While most smoked chicken recipes out there focus on a whole chicken, you might have a bag of chicken tenderloins and be wondering how to smoke chicken tenderloins on your Traeger. Fortunately, it’s just as easy (maybe easier) than a whole chicken and a lot faster.
Quick Overview of Smoked Chicken Tenderloins
- Prep time: 5 min
- Smoke time: ~1 hour
- Smoking temperature: 350 degrees
- Safe cooked temp: 165 degrees
What Temperature to Smoke Chicken Tenderloins
Unlike most smoking recipes, you don’t want to go “low and slow” with chicken since there is not the same fat content as other meats. Generally for smoking chicken, you want to use a higher temperate like 300 – 350 degrees. Since chicken tenderloins are thinner, 300 degrees is a good starting point to avoid drying out your chicken tenderloins
How Long to Smoke Chicken Tenderloins
At 300 degrees, chicken tenderloins typically take about 60 minutes to reach a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remember, always go by your temperature and not just time, the time is a guideline. You want to make sure you hit 165 degrees in the thickest part of your chicken tenderloins.
Smoked Chicken Tenderloin Recipe
- Start by washing and patting dry your chicken tenderloins
- Coat the chicken tenderloins in olive oil
- Heavily apply your favorite BBQ seasoning / BBQ rub. If you don’t have one, you can use equal parts of the following as a good starting point:
- salt
- pepper
- garlic
- chili powder
