If you haven't heard, this Turkey Injection Recipe is your next go-to way to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey! Learn what to inject a turkey with, with this easy-to-follow recipe. It makes for the best flavor-filled turkey the whole family will love!
Why This Recipe is the Best
Whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any special gathering, this turkey injection recipe is the ultimate way to bring bold, savory flavor to every bite of your bird. While it won’t make your turkey juicier (that’s all about cooking technique!), it infuses the meat with rich, seasoned goodness from the inside out.
This homemade injection is simple to whip up and works beautifully with all types of turkey—smoked, fried, roasted, or even just a turkey breast. For an easier time, you can use a turkey injection kit, but the flavor from this DIY version truly stands out.
Be sure to pair this injected turkey with our favorite holiday sides like Candied Yams, Creamed Corn, and Cranberry Sauce.
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Key Ingredients
This simple brine adds a lot of flavor once injected into the turkey. You can add your own flavors, but we've tested our favorite sauces to come up with a perfect combination.
- Worcestershire sauce - We found while testing this recipe that the Worcestershire sauce made a big difference. It added a subtle umami flavor. We noticed it also made the meat more moist and tender.
- Spices- Garlic powder, paprika, sage, and salt all make a wonderful poultry seasoning. Make sure to use powdered herbs and spices or they will get stuck in the injector.
- Chicken Broth- A basic yet flavorful liquid that helps transport the spices while adding extra flavor. You can also use turkey broth. We use Better Than Bouillon.
How to make a Turkey Injection Recipe
Make sure to follow the step by step instructions for best results. This is not a hard process but takes some practice and getting used to, to get the best flavor.
- Begin by making the turkey brine. Mix well so that there aren't chunks of spices. It needs to be able to pass through the injector easily.
- Use a turkey injector that has multiple holes throughout it. You can even get a turkey injection kit.
- Use a tall glass so you can easily suck the prepared mixture into the injection needle.
- Place the needle into the turkey at an angle. Make sure all the holes are in the turkey. Inject the juices. Continue the process until the entire turkey has been seasoned.
Hint: Brine and season the turkey as you normally would for the fullest flavors!
Common Mistakes
Our biggest mistake was using fresh herbs instead of powdered herbs. They quickly clogged up the injector.
We also quickly learned the importance of getting the injector inside the bird before injecting. We didn't cover all of the holes, and juice sprayed everywhere!
Top tip
Make sure not to go too fast. Going slow will help the juices get to the whole turkey. Be sure to also inject every section of the turkey so portions of it don't miss the flavoring.
Recipe
Turkey Injection Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter melted, I used unsalted
- ¾ cup chicken broth or turkey
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sage optional, see note 2
Instructions
- Melt butter and heat up broth to be hot. Add together with the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and mix until combined. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika and sage and stir to combine. Pour the marinade into a tall glass. This makes it easier to get the marinade into the injector, since the injector has holes partway up it. Fill the injector and insert at a diagonal into the turkey. I like to start with the top of the breasts and work my down, evenly distribute the marinade throughout the entire turkey. We recommend wearing an apron as it does to tend to make a little bit of a mess.
- Brine or season the turkey as your normally would then bake as directed. Enjoy your juicy, flavorful meat!
Notes
- This recipe is for one turkey 10-16 pounds in size. For a slightly bigger bird, increase the chicken broth to 1 cup. For a 20 pound or bigger bird, double the recipe.
- We intentionally made a great basic turkey injection recipe that could be adapted. Add 1 teaspoon of your favorite powdered seasonings such as thyme, rosemary, lemon pepper, cajun, etc. Add no more than 4 teaspoons to keep the marinade smooth and easy to use.
- I used Better Than Bouillon to quickly make my chicken broth.
- You could use salted butter in this recipe. For such a large amount of turkey, that extra bit in butter won't make enough of a difference to need to compensate anywhere else.
- For a tasty variation, substitute the broth for apple cider or apple juice. This will make the recipe less savory and give it a little sweetness.
- Make sure to only use powdered herbs and seasonings. Fresh can clog your injector.
- Make sure to insert your injector needle so that all holes are inside the turkey, otherwise the marinade will squirt everywhere.
- Inject the entire turkey.
- Don't go too fast. Ease the sauce out of the injection needle. Going too fast could cause the sauce to start spraying everywhere.
- You can absolutely use this one a chicken too.
- This tends to be a pretty messy process, especially your first time. We recommend wearing an apron and having a large work space.
- Have a hard time sucking up the marinade? Make sure to use a tall thin glass, all the holes must be submerged in order for it to suck of the marinade.
Nutrition
Substitutions
You can add any flavor profile to this marinade to help get the flavor you want. Just make sure to mix it well so there aren't any clogs in the injector.
- Honey- Add ¼ cup of honey. Make sure to heat it up before adding it to the broth so it mixes well.
- Frank's red hot- Make it spicy by adding 1-2 teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot sauce. Or you can use our homemade buffalo sauce. It really captures that Jalapeño flavor.
- Apple cider- One of our favorite additions is making it with apple cider or apple juice. Use it instead of chicken or turkey broth.
What to inject a turkey with?
We intentionally made a great basic turkey injection recipe that you could easily add your own flavors to. You can inject a turkey with any of your favorite flavors, as long as they aren't chunky and clog the injector.
Some ideas are adding 1 teaspoon of your favorite powdered seasonings, such as thyme, rosemary, lemon pepper, cajun, etc. We suggest adding no more than 4 teaspoons to keep the marinade smooth and easy to use.
Try adding some of our homemade sauces and seasonings like lemon pepper, or cajun butter sauce.
Storage
Store prepared sauce before injecting the bird. If you need to store it in before using it, make sure it's in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Once you begin to inject into the raw turkey, throw away any extra juice! It will be contaminated by the raw turkey.
FAQ
This is a personal preference. If you have the time to brine a turkey, it does a fantastic job of flavoring the whole thing. It does require several days to get that whole flavor profile. Injecting a turkey doesn't take as much time or prep work and gets the flavor throughout. You do need an injection kit to inject a turkey.
Andrea says
I usually just brine my turkey but I found this turkey injection recipe and it looked so easy I had to try it. It helped make the turkey so flavorful, I will be doing it again!