The best chicken – EVERRRR! 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 chicken in the pellet grill to PERFECTION!!
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Why this chicken breast recipe for the smoker is so good…
- Turns out JUICY AF.
- Quick recipe for the smoker with minimal prep work.
- Simple seasoning – use what you have on hand!
- NO BRINE method.
- NO MARINADE method.
- Leftovers are so delicious in smoked chicken breast sandwiches!
- New to smoker recipes and Traeger dishes? See my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
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
Don’t overthink seasoning smoked chicken
Really, you could use any seasonings – as simple as salt and pepper with a little garlic powder would be amazing, itself!
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 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.
How to smoke chicken breast
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Quick look at this smoked chicken breast recipe
- 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.
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 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.
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…
Smoked chicken breast salad recipe example
See how I meal prepped smoked chicken breast for a salad….
The smoke time was about 3 hours at 225 degrees F.
I rested the chicken breast for about 15 minutes, then it was sliced thin and stored in the fridge until it was time to enjoy.
This smoked chicken breast salad was served with
- Spring mix greens
- Tomatoes
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- And a homemade balsamic vinaigrette – though it would be great with this kale slaw dressing or jalapeno ranch dressing
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.
You could slice it to go on top of a delicious green salad.
You could use it as a topping for a smoked mac and cheese with chicken for example.
Or you could slice it and eat it paired with smoked baked potatoes or smoked mashed potatoes as a side dish. Simply dip in bbq sauce. Either direction and you cannot go wrong. 
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
- 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!
More tasty chicken recipes
- Air fryer chicken breast
- Smoked chicken breast
- Griddled chicken breast
- Sous vide chicken breast
- Chicken temperature guide
- Chicken spinach pizza with bacon
- BBQ chicken pizza
- Sous vide bbq chicken wings
- Sous vide chicken breast
- Balsamic marinated chicken with mozzarella
- Caprese chicken sandwiches
- Sous vide whole chicken
- How to cook chicken breast on the stove
- Spatchcock chicken step by step
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!
Tasty sides for a simple chicken dinner include smoked pineapple or grilled pineapple with a little brown sugar and cinnamon, and rice and a vegetable.
Connect…
- Follow for new recipes on Instagram / TikTok
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- Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
- Say “hi” to my husband @handmodelpatrick.
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.
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!