Traeger Smoked Chicken Breasts are an easy way to grill lean juicy meat with added smoke flavor in a delicious 30 minute recipe!
Pellet Smoker Chicken Breasts
If you love boneless chicken breasts as much as I do, you’ve got to try these juicy breasts seasoned and smoked to perfection on your Traeger pellet grill! They are perfect for an easy peach summer salad or just about any recipe that uses cooked chicken!
Meal Prep Chicken Breasts
The reason I love chicken so much is because it is incredibly versatile. From wraps and salads to easy entrees, having pre-cooked chicken in the refrigerator makes for quick weeknight dinners or easy meal prep lunches.
Add some vegetables like sautéed garlic mushrooms or Air Fryer carrot fries for an incredibly healthy and easy meal.
Pack up your smoked chicken breasts and vegetables in your favorite meal prep containers for easy meal prep.
Smoked Chicken Recipes
If you are a fan of meal prepping, you will love these simple smoked chicken breasts. The possibilities truly are endless for easy recipes to use them with. Here are just a few of my favorite ideas!
- Buffalo Chicken Vegetable Pizza
- Avocado Corn Chicken Nachos
- Harvest Chicken Quinoa Salad
- Cheesy Chipotle Sliders
How to make smoked chicken breasts on pellet grill
These chicken breasts are a simple 30 minute recipe that you can throw together in no time. To get started, season your chicken breasts with your favorite rub. I love this Everything Rub that is incredibly versatile. It adds great flavor to chicken, beef and pork.
If you aren’t a fan of stocking a huge variety of spices in your cabinet, this is a must have for a well-rounded spice that you can use with most smoker recipes!
What to season your smoked chicken with
If you like changing things up, then you can use a variety of seasoning blends. Here are some of my favorites including some great Spiceology blends,
- EVERYTHING rub
- Greek Freak Mediterranean Spice Blend
- Nashville Hot Chicken
- Chili Margarita Mexican Blend
Use your favorite rub and season your chicken breasts to your liking. Whether you love a generous amount of seasoning like myself or just want to add a bit of flavor with a dash of spice.
Place your seasoned chicken breasts on a plate, cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Smoked chicken breasts on Traeger
After your put your seasoned chicken back in the refrigerator, fire up your Traeger or whichever pellet grill you own. Heat your grill to 350°F. Be sure to make sure your grill is filled with pellets so it doesn’t stop cooking part way through.
When the pellet grill is heated to 350°F, add the chicken breasts to the grill. Close the cover and cook for 10 minutes. If your Traeger has a temperature probe, be sure to place it in the center of the thickest chicken breast before closing the grill. Some grills have a wifi app that make it easy to track the temperature of the meat.
If you don’t have a wifi grill, then the next best option is a Thermapen. Sadly they don’t sell on Amazon, but they really are a great investment for grilling and roasting meats.
What temperature should I cook chicken to
If you are using an Instant Read Thermometer check the temperature after 10 minutes. The cooking time will vary based on how thick the chicken breasts are. Regardless of what size your chicken is, it should be cooked to 165°.
Smaller chicken breasts will take 10-12 minutes, while larger chicken breasts, like the ones I cooked, will take closer to 20 minutes. The worst mistake you can make with cooking chicken is under cooking it. That is food safe.
The next worst thing you can do is overcook your meat. This will lead to dry and tough chicken. Try your best to hit that sweet spot of 165°.
Should I let my chicken rest?
After your chicken is cooked to temp, place it on a clean plate (do NOT put it back on the same plate that handled the raw meat). Cover with a little tinfoil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
To serve the chicken use two forks and shred the meat, slice it up or serve a nice juicy breast on a plate with your sides.
What to serve with smoked chicken breasts
Whether you are looking or a simple and healthy meal or something a bit more indulgent, just about anything pairs well with chicken. Here are just a few side dish recipes that are great with smoked chicken!
- Spiralized Apple Cranberry Salad
- Air Fryer Carrot Fries
- Bacon Wrapped Pineapple
- Fresh Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad
- Pressure Cooker Mushroom Risotto
- Balsamic Dijon Roasted Root Vegetables
- Roasted Garlic Red Skin Potato Salad
Traeger Smoked Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup Everything Rub
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts to your liking. Place on a plate, cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Fire up your pellet grill and heat to 350°F.
- When the grill is a at 350°F, place the chicken breasts on the grill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Check the temperature of the chicken and cook until it reaches 165°F in the center of the meat.*
- Remove the cooked chicken from the grill and place on a clean plate. Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve sliced, shredded or whole!
KJ says
40m later……. Pounded out large chix breasts. 10 min is impossible.
Lara M says
I’m not even sure how long it took to get to 165°, but I believe it was around 15 min. Unfortunately, I left the foil on longer than 5 min, so the meat overcooked a tad. It wasn’t even enough to be a complaint, though. I’ll definitely use this cook temp for the future. I have no complaints.
Mike says
this article reads like it was written by chatgpt
Danielle Green says
It wasn’t 🙂
Darryl says
10 minute chicken breast… That’s all I needed to read – either the stuff is trying to kill your or is just blatantly incompetent. This isn’t even close to reality. If you can’t get the basic time and temp correct there is no point in listening to anything else you say.
corey says
5⭐
Paul says
Well you time to cook the chicken is way off!! I did 15 minutes and it’s not even CLOSE to because my done!
Danielle Green says
15 minutes is about the minimum time it will take, but it entirely depends on the size and thickness of the chicken. For small thin chicken breasts, 15 minutes is appropriate. For larger chicken breasts that haven’t been tenderized, it will take much longer.
Kurtis says
Took way longer than 10 minutes for me. I had them on for 30-40 before reaching 165.
Mark says
50 Minutes to 165 for large bone in breasts turned out very juicy and tasty,
Mark says
I used large bone in breasts and took 50 min.
Becky says
Do I need to add pellets to my traeger for this recipe?
Danielle Green says
You will always need to add pellets to your Traeger in order for it to generate heat and work.
Jules Rosen says
I have 1.5 lb breasts. I think 40 minutes is more like it
Asiah says
My husband loves to smoke everything. Everything except Chicken breasts. I decided to try myself and this recipe surprised us both. It was so quick and yet still moist. Our new go to. Thanks!
Craig T says
Do you cook your chicken breast for 5 minutes on each side with a total cooking time of 10 minutes?
Danielle Green says
You don’t have to flip them. You can just cook them for 10 minutes on one side, or do 5 minutes on each side if you’d prefer.
Jason says
Can you use a lower temp if you are trying to cook with other meats? As long as you hit the goal temp of 165? I have a feeling we will be hosting Christmas this year and we will need to offer a few protein options.
Danielle Green says
You can, but you want to be careful not to cook too low and slow or you can really dry out the chicken breasts. Lean chicken doesn’t hold up to low and slow like fattier meats do.
Margie says
Wow, flakey, moist, drips with flavor I my husband loved it! The size was very bigger than I expected so I left the temperature reach 175. I did let it rest for 5 minutes covered with aluminum, what a delicious surprise!
Necia says
It says place in the thinnest. Ready not the thinnest part. The reason is so you don’t overlook the thinnest breast’s.
Coastal Smoker says
Why do you put the temperature probe in the thinnest part of the breast? I’d think it’d go in the thickest part to ensure it’s cooked through.
Danielle Green says
The temperature probe should go in the center of the thickest part of the meat, as shown in the photos.
ZGrill45 says
The write up says “If your Traeger has a temperature probe, be sure to place it in the center of the thinnest chicken breast before closing the grill.” though.
Danielle Green says
Ah yes, I apologize for that typo in the body of the post. Thanks for pointing that out.
Girly Foodie says
These chicken breasts look amazing. You did an amazing job with them. So mouthwatering.
Jordan says
They “look” amazing? If even Amazon is now removing fake comments/reviews, why is this drivel still here six weeks later?
Malinda Linnebur says
This was so good! My whole family loved it and it’s now on regular rotation!!
Julie says
The kids even loved this chicken! It was so easy to put together and there are no leftovers. We’ll be making this again!
Alison LaFortune says
So juicy and flavorful! Our new favorite grilling recipe.