Turkey Injection Recipe

Why Inject Your Turkey?

This injectable turkey marinade recipe is a must for anyone who wants to make thoroughly seasoned, irresistibly moist turkey meat. Below are a few reasons why using a turkey injection solution will take your turkey game to the next level.

Person injecting garlic butter marinade into a turkey's thigh.

Why Inject Your Turkey?
Equipment You Will Need
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Injectable Turkey Marinade
How to Make Turkey Injection Marinade?
How to Inject Turkey With Butter?
When to Inject Turkey?
Injection Flavors for Turkey
Expert Tips
FAQs
Other Turkey Marinades and Rubs You Might Also Like
Turkey Injection Recipe

Flavor enhancement: This turkey injection recipe is the ultimate way to infuse each bite of turkey meat with expert seasoning. Though delicious, turkey rubs and glazes only flavor the skin of the turkey, which may leave you with bland turkey meat. However, injecting a turkey with a marinade-like mixture ensures every morsel has the same robust, savory taste.
Moisture and juiciness: Unlike a traditional roasted turkey recipe, there’s no need to frequently baste your meat when you use this marinade injection recipe. The turkey’s skin will trap the moisture within the meat, ensuring your bird comes out as succulent and tender as possible while introducing additional liquid to keep your meat juicy during cooking.
Even seasoning from within: In addition to being delectable, this turkey syringe seasoning creates an even internal flavor profile by seasoning the bird from within. As a result, you can reduce the amount of extra seasoning that you use to cover the entire surface of the turkey.
Better browning: No one can resist a turkey dinner with a perfectly golden-brown and crispy exterior. In addition to adding a lot of flavor, injecting turkey with this recipe also ensures your turkey browns better during the cooking process, leading to a gorgeous presentation and even better taste.
A faster way to marinate: Making a homemade turkey injection is a great way to get the luscious taste of marinated turkey in a fraction of the time. Rather than letting your meat sit in marination juices for hours (if not days), injections will give your turkey the same full-bodied, robust flavor from the moment the marination reaches the meat. With that being said, you can make this turkey injection marinade recipe and inject your turkey for up to 36 hours in advance.

Equipment You Will Need

While we usually refrain from using any type of special equipment in our recipes, this one is different. You will need a meat injector (or a syringe) to inject the marinade into the turkey.

Luckily, it is not hard to find. Most grocery or hardware stores sell turkey seasoning injection kits during the holiday season. The good news is that once you make the investment, you can use it for injecting other types of meat as well.

The injector kit and the needle tip needed to make this recipe.

For this recipe, you will need:

Meat Injector: A suitable turkey injector is the most critical component of this recipe’s equipment. We recommend purchasing a stainless steel syringe with a needle that has one opening at the tip. Even though nowadays, most kits come with multiple needle heads, we found that using the one with a single opening gives you better control over the flow of the marinade as you inject it. Additionally, using this type of needle will prevent the injection liquid from leaking out. If you are in the market for a new one, this Stainless Steel Meat Tenderizer Injection Syringe Kit (affiliate link) is the one we used.
Baking Sheet or a Large Plate: While you might be tempted to use an oven-roasting bag, thinking that you might need something to capture the leaking liquid, during our testing, we found that there was minimal leakage from the areas injected. Therefore, all you need is a baking sheet or a plate that is large enough to accommodate your turkey.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Injectable Turkey Marinade

Now that we covered the equipment, let’s delve into the basic ingredients and explore optional additions and substitutions to craft your own injection flavors for turkey:

Ingredients needed to make the recipe from the top view.

Unsalted butter: Butter is essential to giving this garlic butter turkey injection recipe its iconic rich, savory taste. Though I prefer using unsalted butter to control the meat’s saltiness, you may also use salted butter if you adjust the amount of extra salt accordingly.
Chicken stock at room temperature: Chicken stock is the key to giving your turkey injection liquid an irresistibly elegant, moist flavor. You can purchase low-sodium chicken stock from the grocery store or make your own homemade chicken stock.
Lemon juice
Worcestershire sauce
Seasonings: This flavor injection for turkey achieves its savory, robust profile with just a few simple ingredients, including onion powder, garlic powder, and Kosher salt.
Turkey: This recipe yields 12 oz. of marinade, ideal for 14-16 pounds of bird. Therefore, feel free to adjust the recipe to accommodate more or less meat. Also, if your turkey is frozen, be sure to fully thaw the meat before beginning your injections.

Substitutions & Optional Add-Ins:

Stock: Though I use chicken stock, you may also use turkey stock for a similarly rich taste as you make your own injection recipe.
Fresh garlic: I don’t recommend using minced garlic, as it will clog the syringe of your injector. However, you can mince garlic and infuse the butter with it should you want a bolder, more pungent taste. After all, who doesn’t like the taste of a rich Garlic Butter Sauce? However, be sure to drain the butter-garlic mixture before adding it to your turkey injection fluid in case the remaining garlic pieces clog the syringe.
Olive oil: If you enjoy the flavors of olive oil, you can adjust this recipe by using one-half olive oil and one-half butter. With that being said, you can use other mildly flavored oils, such as avocado oil.
Sweetener: Want to give your lemon butter turkey injection a slightly sweeter flavor? To cut back on the acidity of this simple recipe, you can make an apple cider, apple juice, or orange juice (without pulp) turkey injection by swapping out this recipe’s lemon juice for these other liquids.
Spices: A great way to give your turkey a different seasoning profile is to substitute my recommended injection mix for another delectable profile. For a sweet, salty, and spicy injection for turkey, I recommend adding Old Bay seasoning to your injection mixture. Or, for an even more pronounced heat, you can prepare a piquant Cajun injection marinade using Cajun seasoning. Spices like paprika, black pepper, and cayenne will immediately elevate the heat and depth of flavor, creating an enticing contrast to turkey’s natural flavor. Finally, you may also add a tablespoon of poultry seasoning for more fragrant, herbaceous undertones.
Liquid smoke: You can use this turkey injection recipe for smoking, but if you do not have the means to smoke the turkey yet still desire those flavors, liquid smoke is a great option. To make a liquid smoke turkey injection recipe, add ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke to the mixture, taste it, and add more as necessary. However, please keep in mind that a small amount goes a long way, so be sure to taste after every addition.
Fresh herbs: Bright, garden-fresh, and aromatic, an herb turkey injection recipe is easy to make. Simply steep a small amount (a tablespoon or so) of roughly chopped fresh rosemary, sage, or thyme in your butter injection sauce for 10-15 minutes and remove them before injecting the mixture into your turkey.
Ground black pepper (or white pepper): We decided to keep black pepper as an optional ingredient in our turkey injection marinade, as most roasted turkey recipes use black pepper in the seasoning for the exterior of the bird. However, if you like the peppery flavors, you can add a small amount (no more than ¼ teaspoon) to this liquid turkey seasoning mixture.

How to Make Turkey Injection Marinade?

Ready in just ten minutes, this DIY injectable turkey marinade is the easiest way to elevate your turkey to a holiday centerpiece. Follow these two simple steps, and you’ll have everything you need to make an exquisitely juicy, flavorful turkey meal.

Two images side by side showing how to make turkey injector marinade.

Melt the butter: Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until just melted.
Add the remaining ingredients: Remove the melted butter from the heat and add the chicken stock, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, and Kosher salt. Whisk the ingredients until thoroughly mixed, then let the liquid cool for a few minutes. Though the mixture doesn’t have to be cold, ensure that it reaches close to room temperature before using it to inject the turkey.

How to Inject Turkey With Butter?

Injecting turkey for roasting, smoking, and deep-frying is a piece of cake with these hassle-free instructions.

A collage of images showing how to prepare and inject turkey marinade into the breast and thigh of a turkey.

Dry the turkey: Before beginning the injection process, place the turkey on a sheet pan or a large enough plate and dry thoroughly on all sides using paper towels. Set it aside.
Fill the injector: Place the injector tip into the now-slightly cooled butter garlic injection and pull the plunger back until the syringe fills. If the mixture separates, agitate the butter marinade by plunging back and forth until the ingredients re-incorporate and emulsify.
Inject turkey with seasoning: Insert the tip of the turkey injector into the thickest parts of the turkey meat, starting from the breast and moving down to the thighs. As you are injecting the marinade, be free to go in at least one inch deep at a 45-degree angle, pushing ½ ounce of marinade per site. You may begin pulling the tip out as you slowly inject the liquid but don’t force it. Stop your injection just before reaching the turkey’s skin. If you hit a bone with your injector, pull the needle back slightly and continue the injection process.

Person shown as she injects the turkey and then covers it with plastic wrap.

Continue with the remaining turkey: Continue the injection process throughout the turkey, including the wings, breast, thighs, and legs—20-24 times in total. Try not to massage or distribute the liquid after injecting, as the solution will naturally flow into the meat as it rests in the fridge. If any solution drips out of a piercing site, apply gentle pressure to the hole with a finger as you continue injecting the bird in an adjacent area.
Let the turkey rest: Place the turkey onto a large cooking pan, cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate it overnight.

When to Inject Turkey?

The ideal time for injecting turkey with butter depends on your goals for preparation and cooking methods. Below, you’ll find just a few tips for ensuring your turkey comes out perfectly succulent, no matter how you cook it.

For roasting or smoking: If you plan to roast or smoke your bird, I recommend injecting your turkey marinade at least 4-6 hours before cooking, overnight, or for up to 36 hours.
Deep-frying: When deep-frying a turkey, you only need to inject the turkey seasoning into the bird between thirty minutes and an hour before cooking.

Injection Flavors for Turkey

The best recipe for injecting turkey is one you can make your own, regardless of your ideal flavor profile. The recipe we are using here is a basic one that is ideal for a Thanksgiving turkey. However, you can play with the flavors depending on the occasion and your preference.

Below are a few variations with unique combinations of rich, sweet, and spicy ingredients. Feel free to try them as you make your own injection marinade. However, as we mentioned earlier, if you choose to use spices, make sure to run them through a spice grinder so that they won’t clog the injection needle.

Beer and butter poultry injection: Beer can add incomparably tender, aromatic, and deep flavor to your turkey injections. If you want to go for it, omit the lemon juice and chicken stock and, instead, add six ounces of beer (brown ale or lager). If you prefer, you can also add a teaspoon of hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to give your injection a kick of heat.
Honey butter injection for turkey: For a slightly sweeter injection, melt a teaspoon of honey in the hot butter mixture. This honeyed blend balances out this recipe’s bolder, savory flavors, giving you a mild, caramelized-like taste.
Creole or Cajun turkey injection recipe: Few main dishes are as robustly seasoned, fiery, or delectable as authentic Creole cuisine. You, too, can transform your injectable marinade into a classic Creole injection for turkey by omitting this recipe’s Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Instead, add one tablespoon of ground blackening seasoning and a pinch (or more!) of cayenne pepper.

Expert Tips

We learned so much as we were working on this recipe. Come to find out, there is so much to know when it comes to injecting a turkey with marinade. Below, we are sharing everything you need to know, including where to inject the turkey with butter to ideal marinade temperatures:

Thaw frozen turkey: If you are using frozen turkey, ensure it’s fully thawed before you start the injection process. Otherwise, the injection marinade won’t spread evenly throughout the meat.
You don’t need to wait for the turkey to come to room temperature: Though I don’t suggest injecting your turkey while the meat is frozen, I warn against letting it come to room temperature before inserting it with the butter injection. Allowing the turkey to heat and cool repeatedly can grow unwanted bacteria, making the meat unsafe to eat.
Ensure your butter isn’t too hot: Though your injection marinade doesn’t have to be at room temperature, it shouldn’t be boiling, either. Injecting your turkey with a too-hot marinade may begin cooking the meat, resulting in overcooked or unsafe turkey after the final cooking process. I recommend letting the mixture cool for 10 minutes or so while you are preparing the turkey for injection.
Move quickly to avoid butter solidification: It should not be too hot or too cold. You can start injecting as soon as it is lukewarm. However, I recommend moving quickly as butter tends to solidify as it sits.
Use hot tab water: Towards the end of the injecting process, as the butter cools down, it may clog the needle. If and when that happens, an easy solution is to run the syringe (and the needle tip) under hot tap water for 15-20 seconds.
Practice makes perfect: If you’ve never used an injector before (or want to test your marination recipe before using it on a full bird), I suggest starting on less meaty parts of the bird (such as wings and drumsticks) to practice before you begin injecting the “big-ticket portions.”
Don’t pierce the bird’s cavity: When injecting your bird, try not to penetrate beyond the meat and into the turkey’s inner cavity, as the marinade won’t infuse the meat unless the needle lands within its fibers.
Don’t worry about solidified butter: Since you need to store your turkey in the fridge after injection, don’t worry if you find hardened butter around the bird’s injection sites. This butter seepage represents a small amount of the total marination liquid within the bird, and it will help the turkey brown during the cooking process.
Brining and injecting: You might be wondering, can I use this garlic butter injection if I am brining my turkey? The answer is yes. You can both brine and inject a turkey with marinade before roasting. However, keep in mind that the two methods should complement each other in terms of potency, flavor, and the amount of salt used. If you choose to use both preparation methods, I recommend brining the meat first for 12-24 hours, then rinsing off the bird and pat-drying it with a paper towel. Then, you can inject the meat with the injection marinade. However, when preparing the injection solution, omit using salt to prevent your turkey from being overly salty.
Use this injection for turkey breast, drumsticks, thighs, and more: You don’t need to cook up a whole bird to use this tasty injection blend. However, if you plan to inject smaller cuts of turkey meat, adjust the amount of marinade you use according to the size of the meat you are injecting. You can then store your leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container, reheating the mixture before using it again.
Food safety: After injecting your turkey with this injector recipe, promptly transfer it to the refrigerator. This cool temperature will allow the flavors to evenly distribute throughout the meat while also protecting against unwanted bacterial growth. Furthermore, don’t reuse excess marinade that came into contact with uncooked meat.

FAQs

Should I inject turkey the night before?

To inject turkey before roasting or smoking, I highly recommend injecting your turkey overnight (or up to 36 hours!), ensuring the flavors have time to distribute evenly throughout the bird. However, if you plan on deep-frying your turkey, you may insert the injectable butter marinade for the turkey thirty minutes before cooking.

Does injecting a turkey make it juicier?

Yes! The additional liquids, oils, and fats common in injector marinades will keep your turkey from becoming dry, with an even distribution of succulent, moist texture throughout the bird.

How to inject a turkey without an injector?

I don’t recommend trying to internally marinate a turkey without a turkey injector. However, if you don’t have an injector, you may create knife pockets or slits in the turkey meat using a sharp knife. Then, use a spoon to pour the marinade into these pockets. Though the mixture won’t distribute as evenly as it would with an injector, it’ll still introduce some flavor and moisture to the turkey meat.

Can I use an injected turkey to make gravy?

Absolutely! The flavors from the infused turkey will help enhance your turkey gravy, lending it all the rich, savory undertones of the injection marinade.

Can you inject a butterball turkey?

You can definitely use this turkey injector recipe on butterball turkey! This succulent addition adds tender juiciness to your meat, and you can also use it on leaner poultry, such as heritage turkey or chicken.

Other Turkey Marinades and Rubs You Might Also Like

Do you love to make your own turkey injection marinade? Then these other five-star flavoring recipes will astound you with their simple, decadent, and lively profiles.

If you try this injection recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It is a great help to others who are thinking of making the recipe. And if you took some pictures, be sure to share them on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them on my stories.

Person injecting marinade into a turkey's thigh.

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