Once you make Traeger burgers, you won’t go back to cooking burgers any other way! This is the BEST Traeger burger recipe, hands down. For this easy recipe, we combine ground beef with oat flour, egg, and barbeque sauce, seasonings, and cook them on a Traeger grill. Juicy burgers every single time!
Traeger burger recipe
Years ago at a friend’s house, I got to experience Traeger burger patties, and they were legit the best burgers I had ever eaten in my life.
My husband and I were blown away!
Ever since then, it has been our mission to make our own burgers taste just as good. And we’ve done it!
Now you get the chance too, and I can’t wait to teach you how to make them.
The recipe, a handy video showing how I mix and shape my beef patties, plus all my tips and substitutions are for you below!
What makes these burgers so flavorful?
A burger that is simply shaped ground beef is missing so much flavor.
We’re adding dried chives, granulated garlic, sea salt, pepper, barbeque sauce, plus egg and oat flour to keep it all together.
You could skip the burger buns and just enjoy the patty and you be missing nothing!
Why a Traeger is my favorite way to cook burgers
A Traeger grill is different than a regular barbeque – it’s an electric wood pellet grill that also can be used as a smoker. It burns wood chips or pellets.
The way that it cooks meat in a slower way than a barbeque or an oven leaves you with moist meat with great flavor.
It’s electric and easy to use – simply get your Traeger smoking and then set the Traeger temperature to your desired heat and cook your meat!
Burgers don’t dry out, and the smoky flavor adds a ton to the burgers!
What you need for Traeger burgers
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- ground beef
- egg
- oat flour
- barbeque sauce
- dried chives
- granulated garlic
- sea salt
- black pepper
How to make a dang good juicy burger patty
Step 1: When you’re ready to cook your burgers turn the Traeger on to smoke and leave the lid open for 5 minutes to start the smoke. Close the lid and set the temperature to 450 degrees F (or high heat). It will take about 15 minutes to get up to the temperature. Make sure you have enough wood pellets to keep the high temperatures.
Step 2: In a large bowl combine the ground beef, egg, oat flour, BBQ sauce, chives, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Mix fully so that all the flavors get combined well. The best way is with your hands!
Step 3: Divide the burger mixture into 8 equal portions. Shape the perfect burger patty by making a round circle, flattening it until it’s about ½ thick patties, and then adding a small indentation in the center of the top of the burger. This will help it to maintain a flatter shape, and not turn into a burger ball.
Step 4: When the Traeger smoker is ready to go, place patties on the grill grate, close the lid, and cook for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, flip the burgers, and cook for another 5 minutes. If you plan to add cheddar cheese to your burger, add the cheese after 5 minutes and close the lid for 1 minute to melt the cheese.
Step 5: The internal temperature should reach 145 degrees for a medium-rare. Cook a couple more minutes for medium burgers.
Step 6: Serve with burger buns, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and/or pickles, plus all your favorite condiments, and enjoy the amazing flavor!
Watch me make this Traeger burger recipe
The full how-to video can be watched below or on my YouTube channel!
Favorite sides to enjoy with burgers
These burgers are good alone, but always better with delicious sides! Try any of these favorite sides with dinner tonight.
- Lemony Traeger asparagus recipe
- Crispy sweet potato fries with chipotle mayo
- Strawberry kale salad with poppy seed dressing
- Healthier mac and cheese
- Easy-baked kale chips
Helpful tips
It’s important to fully mix the seasonings into the ground beef, but you don’t want to overmix the burger mixture. That would result in tougher patties.
If you prefer to cook your burgers at a lower temperature, you sure can!
Cook at 350 degrees F on the Traeger for a cook time of 10-12 minutes per side.
They are just as delicious that way.
You can premix and shape the patties in advance and freeze them!
This is helpful if you want to really simplify mealtime by simply taking the frozen burgers out and cooking them right away.
Increase the cooking time by 5-7 minutes total when using frozen burgers.
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this delicious burger recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Ground beef – Ground bison and ground lamb are delicious substitutes here! You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken for an even leaner burger patty.
Egg – If you need to keep these burgers egg-free, omit the egg. The egg helps with binding. Reduce the oat flour by half with the extra liquid from the egg being taken away.
Oat flour – Breadcrumbs, panko, and crushed crackers are all good options to replace the oat flour. If you want to keep it gluten-free, like the oat flour is, opt to crush a gluten-free cracker.
Barbecue sauce – Another great option is to use ketchup here in place of the BBQ sauce. Another good substitution is to add heat into the mix with spicy BBQ sauce!
Dried chives – Fresh chives or minced green onions are good choices to replace dried chives.
Granulated garlic – Garlic powder or onion powder are good options to use in place of granulated garlic. You can also use 1-2 cloves of fresh minced garlic!
More favorite recipes you’ll love
- Traeger pulled pork recipe
- Traeger grilled salmon recipe
- Traeger pork loin roast recipe
- Traeger asparagus recipe
- Healthy burger bowl recipe
- Healthy chicken burgers
- Mini beef sliders with sweet potato buns
- Frozen hamburger patty recipe
The BEST Traeger Burger Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup oat flour
- ¼ cup barbeque sauce
- 1 tbsp dried chives
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- When you’re ready to cook your burgers turn the Traeger on to smoke and leave the lid open for 5 minutes to start the smoke. Close the lid and set the temperature to 450 degrees F (or high heat). It will take about 15 minutes to get up to the temperature. Make sure you have enough wood pellets to keep the high temperatures.
- In a large bowl combine the ground beef, egg, oat flour, bbq sauce, chives, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Mix fully so that all the flavors get combined well. The best way is with your hands!
- Divide the burger mixture into 8 equal portions. Shape the perfect burger patty by making a round circle, flattening it until it’s about ½ thick patties, and then adding a small indentation in the center of the top of the burger. This will help it to maintain a flatter shape, and not turn into a burger ball.
- When the Traeger smoker is ready to go, place patties on the grill grate, close the lid, and cook for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, flip the burgers, and cook for another 5 minutes. If you plan to add cheddar cheese to your burger, add the cheese after 5 minutes and close the lid for 1 minute to melt the cheese.
- The internal temperature should reach 145 degrees for a medium-rare. Cook a couple more minutes for medium burgers.
- Serve with burger buns, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and/or pickles, plus all your favorite condiments, and enjoy the amazing flavor!
Nutrition
If you try this Traeger pellet grill burger recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
Originally published November 2022. Updated November 2023.
2 comments
I don’t normally use my grill this time of year but I was craving burgers so I tried this recipe. It was so good, and incredibly easy. Thank you!
Awesome, I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Megan!