Mix up a homemade dry brine with various seasonings, brown sugar, and kosher salt. This 5 minute recipe ensures your turkey stays juicy, moist, and super flavorful.
Brining a turkey is a great option if you want to ensure your Thanksgiving turkey has a great taste and stays moist and juicy.
Dry brine is a method where you rub the turkey with a salt mixture that includes various seasonings and some sugar. Then, it sits uncovered in the refrigerator.
Some pros of using a dry brine include:
- Crispy Skin: The skin dries out during the brining process, leading to crispier skin when roasted.
- Easy and Mess-Free: You simply rub the turkey with the seasoned salt and let the fridge do the work.
I'll walk you through how to dry brine a turkey, then you can follow my guide on how to cook a turkey. It's the perfect beginner-friendly recipe to walk you step-by-step through all the basics.
What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- My favorite spices and seasonings to use in a dry brine.
- How long your turkey needs to brine in the refrigerator.
- Tips to ensure your turkey isn't too salty.
Don't forget to grab a copy of my Thanksgiving timeline to help you stay organized and stress-free during the holidays.
Ingredients You Need
- Morton kosher salt: The main ingredient in brine is salt. It both enhances the flavor of the turkey and ensures the meat retains moisture.
- Brown sugar: This helps to balance the saltiness.
- Garlic powder/onion powder/paprika/oregano/thyme: These dried spices infuse even more flavor into the turkey. Make sure your spices are fresh before making the dry brine.
- Black pepper: This is another essential seasoning for turkey. Don't skip it!
- Turkey: This recipe is for a 16 pound (7 kilo) turkey. If you have a smaller turkey, you can cut the recipe in half. I prefer placing the dry brine on a fully thawed turkey. Remember not to use a brine if your turkey is labeled as pre-brined, kosher, or self-basted.
Check out the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make This Recipe
1. Mix salt, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, black pepper, oregano, and thyme in a mixing bowl until combined.
2. Place the thawed turkey on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Remove the neck and giblets from the inside of the cavity (toss or store in the refrigerator to use later).
3. Loosen the turkey skin on the breast. Rub the turkey with the dry brine including underneath the breast skin, inside the cavity, and all along the outside skin and legs.
4. Place the baking sheet with the turkey uncovered in the refrigerator for 24–48 hours to allow the turkey to season and the skin to dry out.
Expert Tips
- Only do this technique with a "plain" turkey. Check the label to ensure your turkey has not been pre-brined or seasoned. Avoid turkeys that say “kosher,” “self-basting,” and “enhanced” on the label.
- The turkey should be thawed (or at least partially thawed) before brining.
- Be careful not to over-salt the turkey if you choose to brine.
- Be sure to keep the turkey in the refrigerator for the entire duration of brining to keep it cold and food safe.
Recipe FAQs
A dry brine is better if you want super crispy turkey skin. It's also less messy and tends to take up less space in the fridge.
No, don't rinse off the turkey before cooking. This will cause the skin to be less crispy. Instead, I like to dry brush any excess spices off to ensure they don't burn in the oven.
No, your turkey shouldn't be too salty. However, when I brine my turkey, I usually don't add additional salt to the skin before cooking.
I'd suggest that your turkey is at least partially thawed to ensure the dry brine sticks to the outside skin.
More Turkey Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below. Have questions as you're cooking? Leave a comment below, and I'll help!
Dry Brine For Turkey
Equipment
- wire rack
Ingredients
- ½ cup Morton kosher salt
- ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup garlic powder
- ¼ cup onion powder
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon finely ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 16 pound turkey thawed (not a pre-brined, kosher, or self basted turkey)
Instructions
- Mix salt, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, black pepper, oregano, and thyme in a mixing bowl until combined.
- Remove the thawed turkey from the package and place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Remove neck and giblets from the inside of the cavity (toss or store in the refrigerator to use later).
- Loosen the turkey skin on the breast. Rub the turkey with the dry brine including underneath the breast skin, inside the cavity, and all along the outside skin and legs.
- Place the baking sheet with the turkey uncovered in the refrigerator for 24–48 hours to allow the turkey to season and the skin to dry out.
- When you're ready to roast the turkey, dry brush any excess seasonings off the turkey. Rinse and discard any liquid/seasonings in the bottom of the baking sheet. Then, roast the turkey according to these instructions.
Erin
I had never cooked a whole turkey before and had no idea where to start. I used this dry brine recipe plus your tips for cooking a turkey and it turned out great! Thanks for helping make everything so much less intimidating.
Valarie
This gave us a very moist and succulent bird. I was Leary with all the salt, but it needed it and wasn’t salty just delicious. Made one bird for thanksgiving and am making a second one today for Christmas.
Jessica Mode
Valarie, I'm so glad to hear you loved the recipe! Hope you had a great holiday!! 🙂