Best-Ever Grilled Buffalo Wings (with the Best-Ever Buffalo Sauce)
Yield: ~24 wings
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, 50 minutes
Ingredients
Wings:
4-5 pounds chicken wings (around 24 when separated into drums and flats)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
Sauce:
6 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce of your choosing*
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
*Something smoky like the regular Cholula is great, but the more interesting the flavor the better!
Method
Pat chicken wings dry and place in a large mixing bowl. Toss with salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and curry powder until evenly coated. Then, toss with the cornstarch and baking powder. Arrange the coated wings in a single layer on a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 2 hours. (Note: 1 hour will suffice if you’re in a time crunch, though. This step helps to dry out the skin a little bit to ensure maximum crispy skin goodness once it hits the grill.)
Set a gas grill to medium-high heat and oil the grates with an oil-dampened paper towel and a pair of tongs to reduce sticking. Once hot, arrange the wings in a single layer. If your grill has hot spots (and I’m sure it does), position the drums in the hottest areas and the flats in the cooler zones.
Grill, lid down, for 6-8 minutes. Turn each wing and cook the remaining side for 6-8 minutes more. At this point, your wings will look dry, chalky, and low-key awful. This is the point, and you’re doing it right!
Reduce the heat on your grill to medium-low and turn the wings to their original sides. Continue to grill your wings lid down, rotating them every 5 minutes; you’ll start to see the rendered chicken fat escape through the skin, so turning them every 5 minutes will help coat the wings in all that glorious fat and get ‘em nice and crispy. Continue cooking (lid down!) and turning every 5 minutes until cooked through with a deeply golden brown crust. Depending on your grill and the size of your wings, this could take anywhere from 20-35 additional minutes. You might even notice some wings reaching optimum doneness before others. That’s OK! Remove the wings as they’re ready to a clean sheet pan. (My best advice here: Bite into one after you’ve cooked them for 20 minutes on medium-low, or around 30-35 minutes total. They’ll be safe to eat at this point, but if the meat isn’t cleanly falling off the bone, cook for another 10 minutes.)
Once you’ve removed all your cooked wings to a sheet pan, make your buffalo sauce. Set a large pot over medium-high heat and add butter. (I like to use a large pasta pot with a tight-fitting lid, so you can add your wings to the sauce and shake everything up to coat.) Melt and simmer for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, or until just slightly browned. Quickly whisk in Frank’s Red Hot to prevent splattering, then whisk in brown sugar, vinegar, your second hot sauce of choice, and the dry mustard until fully incorporated. Simmer for 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened, then remove from heat.
Add the cooked wings to your simmering hot vat of buffalo sauce and toss to coat. Remove the coated wings to a serving platter, and pour any remaining buffalo sauce into a small bowl for the “I need more sauce!” crowd. Serve immediately with ranch and/or bleu cheese dressing — carrots and celery optional.
If you encountered any problems making this recipe — or, ya know, if you just really loved it — DM me on Instagram or email me with your comments or thoughts.