Traeger Baked Potatoes

For an easy side dish to go with all your delicious meals, check out these Traeger baked potatoes. Cooked on a Traeger pellet grill, these smoked baked potatoes are perfect for the summer. 

Why you’ll love this recipe

This simple recipe gives potato skins a smoke flavor that is so tasty and pairs well with lots of different meat options. The end result is a delicious, hearty side that is flavorful any time of the year, but especially in the hot months.

These potatoes go directly on the grill grates, which gives them excellent smoke flavor. When paired with a main course of meat, and topped with a little sour cream and black pepper, you have a great side dish.

This pairs perfectly with my smoked sirloin recipe!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

• Large russet potatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Honey 
• Olive oil

Instructions

This is one of the easiest smoker recipes you’ll find. Here’s what you do:

• Step 1: Wash your potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel. 
• Step 2: Put your potatoes on a baking sheet.
• Step 3: Score them with a knife and poke holes with a fork.
• Step 4: Cover each potato entirely with olive oil.
• Repeat step 4 with honey, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
• Step 5: Place potatoes directly on the grill grates and smoke for about 2 hours or until they have reached an internal temperature of 205 degrees F. 

Hint: Score and poke the potatoes – don’t just choose one or the other. The scores and pokes will help with the texture, and they’ll allow the flavor to soak into the potatoes.

Substitutions

These tasty Traeger smoked potatoes are already delicious, and they fit most diets, but you can make substitutions if you’d like:

• Potatoes – Instead of using russet potatoes, you could make this recipe with sweet potatoes.
• Honey – Honey works as a binding agent in this recipe, but you could use an egg wash if you don’t want any sweet flavor.

Variations

There are lots of ways to make this recipe your own. Since much of the flavor of these potatoes comes from the spices of the rub, most variations are just different spice combinations. You can use almost any spice combination you like, but here are some of my suggestions:

• Spicy – You can add lots of heat with a couple of different spices, like cayenne pepper, cumin, chili pepper, or red pepper flakes. A combination of the spices will really kick up the spice factor.
• Sweet – You can make these potatoes sweeter by using sweet potatoes, or skipping the smoked paprika. Drizzle them with even more honey, and top with butter or melted ghee before you eat.
• Kid friendly – If your kids don’t like paprika, just season with salt and pepper. They’ll still get the smoke flavor from the pellet smoker, but the potato will be a little less spicy for them. If it’s too bland without the paprika, you could use garlic powder and onion powder in its place for a little bit more flavor.
• Extra toppings – Turn this into the ultimate baked potato by adding lots of toppings. Bacon bits, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, scallions, and fresh garlic all make this delicious side even more flavorful. 

Pair these with my Elk Burgers for the perfect summer meal.  

Equipment

Here’s the equipment you’ll need to make these Traeger baked potatoes: 

• Traeger pellet grill – I use a Traeger pellet grill for all my smoking, and it’s perfect for giving all my Traeger recipes that delicious smoke flavor.
• Baking sheet – You’ll need a baking sheet to prepare your potatoes, as well as to carry them outside to your smoker, and to carry them back inside.
• Applewood pellets – You need wood chips for your grill, and I like to use applewood pellets. They give a delicious flavor that is perfect for these potatoes.

Optional: 

• Aluminum foil – I prefer to put my potatoes right on the grill grates so they get direct heat, but you can put them in aluminum foil if you’d like.
• Vegetable brush – A vegetable brush is the best way to thoroughly wash a potato, but your hands will work too if you don’t have one.
• Silicone brush – I use my hands to rub the spices on the potato, but I wear rubber gloves. You could use a silicone brush instead. 

What to serve with these potatoes

You can serve so many things with potatoes like this, especially this smoked elk, or if you have venison in the freezer, you’ll love making them to go with this deer steak recipe.

Storage

Baked potatoes only last a couple of days in the fridge before they go bad or lose their optimum flavor. Store in an airtight container for up to four days after you’ve baked them.

Top tip

For the best flavor, make sure you thoroughly cover your potato skins in all the ingredients. This will also give the skins a more even texture throughout.

Be sure to check out my Smoked Tri Tip and Smoked Elk recipes, too!

Food safety 

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands before and after cooking. 
• Don’t leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.