Grilled Chicken Wings with Spicy Peanut Wing Sauce

Main Ingredients

• Chicken Wings – Buy party wings or wings marked as drums and flats as you may see them in the store. Typically when buying wings, you can expect 10 to 12 wings per pound.
• Seasoning – For seasoning use equal parts kosher salt, granulated garlic (not garlic powder), and coarse black pepper, also known as SPG Rub. One tablespoon of each is good for 2 dozen wings.
• Spicy Peanut Sauce – The ingredient details are below. This is great with any chicken recipe, not just the wings.

If you buy the entire wing together (where drums and flats are together) simply separate them using a sharp boning knife and remove the wing tips. The wing tips don’t have much meat and are better for stock or discarded.

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ingredients

The ingredients for the spicy peanut sauce are meant to balance the peanut butter with the savory flavors of the hot sauce and soy. The secret to the right texture is to combine the peanut butter and hot water first in a large bowl. Then stir to liquify. At that point you mix in the remaining ingredients.

• Unsalted natural peanut butter – we use the real stuff with no added sugar
• Hot water, to help liquify the peanut butter (120 degrees F – just hot water from the tap isn’t hot enough)
• Frank’s RedHot hot sauce (Trust us, it adds the right balance of vinegar and spicy pepper flavors)
• Soy sauce
• Freshly graded ginger
• Juice from a lime

Plan one cup of sauce for every 2 dozen wings.

Note: if the sauce starts to thicken up, you can thin it out to your desired consistency by adding more liquid. Start with another tablespoon of hot water, then you can add more hot sauce (if you want it a little spicier), or soy (if you want more of that umami), or more lime juice (if you want more acid kick).

Preparation

Seasoning the grilled chicken wings is an important step and adding corn starch helps them crisp up on the grill mimicking the deep fried texture.

• Be sure the wings have been patted dry with a paper towel and are dry, and then place the wings in a one gallon plastic baggie.
• In a small bowl combine the dry rub and the corn starch. Stir to combine.
• Pour the dried seasoning into the baggie, close, and shake the baggie to coat the wings liberally.
• Place onto the grill to cook.

How to Grill Chicken Wings

Prepare the grill using two-zone grilling (or indirect cooking), where you start the wings away from the direct heat source, and then finish over direct heat if needed for more char and crunch. Often the indirect side will completely crisp up the wings with no need for a direct finish.

1. Prepare the grill for two-zone cooking method using lump charcoal.
2. When the internal temperature of the grill reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit, place the seasoned wings on the indirect side of the grill.
3. Cover the grill and grill wings for 15 minutes. Then flip the wings. This is the perfect time to make the sauce.
4. Continue grilling indirect for an additional 15 minutes over indirect heat.
5. At this point the wings should be crispy on all sides to the touch. If they are not, then move them to the direct heat side and finish over direct heat for about 1 minute per side just to get your desired char.

Combining Grilled Chicken Wings with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Now to complete the recipe, place the grilled chicken wings into a large bowl and then add two thirds of the spicy peanut sauce. Toss them with a large spoon to coat them and then serve immediately. The wings will loose the crispiness if they sit too long in the sauce. So time it right.

Serve with the remaining sauce in a bowl for dipping. No ranch (or blue cheese) needed. We also use a similar peanut sauce in our Chicken Satay recipe.