How to season chicken wings for grilling

These grilled chicken wings are the ultimate game-day snack. They’re perfect for watching all your favorite sports with family and friends. When I’m looking to feed a crowd (or I just have a lot of hungry family members!), these chicken wings on the grill with 3 different wing sauces are quick and easy and taste oh-so good!

Chicken Wings on the Grill

Chicken wings are a must-have for just about any social gathering, and this grilled chicken wings recipe is one of the best grilled wings around! I personally cannot tailgate or watch sports without a big plate of crispy grilled chicken wings on hand. There are a lot of tips and tricks to getting crispy wings, but my biggest tip is consistent temperatures and regular flipping.

When selecting a grill to cook these wing on, I highly recommend the Weber Genesis II.  This grill has 669 square inches of grill space and provides perfectly even heat across the grates with 39,000 BTU heat output. This grill could easily handle 10 pounds of chicken wings at once (that’s a lot of wings!) and hold temps at the perfect 425 degrees F.

Grilled Chicken Wing Sauce

This recipe includes not one, but THREE amazing chicken wing sauces. I like to have all three available when making chicken wings because they provide something for everyone. Spicy, smooth, and sweet are great ways to go when making a chicken wing sauce.

• Creamy Buffalo Sauce. This sauce is perfect when you want a good Buffalo kick on your wings. Buffalo sauce and chicken wings are the perfect duo, and are a must-have on my platter.
• Garlic Parmesan Sauce. For a smooth option, go with this garlic Parmesan sauce. It’s a family favorite and provides a nice, cool wing sauce. No heat, but tons of flavor!
• Honey BBQ Sauce. Last up, you can pull up the recipe for my Honey BBQ Sauce on this site for an ooey, gooey, sticky and sweet wing sauce. It’s a kid-friendly sauce that is great for the whole family.

Another perk of serving your sauces on the side is that your wings stay crispy longer. If you fully toss your wings in sauce, the skin will most definitely start to soften. Keep that crispy skin as long as you can by serving your sauces on the side.

How to Grill Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are a breeze to grill. I prefer to make my chicken wing sauce beforehand to have it ready to go as soon as my wings come off the grill. Here’s how to grill chicken wings.

1. Preheat. Fire up the grill and preheat to 425 degrees F.
2. Make the sauces. Prepare the dipping sauces according to the instructions in the recipe card and set them aside until ready to serve.
3. Season the chicken wings. Pat the wings dry, spray with avocado oil, and season on all sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. You can also season these with my Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub. It’s a great salt and pepper-based rub that will add a lot of flavor to these wings.
4. Grill. Add the chicken wings to the grill grates and grill for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 170-175 degrees F. Flip every 3-5 minutes.
5. Enjoy. Remove the grilled wings and serve with the dipping sauce.

How Long to Grill Chicken Wings

It takes approximately 25-30 minutes to grill chicken wings. Make sure you are flipping the wings every few minutes to ensure they are cooked evenly through and the skin cooks evenly as well.

I like to grill chicken wings to 170-175 degrees F. While this is a higher temperature for thicken than the FDA recommend 165 degrees F, I prefer the texture of wings cooked a little bit hotter. This higher internal temperature on wings allows the meat to pull away from the bone easily and still taste delicious. Snag an instant-read thermometer to keep a close eye on the temperature as they cook.

Tips for Grilling Chicken Wings

Chicken wings can be a bit finicky to cook on the grill, but I got some tips to help you grill chicken wings to perfection. Here are some important takeaway points for grilling chicken wings:

1. Get that grill hot. Make sure your grill is fully preheated to 425 degrees F prior to cooking your chicken wings.
2. Fully dry the wings. Before seasoning your chicken wings, pat them dry with a paper towel and spray with a high heat cooking oil (my favorite is avocado).
3. Flip often. Flip the wings every 3-5 minutes while they are on the grill to prevent burning and to evenly crisp the skin.
4. Keep an eye on the temp. Use a meat thermometer to grill your chicken wings until they reach an internal temperature of 170-175 degrees F. This is fall-off-the-bone temp and you’ll love the tender chicken meat on these wings.

More Chicken Wings Recipes

Oh, chicken wings. How you delight me! I’ll eat you in just about any way I can. Whether smoked, fried, or brined, Hey Grill Hey has a collection of the best grilled chicken wings recipes to keep you satisfied. Additionally, you can find all our chicken wings recipes here.

• Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings
• Smoked then Fried Chicken Wings
• Beer Brine Chicken Wings
• Honey BBQ Wings

Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe

Did you enjoy this grilled chicken wings recipe, and you’re looking to become a better BBQer? If you’re looking to up your BBQ game, join The Grill Squad. It’s my members-only BBQ group that is packed full of awesome pitmaster classes and other amazing perks (like a running discount on my store!) Check it out today!

This post was originally published in October 2019. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.

Grilled Chicken Wings

Grilled Chicken Wings are the ultimate party food. Cooking chicken wings on the grill is a fast and easy way to enjoy chicken wings.

Prep Time : 15 mins

Cook Time : 20 mins

Total Time : 35 mins

Servings : 6 people

Calories : 384kcal

• ▢ 4 pounds chicken wings (flats and drumettes)
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon avocado oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Creamy Buffalo Sauce

• ▢ ¼ cup Buffalo sauce (Franks RedHot is my favorite)
• ▢ ¼ cup ranch dressing

Garlic Parmesan Sauce

• ▢ 1 clove garlic (minced)
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons butter (melted)
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons ground Parmesan cheese
• ▢ 1 Tablespoons fresh parsley (finely minced)

Honey BBQ Sauce

• ▢ 1 cup ketchup
• ▢ ½ cup brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons honey
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper

• Preheat the grill. Preheat your grill to 425 degrees F.

• Make the sauces.

  For the Buffalo Sauce: combine the Buffalo sauce and ranch dressing in a small bowl. Stir to combine.

  For the Garlic Parmesan Sauce: combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Serve warm.

  For the Honey BBQ Sauce: Combine all ingredients for Honey BBQ Sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and serve warm.

• Prep the wings. Pat the wings dry and spray or drizzle the chicken wings with avocado oil and then season on all sides with the salt and pepper.

• Grill the chicken wings. Place the chicken wings directly on the grill grates, close the lid, and grill them for 15-20 minutes, flipping every 3-5 minutes to prevent burning and to crisp the skin. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170-175 degrees F (this is a high temp for chicken, but it helps give you a clean, pull-off-the-bone bite).

• Serve immediately with the sauces. Remove the wings from the grill. Toss in the sauce, dip, or drizzle the sauce on the top.

Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 126mg | Sodium: 507mg | Potassium: 255mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 240IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 2mg

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