Smoked Stuffed Turkey Breast with 2 Ingredient Glaze

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This smoked stuffed turkey breast is made with your favorite stuffing recipe and a quick, two ingredient cranberry orange glaze. Tightly rolled and smoked to perfection on the pellet grill or smoker, this stuffed turkey breast is perfect for Thanksgiving or anytime you want a comforting and easy turkey dinner!

Fall is here, and there’s no better way to kick off turkey season than with a showstopping smoked stuffed turkey breast. This recipe combines the best of traditional Thanksgiving flavors—savory cornbread stuffing, tender smoked turkey, and a sweet-tart cranberry orange glaze—all prepared on your pellet grill or smoker.

Whether you’re looking for a smaller alternative to a whole turkey or just want to enjoy those holiday flavors any time of year, this recipe delivers big on taste without the commitment of cooking an entire bird.

The key to success is butterflying the turkey breast to create a flat surface for stuffing, rolling it up, and smoking it low and slow until perfectly cooked. We’ll walk you through every step, from making the cornbread stuffing from scratch to achieving that beautiful glazed finish.

Ingredients

• boneless turkey breast – Look for a breast that’s about 3.5 – 4 pounds in weight. I used a Butterball boneless turkey breast that weighed exactly 4 pounds.
• stuffing – Use your favorite recipe or prepare boxed stuffing according to package instructions, but don’t bake it. You can also use leftover stuffing.
• all purpose Texas-style rub – You can find our simple Texas rub recipe here, the perfect blend of coarse black pepper, Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, seasoned salt, and garlic powder.
• orange marmalade and cranberry sauce – These two ingredients get heated for a simple, sweet glaze.

Making the Cornbread Stuffing

To make stuffed turkey breast, you first need to have about 2 cups of stuffing (or dressing) to stuff the turkey. You can use your favorite recipe, or even boxed cornbread stuffing mix. Heck, you could even use leftover stuffing that you cooked for Easter and froze for future quick side dishes.

For this particular smoked turkey breast, I used our semi-homemade smoked cornbread stuffing recipe. I call it “semi” homemade because it starts off with a cast iron skillet cornbread that’s cooked in a bit of bacon grease. And then the homemade, perfectly crispy-fried cornbread is dried out in a low oven, crumbled, and added to a bagged stuffing mix – I use swear by the Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing bag.

Instructions

Step 1: Butterfly the Turkey Breast

Open the turkey breast package and pat dry with paper towels. Remove any excess skin from the turkey. Then place the breast on a cutting board and, using a sharp knife, cut horizontally through the thickest part of the breast, being careful not to cut all the way through. Open it up like a book.

If one side is thicker, gently pound it to create an even thickness across the entire breast. I prefer to lay a piece of plastic wrap over the length of the butterflied turkey breast, and then use the bottom of a heavy skillet or saucepan as a meat mallet, pounding out any thicker areas so the breast is uniform in size.

Step 2: Stuff and Roll

Lay the butterflied turkey breast flat on your work surface. Spread the cooled stuffing evenly across the surface, leaving about an inch at the edges. Roll the turkey breast tightly from one end to the other, keeping the seam on the bottom to help hold the breast together while you tie it.

Then, use butcher twine to truss the roll every 1-2 inches. You can also secure the ends with toothpicks if needed.

Step 3: Season and Smoke the Stuffed Turkey Breast

Generously season all sides of the rolled turkey with Texas-style rub (salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt). We also added our Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning, but any AP or turkey rub will work as well.

Then, place the stuffed turkey breast directly on the grates of your pellet grill or smoker, and smoke at 275°F for one hour. After the first hour, increase the grill temp to 325°F, and continue to cook the breast until it reaches an internal temp of about 155°F.

Step 4: Glaze and Finish

When the turkey breast is almost at 155°F internal, prepare the glaze. Combine equal parts orange marmalade and canned cranberry sauce in a small saucepan and heat until warmed through, stirring constantly so the sugars don’t burn.

When the turkey reaches about 155°F, brush the glaze generously over the entire surface. Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 160-162°F (accounting for carryover cooking, which will bring it to the safe 165°F). *Total cooking time will be approximately 2-3 hours depending on the size of your breast.

Step 5: Rest and Slice

Remove the turkey from the smoker when it reaches about 162°F internal temperature. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes (this is when carryover cooking brings it to 165°F). Carefully remove the butcher’s twine. Slice the turkey breast into thick slices (about 3/4 inch) to showcase the beautiful stuffing spiral.

Arrange slices on a platter and serve with the warm gravy. The cranberry-orange glaze provides a sweet-tart complement, so you can enjoy it with or without gravy.

Learn from My Mistake

Depending on what type of turkey breast you purchase, it may come wrapped in a netting made of twine. When we originally made this smoked turkey breast, I only cut the netting halfway down to remove the turkey breast from the package, and then after rolling the stuffed breast, I slid the netting back on.

My thinking was that this method would hold the stuffed turkey breast together better, and it would save me some time from having to tie the roll with butcher’s twine. It worked out great at first, but when I cut the netting off after smoking, most of the delicious glaze came off with it.

Instead, I recommend tying the rolled stuffed breast every 1-2 inches with butcher’s twine. That way, there’s more surface area for the cranberry orange glaze to stick to, and you won’t lose near as much as I did with the netting.

Frequently Asked Questions

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