8 Winning Smoker Recipes for Every Meal

No, your smoker is not just for your backyard dinners—every meal is an opportunity to flex your grilling skills and test out new recipes.

Want to take your breakfasts, lunches, dinners—and yes, even desserts—to the next level? All you need is a smoker, some recipe inspiration, and the right ingredients. From there, anything is possible.

Not only is your smoker a highly versatile tool: it will also give your dishes a unique and powerful flavour that you can’t get anywhere else.

Are your taste buds tingling yet? Read on for some recipes that are guaranteed to spice up any meal!

Best Breakfast Recipes For Your Smoker

They say breakfast is the most important meal for the day, but it’s also the meal that many people skip. However, if you know how to make these delicious breakfast dishes, you’ll never neglect breakfast again.

Smoked Steelhead Breakfast Sandwich

Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Traeger

Just when you thought lox was the ultimate luxury breakfast dish, smoked steelhead entered the game. Whether you want to impress your guests the next time you host brunch, or add a little luxury to the start of your day, this breakfast sandwich recipe is foolproof.

To create this delicacy of a sandwich, start by combining salt and sugar in a large bowl. This will be the cure you use for the raw fish. Spread roughly half of the mixture into the bottom of a glass baking dish and lay the steelhead filet on top. Pour the remaining half of the cure over top, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave the dish in the fridge for 24-48 hours.

After the time has elapsed, run cold water over the fish and blot it to dry with paper towels. Then, set it down on a wire rack over a sheet pan and leave it in the fridge for around 4 hours. This will dry the fish out to the perfect consistency for smoking.

Next, set the temperature on your smoker to 165F and preheat, with the lid closed, for about 10-15 minutes. Place the fish on the smoker and cook for about 12 hours, or until the fish turns golden and feels semi-firm to the touch.

When the fish is perfectly cooked, let it cool in the fridge for 4 hours before serving.

Before your next fancy brunch, slice the fish diagonally and serve atop a toasted bagel with toppings such as cream cheese, tomato, red onion, and capers. Pair with a mimosa for maximum grandeur.

Smoked Armadillo Eggs

Recipe Courtesy of the Black Peppercorn

You’ve likely smoked sausages before on your grill—but have you ever had smoked sausages in this format?

These smoked “armadillo” eggs are essentially jalapeno poppers wrapped in sausage meat, but look, from a glance, like a smokier-style deviled egg. All you’ll need for this bite-sized breakfast dish is sausage meat, jalapeno peppers, cream cheese, and some grated cheddar cheese.

Start by preheating your smoker for 250F. Then, prepare the peppers by cutting the top off and removing the seeds and membrane. You can then go ahead and prepare the filling by mixing the cream cheese and grated cheddar together. Next, stuff the peppers, and wrap the sausage meat around it so that none of the pepper is visible.

When your eggs are fully formed, set them on a smoker rack and place them inside your smoker. Cook for 2 hours, or until the sausage meat reaches a temperature of 160F. If the cheese is starting to melt outside the sausage, your dish is likely done (and ready to enjoy).

Quick and Easy Lunch Recipes

Wedged in the middle of the typical workday, lunch often gets overlooked in terms of creativity and experimentation with recipes. It’s easy to just throw leftovers from yesterday’s dinner into a tupperware and call it a day—but it’s certainly not the most delicious option out there.

These recipes are great for meal prepping, so you’ll only have to light up your smoker once to get many great lunches out of your dish.

Smoked Pork Tacos

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Cuts and Crumbles

This tangy twist on classic beef tacos is guaranteed to spice up your lunch hour. Simply coat a pork butt in your favourite rub a day before serving and cook it on indirect heat at 225-250F. If you want to bring out that smoky flavour, opt for hickory chips and replenish your stash about every hour. At the same time, you can spritz the meat with some apple juice and sprinkle atop some brown sugar to keep the meat juicy and flavourful.

As for how long this dish will take, it’ll be about an hour to an hour per pound of meat, but you’ll know it’s done when the internal temp reaches at least 200F. All you need to do at that point is pull apart the meat, add some barbecue sauce if you’d like, and then it’s ready to assemble into taco format with some corn tortillas, jalapenos, and lime wedges to garnish!

Smoked Brisket Sandwich

Recipe Courtesy of The Food Network

If you ever thought having sandwiches for lunch was too cliché, you’ve never tried this smoky brisket wonder. Served on Texas toast with pickled onions, you’ll never claim that sandwiches are boring ever again.

The key to packing as much flavour into this sandwich as possible is to liberally spice the brisket with a variety of spices, and leave it to marinate up till 24 hours. Next, preheat your smoker to 225F with hardwood charcoal and some soaked wood chips. When your smoker is ready, set the brisket down fat-side up and cook for around 4 hours. Every hour or so, open the lid and spray the brisket with apple juice to prevent it from drying out. If you’re using a water smoker, you could keep apple juice in the pan instead.

Once the internal temperature has reached 165F, cover it in aluminum foil and leave it to smoke for another 4 hours. When the internal temperature has then reached 185F, remove it from the grill, and leave it to cool before slicing. Serve on toasted texas toast with barbecue sauce and pickled onions for maximum deliciousness.

Delicious Dinner Ideas To Make With Your Traeger

At the end of a busy workday, all that many people can think about is dinner. Having the chance to sit in solitude, or share a meal with those you care about, is what makes dinner the star meal for many.

These smoker dishes may seem simple at first glance, but the flavour packs a punch.

Applewood Smoked Chicken

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Recipes Worth Repeating

By drenching a whole chicken in brown sugar, paprika, and garlic, this recipe packs a flavour punch. After thoroughly coating the chicken, cover with plastic wrap and marinade overnight. When you’re ready to enjoy some delicious applewood smoked chicken, preheat your smoker till it hits 225F.

Next, prepare your wood and water pan, and place the marinated chicken on the rack, breast-side up. Close the lid and leave it to cook for 4 to 5 hours. Make sure to keep an eye on your smoker to ensure it doesn’t go beyond 250F. Once the chicken has reached 165F (make sure to check at both the breast and legs!) simply slice, serve, and enjoy.

Smoked Sockeye Salmon with Orange and Maple Syrup

Photo & Image Courtesy of The Food Network

This dish is as delicious as it is colourful, and as fruity as it is filling. What’s more, this dish looks like something served at a fancy restaurant—but can indeed be easily recreated from the comforts of your kitchen.

To start, prepare the toppings by zesting the oranges and creating the salmon cure with salt, sugar, spices, and orange zest. Liberally coat all sides of the salmon and set it skin-side down on parchment paper and leave in the fridge for 1.5 hours.

After the time has elapsed, rinse off the cure and pat the fish dry with paper towel, and brush maple syrup on top. Set your smoker to 120-140F and set the filets in the smoker. Cook for 45 minutes, brushing with syrup every 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, slice some oranges in half and roast them under a broiler until they are slightly charred. Set some atop the cooked salmon, and reserve a few to squeeze over top the salmon before serving.

Lip-Smacking Dessert Recipes

Dessert is often the meal that’s most neglected by pitmasters. When people think of smokers, the first dish that comes to mind is likely something like chicken, beef, pork, or any other kind of meat that lends itself well to barbecue sauce.

However, the smoker is a wonderfully versatile tool that can cook practically any dish imaginable—both savoury and sweet.

Grilled Cherry Cobbler

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of The Cards We Drew

If you’re looking for a camping dessert that isn’t smores, this cherry cobbler recipe is guaranteed to delight kids and adults alike. What’s more, you don’t have to worry about plates or post-dessert cleanup as your family can eat straight from the tin foil the cobbler is cooked in!

The dish is also deceptively simple: all you need is cherry pie filling, white cake mix, butter, and ice cream to serve! Start by laying out two large sheets of tin foil and adding some cherry pie filling on top. On top of that, pour some cake batter to create your perfect cake-to-filling ratio. Finish with a few slices of butter, and fold together the foil lengthwise to create a tent shape. All you have to do next is set your cake creation on the smoker and cook for about 15 minutes. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

Bourbon Bacon Brownies

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Pit Boss Grills

When it comes to desserts, brownies are perhaps the most universal crowd-pleaser. Well, once you’ve had these bourbon bacon delicacies, you’ll never be able to go back to regular brownies again. Crunchy, sweet, smoky and savoury, these brownies wrap every good flavour into one single dish.

For this dish, you’ll need to start by making candied bacon by generously coating some bacon with brown sugar and sea salt. Set the bacon on your smoker rack and cook for 1 hour—or until the bacon develops a nice crisp.

While the bacon is cooling, prepare the brownies by mixing together cocoa, powdered sugar, flour, white sugar, and instant coffee. Then add the wet ingredients: eggs, oil, and water. Spread half the mixture in a greased 9 x 13 pan, drizzle with caramel, and pour the remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with candied bacon. Bake the brownies in your smoker at 400F for approximately 1 hour.

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