Traeger Grilled Chicken Thighs and Veggies

This recipe combines boneless skinless chicken thighs with a sweet and spicy honey harissa paste before grilling the chicken thighs on a Traeger grill alongside strips of yellow squash, zucchini, bell pepper, and red onion. It’s perfect for serving over basmati rice with your favorite Mediterranean fixin’s or in pitas with fresh greens and herbs.

And in case you’re unfamiliar with harissa or want to take the flavor profile in another direction, I’ve included notes on alternative marinades and veggie combos. Let’s dive in!

Marinade for Grilled Chicken Thighs

My recipe calls for a blend of honey, lemon juice, harissa paste, and a few herbs and spices. It’s a Mediterranean inspired marinade that’s sweet and spicy (but not too spicy).

I recommend marinating the chicken thighs for at least two hours, but you can go longer if you’d like. Just don’t go too far beyond marinating overnight, as the acidity in the lemon juice may cause problems.

If you’d like to go in a different direction flavor wise, you could use the Mexican inspired marinade from my grilled chicken breast recipe.

The veggies here would work fine, but I’d probably swap red bell peppers for poblano peppers and use a white onion instead of a red onion. And fresh corn might be a nice addition in place of the yellow squash.

Other flavor profile ideas might include BBQ, al pastor, or mustard balsamic.

Grilling Boneless Chicken Thighs on a Traeger Grill

Who says you can’t accomplish high heat grilling on a Traeger? You can get a Traeger plenty hot to achieve great grill marks on chicken and veggies (and even pretty solid reverse seared steaks). Just be sure your grill is clean before cranking up the temperatures to avoid any grease fires or high temp errors.

The recipe calls for grilling the chicken at 500ºF but if your Traeger (or another pellet smoker) doesn’t get that hot, 400ºF to 450ºF should still get the job done. Just extend the cook time by 5-10 minutes.

I recommend using a grill pan to prevent the smaller strips of onion and bell pepper from falling through the grates. It’s worth mentioning, however, that this recipe makes a beaucoup of veggies.

You’ll want to move them around and maybe put some of the zucchini and yellow squash directly on the grill grates to maximize the flavor development.

And as with any grill, hot spots happen. If you’re unfamiliar with your grill’s hot spots, check on the chicken early to prevent any burning. The sugar from the honey in the marinade can catch (looking at you, bottom left chicken thigh pictured above).

What to Serve with Traeger Chicken Thighs and Veggies

You have an awesome base for so many dishes. We like making bowls with a base of basmati rice and add-ons like fresh herbs, tzatziki or hummus, pickled onions, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olives, and crumbled feta. Or add a Greek green salad and you’ll be all set.

This chicken also works great sliced and wrapped in a pita with lots of the same goodies or in grilled chicken roll ups. Have fun!

That should cover everything you need to know. You will find a complete recipe card below to save or print for your next grilling session.

And if you’re looking for more things to make on your Traeger grill, here’s a handful of recipes I bet you’ll like:

• the best way to make smoked chicken thighs
• Traeger chicken tacos
• reverse seared steak tacos
• smoked chicken salad
• pellet grilled beef fajitas

All right, I hope you enjoy these Traeger chicken thighs and grilled veggies!