4 Best Grills Under 500 |2023

Gas grills are less messy than charcoal grills and let you start cooking in just a few minutes, compared to the warmup required when using wood pellet or charcoal grills. They can be as easy to use as your home stove while still offering a great sear on your steak or making the perfect grilled chicken.

We tasked our expert testers with finding the top gas grills at every price point. Over the course of weeks, we put each one through its paces from assembly to cleaning. Along with evaluative data, each grill is rated on its usability, performance, ease of cleaning, features, and overall value to find the best gas grills that won’t break the bank.

Our Top Picks

Last update on 2023-05-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Best Overall, Monument Grills 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill

Last update on 2023-05-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

If you think you’re limited to small grills in the under $500 category, think again. After two weeks of testing, one of our favorite grills not only comes at the right price, it also has four powerful burners and different heating zones so you can cook for a crowd. Monument Grills designed this grill to give you a great experience from beginning to end, whatever your grill skill level.

The first win was assembly. Of the numerous grills we tested out side-by-side, this was one of the easiest to put together despite its size. Lighting was as simple as pressing the button, with the burners quickly responding to turning the dial. After realizing the heat focused more towards the back of the grill—the front part is great for indirect cooking—we were able to get a great sear at high heat.

We did find that it was worth it to do a preheat when grilling at lower temperatures to get to the right heat. In fact, one of our only downsides was a small learning curve when it came to the slew of heat settings. The higher heats tended to be more accurate to our settings than the lower ones. We also highly recommend oiling the porcelain-coated cast-iron grates beforehand to avoid any sticky issues. Monument Grills also makes a Clear View Lid version of this grill.

What We Like

• Great performance at high temperatures
• Good for beginner and expert grillers
• Extremely easy to assemble despite size

What We Don’t Like

• Inconsistent heating across the grates
• Slight learning curve to get consistent temperatures

1- Classic Series 3-Burner Gas Grill

Last update on 2023-05-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Gas grills tend to be more expensive than their charcoal counterparts, but this one won’t break the budget. It doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles you’ll find on more expensive models, but it still does a great job grilling steaks and burgers, with plenty of space for more.

It offers 360 square inches of primary grilling space on the porcelain-coated grates, along with a handy warming rack that can keep finished foods at serving temperature. This grill has three burners that provide a total of 30,000 BTUs of cooking power for great searing or low-and-slow cooking for perfect barbecue ribs. We were very impressed with its even temperature: “The flame was even and responded well to temperature adjustments, which translated to even cooking and food that came out exactly as expected.”

Two metal side shelves are handy for holding sauces and plates, while the two wheels make it easy to move the grill as needed. We found the grill to be a little shaky when cutting meat on the side shelf, but overall, it was sturdy and convenient.

What We Like

• Compact
• Easy to move around
• Even flame and independent temperature control

What We Don’t Like

• Not very sturdy
• Food can stick to grill grates
• No drip pan on the right side

2- Weber Q 2200 Gas Grill

Last update on 2023-05-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Despite being a tabletop model, the Weber Q 2200 Gas Grill is every bit as powerful as a full-size model. This sturdy little grill boasts 280 square inches of cooking space across its cast-iron grates, and its single burner delivers up to 12,000 BTUs per hour—more than enough for cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, veggies, and more. Plus, it starts up quickly and easily, thanks to its ignition button.

One of our favorite aspects of this grill is the folding side tables; they’re spacious enough to hold a plate stacked high with food. We were impressed with how quickly the grill heats up—easily reaching 400 degrees in 5 minutes—and its durable construction is ideal for both taking on the road and whipping up dinner in your backyard.

If the Q 2200 doesn’t fit your needs (or your budget), there are several other models in the Weber Q Series that you might want to consider. For instance, the Weber Q 2000 is very similar, offering the same cooking area and side tables. However, its dome is slightly shorter, and it lacks certain features, such as the built-in lid thermometer.

What We Like

• Extremely easy to set up and operate
• Spacious cooking area
• Heavy-duty cast-iron grates
• Large folding side tables

What We Don’t Like

• Somewhat heavy for a portable grill
• Catch pan didn’t fit properly

3- Char Broil 463630021 Performance Series 2-Burner Gas Grill

Last update on 2023-05-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

When it comes to smaller grills like this 2-burner model, it can be harder to control the temperature than it is on larger grills. This is due to the smaller hood trapping heat, even when on low, so you quickly end up with a too-hot grill. But of the smaller 2-burners we’ve tested, this Char-Broil Performance model had one of the most accurate built-in thermometer so you can monitor the internal temperature.

It also heats its 395-square-inch cooking space quite evenly, with us only observing hot spots around the edges of the grate. When it did get slightly too-hot inside, we were able to save our steaks and burgers since the burners are very responsive to changes on the dials. In the end, everything we tested came out perfectly cooked. Having an easy assembly and an even easier cleanup makes this a great grill for new grillers.

What We Like

• Consistently accurate in temperature
• Great for beginners
• Extremely easy to assemble

What We Don’t Like

• Hot spots around edges of grates