Smoked turkey breast is a delicious and flavorful alternative to traditional roasted turkey. Using applewood chips and a dry rub adds a delicious smoky flavor with a touch of sweetness
If you've never had a smoked turkey before, you must try it! I think it is by far better than any deep-fried turkey or oven roasted turkey that you'd have for Thanksgiving. Not to mention the turkey comes out super moist and delicious and great for making a club sandwich the next day. The rub makes this.
If you like smoker recipes try my recipe for Traeger Smoked Whole Chicken, Smoked Lobster Tails, Easy Smoked Salmon, Smoked Salsa, or Smoked Queso.
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Why I love my Smoker
I love my smoker. It is a lot easier than lighting a charcoal grill and waiting FOREVER for the stupid coals to light up. All you do is flip the switch and turn it to whatever temperature you want to smoke at. All the other food blogs out there like to grill, and there is nothing wrong with that. This girl likes to smoke her meat instead. 🙂
Ingredients Needed
- Dry Rub
- Brown sugar - Or regular granulated sugar, I do not use sugar substitutes of any of my recipes but if you know the conversions feel free to do so
- Smoked paprika - gives the seasoning an extra layer of smoke flavor
- Chipotle chili powder - Is a blend of mixed red chilis that have been dried up and pulverized until it resembles powder. Sometimes other spices like cumin and paprika.
- Garlic powder - Â made from dehydrated garlic cloves and like the chili powder above it gets pulverized into a powder or flour consistency.
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Ground cumin - Cumin is a member of the parsley family. It is a dried seed that is made from a plant called Cuminum cyminum.
- Butter, melted and melted - can also use olive oil
- 3 pound turkey breast - the main star! Can also do this with a whole chicken.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast
Step 1: Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F, adding your wood chips to the burner.
Step 2: In a bowl, combine the sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder and cumin, mixing well to combine.
Step 3: Gently lift the skin of the turkey and rub the melted butter all over the meat. Use it all up! I use both my hands and a spoon to drizzle it down in spaces that I can't reach. Take the spice rub and rub it all over the meat as well, underneath the skin. Rub the rest of it all over the outside of the skin, covering the turkey.
Step 4: Smoke the turkey breast for 1.5 hours at 225 degrees.
Smoked Turkey Breast Tips and Tricks
Smoke turkey breasts over applewood chips at a low temperature until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
I have tested this recipe at 300 degrees and that temperature is too high for a smoked turkey breast. The result comes out very dry so stick to 225 degrees or lower.
What can I see with smoked turkey?
If you're looking for some tasty side dishes you've come to the right place.
Paula Deen's Crock Pot Mac and Cheese and Slow Cooker Calico beans are some great side dishes to make in a crock pot.
Make a loaded air fryer baked potato with all the fixings in your air fryer or a twice baked potato.
Some fun fruit salads to serve with this apple wood smoked turkey breast would be Fruit Cocktail Salad or Red, White, and Blue Berry Cheesecake Salad.
Recipe FAQS
This turkey breast was almost 4 pounds and took only 1.5 hours to smoke. A 7 pound turkey breast would take up to 3 hours.Â
My favorite wood chips to use for smoking a turkey breast is always Applewood. I have a Traeger grill and used their pellet chips. Other types of wood chips that would work would be Apple, Cherry, Maple, Alder, and Hickory.
Always store leftovers in clean, food-grade containers. The type of container doesn’t really matter. Use zip lock, glass, plastic,  whatever!Â
Recipes to Check OutÂ
Grinder Salad Sandwich - Tiktok
Easy Air Fryer Chicken Breast - How Long to Cook
If you tried this Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast
- Prep Time: 30min
- Cook Time: 1.5 hrs
- Total Time: 1.5 hrs
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
If you've never had a smoked turkey before, you must try it! I think it is by far better than any deep-fried turkey or oven roasted turkey that you'd have for Thanksgiving.Â
Ingredients
Dry Rub
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3- 4 pound turkey breastÂ
Instructions
- Remove the turkey from the packaging and pat it completely dry with paper towels. Place it on a baking sheet and refrigerate it for an hour or two so it dries thoroughly.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F, adding your wood chips to the burner.
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder and cumin, mixing well to combine.
- Gently lift the skin of the turkey and rub the melted butter all over the meat. Use it all up! I use both my hands and a spoon to drizzle it down in spaces that I can't reach. Take the spice rub and rub it all over the meat as well, underneath the skin. Rub the rest of it all over the outside of the skin, covering the turkey.
- Smoke the turkey breast for 1.5 hours at 225 degrees.
- Category: Medium
- Method: Smoker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: applewood smoked turkey breast
Recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats
Jenna says
The recipe for the dry rub is in the ingredients list. Refresh your page please.
JEANNE KAETHER says
Can you provide the dry rub recipe? I see the ingredients listed, but not the proportions of each ingredient. Thank you.
F. McArthur says
I did this recipe smoking on the BBQ at 200-250F for 6 hours. Beautiful colour, texture and flavour. Did it a second time, changing the apple Jack for apple Crown Royal Canadian rye, and the turkey for beef brisket and took second in the Squadron smoker challenge. Fed 120 personnel sample amounts.
★★★★★
Mike says
I really like this recipe and can't wait to try it. I do have to give one "critique" however. Since you are cooking your turkey at 375 degrees, you are not actually smoking the bird. Anything over 250 degrees even in a smoker, is roasting. In order to smoke a turkey, would have to be "low and slow" - under 250 degrees, and probably somewhere In the 3 to 5 hour range. If you like the flavor that your smoker gives you, even when roasting, here's a tip: set your smoker for high smoke and smoke the turkey for 30 to 60 minutes. Then turn it up to 375 and cook as you would using a meat probe to get the timing right. Hope this is helpful!