Traeger Burgers

When it comes to grilling, there's nothing quite like this Traeger burger recipe. Whether you're cooking for a crowd or just for yourself, these burgers are sure to please. Made with 100% ground beef and your favorite toppings, Traeger burgers are juicy, flavorful, and easy to make. So fire up the grill and get ready to enjoy the best burger you've ever had.

Traeger grills are known for their ability to cook food evenly and infuse it with a smoky flavor. This is why many grill masters choose to use a Traeger when cooking beef burgers. The key to cooking a great burger on a Traeger is to use the right kind of wood pellets.

For beef burgers, hickory or mesquite pellets are best. These woods will give the Traeger burgers a smoky flavor without overpowering them.

Ingredients for Traeger Burgers

Ground Beef - The best meat for burgers will have some fat and marbling. It is up to you if you want to go with ground chuck for a very juicy burger, or ground sirloin that will give a ton of flavor without a ton of fat. 

Onions - I love onions in my burger. You can add onion powder or minced raw onions. I love to use sauteed onions or smoked onions are even better. Take your cooked onions and give them a mince so that it is easy to mix into the ground beef.

Garlic - Garlic is found in most of my recipes. I love the kick of flavor that it adds. Garlic powder is a great choice for burgers as it gets evenly distributed well throughout the ground meat.

Salt and Pepper - The final ingredients to season the meat are of course salt and pepper. Properly seasoning your burger patty is the difference between om and great burgers.

Instructions for Traeger Burger Recipe

Step One - Combine Ground beef, salt, black pepper, garlic, and onions in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix and incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly. Form the seasoned beef into two patties about an inch thick. Think of the size of the burger buns you are planning on using. You can also make several smaller patties if you want to make hamburger sliders. 

Step Two - Place the burger patties onto the grill grate in your preheated pellet smoker, close the lid, and smoke for about 30 minutes at 225°F. Then turn the temperature up to 500°F and cook the burgers until your desired doneness.

I enjoy my burgers medium rare. So I will pull them off when the internal temperature reaches around 135°F. If you prefer medium burgers, just use a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temp. The burgers will be done when the internal temperature reaches 145°F.

Traeger Grill tip: If you are cooking hamburgers on a Traeger and you have the super smoke feature on your grill, this cook is a great time to use it. Use it for the first 30 minutes as you smoke the Traeger burgers at 225 degrees Fahrenheit. The feature will turn off when you crank the heat up to 500 degrees F, but that is ok.

Let's talk burger toppings for a second.

For this burger, I went with an incredible combination. Bacon, cheddar, avocado, and chipotle mayo. I had this flavor combination on an egg sandwich in Boston several years back and it blew my taste buds away. This makes amazing Traeger burgers even more amazing.

Burger Tip - I recommend a piece of lettuce under the burger when you put it on the bun. This keeps any juice from the burger off the bun from making it soggy and tougher to hold.

Tips to Smoke Burgers and Other Smaller Cooks

Sometimes we can think of smoking as needing a huge piece of meat and taking several hours to accomplish our goal. In truth, if you want that delicious smoky flavor, you just need to know how to use what you have.

If you have a pellet grill, follow the instructions in the blog post or recipe card for Traeger burgers.

If you have a charcoal grill, you can keep the coals on one side with some hickory wood chips, while you place the burger on the other side. Cook it for 30 minutes with low indirect heat and then finish these over the hot coals for a nice sear.

If you have a gas grill, get a small smoker tube, put some wood pellets in there, start them and then put them in the grill along with the burgers and close the lid. Again, only use one gas burner and cook the burgers first on the opposite side of the heat, while you smoke them. Then finish them over the gas burner that is on.

Common Questions

What is a Traeger Burger?

When I say I'm making a Traeger Burger recipe, I am referring to my cooking method. The Traeger Pellet Grill is a grill and a smoker. It has several different functions. I have made traditional smoked classics like pulled pork and smoked brisket on it. I have also used it as a high-heat grill for grilling things like wings and steaks. The cool part about these types of grills is that you can start a cook on a low temp and smoke it to give it that smoky flavor, then crank the heat and cook while also adding that wood-fired char. This burger is cooked in that style. We will smoke it low for a short time, then turn the heat up to give the Traeger burgers a good sear with flavor.

What are great Burger Toppings?

Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato - You can never go wrong with these classics. If you are having a summer BBQ, you better make sure you have these on hand.

Cheese - Whether it is cheddar cheese, American cheese, mozzarella, swiss cheese, or bleu cheese, the cheese is the glue that holds all the toppings together. 

Veggies - Sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions, or onion rings are delicious options. If you have never tried them I highly recommend them.

Condiments - Ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, and mayo are classics. But we like to kick things up with this Sriracha Mayo.

 We also enjoy french fries or Cajun Potato Salad with these.

 

Some other great Traeger Recipes

Traeger Smoked Turkey

Traeger Duck

Traeger Wings

Traeger Ribs

Traeger Smoked Brisket

Traeger Tri Tip

Trager Smoked Pork Chops