The 9 Best Portable Charcoal Grills for Camping, Tailgating, Entertaining, and More

Best Overall

PK Grills PKGo Grill Grilling System

$338 at Walmart View on Pkgrills.com $400 at Home Depot

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.7/5
• Performance
  5/5
• Design
  4.6/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  5/5
• Value
  4.8/5

If you’re looking for a heavy-duty charcoal grill that you can take camping, tailgating, and more, the PK Grills PKGO is our top recommendation. The top and bottom of the grill are crafted from cast aluminum, making it extremely durable and sturdy to use. The cooking surface is 17 by 12 inches, providing just over 200 square inches of cooking space, but you can also detach the lid and use it as a secondary grill, essentially doubling the room you have to work with. 

We were impressed with this portable grill’s design, and the PKGO performed well during our testing, too. After just 10 minutes of preheating, the grill reached temperatures over 500 degrees, providing a nice, hot cooking surface. The burgers and brats sizzled immediately when placed on the grill, and both items had beautiful grill marks when they were done cooking.

The one major downside of the PKGO is that it’s quite heavy, weighing almost 40 pounds. While it's not as heavy as a backyard gas grill, it’s definitely not the type of grill you’ll want to carry out to a remote campsite.

Dimensions: 20.9 x 15.3 x 13 inches | Weight: 39.5 lbs. | Cooking Area: 204 square inches 

Best Overall (Cheaper)

Everdure Cube Portable Grill

$166 at Amazon $160 at Food52 View on Bbqguys.com

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.8/5
• Performance
  4.8/5
• Design
  4.8/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4.8/5
• Value
  4.8/5

The Everdure Cube is a smaller and more affordable portable charcoal grill that excels when it comes to portability. It weighs just 15 pounds, making it incredibly easy to bring along on your outdoor adventures, and it even comes with a convenient food prep board and storage tray that nest inside the grill. The Cube only offers 115 square inches of cooking space, but we found that this is plenty if you’re only cooking for one or two people.

This charcoal grill did take a little longer to heat up than other models, but it still did a great job cooking a variety of food during testing. There were definitive grill marks on the brats and charring on the corn on the first side after flipping; the first side of the burgers did not have grill marks but had a quality sear on them like they were done in a skillet.

The only downside is that it doesn’t have a lid that you can use while cooking, but it still exceeded expectations in terms of performance. Plus, the grill was very easy to clean out after use, and its stay-cool handles and light weight made it easy to move around.

Dimensions: 16.7 x 13.7 x 9.1 inches | Weight: 15.43 lbs. | Cooking Area: 115 square inches

Best Budget

Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill

$46 at Amazon $46 at Target $46 at Walmart

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.5/5
• Performance
  4.1/5
• Design
  4.2/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4/5
• Value
  5/5

If you only take your grill on the go occasionally, the Weber Smokey Joe is a relatively budget-friendly option that will get the job done. This lightweight portable grill is essentially just a smaller version of Weber’s popular kettle grill, and it has a 14-inch grate that offers around 147 square inches of cooking space. The whole thing weighs less than 10 pounds, making it a breeze to move, but we don’t like that it doesn’t have a lid lock, which makes it a bit more precarious to transport.

In terms of performance, the Smokey Joe fell in the middle of the pack during testing. It reached over 500 degrees after 10 minutes of preheating, and its dampers made it easy to adjust the heat, but our food ended up looking more baked than grilled, with minimal char lines. We wish the charcoal grate were closer to the grill grate itself; the grill does cook food as is, just not at high temperatures.

Dimensions: 14.2 x 14.5 x 17 inches | Weight: 9.5 lbs. | Cooking Area: 147 square inches

Best Tabletop

Oklahoma Joe's Tabletop Charcoal Grill

$159 at Amazon $228 at Walmart $179 at Wayfair

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.7/5
• Performance
  4.7/5
• Design
  4.8/5

While not necessarily the most travel-friendly, the Oklahoma Joe’s Rambler Tabletop Charcoal Grill is an unbeatable option for your patio or even tailgating. This tabletop grill is one of the more bulky options we tested — it’s essentially a pared-down version of a barrel-style charcoal grill — but it works great if you’re not planning to move it around too much. 

This grill offers 218 square inches of cooking space, and its heavy-duty cast iron grates produce a beautiful sear on any food. While testing, food in contact with the cast-iron grates browned exceedingly well; the corn, in particular, had a nice char. You can also adjust the charcoal grate to several height settings to dial up the heat, and we loved that the grill has a pull-out ash tray that makes cleanup quick and easy.

Dimensions: 19.5 x 26.8 x 21.8 inches | Weight: 52.8 lbs. | Cooking Area: 218 square inches 

Best with Smoker

Masterbuilt Portable Charcoal Grill and Smoker with Cart

$330 at Amazon $330 at Wayfair $330 at Home Depot

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.9/5
• Performance
  4.8/5
• Design
  4.9/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  5/5
• Value
  5/5

The Masterbuilt Portable Charcoal Grill and Smoker has an interesting design that makes it well-suited for both grilling and smoking meat. Instead of placing charcoal underneath the cooking grates, you place it in the side hopper, and the grill automatically regulates its own heat based on the temperature you select. It can be used for high-heat grilling or low-and-slow smoking, and as a bonus, it’s mounted on a collapsible rolling cart for easy portability. 

During testing, we found the Masterbuilt grill exceptionally easy to operate. The charcoal is the easiest to add of all the grills we tested. Since this grill uses a hopper, you just open and refill the hopper as needed. The grill heated up quickly, and all the food cooked evenly. We were skeptical about the design, which more closely resembles a pellet grill than a traditional charcoal grill, but it was surprisingly easy to operate and extremely versatile.

Dimensions: 18.8 x 27 x 36 inches | Weight: 52 lbs. | Cooking Area: 200 square inches

Best for Tailgating

Expert Grill Portable Charcoal Grill

$128 at Amazon $74 at Walmart

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.2/5
• Performance
  4.8/5
• Design
  4/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  4/5
• Value
  5/5

You can cook up all sorts of tasty food before the big game with the Expert Grill Premium Portable Charcoal Grill. This budget-friendly grill is on the smaller side, weighing less than 20 pounds, but it still has a sizable 192-square-inch primary cooking area as well as a 70-square-inch warming rack, which is perfect for toasting buns or cooking vegetables. 

When we tested this grill, we were impressed with how easy it was to move, and it heated up to over 500 degrees in just a few minutes. There was plenty of space to arrange all the food, and everything had a nice browning by the time we were done cooking. However, the legs of the grill are somewhat flimsy, so you’ll want to use caution when setting up and cleaning.

Dimensions: 17.5 x 17 x 24.5 inches | Weight: 18.5 lbs. | Cooking Area: 192 square inches 

Best for Entertaining

Dyna-Glo Portable Tabletop Charcoal Grill

$56 at Amazon $71 at Walmart $83 at Wayfair

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.8/5
• Performance
  4.8/5
• Design
  4.8/5
• Ease of Cleaning
  5/5
• Value
  4.5/5

You can cook for a fairly large group of people using the Dyna-Glo Signature Series Portable Charcoal Grill. It has a hefty barrel-style design that weighs just over 40 pounds, so it’s not the most portable option, but it’s ideal for setting up on your back deck or even in the bed of a truck. It boasts 287 square inches of cooking space, and its charcoal grate is accessible from the side, making it easy to add more fuel while you're cooking. 

We were impressed with this grill’s performance during testing — it heated up to over 500 degrees in just 10 minutes, and it left nice sear marks and charring on the hamburgers and sausages. There was plenty of room on the cooking surface to spread food without crowding, but we found that the side drawer was a bit tricky to remove when it was time to clean the grill.

Dimensions: 24.17 x 18.35 x 21 inches | Weight: 40.7 lbs. | Cooking Area: 287 square inches

Best for Beginners

Meco Portable Charcoal Grill

$64 at Walmart $79 at Wayfair $65 at Home Depot

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.2/5
• Performance
  4.1/5
• Design
  4.3/5

If you’re just getting started with charcoal grilling, the Americana Walk-A-Bout Portable Charcoal Grill is simple and inexpensive, making it well-suited for beginners. It has a large 332-square-inch cooking surface with a height-adjustable grate, and the grill is mounted on a handy folding stand, allowing you to cook just about anywhere. 

When we tested this portable grill, we were impressed at how much space it offered. There was plenty of room for the burgers, brats, and corn with space left over. The grill did take longer to reach high cooking temperatures, and we wish there was a damper cover over the holes on the back of the grill, which would allow you better control over the temperature.

Dimensions: 21.87 x 34.50 x 28.25 inches | Weight: 20 lbs. | Cooking Area: 332 square inches 

Best Design

Char-Griller Portable Charcoal Grill and Side Firebox

$70 at Lowe's

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use
  4.1/5
• Performance
  4.5/5
• Design
  4.4/5

The Char-Griller Portable Charcoal Grill is budget-friendly and spacious, and its design will work well for both tailgating and backyard cookouts. It has a barrel-style design with 250 square inches of cooking space and comes with a two-piece cast iron grate that creates lovely char marks on your food. Plus, there’s even a side firebox that allows you to use it as an offset smoker, making it even more versatile. 

During testing, we were impressed with the solid construction of this grill, especially considering its reasonable price, and we found that it heats up to high temperatures quickly. (In fact, it can easily get too hot if you’re not careful!) There was ample room on its grates for all the food we cooked, but it can be a little tricky to flip and adjust food due to the barrel-shaped design.

Dimensions: 21.1 x 19 x 18.7 inches | Weight: 37 lbs. | Cooking Area: 250 square inches