These smoked turkey legs are one of my favorite recipes. Super simple to put together, minimal ingredients, and if you've ever had them at Disney—they taste exactly the same.
The secret to this recipe is the wet brine. We're going to brine the turkey legs overnight, which is going to get them nice and tender. Then we're going to cook them on the smoker, and finish them off with a beautiful glaze.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
For the Turkey Legs
- 3 turkey legs (about 1 lb. each) — I found turkey legs at my local grocery store. They came in 3-packs and in total weighed 2.44 lbs.
- Olive oil spray — to help our rub adhere to the legs.
- BBQ rub — use your favorite rub to season the turkey legs. I used Sweet Preacher from Fire & Smoke Society and they came out really good.
- BBQ sauce — we're going to glaze these legs at the end of the smoke, so pick your favorite BBQ sauce. I used Kinder's Honey Hot BBQ sauce.
For the Brine
- 4 cups cold water
- ½ cup kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns (optional)
HOW TO MAKE SMOKED TURKEY LEGS
@grillfrenzy These GIANT Smoked Turkey Legs will transport you straight to Disney 🦃✨ The secret to getting that iconic theme park taste? It's all in the brine. Save this recipe for your next cookout - these are guaranteed to steal the show! They're: --Incredibly tender & juicy --Perfect theme park copycat --Only need a few simple ingredients --Great for feeding a crowd Comment "turkey" or "recipe" below and I'll DM you my exact brine recipe + all my KEY smoking tips. #smokedmeat #bbqrecipes #turkeyrecipe #grilling #smokerfood #bbqtiktok #disneyfood #copycat #foodreels #recipevideo #smokerrecipes ♬ original sound - Mike Futia
1. Make the Brine
To make the brine, mix the cold water, kosher salt, brown sugar, bay leaves, and black peppercorns in a large bowl. Mix until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
2. Brine the Turkey Legs
Put the turkey legs in a big Ziploc bag, and dump the brine in. Make sure the legs and nice and submerged in the brine. Seal up the bag and pop it in the fridge for as long as you can, 6-12 hours is ideal, overnight is even better.
3. Season the Turkey Legs
Once you're done with the brine, remove the turkey legs from the Ziploc bag and rinse them under cold water. Pat them dry thoroughly with paper towels. Then hit the legs with a light spray of the olive oil spray and season them with your BBQ rub.
4. Smoke the Turkey Legs
Preheat your smoker to 275F. I used cherry pellets for this cook. Put the legs directly on the smoker grates—or you can use a cool little rack like I used in the picture above, which keeps the legs standing vertical so it gets hit with smoke all over.
Smoke the legs until they hit an internal temp of 175F. For me, this took about four hours.
5. Crisp the Skin
This is optional, but I like the skin on my turkey legs to be crispy. So if you have one, grab a sear gun and sear the skin for a few seconds.
6. Glaze the Turkey Legs
When the legs hit 175F, glaze them with the BBQ sauce. You can either brush the sauce on, or dunk them in a Yeti cup like I did above. Smoke the legs for an extra 20-30 minutes until the glaze has tacked on nicely to the legs.
7. Rest & Serve
Rest the turkey legs for 5-10 minutes, then serve and enjoy,
PAIRING SUGGESTIONS
Pair these turkey legs with my smoked garlic mashed potatoes or my smoked mac & cheese.
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE
- Give yourself enough time. This cook took longer than expected. Other recipes say they'll be done in two hours, but that wasn't the case for me. Even smoking them at 275F, these took nearly four hours.
- Brine as long as you can. There's nothing more annoying than a recipe that calls for waiting *24 hours* just to season, marinate, or brine your meat. Not a lot of people have that kind of time. So if you don't have 24 hours, or 6 or even 3 hours to brine the turkey legs, that's fine. Brine for as long as you can and get those suckers on the smoker.
- Crisp the skin. I really recommend finding a way to crisp up the skin. If you don't have a sear gun, just toss them on your grill for a few minutes per side. Crispy skin makes a huge difference.
Easy Smoked Turkey Legs
Ingredients
For the Turkey Legs
- 3 turkey legs about 1 lb. each
- olive oil spray
- 4 tbsp BBQ rub
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
For the Brine
- 4 cups cold water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
Instructions
- Combine cold water, kosher salt, brown sugar, bay leaves, and black peppercorns in a large bowl. Stir until salt and sugar completely dissolve to create the brine.
- Place turkey legs in a large Ziploc bag and pour in the brine mixture. Ensure legs are fully submerged. Seal bag and refrigerate for 6-12 hours or overnight.
- Remove turkey legs from brine and rinse under cold water. Pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
- Spray turkey legs lightly with olive oil spray and season generously with BBQ rub.
- Preheat smoker to 275°F. For best results, use cherry wood pellets.
- Place turkey legs directly on smoker grates or use a vertical leg rack. Smoke until internal temperature reaches 175°F, approximately 4 hours.
- Optional: Use a sear gun to crisp the skin for a few seconds.
- Glaze turkey legs thoroughly with BBQ sauce using a brush or by dunking. Continue smoking for an additional 20-30 minutes until glaze sets.
- Rest turkey legs for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Plan ahead for brining time - longer brining (up to 24 hours) produces more tender meat
- Actual cooking time may be longer than expected - allow for up to 4 hours of smoking
- If short on time, brine for as long as possible before cooking
- Crisping the skin is recommended for best texture
- Turkey legs should be available at most grocery stores, often sold in 3-packs
