Every Thanksgiving my neighbor and I have a turkey-off. The best bird wins. My secret weapon is this Turkey Brine Recipe. It’s a blend of orange, coconut sugar, and cinnamon that delivers incredible flavor and a stunning color on the turkey. Easy to make, allergen-free, and totally AIP compliant.
You’re Going to Love this AIP Brine Recipe
This turkey brine recipe is simple to prepare, just head to your grocery store’s dry spice aisle and grab the grinder refills. A strong orange flavor, mixed with tarragon, cinnamon, garlic, and ginger for an aromatic flavor that’s intoxicating. Blended with coconut palm sugar for a lovely brown on your turkey and the perfect amount of salt. Every year I’ve for the best turkey in the neighborhood and it’s all due to this Turkey Brine!
Grab Your Simple Ingredients
- Orange peel – this might be the hardest to fined, but McCormick sells it via their organic brand. I’ve found it at Wegman’s, Whole Foods and Safeway.
- Cinnamon – If you can’t find the shards, just go with cinnamon sticks.
- Coconut Sugar is a must! This adds a rich brown to your turkey and the combination of sugar and salt is why it turns out to juicy!
- A good salt! You want a kosher salt or Celtic salt, something with a medium to coarse grind, not a fine salt.
- The dried garlic slices are ideal but you can always use dried minced garlic, but not garlic powder
- If you can’t finid the dried ginger pieces, just add fresh ginger when you mix the brine.
How to Brine a Turkey
- First you mix your turkey brine recipe ingredients. Just add them to a bowl and mix with a spoon.
- You can store in a jar until ready to use.
- When you’re ready to brine your turkey bring 2 gallons of water and 3 cups of apple cider vinegar to a simmer in a stock pot.
- Mix in the brine, this recipe makes enough for one turkey. Mix and heat until the salt and sugar are totally dissovled. Your house will smell AMAZING.
- Let the brine cool in the fridge. Then submerge your turkey in it. Let it sit in the fridge overnight or for 24 hours.
- When you’re ready to cook your turkey, remove it from the brine, rinse it and cook as desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
After I brine my turkey with this AIP turkey brine and follow the instructions listed above, I smoke it on my Traeger. I spatchcock it first, and it smokes at 375F for 2-3 hours.
Usually at Wegman’s because they have the grinder refills.
YES! It makes the most epic smoked pork butt with crazy caramelization on the skin.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
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Turkey Brine Recipe: Citrus Herb (AIP, Paleo)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: Thanksgiving
- Method: Brine
- Cuisine: AIP
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
An aromatic citrus turkey brine with garlic, ginger, and coconut sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Kosher Salt or Celtic Sea Salt
- 1 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 cup dried orange peel
- 1/2 cup cinnamon shards or sticks
- 1/3 cup dried garlic slivers
- 1/3 cup dried ginger flakes
- 1/3 cup dried tarragon leaves
- 1/3 cup dried rosemary
- 5–6 bay leaves
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Transfer to an airtight jar and store in a cool dry place until ready to use.
Recipe Notes:
How to Brine a Turkey
- When you’re ready to brine your turkey bring 2 gallons of water and 1 cup apple cider vinegar to a simmer in a stock pot.
- Mix in the brine, this recipe makes enough for one turkey. Mix and heat until the salt and sugar are totally dissolved. Your house will smell AMAZING.
- Let the brine cool in the fridge. Then submerge your turkey in it. Let it sit in the fridge overnight or for 24 hours.
- When you’re ready to cook your turkey, remove it from the brine, rinse it, then let it air dry. Cook as desired. I spatchcock it and smoke it.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoon
- Calories: 99
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 2179g
- Fat: 2g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0g
Heather says
100 percent going to do this! Last year I smoked my turkey and didn’t quite get it right. This year I think I’ll just a spatchcock it and put it in the oven. This brine looks amazing. I wonder if you could do it as a dry brine – I’ve had good luck I with that in the past thanks to Alton Brown. Decisions decisions. Thanks for posting!
Madelaine says
I tried this on a chicken roast to test it before Thanksgiving, and it’s amazing! I used 1/3 of the brine in 10 cups of water and 1/3 cup vinegar…. and it was so full of flavor. Can’t wait for turkey day!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Girl! Way to do the math on that! It’s not my forte! Ha! Thanks for testing it so soon! I love this brine so much.