Turkey Injection Recipe (An Easy Guide To Ultra Juicy Turkey)

Updated: September 18,2026 | Originally Published: 2023

Injecting meat is a new technique for the home cook, and it’s a fantastic way to add loads of flavor to the inside of large cuts of meat.

Unlike a marinade, the injection stays in the turkey as it cooks, providing moisture that prevents the bird from drying out, while flavoring that succulent meat with aromatic garlic, real butter, and a zesty kick of spices. 

Foodies collect secret marinade recipes, but it doesn’t take long to learn that flavors cannot penetrate through more than about a centimeter of meat... no matter how long they sit. This can leave the inside of large cuts of meat bland. So what's the solution?

Two options home cooks are learning from the professional kitchen are brining meat or creating an injection. The holiday season is the perfect time to put in a little extra effort and use the same techniques restaurants rely on to wow your family—and avoid serving a dry turkey!

Since we tackled our favorite turkey recipes for our smoked turkey brine, our cajun turkey brine, and our turkey paint compound butter last year, we wanted to share a new technique for a juicy bird with a lot of flavor!

Injectable Turkey Marinade (How To Make An Injection)

Making a turkey injection is pretty simple… think of it as brewing tea. We will add liquid in the form of melted butter, apple juice, or broth, and fresh herbs, spices, or a sweetener like honey.

You’ll steep these ingredients together over low heat in a small saucepan, then strain, and the remaining concoction, once at room temperature, will be your injection.

The flavorful marinade can be as elaborate or reflective of your personality as you like. The recipe I'm sharing below is my best turkey injection recipe after years of trial and error, but you can incorporate whiskey, bourbon, apple cider, cayenne pepper, or teriyaki sauce--to make it your own.

​Pro Chef Tip: In the professional kitchen we're more likely to use bouillon pastes to boost the flavor of an injection. A home product has appeared on shelves called "Better Than Bouillon" which is a similar product to the professional versions. I use the roast turkey flavor in my injection to 10x the flavor and create a powerful savory turkey injection.

When To Inject A Turkey

You can inject a turkey before any of the big 3 methods of cooking...frying, smoking, or roasting in an oven.

After a frozen turkey is defrosted, you can inject up to 24 hours before cooking, but it's also okay to inject right before you begin cooking it. 

This is one common misunderstanding as most marinades need time to work on the meat. With a turkey injection marinade, the fluid is trapped inside, flavoring and basting throughout the cooking process so it's an excellent choice when you haven't got 24 hours to prep your bird, (like with the brining method).

How To Inject A Turkey

Injecting a turkey is easier than you think. Once the injection is prepared you will assemble your meat injector and pull up a full syringe of fluid.

First inject the needle into each side of the breast, pushing the needle in deep and slowly withdrawing the needle as you press the plunger. This back and forth motion of pulling the needle out of the meat allows the fluid space to fill the hole. You can inject from many different angles throughout both the white meat and dark meat. 

Be sure to inject the legs and thighs as well, and don’t worry if a little of the injection leaks back out through the holes. We inject our turkey directly on the rack in the roasting pan to minimize moving the bird, which helps keep more of the injection inside the meat.

Favorite Turkey Injectors We Use

We have one injector with 4 different needles that can be screwed on to inject different meats and accommodate liquids of different viscosities.

I recommend a stainless steel meat injector that you can put in the dishwasher after you are done. I also recommend buying extra washers or making sure the company you buy from sells extra washers, as those degrade over time. 

I use this turkey injector, and I'm proud to say it comes with extra washers, is dishwasher safe, and is still in excellent shape after 4 years of injecting birds.

(Links are affiliate links to products we think are helpful and we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if purchased.)

Injectable Turkey Marinade Considerations

The injection can be as elaborate or reflective of your personality as you like, my recipe below will provide the Best Thanksgiving Turkey, but I will show you below how you can incorporate whiskey, apple cider, or teriyaki sauce, to really make the flavor your own.

First, you'll want to consider the occasion as people fry and barbecue turkeys year round. Savory flavors are especially well suited to fried turkey and smoked turkey, particularly when the outside is seasoned generously with a flavorful barbecue rub.

A flavorful everyday turkey can come from a basic marinade of balsamic vinegar and garlic, to a Thanksgiving flavor profile of chicken stock, compound butter, and fresh rosemary and sage. 

How Can I Make This A Cajun Turkey Injection?

To create a homemade cajun turkey injection recipe, I recommend substituting the barbecue poultry seasoning for your favorite cajun seasoning. You can add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, 2 teaspoons creole mustard, or a dash of cayenne in as well.

You'll get all the flavors of this wonderful basic turkey injection with the added zest from the cajun seasoning. Please taste your seasoning before to determine whether the spice level of your cajun seasoning is appropriate for the whole family.