Goose meat possesses compact muscle tissue and requires a particularly long duration under conventional brining processes. To improve the brining efficiency of goose meat, the effects of ultrasound-combined sodium bicarbonate brining (USB) on the mass transfer characteristics and quality attributes of goose meat and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. The breast samples of Zhedong white goose were selected and subjected to USB (40 kHz, 360 W, 2 wt.% NaHCO3 and 5 wt.% NaCl), sodium bicarbonate brining (SB, 2 wt.% NaHCO3 and 5 wt.% NaCl) and conventional brining (5 wt.% NaCl), respectively. The total, NaCl and water weight changes, as well as quality attributes, protein properties and microstructure were analyzed. Compared with SB, USB significantly enhanced the changes in total, NaCl and water weights during the brining process and exhibited a higher NaCl diffusion coefficient of 1.66×10-8 m2·s-1 (P<0.05). Moreover, the brining yield and the NaCl content significantly increased by 5.10% and 8.68%, respectively (P<0.05). The △E value of the USB group was only 2.02, showing a similar appearance compared to the uncured samples. No significant changes in malondialdehyde levels were observed under the USB treatment (P>0.05). Compared with the conventional brining, the pH levels of the USB samples increased to 7.66, while the salt-soluble protein content significantly enhanced and the cooking loss remarkably decreased by 53.85% (P<0.05), contributing to an improved water retention ability. Meanwhile, the shearing force was 25.39% lower than that of the uncured breast samples (P<0.05), exhibiting improved tenderness. Notably, no significant changes in sulfhydryl contents were recorded in the USB-treated samples, but a significant decrease in the surface hydrophobicity was observed when compared with the uncured ones (P<0.05). Microstructural observation revealed that sodium bicarbonate promoted the swelling of myofibrillar proteins, whereas ultrasound enlarged the spaces between the muscle fibers, thus accelerating the mass transfer in goose meat. These findings provide a theoretical basis and guidance for the application of USB in the marination and processing of goose meat.