Best Traeger appetizers your guests will love. Want snack smoker recipes for your party? Smoked cheesy bread, bbq smokies, veggies and more.
During Thanksgiving, Christmas and during the Summer we love electric smoker recipes. Of course chicken, beef and pork taste amazing, but don’t forget Traeger appetizers to start the party food off right! Finger foods are great for snacking throughout the day when friends are over. (affiliate links present)
Smoked Snacks
I mean I guess you don’t have to wait until you have a bunch of people over. You could easily cut any of these dishes in half and just enjoy them year round with your own family. We use them most often as football party food though since you don’t really want a full on heavy meal on those days.
These could be used as side dishes too though with a protein. We always made main dishes inside this machine but after a while I thought “well anything should work cooked this way”, and that is where the journey continued. Here’s a bit more information about what we use.
To get your meats absolutely perfect we have this printable meat smoking chart to refer to so each and every time it will be fork tender.
- Recently we upgraded to this Traeger pellet smoker and grill and love it.
- We started with an electric smoker that was a Charbroil which worked well to start with.
- I like applewood pellets, we always have those on hand and make almost everything.
One thing I always make that requires NO cooking at all is a meat and cheese tray. If you have never made one before I suggest you do. I explain how it’s done and give you a free printable charcuterie board shopping list here so you can make one too. Then you can get to planning what needs to be “baked” on the grill.
Traeger Side Dishes
The first side I tried to make was a bread of some kind. I mean rolls or some kind of starch is a must when we eat dinner so my thoughts went there immediately. Since we are huge cheese lovers I added that into my need to include inventory and this beauty below was created.
I used Rhodes frozen dough because that is what I had on hand and added some diced chiles and seasonings. Cooked this throw away tray full of smoked bread and wowie! It was so good I used more later to make Traeger pizza which was rolled up and sliced for a really fun starter another night.
The chiles really just add flavor, not heat. You could easily add some spice though with a bit of chili powder or dry Sriracha. I am all about mild and cheesy so this didn’t include any of that. For a higher protein choice you can always go with a large batch of smoked wings or smoked chicken lollipops.
Appetizers on a Smoker
This is on my list to make the next go around. So far we have stuck with dry rub air fryer chicken wings which are just amazing. Another great way to make starters if you need to make multiple items at the same time. That way you can cook some items inside and the others in your “coffin” outside.
For some heat you could try these smoked jalapeño poppers as another finger food.
- If you love Dot’s honey mustard pretzels we have a copycat version here that you can cook on the grill with everything else.
For a lighter vegetarian selection you can throw in a batch of smoked vegetables. You can cover them like this so they just get tender or leave it open to really absorb the hickory flavors, or whatever chips / pellets you choose.
Grilled Little Smokies
Recently we added this one. Different than our air fryer bacon wrapped smokies in that they are by themselves submerged and coated in this sweet and savory sauce. The only way to do this is inside a large cast iron pan. I can’t imagine you don’t have one of these already but if no, buy one now y’all.
Once your Traeger grill is preheated to the right temperature it is time to add it on to the grate itself. Keep in mind that pellet grills do take some time to reach temp., especially in colder conditions. If you live in snow country like we do you can buy a Traeger blanket so the heat doesn’t escape and it can stay at a steady temperature.
We bought one last year and it’s made a huge difference when cooking any of our Traeger recipes. No covering necessary. If so that would block that great smokey flavor from seeping into the little weiners.
We have a air fryer appetizers and a new recipe for these smoked little smokies below in the printable recipe card. Give this and the others a whirl and let us know what you have come up with yourself!
Traeger Appetizer
Equipment
- 1 smoker
Ingredients
- 40 oz smokies
- 1.5 c barbecue sauce
- 1 c raspberry jam, or grape jelly
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F. In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients together and mix well. Then add smokies and fold together so they're nicely coated.
- Add smokies into a large cast iron skillet and place on the grate uncovered. Close and smoke for 2.5 hours stirring every 30-45 minutes.
- Remove and let rest on countertop for 10 minutes, then serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.