Grilling season is here, and just in time for this extra juicy 3-ingredient Traeger-smoked burgers recipe! These tender burgers are so good, they're featured in Brian Baumgartner's Seriously Good Barbecue Cookbook! Serve your smoked hamburgers with fries, marinated onions, or a dill pickle chopped salad!
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I love grilling season, and what better way to dust off your pellet grill than with these beautiful smoked burgers? I'm keeping it really simple with this recipe by seasoning the ground beef with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Whether you're observing Memorial Day (when we honor our fallen heroes, not thank veterans) or looking for quick smoked dinner ideas, these smoked cheeseburgers are worth considering!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This smoked burger recipe takes less than an hour to prepare!
- This is a basic smoker recipe that anyone can master, even a newbie!
- You only need 3 ingredients to make these smoked hamburgers.
- Leftover burgers can be reheated and enjoyed the following day.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Ground Beef: Use ground chuck that has at least 15% fat, preferably 20% to ensure juicy burgers. This recipe can also be used to make lamb burgers, yum!
- Seasoning: Use kosher salt and sprinkle ¼ teaspoon on each side of the burger patties. If possible, use freshly ground black pepper. Garlic powder and onion powder are also great seasoning options. Of course, you can also use your favorite burger seasoning.
- Cheese: Any sliced cheese, including American, pepper jack, Swiss, provolone, or cheddar cheese, can be used.
- Hamburger Buns: Choose from plain, sesame seed buns, poppy seed buns, or my favorite, ciabatta bread!
- Butter: Spread 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of softened butter on the inside of the hamburger buns and grill during the last 2 minutes of smoking time. Another option is to use mayo instead!
- Optional: Try smoked burgers topped with candied bacon, yummo!
Best Pellets For Smoking Burgers
I recommend choosing strong-flavored wood chips or pellets to smoke your burgers. My favorites include hickory, mesquite, and oak. If you prefer a more subtle flavor, you'll want to try pecan, maple, alder, or apple.
Helpful Tools
- Pellet grill or smoker
- Pellets or wood chips
- Kitchen scale (paid link)
- Meat thermometer
How to Make Smoked Burgers
Step 1: Turn the smoker on and preheat to 225℉. If you have a super smoke option on your grill, this would be a good time to use it!
Step 2: Meanwhile, divide the ground beef into six 5-ounce portions. A kitchen scale can be helpful. Form the meat into 6 hamburgers about 5" in diameter and ½ inches thick. Do not overwork the meat. Use your thumb to make a dent in the center of each burger.
Pro Tip: Here's a video illustrating how to form burgers the easy way!
Step 3: Season burgers with salt and pepper, then carefully transfer them with a spatula onto the heated grill. Stick a probe into the side of one of the burgers, close lid, and set probe temperature to 130℉. It should take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to get to 130℉.
Pro Tip: Making a dent in the center of the raw burgers keeps the burgers from puffing up in the center as they cook.
Step 4: When the probe temperature reaches 130℉, remove the burgers and cover them with foil. Turn the smoker's temperature up to 450°F. Meanwhile, butter each side of the hamburger buns with softened butter or mayonnaise.
Step 5: When the smoker is ready, sear the hamburgers for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature of the burgers is 145℉ for medium. Top the burgers with cheese during the last 2 minutes. This is also a good time to toast the buttered burger buns.
Pro Tip: Smoke to an internal temperature of 125℉ for rare, 135℉ for medium rare, 145℉ for medium, and 160℉ for well done.
Serve these Traeger-smoked burgers with an assortment of condiments and toppings for your guests to pick from! And if you're entertaining someone vegan, make them a yummy black bean burger!
Smoked Burger Toppings
Smoked burgers taste wonderful as-is but really shine with caramelized onions or grilled mushrooms. Of course, there's always the classic hamburger toppings such as crispy bacon, sliced purple onions, sliced tomatoes, butter lettuce, and pickles!
Smoked Hamburger Condiments
As far as spreads go, mustard, mayo, ketchup, and huckleberry barbecue sauce are always popular options, but why not try something different, like this sweet pepper relish, frizzled onions, or one of these other tasty options?
- 5 ingredient sriracha aioli
- Zesty chow chow relish
- Cilantro chimichurri sauce
- Lemon garlic aioli
- Honey mustard sauce
- Black truffle aioli
- horseradish sauce
- Big Mac sauce
Side Dishes For Smoked Hamburgers
Hamburgers and fries are a match made in heaven, am I right? However, why not try something new? These delicious smoked twice baked potatoes or this smoked macaroni and cheese make great side options.
If you prefer something light, try this yummy pear & arugula salad, or this sweet Lebanese fattoush salad. Still need more ideas? Check out these other options below!
- Air fried potato wedges
- Chipotle smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked twice baked potatoes
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Air fried corn ribs
Recipe FAQs
It takes approximately 60 minutes to smoke a hamburger on a pellet grill at 225℉ if it doesn't get seared at a higher temperature at some point. The thickness of the burger, the outside temperature, and how many times the lid is lifted can affect the time it takes to smoke the burgers.
Smoked burgers do not need to be flipped during the initial smoking period. However, if you decide to sear the burgers, you will need to flip the burgers so that both sides can be seared.
Depending on how long burgers are smoked, they can be pink in the middle or cooked all the way through. Smoking a burger to an internal temperature of 125-135℉ yields a rare to medium-rare burger, which will be pink in the middle.
The flavor or smoked burgers is definitely enhanced when you sear the burgers after the initial smoking time. Some people even reverse-sear the burgers (sear them first then smoke the burgers at a lower temperature).
The burgers should be smoked at 225℉ until they reach an internal temperature of 130℉, then seared at 450℉ for a few minutes on each side or until the internal temperature is 145℉ (medium).
Pro Tips
- Start with room temperature ground chuck so that the cooking time doesn't need to be increased.
- Resist lifting the lid while the burgers smoke. Doing so will allow the heat to escape and increase the smoking time.
- If you plan on adding grilled onions to your Traeger smoked burgers, a good time to prepare them is right after you add the hamburgers to the smoker.
- If you have an air fryer, you can air fry frozen fries as a quick side dish.
- Store leftover smoked burgers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days.
More Smoker Recipes
Here are some of my readers' favorite smoker recipes:
- Smoked brisket
- Smoked pork loin
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked chicken thighs
- Traeger pulled pork
- Smoked corned beef
If you're looking for some great summertime dessert ideas, be sure to check out my 35 Red White and Blue Desserts round-up. It's loaded with delicious options. The hardest part will be settling on just one!
More Sandwich Recipes
If you love this Traeger smoked burger recipe, be sure to check out these other popular burger recipes!
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Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Turn the smoker on and preheat to 225℉. If you have a super smoke option on your Traeger grill, this would be a good time to use it!
- Meanwhile, divide the ground beef into six 5-ounce portions. A kitchen scale can be helpful. Form the meat into 6 hamburgers about 5" in diameter and ½ inches thick. Do not over work the meat. Use your thumb to make a dent in the center of each burger.
- Season burgers with salt and pepper then carefully transfer them with a spatula onto the heated grill. Stick a probe into the side of one of the burgers, close lid, and set probe temperature to 130℉. It should take anywhere for 30 to 45 minutes to get to 130℉
- When the probe temperature reaches 130℉, remove the burgers and cover them with foil. Turn the smoker's temperature up to 450°F. Meanwhile, butter each side of the hamburger buns with softened butter or mayonnaise.
- When the smoker is ready, sear the hamburgers for two minutes on each side or until the burgers internal temperature is 145℉ for medium. Top the burgers with cheese during the last 2 minutes. This is also a good time to toast the buttered burger buns.
- Serve these Traeger smoked burgers with an assortment of condiments and toppings for your guests to pick from!
Nutrition
Notes
- Calories are for the hamburger without the bun and condiments.
- Here's a video illustrating how to form burgers the easy way!
- Making a dent in the center of the raw burgers keeps the burgers from puffing up in the center as they cook.
- Start with room temperature ground chuck so that the cook time doesn't need to be increased.
- Resist lifting the lid while the burgers smoke. Doing so will allow the heat to escape and increase the smoking time.
- If you plan on adding grilled onions, a good time to prepare them is right after you add the hamburgers to the smoker.
- Smoke to an internal temperature of 125℉ for rare, 135℉ for medium rare, 145℉ for medium, and 160℉ for well done.
- If you have an air fryer, you can air fry frozen fries as a quick side dish.
- Store leftover smoked burgers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days.
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