brining: you can still do this if you are also brining a turkey – just opt for a low-sodium broth and omit the extra salt.
- Recommended Injector: we used this meat injector and it worked great.
- Other Cuts of Turkey: this also works if you are making a roasted turkey breast, smoked turkey breast, or even a turkey tenderloin!