Cranberry Pecan Stuffed Turkey Breast

These turkey breasts are butterflied, stuffed with delicious stuffing, cranberries and pecans and then smoked for a delightful finish that has holiday written all over it. I have done these for Christmas in the past but they are also a great addition to your Thanksgiving meal.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours
• Smoker Temp: 225°F
• Meat Finish Temp: 165°F
• Recommended Wood: Pecan, Cherry (Any fruit wood)

• 2+ Turkey breasts, skinless and boneless
• Jeff's original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
• Cranberries, dried and sweetened
• Pecans, chopped
• Stuffing (homemade or boxed)
• Jeff's Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
• Cooking twine
• Meat mallet
• Butter, melted (for basting during cooking)

Lay the turkey breast on the cutting board.

Slice through the short ends and one of the long sides.

Leave one of the long sides uncut.

This allows you to open the turkey breast like a book.

Completely butterflied

Lay plastic wrap on top of the turkey breast and pound the meat to flatten it evenly to about ¼ inch thickness.

Use a meat mallet to accomplish this task.

Note: start in the center of the meat and work towards the outside edges.

Before:

After:

As you can see, I was able to increase the surface area quite a bit. This also evened out the thickness which will help us to roll it and it will cook more evenly.

Sprinkle a little of my original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) on the inside surface area of the turkey breast.

Make a small batch of your favorite stuffing either homemade or boxed.

Spoon some of the uncooked stuffing onto the top of the seasoned meat.

Leave about ½ inch around the edges and about 2 inches on the end away from you.

Add some dried sweetened cranberries and chopped pecans to the top of the stuffing.

Roll up the turkey breast as tightly as you can.

Use 4 pieces of cooking twine to tie the stuffed and rolled turkey breast into place.

I used the Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) on the outside of the turkey breast but you can also use the original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) as well if you prefer.

Place the turkey breast(s) on a Bradley rack, Weber grill pan or cookie sheet to make it easy to transport to and from the smoker.

Small items such as this work really well in all types of smokers including the electric and gas models. Set up whatever smoker you have available for cooking at about 225°F using indirect heat. If your smoker came with a water pan, use it.

Once the smoker is heated and ready, place the stuffed, rolled turkey breasts directly on the smoker grate.

By the way, if you are looking for a good solid smoker then look no further than the Camp Chef Woodwind.. it is one of the smokers that I use most. With 100% real wood for heat and smoke and tons of features that will allow you to spend more time with the family and in your bed instead of tending the fire, you'll love it!

I know I do!

Use pecan wood if you have it or any fruit wood will work really well with this.

I recommend keeping the smoke going for at least 2 hours if possible. You can also keep the smoke going the entire time as long  you keep the smoke thin and light.. what we call thin blue smoke.

About once every hour, I recommend basting the turkey with a little melted butter to keep the outside of the meat moist so it does not dry out.

Use a digital probe meat thermometer such as the Smoke by ThermoWorks to monitor the temperature of the meat while it cooks. When it hits 165°F in the center, it is perfectly done and should be removed from the smoker right away.

Let it sit on the cabinet for 10 minutes then remove the strings.

Snip-snip

Slice it into ½ to ¾ inch slices.

Serve immediately with all of your other favorite fixings and sides.

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