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These Hot Honey Chicken Wings combine classic Buffalo style wing flavors with the tangy and sweet flavors of hot honey, all cooked on a grill for crispy wing perfection. Check out this incredible grilled chicken wing recipe for your next wing craving.
There is no such thing as too many chicken wing recipes. And this one is all about the wing sauce. We combine our hot honey recipe with Frank’s RedHot hot sauce and butter to make the best Hot Honey Wing Sauce. Not too hot and not too sweet. I must warn you though, it is too addictive!
Hot Honey Wings Highlights
- Grilling adds more flavor to the wings versus deep frying.
- Adding corn starch to the seasoning helps with crispy skin.
- Using hot honey and classic Buffalo style sauce combination gives it a tangy, hot, and slightly sweet flavor.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
Portions are in the recipe card.
- Chicken Wings: Drums and flats. One pound is typically 12 wings. This recipe is for 2 pounds.
- Seasoning: We are using kosher salt and ground pepper combined with corn starch to help the wings crisp up while grilling.
- Frank’s RedHot: While you can use any hot sauce you prefer, the original nod to authentic Buffalo Wings flavor is Frank’s, and that’s where our loyalty stands.
- Hot Honey: It’s easy to make on your own with one of our hot honey recipes or use a store bought version.
- Unsalted Butter: The fat from the butter helps bring together the hot sauce and the hot honey.
Secret to Crispy Skin on Grilled Chicken Wings
Corn Starch is the first secret to achieving crispy skin on grilled chicken wings. Mix the corn starch with your wing seasoning and then shake it all together in a sealed plastic bag or mix together in a bowl. The corn starch will help render the fat.
The second secret is starting with dry wings. Dehydrate your wings in the refrigerator, uncovered, for four hours prior to making them. And if you are thawing from frozen, be sure the wings have had time to full thaw and then give them 4 hours in the refrigerator to dehydrate before grilling them.
Related Recipe: All the secrets to perfect Grilled Wings with crispy skin.
Steps for Hot Honey Grilled Wings
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- Prep: Prepare grill for two zone grilling, targeting 400 degrees F in the cooking chamber. In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper, and corn starch. Place wings in a large bowl and then coat them with the seasoning (or place in a gallon size plastic bag and shake together).
- Grill Direct: Place the seasoned flats and drums on grill grate over the direct heat. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes or until the wings have a nice sear. Flip and then continue grilling over direct heat for additional 3 to 4 minutes until the get another nice sear.
- Grill Indirect: Once they have a nice sear, move the wings to the indirect side of the grill until they have reached 180 degrees internal temperature. The skin should be crispy (about 16 minutes total).
- Sauce Wings: Place finished wings in a large bowl and then toss them with the hot honey Buffalo sauce. Serve immediately with ranch or extra sauce, carrots, and celery. See notes on saucing.
We recommend having a good instant read thermometer for any grilling or smoking.
How to Make Hot Honey Chicken Wing Sauce
If using a stove top – Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir slowly until combined, butter is melted, and it just barely comes to a simmer (about 8 minutes). Do NOT let it come to a boil! Toss immediately with the chicken wings while the wings are still hot.
If using a grill – Since we are already grilling wings, we place the cast iron saucepan over direct heat when the wings are finishing on indirect cooking. Then add all ingredients and slowly stir as the butter melts and everything has combined (about 8 minutes). Do NOT let it come to a boil. Remove using heat safe BBQ gloves and then toss immediately with the chicken wings while the wings are still hot.
Hot Honey Recipe Ideas
If you love hot honey you can also try this with our ginger and orange hot honey. And hot honey is great drizzled over fresh hard cheeses or as a hot honey pizza. We’ve even thrown this on hot honey ribs for a sticky and sweet smoked ribs recipe. Hot honey even makes an awesome glaze on our hot honey grilled chicken.
More Chicken Wing Recipes
Don’t forget the ranch dip if you are into that.
- Smoked Buffalo Chicken Wings with Crispy Skin
- Grilled Buffalo Style Chicken Wings
- Grilled BBQ Chicken Wings
- Chicken Wings with Spicy Peanut Sauce
- Smoked Chicken Wings with Thai Chili Sauce
- Grilled Buffalo Chicken Pull Apart Bread – Golden brown doughballs stuffed with a Buffalo chicken filling and topped with cheese. The epic appetizer.
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About Vindulge
Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.
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Grilled Wings with Buffalo Hot Honey Wing Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings, (Drums and Flats)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Hot Honey Wing Sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup Frank's RedHot hot sauce, (Or your favorite hot sauce. But seriously, use Frank's.)
- ⅓ cup hot honey
Instructions
- Prep: Prepare grill for two zone grilling, targeting 400 degrees F in the cooking chamber. In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper, and corn starch. Place wings in a large bowl and then coat them with the seasoning (or toss all together in a large gallon size plastic bag).
- Grill Direct: Place the seasoned flats and drums on grill grate over the direct heat. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes or until the wings have a nice sear. Flip and then continue grilling over direct heat for additional 3 to 4 minutes until the get another nice sear.
- Grill Indirect: Once they have a nice sear, move to indirect side of the grill until they have reached 180 degrees internal temperature. The skin should be crispy (about 16 minutes total).
- Make Sauce: Place a small cast iron saucepan on the grill over direct heat and add the hot sauce, hot honey, and butter. Stir and then let it slowly warm up. Continue stirring until the butter is melted and then remove from heat. Do NOT let it come to a boil! Alternatively you can simmer on the stove top in a small saucepan.
- Sauce Wings: Place finished wings in a large bowl and then toss them with the hot honey Buffalo sauce. Serve immediately with ranch, carrots, and celery. See notes on saucing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Run, don’t walk, to use this recipe. The wing sauce is delicious and the wings, crispy.