Learn how to Cook Steak on a Traeger Grill with this simple and delicious recipe. By infusing your steak with wood-fired flavor and cooking it to the perfect internal temperature before reverse searing, you will create a tender and juicy steak everyone will love. This recipe requires only a few minutes of prep time and the Traeger grill does all the work.
With this recipe, you can easily make juicy, tender steak, perfectly seasoned, with a delicious seared crust that will impress even the pickiest eaters. Make it on your Traeger grill or any pellet grill.
Unlike my Pellet Grill Steaks, this recipe does not use a marinade. All you need to do is apply a delicious dry rub and let the Traeger do the rest.
Serve this steak alongside Smoked Corn on the Cob, Smoked Baked Potatoes, Coleslaw, Creamy Cucumber Salad with Mayo, and Carrot Salad for a complete meal.
Check out How To Cook Wagyu Steak At Home and The Best Smoked Beef Recipes for more easy and delicious recipes.
Jump to:
- ❤️ Why You Will Love This Recipe
- 🐄 Ingredients & Substitutions
- ♨️ How To Cook Steak On Traeger Grill
- 🥗 Serving suggestions
- 💭 Expert Tips
- ❓ Recipe FAQs
- 🥪 What To Do With Leftover Steak?
- 👩🏻🍳 More Smoked Beef Recipes You'll Love!
- How To Cook Steak On Traeger Grill - Reverse Seared
- 👩🏻🍳 Meet The Author
- 💬 Comments
❤️ Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Flavorful: Cooking steak on a Traeger pellet grill gives it a unique smoky flavor that can’t be replicated when searing steaks on a stovetop - the reverse sear gives it a great crust and lovely grill marks.
- Effortless Cooking: With the Traeger temperature set and the grill preheated, all you have to do is season your steak, place it on the hot grill grates, and insert a temperature probe - no need to keep an eye on it!
- Easier Temperature Control: Unlike trying to control the heat on a gas grill with uncertain results, the consistent temperature of a Traeger Grill ensures perfect steak every time!
🐄 Ingredients & Substitutions

- Steak: Look for a cut of meat at least one inch thick with good marbling, such as T-bone, ribeye, filet mignon, or New York strip. Use high-quality meat from your local butcher or your local grocery store. For more tips, check out this article on How To Choose A Good Steak.
- Dry Rub: I used my Copycat Texas Roadhouse Steak Rub, made with brown sugar, kosher salt, smoked paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and turmeric. However, feel free to use your favorite steak rub or seasoning, or just season with kosher salt and black pepper to let the flavor of the beef shine through.
See the printable recipe card below for quantities and a full list of ingredients.
♨️ How To Cook Steak On Traeger Grill
Overview
- Preheat the pellet grill.
- Season with dry rub.
- Smoke for 30 minutes, then flip.
- Cook until desired doneness is reached.
- Increase grill temperature and reverse sear.
- Rest and serve.
Step by step instructions

Step 1: Preheat your Traeger grill to 250°F. Season your steak with dry rub on both sides. Let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes while the grill is heating up.

Step 2: Place the steaks directly on the grill grates once the grill is preheated. Close the grill lid and cook the steaks for 30 minutes.

Step 3: After 30 minutes, flip them over. Insert a temperature probe into the thickest part of the steak.

Step 4: The remainder of the cooking time will be by temperature, not by time. Cook until the temperature is 5-10 degrees below your target temperature. See the beef temperature guidelines below.
Pro Tip: To check the internal temperature of the meat, the thermometer needs to be in the thickest part of the steak, ensuring not to touch any bone or fat.
BEEF TEMPERATURE GUIDELINES
- Rare steak is 120-130 degrees F.
- Medium rare steak is 130-135 degrees F.
- Medium steak is 135-140 degrees F.
- Medium Well steak is 145-155 degrees F.
- Well Done steak is 155 degrees F.

Step 5: When the steak has reached your ideal temperature, remove it from the grill and cover it loosely with aluminum foil to keep it warm. Turn the grill to a high temperature of 400-450°F. Put the steaks back on the grill and reverse sear steak for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Step 6: Remove the steak from the grill with tongs and let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Slice your juicy steaks against the grain and serve with your favorite side dishes.
Pro Tip: You can also use a cast iron skillet to do the reverse sear method on your stovetop if you don't want to wait for your grill to reach the higher temperature.
🥗 Serving suggestions
Serve with Oven-Roasted Potatoes or Twice-Baked Mashed Potatoes, along with Smoked Corn on the Cob in Foil and Smoked Baked Beans.
It also goes great with Smoked Mac and Cheese or Creamy Hawaiian Macaroni Salad.
💭 Expert Tips
- Let your steak sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.
- Resist the urge to open up the grill to check on the steaks.
- Use a digital meat thermometer to monitor doneness.
- For medium-rare, target 135°F; medium - 140°F; well-done - 155°F. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part without touching bone or fat.
- Let the steak rest for 5-10 minutes after grilling.
- You can reverse sear by using a cast iron skillet on your stovetop instead. Heat the skillet on high heat, then give the steak a good sear on each side.
❓ Recipe FAQs
The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your steak and how well done you prefer it. A thick steak will take longer to cook than a thin steak. With this recipe, for a steak with 1-inch thickness, it will take about one hour to cook the steak on the grill, with extra time needed to bring the grill up to 450 degrees F to do the reverse sear.
The best way to determine if your steak is done cooking is to use a meat thermometer. For medium-rare, the internal temperature should be around 135°F. For medium, the internal temperature should be around 140°F.
Yes, you can definitely use a marinade on your steak before grilling it.
For this recipe, the grill temperature should be 225-250 degrees F to cook the steaks; then the temperature gets turned up to 450 degrees F to do a reverse sear to finish off the steak with a lovely outer crust.
To store leftover smoked steak, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container. It can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat it gently on low heat in a skillet or grill until heated through.
The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction that happens when amino acids and sugars are heated at high temperatures, resulting in complex flavors, colors, and aromas. The Maillard reaction is responsible for the crispy crust and rich taste of your steak.

🥪 What To Do With Leftover Steak?
Make a steak sandwich, steak salad, steak and eggs, steak stir-fry, or steak hash.
You can also make steak tacos with Homemade Flatbread, and Mango Habanero Salsa or Homemade Chunky Salsa with Fresh Tomatoes.
👩🏻🍳 More Smoked Beef Recipes You'll Love!
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How To Cook Steak On Traeger Grill - Reverse Seared
Equipment
- Traeger Grill or other pellet smoker
- Wood pellets
- Digital meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 3 T-bone steaks
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
- Preheat your Traeger grill to 250°F.
- Mix the ingredients for the homemade steak rub in a small bowl: kosher salt, brown sugar, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and turmeric. Season your steak with dry rub on both sides.2 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon black pepper, ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, 3 T-bone steaks
- Once the grill is preheated, place the steaks directly on the grill grates. Close the grill lid and cook the steaks for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, flip the steaks over. Insert a temperature probe into the thickest part of the steak. Cook until the temperature is 5-10 degrees below your target temperature.*Medium-rare - 135°F; medium - 140°F; well-done - 155°F.
- Remove the steak from the grill when it has reached your ideal temperature and cover it loosely with aluminum foil to keep it warm.
- Turn the grill up to a high temperature of 400-450 degrees F and put the steaks back on the grill to do a reverse sear. Close the lid and reverse sear the steak for 2-3 minutes on each side until the desired crust and ideal temperature is reached.
- Remove from the grill with tongs, and let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle.
- Serve your perfect Traeger steak with your favorite side dishes.
Notes
- Let your steak sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.
- Resist the urge to open up the grill to check on the steaks.
- Use a digital meat thermometer to monitor doneness.
- For medium-rare, target 135°F; medium - 140°F; well-done - 155°F. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part without touching bone or fat.
- Let the steak rest for 5-10 minutes after grilling.
- You can reverse sear by using a cast iron skillet on your stovetop instead. Heat the skillet on high heat, then sear the steak for 1-2 minutes on each side.
Nutrition

👩🏻🍳 Meet The Author
Meet Jeri, a self-taught home cook with over 40 years of cooking experience who decided to start a second career as a full-time food blogger. She is the recipe creator, writer, photographer, and creator of Winding Creek Ranch. Her mission is to make your life easier by sharing delicious recipes your family will love.
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