Cook the best chicken breasts in the smoker! See how to make juicy Traeger smoked chicken breasts without brine… This super smoky main dish recipe comes with two seasoning ideas. Let’s smoke juicy and flavorful chicken in the pellet grill…
Quick look at chicken breast in the smoker
- Preheat the smoker and prepare chicken breast with seasoning.
- Smoke chicken breast at 225 degrees F for a few hours.
- Smoked chicken done temp is 165 degrees F.
- Rest and enjoy.
New to cooking this smoker recipe?
Scroll for step-by-step photos and a full-length video guide…
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to cook chicken breast on smoker grills.
- Chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- BBQ dry rub or poultry seasoning of choice
Note: don’t overthink seasoning smoked chicken… really, you could use any seasonings – even just salt and pepper with a little garlic powder would be amazing. Let the smoke from the pellets do the work!
What temperature to smoke chicken breast
For tender, juicy results, 225 degrees F is a favorite smoker temperature for chicken breast at my house. Sometimes I’ll smoke chicken breast at 250 degrees F to accommodate other things I’m smoking at the same time.
The bonus here is that a lot of good smoked appetizers and smoked side dishes – like smoked queso and smoked red potatoes – can be cooked at the same temperature, so you can really make a meal with easy to make smoked food for dinner.
Smoked chicken breast recipe step-by-step
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Detailed recipe steps
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 225 degrees F.
- Prep chicken breasts for smoking. First pat dry with a paper towel to remove any excess chicken juice. Coat the chicken breasts in olive oil then add your chicken rub or BBQ seasoning of your choice. Massage in the dry rub so it adheres to the chicken breasts.
- Smoke chicken breasts at 225 degrees F for 2 – 3 hours depending on how thick your chicken breasts are. No flipping necessary.
- Remove when smoker chicken breasts reach 165 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
- Rest. Allow the smoked chicken breasts to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- Finish smoked chicken breasts and enjoy.
Best chicken smoker recipes from Sip Bite Go
- Smoked whole chicken
- Traeger smoked chicken thighs
- Smoked wings
- Smoked chicken breast
- Chicken temperature guide
Next up? Learn how to smoke a ham…
FAQs
I used two seasonings you’ll see in the Sip Bite Go video. Blackening seasoning (my husband loves it!) Chef Paul Blackened Redfish Magic Seasoning and the other was Traeger Chicken Rub Citrus / Black Pepper flavor.
The time that it takes to smoke chicken breasts depends on how thick or thin the chicken breasts are. If you have super thin chicken breasts, the cooking process will take less than an hour.
If your chicken breasts are on the thicker side, like ours in this recipe, you can expect the process to take anywhere from 1.5 – 3-ish hours.
Again, it’s always recommended that you use an internal read thermometer and pull the chicken breasts off of the smoker when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
You should smoke your boneless chicken breasts at 225 degrees F.
We recommend using Apple pellets or wood chips. For this particular smoking demo, we used Apple Pellets which create a sweet smoky flavor that’s great for smoking chicken.
But we’ve made chicken on the smoker numerous times, with everything from rich-flavored Traeger Hickory Pellets to the regular signature blend, and they’ve all been so delicious! Poultry really picks up a lot of smoke flavor cooked this way.
Smoked boneless chicken breasts will be done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F when measured by an instant read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken breast.
Your options are endless here! You can serve your smoked chicken breasts in a variety of ways. Slice it for a sandwich or slider, like we did. Add it to a salad, use it as a topping for a smoked mac and cheese or serve with a side like smoked baked potatoes or smoked mashed potatoes.
More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked cream cheese
- Smoked brisket flat
- 321 ribs
- Beer can chicken on the smoker
- Smoked wings
- Smoked tomahawk steak
- Traeger tri tip
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked turkey legs
- Whole smoked turkey
- Smoked Traeger pizza
- Smoked onion rings
- Traeger smoked ham
- Smoked whole chicken
- Smoked jalapeno poppers
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Traeger beef ribs
- Smoked leg of lamb
- Smoked shrimp
- Roasted chicken
- Grilled chicken wings
- Grilled skirt steak
- Flank steak marinade
- Grilled potato wedges
- Smoked pulled pork
- Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes
See this Traeger Flatrock grill review.
See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about smoking chicken breast on the pellet grill. I think you’ll love it!
Enjoy cooking and chat soon on Instagram / TikTok / YouTube.
– JennaNext, browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection…
BEST Smoked Chicken Breast Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp seasonings any bbq dry rub or poultry seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 225 degrees F.
- Prep chicken breasts for smoking. First pat dry with a paper towel to remove any excess chicken juice. Coat the chicken breasts in olive oil then add your chicken rub or BBQ seasoning of your choice. Massage in the dry rub so it adheres to the chicken breasts.
- Smoke chicken breasts at 225 degrees F for 2 – 3 hours depending on how thick your chicken breasts are. No flipping necessary.
- Remove smoked chicken breasts. When the chicken breasts reach 165 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
- Rest. Allow the smoked chicken breasts to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- Finish smoked chicken breasts by slicing it for a sandwich or salad and enjoy.
Mark says
Yay. Good smoked food.
Camela says
good smoked chicken breasts. Flavor was awesome.
Brandon says
This was an excellent recipe and easy to follow instructions. I added a little bit of apple cider and a cap of Moore’s marinade to the olive oil, and it turned out so well! Thanks!