Description
Grilled chicken wings are one of my all-time favorite foods – I fell in love with them when one of our Milwaukee apartments was just around the corner from a neighborhood restaurant that served the BEST crispy char-grilled wings. When we moved out of the neighborhood & out of the city, we craved them constantly, so my quest to figuring out how the to grill chicken wings perfectly began.
It all comes down to 2 secrets:
- Beer brine. Soaking the chicken wings in a beer brine infuses them with rich, earthy flavor & helps them stay super juicy & tender on the grill. (Don’t love beer? No problem. Check the Recipe Notes, below, for some easy swaps.)
- 2-zone grilling. Perfect grilled wings cook up 2 phases with 2 different heat zones. Gentle indirect heat slowly cooks the wings evenly & prevents them from drying out or burning – they stay super juicy. Finishing them over direct hot heat creates delicious char & makes them super crispy. (Never grilled with the 2-zone method before? No worries! Learn all about 2-zone grilling here.)
This particular recipe is written for grilled buffalo chicken wings (my go-to buffalo sauce is included below!), but it’s a great base recipe to make whatever wings you love – BBQ dry rubbed, lemon pepper, teriyaki style wings, & more. Be sure to check out the blog post, above, for plenty of inspiration & a few of my favorite variations. Happy grilling!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fresh chicken wing sections
- 16 ounces beer of choice (see Recipe Notes)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 cup Frank’s RedHot Original
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon smoked paprika
- for serving, as desired: crumbled blue cheese, freshly snipped chives or green onions, blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing (see Recipe Notes for our go-to wing dip!), sliced carrots, sliced celery, etc.
Instructions
- Brine the chicken wings in beer: Place the chicken wings in a large airtight container or resealable plastic bag. Pour the beer over top and season with the kosher salt. Toss to combine well, ensuring all the of the chicken wings are submerged in the brine. Cover/seal and transfer to the refrigerator to brine for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days. The longer you’re able to brine, the juicier and more flavorful your grilled buffalo chicken wings will be.
- Grill prep: About 30 minutes before you’re ready to grill, pull the wings out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature for more even grilling. Prepare your grill for indirect cooking, creating a zone of direct high heat and a second zone of indirect heat. If using a gas grill, begin preheating at least 15 minutes before grilling. If using charcoal, light the charcoal at least 30 minutes prior to grilling. (To learn more about zone grilling, be sure to check out this post.) This is also a great time to mix up the buffalo sauce – simply add the Frank’s RedHot Original, melted butter, garlic powder, and smoked paprika to a small bowl and mix to combine well.
- Grill the wings with indirect heat: Once the grill is hot, place the brined chicken wings on the indirect side of the grill, shaking off and discarding any excess beer brine. Arrange the wings as close to the fire as possible without being over the direct heat. Close the grill lid and cook the wings with indirect heat for 7-10 minutes. Flip the wings, rearranging them so the wings furthest from the direct heat source in the first half of the cook are closest to the heat during the second half, and vice versa. Close the grill lid and cook the wings with indirect heat for 7-10 minutes more. If your wing sections are smaller, they’ll grill up in closer to 7 minutes per side, if larger it’ll take closer to 10 minutes per side – the goal is to cook the wings almost entirely with indirect heat.
- Char the wings over direct heat: Arrange the cooked wings over the direct heat to finish them off with a good crispy char, about 2 minutes per side or until as charred as desired, carefully brushing with the prepared buffalo sauce as they cook.
- Serve: Transfer the grilled buffalo wings to a serving platter, drizzling any remaining buffalo sauce over top. As desired, finish with freshly snipped chives or green onions and crumbled blue cheese. Serve immediately with blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
- Ingredient Notes:
- Beer: Even if you don’t love the flavor of beer or you’re not typically a beer drinker (I am not!), a beer brine adds rich, earthy flavor to chicken that’s pretty hard to beat. I’ve tested these grilled wings using all kinds of beer. Any beer works well, but for the best results, use a big &/or hoppy beer such as an IPA, porter, or stout. If you’d prefer not to use beer, buttermilk is an awesome alternative – it makes the chicken extra juicy & tender. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can quickly DIY it by adding 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. You’ll need 2 cups of buttermilk for this grilled chicken wing brine.
- Go-to grilled chicken wing dip – herby yogurt ranch: To a small bowl, add 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (whole milk or 2% is best), 1 finely chopped clove of garlic, 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped chives or green onions, 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, & 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix to combine well, drizzling in a few tablespoons of water as needed to reach desired consistency.
- 10-Minute Meal Prep: Nearly all of the active prep work for these grilled chicken wings come from brining the wings. Up to 3 days before you’d like to grill the wings, brine the chicken wings in beer according to Step 1 of Recipe Directions, above. At dinnertime, all you have to do is fire up the grill – easy! (<10 minutes active prep)