Our Best Smoked Recipes

Updated April 11, 2013

Smoking meat and fish infuses must-have summer flavor like nothing else. Try these smoked recipes for dinner tonight.

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Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs

Credit: Coral Von Zumwalt

Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs Recipe

These maple-glazed ribs with a subtle touch of ginger are a mainstay at Odys + Penelope restaurant in Los Angeles. At home, chef-owner Quinn Hatfield smokes them using either a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker or a Pit Barrel Cooker. For versions of the recipe to cook on regular grills instead of smokers, go to Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs on a Gas Grill, and Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs on a Charcoal Grill.

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Smoked Salmon, Barbecue University-Style

Credit: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Lindsey Lower

Smoked Salmon, Barbecue University-Style Recipe

This whisky-scented smoked salmon combines the virtues of hot smoking and cedar planking. The dry brine in a sugar-salt mixture seasons the fish wonderfully. Cedar planks are available at grill stores and cookware shops. For gas grilling, place drained, soaked wood chips in a disposable aluminum pan directly on the burner of your grill.

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Oven-Smoked Chuck-Eye with Horseradish Cream

Credit: Maren Caruso; Styling: Robyn Valarik

Oven-Smoked Chuck-Eye with Horseradish Cream Recipe

The chuck-eye roast, aka the chuck-eye roll, is from the beef shoulder, facing the rib-eye roast. It has many layers of fat and sinew that need to be broken down slowly with heat. Tracy Smaciarz, a second-generation butcher who owns and runs Heritage Meats in Rochester, Washington, cold-smokes this cut, then grills it over indirect heat for hours. You can achieve a similar effect by braising the roast in a covered pan with wood chips and onions, allowing it to bathe in a steam bath of onion and smoke until it's juicy. Make sure your wood chips are fresh--they fade with age.

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Smoked Mojo Leg Quarters

Credit: Alison Miksch; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Smoked Mojo Leg Quarters Recipe

Use applewood chips to get the most out of this smoked dish.

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Applewood-Smoked Chicken with Dijon Rub

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

Applewood-Smoked Chicken with Dijon Rub Recipe

Our savory smoked chicken is equally delicious served cold or at room temperature, so you can cook it well in advance of your get-together. If you have leftovers, shred the meat and stir into leftover Kamut salad--instant lunch.

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Applewood-smoked Spareribs with Paprika Chili Spice Rub

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Applewood-smoked Spareribs with Paprika Chili Spice Rub Recipe

Right before the end of cooking, chef Tyler Florence likes to sprinkle his ribs with more rub—"like Cheetos dust," he says.

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Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Texas-Style Smoked Brisket Recipe

Try barbecue Texas style, which is the beef brisket -- if there is any sauce, it is a thin, spicy pan sauce made from the meat drippings. Look for a flat-cut brisket, which will be a fairly even thickness, and leave the fat layer on for the best results.

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Smoked Lemon-Chipotle Chickens

Credit: Ralph Anderson; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Smoked Lemon-Chipotle Chickens Recipe

On a chilly day, the chicken will take longer to cook–up to 45 minutes more. Don't skip the step of tying the chicken with string; the more compact the chicken, the better the smoking results will be, according to Kevin.

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Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip Recipe

Flavorful tri-tip steak is a cut of beef also known as bottom sirloin or sirloin tip. Compared to other styles of barbecue, this recipe for smoked tri-tip comes together quickly, making it ideal for a weeknight dinner.

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Fantastic Bourbon Smoked Chicken

Credit: Levi Brown; Styling: Tiziana Agnello

Fantastic Bourbon Smoked Chicken Recipe

After Steven Raichlen sent us this recipe in 2011, we declared it the most beautiful and best-tasting chicken we’d ever had. To reinforce the whiskey flavor in the brine and basting butter, Steve says to use Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel chips for smoking--widely available in grill and gourmet shops. This smoked chicken recipe is so wonderfully moist and flavorful, it doesn't need added embellishment.

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Smoked Potato Salad

Credit: Charles Masters; Styling: Alma Melendex

Smoked Potato Salad Recipe

This recipe will change everything you think you know about potato salad. In your grill, the potatoes cook in a covered aluminum pan next to another pan of mesquite wood chips. After they're smoked, the potatoes are topped with seasonings and herbs.

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Video: Using Wood Chips for Smoking Food

Wood chips add a smoky flavor to the fire and your food. Let Jamie Purviance show you the way to use them.

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Smoked Salmon

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Jan Gautro

Smoked Salmon Recipe

This recipe gives you a moist smoked salmon - not the drier type (lox) that you purchase to serve on bagels with cream cheese. Start soaking the wood chips while the salmon brines.

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Smoked Pork Butt

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Prop Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Smoked Pork Butt Recipe

Our Test Kitchen took cues from the pros to bring pit-barbecue flavor to the backyard.

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Smoked Trout

Credit: James Carrier

Smoked Trout Recipe

For the most intense smoky flavor and deepest gold color, use a charcoal barbecue. To present smoked trout as an appetizer, serve on thin triangles of Westphalian-style pumpernickel bread with sour cream, chopped red onion, and lemon wedges. For a salad, combine chunks of smoked trout, hot or cold, with green salad mix and a vinaigrette dressing. As a main dish, serve trout hot with boiled small thin-skinned potatoes, melted butter, and lemon wedges. Chill smoked trout airtight up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

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Smoked Paprika Pork Roast with Sticky Stout Barbecue Sauce

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Smoked Paprika Pork Roast with Sticky Stout Barbecue Sauce Recipe

We "dry-brined" the pork before grilling it. This method calls for rubbing a mixture on the pork and chilling it. This allows for salt to pull seasonings into the meat and improve juiciness and flavor. It's unusual, but you do chill uncovered to keep the rub "dry." (Otherwise, the rub dilutes in trapped moisture.)

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Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr

Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing Recipe

Full of high flavors, Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing will become your new favorite salad. Be sure to check out our innovative method for indoor smoking on your cooktop!

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Cajun-Spiced Smoked Shrimp with Rémoulade

Credit: Charles Masters; Styling: Alma Melendez

Cajun-Spiced Smoked Shrimp with Rémoulade Recipe

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Smoked Mullet

Smoked Mullet Recipe

Disposable turkey roasting pans from the supermarket are great for brining the fish. If you can't find mullet in your area, try mackerel, bluefish, amberjack, or even salmon--lower the smoking time for fillets rather than split fish.

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Smoked Strip Steaks

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Smoked Strip Steaks Recipe

Strip steaks offer a lot of surface area relative to their total size, which allows them to absorb a maximum amount of smoke. Serve thin slices of the steak over rice pilaf.

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Smoked Trout Salad with Apples and Pecans

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Smoked Trout Salad with Apples and Pecans Recipe

Rainbow trout is a tender fish with pink flesh and a mild flavor. Substitute any other white fish, or even salmon. You can use other fruit in place of the apples, if you prefer; pears or berries would work nicely.

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Smoked Pork Shoulder

Smoked Pork Shoulder Recipe

Serve hickory smoke-infused pork shoulder at your outdoor festivities throughout the summer. Serve the shredded pork on buns for sandwiches or use it to top salads and baked potatoes.

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Championship Pork Butt

Credit: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey

Championship Pork Butt Recipe

Injecting a Boston butt with marinade, coating it with rub, and slow-cooking on the grill will give you the juiciest pulled pork butt you've ever tasted.

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Sage and Thyme Smoked Turkey

Credit: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Randy Mon

Sage and Thyme Smoked Turkey Recipe

Brining and smoking turkey makes it juicy, moist, and fragrant, with a flavor that's infused with herbs and hints of applewood. This recipe uses a water smoker. A water smoker has a charcoal fire at the bottom topped with aromatic wood chunks, a pan of water, and racks for food.

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Video: How to Smoke Mesquite Skirt Steak

Jamie Purviance shows how to smoke quick-cooking mesquite skirt steak to perfection over a charcoal grill.

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