How to make a perfectly cooked, moist, delicious maple bourbon brined roasted turkey for dinner and holiday celebrations.
Maple Bourbon Brined Roasted Turkey is hands down the best turkey I’ve ever had. Better than deep fried even. It’s so moist and packed full of delicious flavor. And it’s definitely going on my list of favorite Thanksgiving Recipes and Christmas Recipes, along with my favorite slow cooker pork roast.
My husband Dan is the guru behind this recipe. He showed me how to make it for the purposes of this recipe (and Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner).
Brining a turkey isn’t difficult at all… Basically, if you have a food grade bucket and a few ingredients, you’re in business. I could see myself doing this to roast chicken too because it’s just so delicious!
One of my favorite things about cooking a turkey is the leftovers it gives. Enough to make this wonderfully cheesy turkey casserole with pasta.
Tips for how to make Maple Bourbon Brined Roasted Turkey
- Prepare the turkey by removing the neck, gizzards, etc. Rinse with water.
- To a food grade 5 gallon bucket, add hot water, onion, garlic, the peel of an orange, brown sugar, real maple syrup, bourbon, peppercorns, whole cloves, melted butter, kosher salt, ground sage, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, and ice. Stir well.
- Place the turkey down in the mixture.
- Cover the bucket with a lid and place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours or longer. If you don’t have enough fridge room, you could pack the bucket with ice.
- Once it’s brined, remove the turkey from the bucket and rinse with cold water, inside and out.
- Rub the turkey with a thin coat of real maple syrup.
- Place in a roasting pan, uncovered, for roasting.
- Roast at 350° until the internal temperature is at 165° or higher. Base your cooking time on the size of your turkey; for example, we cooked a smaller turkey in about 3 hours. Cooking time will differ per turkey.
- Once the turkey is done, remove from the oven.
- Carve the turkey and serve it up with homemade turkey gravy!
Leftover turkey makes the most delicious appetizers too, like these Leftover Turkey Stuffing Crescent Rolls. Yum!
Looking for side dish recipes to go with your turkey?
Instant Pot Southern Green Beans
Honey Glazed Carrots with Rosemary
Maybe you’d rather have ham or pork chops for dinner? You’ll love our Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham and our Maple Pork Chops with Apples and Onions.
Tools you may need to brine and roast a turkey
Food Grade Bucket with Gamma Seal Lid – Perfect for brining a turkey.
Real Maple Syrup – You’ll need this for both the brine and a rub. Of course, it’s delicious on pancakes too.
Brine Ingredients – You’ll need Peppercorns, Whole Cloves, Ground Sage, Poultry Seasoning, and Bay Leaves.
Roasting Pan – for roasting the turkey.
Meat Thermometer – This will help you know what the internal temperature of the turkey is. We use ours all the time.
Grill Armor Oven Gloves – We’ve mentioned these in a few of our live videos; I love using these.
Carving Set – to carve the turkey before serving.
Serving Platter – for serving.
Print the recipe for Maple Bourbon Brined Roasted Turkey
Maple Bourbon Roasted Turkey
How to make a perfectly cooked, moist, delicious, maple bourbon roasted turkey for dinner and holiday celebrations. Perfect recipe for Thanksgiving dinner!
- 15 pounds turkey
- 1 1/2 gallons hot water
- 1 large yellow onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 whole orange peel
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/8 cups maple syrup
- 3/4 cup bourbon
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 cup unsalted butter (melted)
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground sage
- 1/4 cup poultry seasoning
- 4 bay leaves (crumbled)
- 4 pounds ice
Prepare the turkey by removing the neck, gizzards, etc, and rinse with water.
To a food grade 5 gallon bucket, add the hot water, onion, garlic, orange peel, brown sugar, 1 cup of maple syrup, bourbon, peppercorns, whole cloves, melted butter, kosher salt, ground sage, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, and ice. Stir well.
- Place the turkey down in the mixture.
Cover the bucket with a lid and place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours or longer. If you don't have enough fridge room, you can pack the bucket with ice.
- Once it’s brined, remove the turkey from the bucket and rinse with cold water, inside and out.
Rub the turkey with a thin coat of real maple syrup (the extra 1/8 cup).
- Place the turkey in a roasting pan, uncovered, for roasting.
Roast at 350° F until the internal temperature of your turkey is 165° F or higher. Base your cook time on the size of your turkey; cook time will differ per turkey.
- Once the turkey is done, remove from the oven.
Carve the turkey and serve!
Recipe adapted from Traeger.
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