Hands down, this is the best spatchcock turkey smoker recipe with BBQ rub and sauce. With NO BRINING NEEDED! There’s so much tasty sweet and smoky flavor going on in EACH BITE. It’s an easy pellet grill recipe for a crowd. Let’s smoke it…

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Why this recipe for smoking a spatchcocked turkey is so good…
- NO BRINE needed! So no need to worry about whether or not you spatchcock turkey before or after brining.
- Big flavor.
- Learn exactly how to spatchcock a turkey and smoke it.
- See how long to smoke a spatchcock turkey.
- Great smoker recipe for a group of people.
- Easy smoked main dish idea for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter.
- Includes a video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
How to spatchcock turkey for smoking
Spatchcocking a turkey is simple and only takes a few minutes.
- Use kitchen shears or a really sharp chef’s knife cut along each side of the backbone of the turkey.
- Remove and discard the backbone.
- Flip the turkey so the breast side is up.
- Push down the turkey breast to flatten it out.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make it.
Smoked spatchcocked turkey Ingredients
- Whole turkey (~11 LBs)
- BBQ rub (or poultry seasoning)
- Olive oil
See this guide to thawing a turkey…
For the spatchcocked smoked turkey compound butter
- Butter (unsalted)
- Salt and pepper
- Rosemary
- Thyme
For the honey BBQ baste (optional – it’s delicious!)
- BBQ sauce
- Honey
- Brown sugar
- Butter (unsalted)
Also check out this guide to smoked turkey breast…
How to smoke a spatchcock turkey
Now I’ll walk you through this smoked spatchcock turkey recipe…
Quick look at the recipe…
- Spatchcock and seasoning turkey. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat Traeger with a water pan off to the side of the grill grates.
- Smoke the spatchcocked turkey for 1.5 hours.
- Make honey BBQ baste and add it to turkey. Finish smoking at a higher temperature.
- Rest and enjoy.
Detailed instructions…
- Remove the whole turkey from plastic. Remove inside parts and discard. Pat turkey with a paper towel.
- Spatchcock turkey. (see steps above)
- Season spatchcocked turkey. First, use your fingers to loosen the skin of the turkey breast from the meat. Smear compound butter between skin and turkey breast. Next, add olive oil and massage into the turkey. Then add your rub seasoning to the turkey. Rub into the turkey skin for about 1 minute. Tuck the wings into the side of the bird so they cook more evenly.
- Chill turkey in the fridge before smoking. While you don’t need a full-on brine, it’s recommended to let the spatchcocked turkey sit in seasoning for a while to make it more flavorful. If you have the time, transfer seasoned spatchcocked turkey to the fridge and store for at least 2 hours, to overnight. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 30 minutes before smoking it.
- Preheat Traeger smoker to 275 degrees F. Add Traeger Turkey Blend wood pellets, or whatever pellets you’re using to the hopper. If desired, add a roasting pan with raised edges to catch the drippings below the grates (below where the turkey will sit). Add a small pan filled with room temperature or cold water on top of the grates, to the side, to add moisture as the spatchcocked turkey smokes (optional, but recommended).
- Smoke the spatchcocked turkey. Once preheated, add the spatchcocked turkey directly to the grill grates, breast side up. Smoke the spatchcocked turkey at 275 degrees F for 1.5 hours.
- Make the honey BBQ sauce baste. You don’t have to baste the turkey, but it will add a lot of flavor to the skin. To make it, add all the basting ingredients to a small saucepan and place the saucepan into the smoker 30 minutes into the cook time. After 30 minutes stir to combine ingredients and baste the turkey with the honey bbq sauce (use only half of the sauce). Continue to smoke for a 225 degrees F for an additional 30 minutes bringing your total cooking time – without the baste – to 1.5 hours
- Raise the temperature of the smoker to 350 degrees F. For the second time, brush the spatchcocked turkey with the remaining honey bbq baste. Close the lid and smoke until internal temperature of the turkey, measured in the thickest part of the turkey (the thigh) with an internal meat thermometer. Spatchcocked turkey is done smoking at 165 degrees F in the breast and 175 degrees F in the thigh.. Our total smoke time for spatchcocked turkey was about 2 hours.
- Rest smoked spatchcocked turkey for at least 20 minutes, under tin foil if desired. Carve and enjoy!
See how to spatchcock chicken and how to make smoked whole chicken…
FAQs
Spatchcocked turkey is a turkey that is no longer in its whole shape. In a previous recipe post, I smoked whole turkey with the pellet grill, for you to compare.
Instead, the spatchcocked turkey has its back bone removed and is flattened out. Therefore, it cooks in a flat layer directly on the grill grates. This means there is no hollow center cavity in the turkey when you cook it, which allows for more room for the hot heat of the smoker to flow around the spatchcocked turkey in the Traeger.
You have quite a few options. You could use Hickory Pellets for smoking this spatchcock turkey recipe, they’ll be a bit stronger, but I love them for Turkey and in things like smoked burgers. For a lighter smoke flavor, try these Turkey Traeger Pellets. (see my thoughts on turkey pellets)
More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked cream cheese
- Smoked brisket flat
- 321 ribs
- Beer can chicken on the smoker
- Smoked wings
- Smoked tomahawk steak
- Traeger tri tip
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked turkey legs
- Whole smoked turkey
- Smoked Traeger pizza
- Smoked onion rings
- Traeger smoked ham
- Smoked whole chicken
- Smoked jalapeno poppers
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Traeger beef ribs
- Smoked leg of lamb
- Smoked shrimp
- Roasted chicken
- Grilled chicken wings
- Grilled skirt steak
- Flank steak marinade
- Grilled potato wedges
- Smoked pulled pork
- Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes
See this Traeger Flatrock grill review.
See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about smoking a spatchcock turkey. You can also make smoked spatchcock chicken on the BBQ pellet grill, which I’ll share along with a smoked beer can chicken recipe soon.
If you don’t follow me on instagram you totally should @sipbitego. And for more deliciousness, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel and see the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
Best Traeger Spatchcock Turkey Smoker Recipe (BBQ Style) | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
Smoked spatchcocked turkey Ingredients
- 11 LB whole turkey
- ½ cup BBQ rub or poultry seasoning
- 3 tbsp olive oil
For the spatchcocked smoked turkey compound butter
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp rosemary fresh chopped
- 1 tsp thyme fresh chopped
For the honey BBQ baste (optional – it’s delicious!)
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
Instructions
- Remove the whole turkey from plastic. Remove inside parts and discard. Pat turkey with a paper towel.
- Spatchcock turkey. Use kitchen shears or a really sharp chef’s knife cut along each side of the backbone of the turkey. Then remove and discard the backbone. Flip the turkey so the breast side is up. Push down the turkey breast to flatten it out.
- Season spatchcocked turkey. First, use your fingers to loosen the skin of the turkey breast from the meat. Smear compound butter between skin and turkey breast. Next, add olive oil and massage into the turkey. Then add your rub seasoning to the turkey. Rub into the turkey skin for about 1 minute. Tuck the wings into the side of the bird so they cook more evenly.
- Chill turkey in the fridge before smoking. While you don’t need a full-on brine, it’s recommended to let the spatchcocked turkey sit in seasoning for a while to make it more flavorful. If you have the time, transfer seasoned spatchcocked turkey to the fridge and store for at least 2 hours, to overnight. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 30 minutes before smoking it.
- Preheat Traeger smoker, Pitt Boss, or whatever Pellet Grill you're using to 275 degrees F. Add Traeger Turkey Blend wood pellets, or whatever pellets you’re using to the hopper. If desired, add a roasting pan with raised edges to catch the drippings below the grates (below where the turkey will sit). Add a small pan filled with room temperature or cold water on top of the grates, to the side, to add moisture as the spatchcocked turkey smokes (optional, but recommended).
- Smoke the spatchcocked turkey. Once preheated, add the spatchcocked turkey directly to the grill grates, breast side up. Smoke the spatchcocked turkey at 275 degrees F for 1.5 hours.
- Make the honey BBQ sauce baste. You don’t have to baste the turkey, but it will add a lot of flavor to the skin. To make it, add all the basting ingredients to a small saucepan and place the saucepan into the smoker 30 minutes into the cook time. After 30 minutes stir to combine ingredients and baste the turkey with the honey bbq sauce (use only half of the sauce). Continue to smoke for a 225 degrees F for an additional 30 minutes bringing your total cooking time – without the baste – to 1.5 hours
- Raise the temperature of the smoker to 350 degrees F. For the second time, brush the spatchcocked turkey with the remaining honey bbq baste. Close the lid and smoke until internal temperature of the turkey, measured in the thickest part of the turkey (the thigh) with an internal meat thermometer. We actually measure in two places. We pull it from the Traeger when the smoked spatchcocked turkey is done smoking at 165 degrees F in the breast and 175 degrees F in the thigh (but sometimes people choose to pull the turkey from the heat at 160 F and let it come up to temperature under foil while it rests). Instead of referring to a time and temperature chart, check the bird with a thermometer because exactly how long to smoke a spatchcocked turkey will depend on how many times the smoker is opened, and the size of the bird. Our total smoke time for spatchcocked turkey was about 2 hours.
- Rest smoked spatchcocked turkey for at least 20 minutes, under tin foil if desired. Carve and enjoy!
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