If you’re nervous about your new smoker, don’t be! This Easy Smoked Chicken Breast is the perfect beginner recipe! It’s basically fool proof!
Serve it with our Mom’s Easy Potato Salad Recipe, or this Broccoli Salad and don’t forget about dessert!
Ingredients needed for Easy Smoked Chicken Breast Recipe:
15 ounces Italian dressing (I used Wishbone Italian dressing, any kind will work)1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 breasts)
Chicken rub (homemade -see recipe below- or store bought)
Homemade Chicken Rub Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons paprika
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how much of a kick you prefer)
How long does it take to smoke chicken breasts?
The lower the temperature you set your smoker at, the longer it will take to cook and the more smoky flavor your chicken will absorb. You want your chicken to reach 165 degrees internally.
If you are smoking your boneless chicken breast at 225 degrees, it will take 70-80 minutes to fully cook.
If you are smoking your boneless chicken breast at 275 degrees, it will take 55-65 minutes to fully cook.
If you are smoking your boneless chicken breast at 325 degrees, it will take about 35-45 minutes to fully cook.
Bone-in chicken will take longer to smoke at these temperatures, so plan accordingly and keep an eye on the internal temperature.
How do you smoke chicken breasts without drying it out?
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a very lean cut of meat, which means that it can easily dry out when it cooks.
Because we don’t want our chicken breasts to dry out, we marinade them overnight.
Marinating chicken before smoking it will help to make it as moist as possible.
A good marinade will also help to tenderize the meat and depending on what kind of marinade you use, it will also add a lot of flavor.
Our marinade of Italian dressing is simple, but it’s super effective and makes the process so easy.
Another way to keep the chicken breasts from drying out is to brine the chicken before smoking. You can find a great recipe for a brine here.
Do you flip chicken breasts when smoking?
We recommend that your flip your chicken breasts one time while they are smoking to ensure that your chicken is evenly cooked.
You want to keep the lid closed as much as possible on the smoker so that it keeps the heat and smoke trapped inside.
Related Recipe: Looking for other Smoker Recipes?! Try our Easy Smoked Brisket!
What kind of smoker do you use?
We use a Camp Chef Smoker and love it. It makes a great gift idea for your husband or dad!
We have also heard great things about the Traeger Pellet Grills.
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Other Chicken Recipes you don’t want to miss:
- Slow Cooker Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken Recipe
- Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Kabobs Recipe
- Grilled Asian BBQ Chicken (Easy Marinade) Recipe
- Pineapple BBQ Chicken Foil Pack Dinners Recipe
- Slow Cooker Sweet BBQ Chicken Recipe
Easy Smoked Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 ounces Italian Dressing, (I used Wishbone Italian dressing, any kind will work)
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 3 breasts)
- Chicken Rub, (homemade -see recipe below- or store bought)
Homemade Chicken Rub Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1½ Tablespoons paprika
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, (more or less depending on how much of a kick you prefer)
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts and Italian dressing in a gallon-sized resealable bag. Let the chicken marinade in the fridge overnight.
- Remove chicken from fridge and remove from marinade. Discard marinade.
- Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel.
- Rub all sides of chicken breasts with chicken rub.
- Preheat smoker to 325 degrees and let the chicken sit covered in the rub while the smoker preheats so it can soak in the flavor of the rub.
- Place chicken breasts on the smoker and close the lid on smoker. Let them cook for 15 minutes. Flip them over, close lid on smoker, and cook for 15 more minutes.
- Check internal temperature of chicken breasts – if it reaches 165 degrees, you can pull the chicken breasts off the smoker. If not, continue smoking the chicken breasts for 5-10 more minutes or until it is fully cooked (it will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts).
- Remove chicken breasts, place on a plate, and cover with aluminum foil. Let chicken rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Try to get your chicken breasts to be all the same size before cooking them. I like to use the flat edge of a mallet to flatten the bigger chicken breasts so that they are uniform in size and cook in the same amount of time.
- Some people like to baste their chicken, but we found that the marinade and rub leave it moist and juicy and it didn’t even need any baste of glaze. But feel free to add a baste or glaze (even like BBQ) at the end of your cooking time.
- This chicken is delicious as is, but is awesome to put on top of salads or use in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken! We love to make a lot of it and freeze it to use at a later time.
Nutrition
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Perfectly moist and smoky! This recipe makes the best tasting chicken breast.