Recipes & How-To's
Brined Turkey Thighs

Brined Turkey Thighs

You don’t need to cook enough meat to serve a small army to enjoy the taste of turkey. These grilled turkey thighs are just right for a family dinner and the meat is nice and moist thanks to a quick brining. Don’t forget to pass our Mustard Barbeque Sauce around the table!

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Cook time

35 mins

Recipe Difficulty

Medium

Yield

Serves 6

Ingredients

Brined Turkey Thighs

  • 4 cups water
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt*
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar*
  • 12 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 6 bone-in turkey thighs with skin (about 4 lb/2 kg)
  • 1 tsp sage, crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Mustard Barbecue Sauce

  • ​1/4 cup salted butter
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup yellow mustard
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp dry mustard
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 bay leaf

Directions

Brined Turkey Thighs

  1. To prepare brine, combine water, salt, sugar, thyme and bay leaves in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
  3. Pour brine into a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until cold.
  4. Pour brine into an extra-large heavy zip-lock plastic bag. Submerge turkey thighs in brine, adding cold water if necessary to cover turkey. Seal bag and place in a large food-safe container. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
  5. Remove turkey from brine; discard brine, thyme and bay leaves. Rinse turkey under cold running water and pat dry. Combine sage, mustard, garlic powder, coriander, cumin and pepper; spread mixture over both sides of turkey thighs.
  6. Grill turkey over medium heat on natural gas barbecue until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thighs registers 180 - 185ºF, about 15 - 20 minutes per side.
  7. Serve with Mustard Barbecue Sauce.

Mustard Barbecue Sauce

  1. Melt butter in a small non-reactive saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 3 - 4 minutes.
  2. Add yellow mustard, vinegar, water, brown sugar, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, coriander, cumin and bay leaf; stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove and discard bay leaf. Mustard may be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months

Nutritional analysis per serving

*Ingredient not included in nutritional analysis.

690 calories, 32.6 g fat, 92.3 g protein, 0.9 g carbohydrate, 0.2 g fibre, 1330 mg sodium