Looking for the easiest way to make your turkey breast this Thanksgiving? Using my turkey breast brine ensures a perfectly juicy, tender, and delicious turkey breast every single time. The secret is in the simplicity… and the low-carb and keto ingredients! Let’s take a look at how to make this simple turkey brine in your own kitchen.
This recipe is: Low Carb, Keto, Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Paleo.
Table of Contents
7 Reasons to make my Turkey Breast Brine recipe:
- Simple to make and ready in under 2 minutes
- It doesn’t require heating and cooling
- 100% low carb and keto-friendly
- Tender, juicy turkey every single time
- Uses easy-to-find ingredients
- It can be used for whole turkeys or chicken, too!
- Perfect for a smaller Thanksgiving or Christmas feast.
Is this Turkey Breast Brine low carb?
This turkey breast brine is made with erythritol, which is a low carb and keto friendly ingredient. Adding a bit of sweetener to a brine balances the saltiness and draws more moisture into the meat, resulting in a tender and juicy turkey breast. Traditional brines use sugar, but this recipe keeps everything keto friendly. This brine has a net carb effect of 0g.
Turkey Breast Brine Ingredient List
4 cups cold water
¼ cup kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons erythritol
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 sprigs rosemary, fresh
2 sprigs thyme, fresh
1 bay leaf
Ingredient Substitutes
- Kosher salt: if all you have is table salt, use ⅛ cup rather than ¼ cup. You can also use ¼ cup of sea salt.
- Erythritol: you can use xylitol, monk fruit sweetener (not liquid, but mixed with erythritol), or allulose in the same ratio.
- Apple cider vinegar: you can use red or white wine vinegar or even rice wine vinegar if you would like.
Additional Ingredients
- Heat: If you like your turkey breast to have a touch of heat, add ½ teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes to the brine. This will infuse the turkey breast with just a touch of heat, and the red pepper flakes can be brushed off before cooking.
- Spices: You can really let your imagination run wild while brining a turkey breast. Adding mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, or even allspice adds depth and dimension to your brine.
- Broth or stock: To increase the richness of the turkey breast, use chicken broth or stock as the base rather than water.
- Aromatics: To complement the crushed garlic, you could add a few slices of white onion or even some orange or lemon peel. Add sparingly, as these flavors quickly overpower the flavor of the meat.
NOTE: These ingredients are not part of the original recipe- use them to enhance or customize the recipe to your liking.
Cooking Tools
To make this turkey breast brine recipe, you will need the following kitchen tools (these are either exactly what I use, or very close!):
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Immersion Blender or Nutribullet
- Large zip-top bag
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Paper towels
How to make Turkey Breast Brine: The Complete Guide
Making my turkey breast brine recipe is really simple and requires no cooking… just blending. This method speeds up the brining process. Let’s walk through the steps together.
Cooking Methods:
- Brining
- No Cook
Preparation Steps:
- In a large carafe, combine the water, salt, and erythritol. Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the solids are fully dissolved into the liquid.
- Place the turkey breast in a zip-top bag. Pour in the brine mixture, then add the remaining ingredients. Seal the bag tightly.
- Arrange the bag on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.
- Before removing the turkey from the brine, line the baking sheet with paper towels.
- After brining, remove the turkey from the bag and discard the brine. Lay the turkey on the paper towels and pat dry with additional paper towels.
Step 1: In a carafe or large container, add water, salt, and erythritol.
Step 2: Use an immersion blender to mix the ingredients for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until all the solids have completely dissolved into the solution.
Step 3: Place the turkey breast inside a large zip-top bag, ensuring it is roomy enough to allow the brine to surround the turkey.
Step 4: Pour the brine solution into the bag with the turkey breast, add the remaining aromatics, then seal the bag tightly, removing as much air as possible.
Step 5: After brining, line a baking sheet with paper towels.
Step 6: Discard the liquid, and lay the turkey on the prepared paper towels. Gently pat the turkey breast dry with additional paper towels to remove excess moisture.
💡 My Pro Tip: How long should I brine a turkey breast?
This was one of the top questions asked at my cooking school: how long should I brine a turkey for? And the answer is that it depends on a few factors like the size of the bird and whether it is a whole turkey or just the turkey breast. Here are my pointers on maximizing the flavor, texture and moisture of your brined turkey breast or whole turkey:
- Whole turkey: brine for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Typically, since most turkeys are frozen and need to be thawed, I use the last 24 hours of thawing to brine the turkey. This is a huge time saver. If you brine for over 24 hours, the turkey has an increased risk of becoming too salty.
- Turkey breast: Brine for anywhere from 6-8 hours for optimal flavor and moisture. I have brined for up to 12 hours, but typically brining a turkey breast for over 12 hours results in the meat turning too salty.
Remember that after brining your turkey breast or whole turkey to pat it dry with paper towels. This will ensure that some of the salt is removed from the skin and that the skin will crisp up nicely while roasting in the oven.
⏲️ Time-Saving Tip
- If your turkey breast is frozen, you can brine it while it is thawing in the refrigerator. This is a great time saver.
What to Make with this Turkey Breast Brine?
Storing Turkey Breast Brine
If you're not planning on using the brine right away, here is how you can store it for when you are ready to cook:
Storage Tip:
- After you have made the brine, simply place it in the zip top bag and keep it refrigerated. It will keep in the refrigerator for 5-7 days with the aromatics added. When you are ready to brine your turkey or turkey breast, just add into the brining liquid and ensure that the entire turkey is covered with the liquid.
Recipe Conclusion
Other Marinade Recipes You Will Love
Here are a few other recipes that use marinades or brines that you will just love to cook:
FAQs
Brining a turkey breast will increase the flavor, texture and moisture of the turkey breast. This results in a tender and juicy turkey breast rather than dry turkey. Brining a turkey breast is an easy way to ensure a great outcome on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
To brine a turkey breast, first make the brining solution. If it is heated, it needs to be thoroughly cooled before adding the turkey to avoid bacterial growth. Simply add the brining solution to a container where the turkey breast will be fully submerged. Refrigerate and brine for 6 to 8 hours.
No. Rinsing increases the chances of contamination in the kitchen from bacterial laden juices from the turkey or the brine. Simply remove the turkey breast from the brining liquid and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. This effectively removes the excess salt and allows for the skin to crisp when the turkey breast is roasted.
Turkey Breast Brine Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups cold water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons erythritol
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 sprigs rosemary fresh
- 2 sprigs thyme fresh
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Add the water, salt and erythritol to a carafe large enough to hold them all.
- Using the immersion blender, blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until all the solids have been absorbed into the solution.
- Add the turkey breast to the zip top bag.
- Pour in the water, salt and sweetener base.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and close the bag tightly.
- Place on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.
- Line the baking sheet with paper towels.
- Once brined, remove the turkey breast from the bag and lay on the paper towels. Discard brining liquid.
- Pat dry with paper towels and prepare the turkey breast for roasting.
Notes
Nutrition
“This website provides approximate nutrition data and information for convenience and as a courtesy only.”
2 Responses
This is my first time brining a turkey breast and it was easier than I expected. I added more garlic, another bay leaf and Swerve brown sugar. It is in the oven roasting now. I am testing before Thanksgiving. Will let you know.
Hi Dotty:
Excellent. I think that the Swerve Brown Sugar sweetener would work really well and add some depth of flavor too! Nice work- let me know how it all turns out please!
Scott