Mom's Best Turkey Brine Recipe - impress your guests this holiday season with the best turkey you’ve ever served! This easy turkey brine is made with a handful of ingredients including water, onions, garlic, and some seasoning to give your turkey added flavor and incredible moisture in every bite!
The great thing about learning how to brine a turkey is knowing that while they all serve the same purpose, there are many different ways to flavor your bird!
It’s made with water, aromatics, and simple seasoning that you most likely already have on hand, which makes this a great recipe for everyone. Combine the ingredients, dunk your turkey and let the brine do the rest. We don’t even need to boil it first!
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What is brining?
Bringing a turkey, or any kind of meat whether it’s chicken, pork, beef, or fish, is done by submerging the meat in salt water. The added seasonings help penetrate flavor right down to the bone, but the salt is what draws the moisture into the meat.
It helps the turkey absorb the moisture and retain it so that when we naturally lose a bit of the moisture during the cooking process, we have enough extra that the meat stays nice and juicy.
Wet Brine vs Dry Brine
Dry brine is when you add a layer of salt to the outside of the turkey to basically form a crust and then allowing it to rest in the fridge for anywhere up to 72 hours. What this does is the salt draws out the moisture and releases it back into the meat.
It also helps to form a nice outer crust on the meat.
As you can imagine wet brine includes water! It’s also a chance to use different seasonings and aromatics and while it’s a subtle flavor, and less concentrated than a dry brine, it’s still great for moisture and juiciness.
Turkey Brine Ingredients
- Water & Kosher salt: The base of the brine is always highly concentrated salt water. You can adjust the level of salt to taste by adding some at first, and adding more to taste, if needed.
- Montreal steak spice: This is a spice I always have on hand for seasoning all kinds of meat. It’s a combination of herbs and spices that adds so much flavor to the brine.
- Aromatics: We’re adding sliced onions and whole garlic heads along with bay leaves and peppercorns. These are in most of our kitchens anyway, but if not they can be easily picked up at your local store. Since we discard the brine and use these things just for flavor, there’s no need for chopping anything too small.
- Turkey: I use an 18 lb turkey for this recipe. The amounts of each ingredient doesn’t need to change based on the size of your turkey. It’s the length of time that it sits in the brine that matters.
See the recipe card for the full information on recipe ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Turkey Brine
Step 1: Take your 5-gallon bucket and add the water, Montreal steak spice, onions, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorn, and salt. Do a little taste test and see if you need to add any more salt. Remember Kosher salt is different than table salt, so using the same amount of either one, usually means the kosher salt will be less salty.
Step 2: Submerge the whole bird into the brine and make sure the water covers the entire turkey. Place the bucket in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight.
Step 3: Remove the turkey from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. It is now ready to roast!
Expert Tips
- Discard the brine. The brine is super salty and has become contaminated with raw meat so there’s nothing you can do with it. In fact, it’s not even safe to use, so be sure to discard it properly.
- Use fresh or thawed turkey. If I can help it, I will usually opt for an organic free-run turkey but I know that’s not always possible. Either way, you want to make sure it is fresh or thawed from frozen.
- Pat the turkey dry. This help to get rid of any excess moisture left on the skin. Doing this will help crisp up the skin nicely. Otherwise, the water will create steam leaving the skin soft and soggy.
- Rinse or not rinse. This is a personal preference. Some people prefer to rinse the turkey underwater for a few minutes after brining it to get rid of excess salt. This is a good idea if you plan to season your bird with additional seasoning. If you’re not, you may want to leave the turkey as is, and add little to no extra seasoning. It’s up to you.
FAQs
No, always fully thaw the turkey before brining. Submerging a frozen bird can prevent even seasoning and may be unsafe.
For an 18 lb turkey, 12–24 hours is ideal. Over-brining can make the meat too salty or affect the texture.
Yes! You can prepare the brine a day in advance and refrigerate. Just make sure it’s completely cooled before adding the turkey.
It’s not recommended for safety reasons. Raw turkey contaminates the liquid, so always discard after use.
No need to rinse. Simply remove it from the brine and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels before roasting.
Yes, as long as the cooler is kept at or below 40°F and you use plenty of ice to maintain temperature.
More Thanksgiving Recipes
- Easy Thanksgiving Turkey
- Last Minute Turkey Cheese Platter
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Best Turkey Stuffing Recipe Ever
- Fresh Green Bean Recipe with Bacon and Shallots
- EASY Beef Rice Pilaf
- Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe with Creamed Mushrooms
- Holiday Egg Salad
- Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins (with Cream Cheese or without!)
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📖 Recipe
Mom's Turkey Brine Recipe
Equipment
- 5 gallon Bucket for turkey
Ingredients
- 2 gallons water
- 4 tablespoons montreal steak spice
- 3 onion sliced
- 1 cup kosher salt or to taste
- 3 tablespoons peppercorn
- 5 bay leaves
- 2 heads garlic
- 18 lb turkey
Instructions
- Prepare the Brine: In a large 5-gallon food-safe bucket, combine the water, Montreal steak spice, sliced onions, kosher salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, and garlic. Stir to dissolve the salt and evenly distribute the spices. Taste the brine and adjust salt if needed.
- Submerge the Turkey: Add the fresh or fully thawed turkey to the brine, making sure it is completely covered by the liquid.
- Refrigerate: Cover the bucket and place it in the refrigerator. Brine the turkey for at least 12 hours, ideally overnight.
- Prepare for Roasting: Remove the turkey from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the turkey thoroughly dry with paper towels. Your turkey is now ready for roasting. Here is an Easy Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe with Best Turkey Stuffing.
Video
Notes
- Use a food-safe container and ensure the brine fully covers the turkey.
- Do not over-brine: 12–24 hours is enough for an 18 lb turkey. Over-brining can make the meat too salty.
- Pat dry thoroughly before roasting to get crispy, golden skin.
Nutrition
Happy Cooking!
Philip Tokazowski
Last year, (2024), my wife's neice brined her 20 lb. turkey using this method. It was the best tasting and moist turkey I have ever had in my entire life, and I'm in my 60's. We will be preparing our 20 lb. fresh turkey this year using the same method.
Love Keil
Wow, that’s amazing to hear, Philip! Makes me so happy that the brine made such a big difference, especially for a big 20-lb turkey! It’s wonderful that you’ll be using the same method again this year. I hope this one turns out just as moist and delicious. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃✨