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Make this insanely easy AND JUICY Traeger smoked tomahawk steak recipe. Smoke it to rare then finish it with a simple reverse sear or reverse grill finish. Plus you’ll get a tasty (optional) compound smoked steak butter idea to try. Let’s do it!

Traeger Smoked Tomahawk Steak With Reverse Sear On The Grill — Once you try this tomahawk steak recipe, you’ll see why the smoker is the way to cook it!

Table of Contents

This recipe also includes a compound smoked steak butter.

It’s optional… But seriously, you have to try it because when smoking a fancy cut of steak like this, you gotta add a beautiful fancy butter on top!!

Jenna Smoked Food Blogger Biting A Tomahawk Steak By The Traeger Pellet Grills Smoker

What is a tomahawk steak?

A tomahawk steak comes from the rib primal section of a cow. The reason why it’s called a tomahawk steak is because the ribeye cut is left intact with at least 5” of rib bone. This cut is also sometimes referred to as a cowboy steak.

How do you prepare a tomahawk steak?

If your butcher or local market didn’t fully prepare the tomahawk steak for you, then you will have to clean or french the meat by cutting away the fat and some of the meat from the rib bone. You should scrap all excess fat and meat off the rib bone to give your tomahawk steak a nice looking presentation.

How long to smoke tomahawk steak at 225 F?

At 225 degrees F, it will take you about 2 hours to smoke a tomahawk ribeye to 120 degrees F internal temperature.

How long to smoked tomahawk steak at 250 degrees F?

It will finish smoking a bit faster at 250 degrees F, about 90 minutes.

What’s the difference between ribeye steak vs tomahawk steak?

The main difference between ribeye and tomahawk is that a tomahawk steak will have the rib bone intact. A ribeye steak will not have the rib bone attached thus might be a little less moist, but in reality you won’t see too much of a difference in the flavor of these cuts of steaks.

What does it mean to reverse sear a steak?

This means that you will sear your steak after you have already cooked it internally to a temperature that you desire. The steak is “cooked” in this sense, but the outside is rubbery, so you’ll then sear it on a grill or cast iron skillet for 2 – 3 minutes per side to give your steak a nice crusty char on the outside.

Medium rare Traeger Smoked Tomahawk Steak Resting On A Cutting Board — Learn how to cook a tomahawk steak in the smoker, then finish it in a cast iron pan or on the grill…

Ingredients

Here’s what you need for smoking a tomahawk.

For simple smoked tomahawk steak

Tomahawk steak (3-4” thick)
Olive oil
BBQ seasoning

A note on trimming tomahawk steak

In the Sip Bite Go recipe video, you’ll see we trimmed the meat and fat on the bone of the tomahawk steak before smoking it, to reveal more of the bone, for aesthetic purposes.

Seasoned Tomahawk Steak On The Traeger Pellet Grills

Traeger smoked tomahawk steak compound butter

For making your smoked steak dinner super memorable, make this easy compound smoked steak butter in advance of smoking the steak.

Garlic
Olive oil
Butter
Basil
Shallot
Pepper
Salt
Lemon zest and juice

Compound Butter for Smoked Tomahawk Steak

How to smoke tomahawk steak

Now I’ll walk you through it…

How to cook a tomahawk steak on the pellet grill

Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 225 degrees F.
Prep the tomahawk steak for smoking. If required, remove any fat or tough meat from the ribeye bone to clean it up.
Season the tomahawk steak by coating it with olive oil as a binder (optional). Sprinkle Traeger ribeye rub all over the tomahawk steak and rub it in with your hands. Place the tomahawk steak into the fridge to let the seasoning adhere to the steak.
Smoke tomahawk steak 225 degrees F for about 2 hrs until the steak reaches 115 – 120 degrees F internally, as measured with an internal read thermometer.
Remove tomahawk steak from the smoker.
Option 1: Finish tomahawk steak in a cast iron skillet on the stove on medium-high heat (use olive oil or butter in the pan).
Option 2: Grill smoked tomahawk steak on high, at about 500-600 degrees F with the grill lid closed, flipping after 1-3 minutes on each side.
Remove tomahawk from reverse sear method of choice (grill / stovetop) when the internal temp of smoked tomahawk measures 130 – 135 degrees F (for medium rare) or 135-140 degrees F (for medium, assuming it will come up a bit in temp as it rests).
Rest smoked reverse-seared tomahawk for 15 – 20 minutes at room temperature, topped with compound butter which should melt in beautifully.

How to make steak compound butter for this smoked steak

Traeger Smoked Tomahawk Steak With Compound Butter On The Traeger

In a small pan on the stove, roast garlic in olive oil on medium-high for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly, until garlic is translucent. Remove the pan from heat and let it cook.
Once garlic oil cools, transfer to a mixing bowl then add the softened butter, basil, diced shallot, pepper, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Combine all the ingredients by hand until everything is well incorporated together.
Place the combined butter onto a plastic saran wrap sheet and roll into a log form. Wrap the ends together tightly and stick the compound butter into the fridge to firm up.