Juicy Smoked Burgers

Name: Juicy Smoked Burgers
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 30 ounces ground beef ((20% fat)); 1 Tbsp kosher salt; freshly ground black pepper ((to taste)); 6 slices cheese; 6 sesame seed buns; 3 Tbsp softened butter

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Grilling season is here and just in time for this extra juicy Traeger smoked burgers recipe! These tender burgers are really easy to prepare and only require 3 ingredients and a pellet grill. Serve your smoked hamburgers with fries, potato salad, or a dill pickle chopped salad!

smoked burger and fried with condiments in the background

I love grilling season and what better way to dust off the 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.

So, whether you're observing Memorial Day (when we honor our fallen heroes, not thank our veterans), or looking for quick smoked dinner ideas, these smoked cheeseburgers are worth considering!

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🧐Why This Recipe Works
🛒What You Need For This Recipe
🔖Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
🍎 Best Pellets For Smoking Burgers
🔪Helpful Tools
🍔 How to Make Smoked Burgers
🥓Smoked Burger Toppings
🥫Smoked Hamburger Condiments
🥗 Side Dishes For Smoked Hamburgers
🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs
👩🏼‍🍳Pro Tips
🥩 More Smoker Recipes
🍖Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

🧐Why This Recipe Works

This smoked burgers 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.

🛒What You Need For This Recipe

🔖Recipe 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!

🍎 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

🍔 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 for 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!

🥓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 barbecue sauce are always popular options, but why not try something different? Here are some of my favorite condiments!

🥗 Side Dishes For Smoked Hamburgers

Hamburgers, whether smoked or not, and fries are a match made in heaven, am I right? However, why not try something new? For example, these delicious smoked twice baked potatoes from our friend, Sherry, at FromMichiganToTheTable. Or try this delicious smoked macaroni and cheese from Amanda at BurrataAndBubbles.

If you prefer something light, try this yummy pear & arugula goat cheese salad, or this sweet Lebanese fattoush salad. Still need more ideas? Check out these other options below!

🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs

How long does it take to smoke burgers at 225?

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 effect the time it takes to smoke the burgers.

Do you flip burgers on a smoker?

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.

Are smoked burgers pink in the middle?

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 F yields a rare to medium-rare burger, which will be pink in the middle.

Should I sear burgers after smoking?

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 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 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 leftovers smoked burgers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days.

🥩 More Smoker Recipes

Here's some of my readers' favorite smoker recipes:

smoked burgrs and fries with condiments in the background

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!

🍖Related Recipes

If you love this Traeger smoked burgers recipe, be sure to check out these other popular burger recipes!

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