Description
Seriously the Best Grilled Chicken Wings you’ll ever make! There are 2 secrets to grilling chicken wings perfectly: soaking them in a flavorful brine and grilling with 2 zones of heat. These grilled wings stay juicy and tender thanks to a simple beer brine, and they get delicious charred and crispy using a 2-zone grilling technique. This 30-minute grilled wings recipe is a buffalo-style for hot wing lovers, but it includes easy variations for other dry-rubbed and marinated wings.
Perfect for summer parties, game day, or casual dinners at home, you’ll turn to this grilled chicken wings recipe over and over again!
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 pounds fresh chicken wing sections
- 16 ounces beer of choice (see Recipe Notes)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾ 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 and/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 and 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, and 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)
