Juicy Smoked Burgers on the Traeger Grill
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This is the BEST Traeger burger recipe! Smoky, juicy, and full of flavor, this recipe is a twist on an old retro burger recipe. Tender, lean ground beef is combined with some special ingredients for flavor and texture to make the BEST smoky burgers you will ever have!
For more delicious smoked meat recipes on the Traeger, try my Traeger Picanha steaks and my Smoked Whole Chicken with Citrus Rub.
Recipe at a Glance
⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
🔥 Cook Time: 40 minutes
🕒 Total Time: 50 minutes
🍽️ Servings: 8 quarter-pound burger patties
👍 Difficulty: Easy!
😋 Recipe Highlights: Based on an old-school recipe and smoked with a two-stage Trager method, these will be the juiciest and most flavorful burgers you’ll ever make!
🛒 Featured Ingredients: Ground beef, crushed Ritz crackers, applesauce, and seasonings
🥗 Side Dishes: Serve these burgers alongside my cilantro lime slaw, cucumber blueberry salad, my red cabbage slaw, or Blackstone asparagus.
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Whenever we have company for a backyard BBQ, my husband and I have a go-to burger recipe that gets TONS of compliments every time!
This particular recipe is based on a beloved old classic–you can see the original here on a site called Yesterdish— a site devoted to rescuing America’s lost recipes. I’m not totally sure where it originates, other than it came out of the recipe box in North Carolina.
I made a few key changes to the ingredients. First of all, I scaled the recipe down to two pounds of ground beef. While the retro recipe is great for a large crowd, it was too many burgers for a typical weeknight meal.
Next, I use a few simple pantry staples to recreate the Lipton Onion Soup Mix, but my version omits the hot sauce. While I bet a shake of Tabasco would be delicious, I wanted to keep these burgers kid-friendly.
Serve with my blistered cherry tomatoes, my Chick-fil-A Kale Salad copycat recipe, or my air-fried sweet potato wedges. This is going to be one of your go-to summer recipes!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
The two-stage Traeger smoke technique includes 20-30 minutes at a low temperature to absorb the smoky flavor, then finishes at a high temperature for perfect carmelization.
This gives the burgers incredible flavor, moisture, and tenderness, and will have your guests raving! Grilling burgers on the Traeger brings this classic American meal to the next level.
Key Ingredients
To make this smoked Traeger burger recipe, you need:
Apple Sauce – Apple sauce gives moisture to the meat, which is especially important if you’re using lean ground beef. It also adds natural sugars, which aid the flavor and caramelize the burgers without actually making them sweet.
Crushed Ritz Crackers – I’m not normally one to throw crushed packaged crackers into a meal, so you’re just going to have to trust me here that it’s worth it. The crackers help bind the burgers together.
Beef Bouillon – I use Better than Bouillon beef paste. This is part of what is needed to recreate the Lipton onion soup mix in the burgers. It enriches the beef flavor beautifully. See the recipe card for other bouillon suggestions.
Ground Beef – I use grass-fed beef at 85/15 or 90/10. What’s great about this recipe is that this perfect blend of ingredients suits lean ground beef very well, so you do not need a high-fat burger mix to keep them juicy!
How to Make These Gluten-Free
While this Traeger burger recipe isn’t gluten-free as written, it is very easy to make gluten-free if needed!
•Use a gluten-free Ritz-style cracker. You can find some made by the Simple Mills, Lance, and Fit Joy brands. You could also use gluten-free bread crumbs or ground oats, but crackers are preferred.
•Be sure to choose a gluten-free Worcestershire sauce–many are not gluten-free because they contain barley malt. Alternatively, you can use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce: check the labels to be sure you are using a gluten-free brand.
How to Make Burgers on the Traeger
1. Preheat the Traeger.
Preheat your Traeger–turn it on to the “Smoke” setting with the lid open until you can see the smoke. Then close the lid and turn the Traeger temperature to 180°F.
(Yes, my Traeger is OLD and non-aesthetic. Haha. But just goes to show how well these things hold up over time!)
2. Combine Ingredients.
While the Traeger heats up, make the burger mixture. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands to make sure all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
3. Make the Burger Patties.
Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal portions (due to the weight of the meat and the other ingredients, each patty weighs about 4.8 ounces). Use a burger press or two plates to flatten the patties until they are about 1/2 inch thick.
Set patties on a tray (I like to put a square of parchment paper between each patty) so they’re ready to bring out to the grill.
4. Smoke the Burgers.
When the Traeger reaches 180°F, place patties directly on the grill grates. Close the lid and let them smoke at 180° for 20-30 minutes.
5. Turn up the Heat.
After the smoke stage, turn the heat up to High (450°F). Let the burgers cook 4-5 more minutes while the Traeger heats up, then open the lid and flip the burgers over. Close the lid and let them cook for another 4 minutes cooking time.
If you made thick patties rather than thinner ones, you may need to cook for more time.
6. Add Cheese if Desired.
Burgers are done when the internal temperature is 160°F. See the notes in the recipe card for more cooking guidelines.
If you want cheeseburgers, turn off the grill, add a slice of cheese to each patty, then close the lid and let the burgers sit in the residual heat of the grill for a few minutes to get the melty. Remove when the cheese is to your liking. We love using cheddar cheese or pepper jack for burgers.
Serve burgers on a bun, lettuce wrap, or however you best enjoy wrapping your burgers.
That’s it! Making a great burger on the Traeger is a little different than making them on a charcoal grill, but they are pretty easy.
Expert Tips for Perfect Traeger Burgers
💥Due to the chemical reaction from the smoke, the burgers may still look pink even at 160°F. Check the internal temperature with a digital meat thermometer to be certain they are done. This usually takes 8-10 minutes after turning the heat to High, flipping halfway through.
💥I recommend using hickory, mesquite, or an all-purpose blend/signature blend wood pellets for these burgers. However, burgers are pretty versatile so any pellet you have should work just fine.
💥If you’d rather follow the original recipe, you can use half an envelope of Lipton onion soup mix, then omit the dried minced onion, beef bouillon, garlic powder, and onion powder from the recipe.
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Other Traeger Recipes
Try out some of my other delicious Traeger recipes, like my chicken drumsticks on Traeger, my Traeger Buffalo wings, and my beer can chicken on the Traeger.
You’re going to love these burgers so much that you will never want to make any other burger recipe again! If you make these, be sure to come back and leave a comment and review. I reply to each one!
📖 Recipe
Traeger Burgers
Equipment
- Traeger Grill Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 pound ground beef I use 85/15 for burgers
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 3/4 cup Ritz crackers, crushed about 20 crackers
- 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon Beef Base or 1 tbsp bouillon powder or 1 crushed bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your Traeger–turn it on to the "Smoke" setting with the lid open until you can see the smoke. Then close the lid and turn the temperature to 180°F.
- While the Traeger heats up, prep the meat mixture. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands to make sure all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal patties (due to the weight of the meat and the other ingredients, each patty weighs about 4.8 ounces). Use a burger press or two plates to flatten the patties until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Set patties on a tray (I like to put a square of parchment paper between each patty) so they're ready to bring out to the grill.
- When the Traeger reaches 180°, put the burgers directly on the grate. Close the lid and let them smoke at 180° for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn the heat up to High (450°). Let the burgers cook 4-5 more minutes while the Traeger heats up, then open the lid and flip the burgers over. Close the lid and let them cook for another 4 minutes.
- Burgers are done when the internal temperature is 160°F (see notes). Turn off the grill. For cheeseburgers, add the cheese and close the lid and let the burgers sit in the residual heat of the grill for a few minutes to get the cheese melty. Then remove.
Video
Oh my goshhhhhhh, what kind of burger sorcery is this??? Still Trying to figure out what the apple sauce does, because it’s not overly sweet or even noticeable, but whatever it is, IT WORKS! I followed this recipe to a T (which is rare for me) and even my burger snob hubby liked it!
Glad you loved them! I know—apple sauce seems so strange, but it works! This is based on an old vintage recipe and it definitely worth hanging on to. 😋
Absolutely amazing! Best burgers I’ve had in a long time, so smokey and juicy. Love that this is based on an old school recipe–they really knew what was up!