Grilled Chicken Wings – The Almond Eater

These finger-licking good Grilled Chicken Wings are lightly seasoned, fired on the grill, and tossed in the sauce of your choice! Make them for a fun and easy summer dinner or crowd-pleasing party snack.

During summer, I’ll throw whatever I can on the grill just because it’s that time of year! Meat, fruit, veggies, you name it… If it’s grillable, I’m doing it.

 

Chicken wings are traditionally deep-fried or baked, but I can’t resist throwing them on the grill in the summertime. It’s a fuss-free (and fun) cooking method that gives me extra crispy wings with a nice char and rich, smoky flavors! 

In this Grilled Chicken Wings recipe, I’ll show you how easy it really is—no marinating, basting, or deep frying required. All you have to do is lightly season the wings, cook them on the grill until crispy, and toss them in your favorite chicken wing sauce at the end (or leave them as-is). I’m a big fan of buffalo wings, but there are plenty of other tasty sauces to choose from!

Recipe features

• Just like with chicken thighs, breasts, and drumsticks, the grill is the only way to cook chicken wings in the summer!
• An easy dinner or party snack made with just 5 ingredients in 30 minutes.
• Leave them plain or douse the grilled wings in buffalo, BBQ, or garlic parmesan sauce! 

Ingredients

Chicken wings – Opt for about 3 pounds of wings, tips, and drumettes.

Oil – I coated the wings in a little avocado oil to help the seasonings stick and to encourage them to brown on the grill. Another high-heat oil, like vegetable oil or olive oil, will work just as well here.

Seasonings – Seasoning the wings with garlic powder, salt, and pepper gives them a savory baseline flavor, helping them taste great whether you serve them plain or covered in the sauce of your choice.

Sauce – Use your favorite chicken wing sauce. I’m a big fan of grilled buffalo wings, but I’ll never say no to tossing them with garlic parmesan sauce or BBQ sauce. You can also skip the sauce or serve it on the side if you prefer grilled chicken wings with nothing on them. 

Instructions

Step 1: Season. Place the chicken wings in a large bowl. Pour the oil over top, then season with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.

Step 2: Grill. Place the wings on a preheated grill and cook for about 20 minutes, turning them every 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 3: Sauce and serve. Either serve the wings as-is or toss them in your favorite sauce before serving. Enjoy! 

Tips and FAQs

• To deepen the flavors, let the seasoned wings marinate in the fridge for up to 8 hours. Remember to take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before grilling to bring them back down to room temperature.
• If your chicken wing sauce is pre-made, remember to gently warm it up on the stove before tossing it with the wings. Just pour it into a saucepan, heat on low to medium heat until it’s warmed through, and toss it with the hot wings.
• Serving your chicken wings to a crowd? Toss half of the wings in the sauce and leave the other half plain. This way, you can hopefully please everyone!

Variations

From the sauces to the seasonings, you have some room to play here:

• Use frozen chicken wings: Grilled frozen chicken wings are just as easy to use as fresh wings. All you need to do is thaw them overnight in the fridge, pat them dry, and season as normal. Yum! 
• Chicken wing sauces: After grilling, toss the wings with homemade or store-bought buffalo sauce, BBQ sauce, garlic parmesan sauce, hot honey sauce, sweet and sour sauce, teriyaki sauce, or another sauce you love.
• Add more seasonings: Take the flavors up a notch by seasoning the wings with an additional 1 teaspoon of dried herbs, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and/or paprika.
• More seasoning ideas: If you prefer your wings with a dry rub, you can replace the seasonings in the recipe card with 2 ½ to 3 teaspoons of jerk seasoning, poultry seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, dry ranch seasoning, chipotle seasoning, or any dry seasoning blend you like.

Serving suggestions

These wings are calling for a creamy dipping sauce on the side. I’m talking about ranch dressing, blue cheese dip, or even my healthy caesar dressing. Or, if you left the sauce off the wings, pair them with buffalo sauce or BBQ sauce on the side.

Grilled chicken wings are great both for weeknight family dinners and parties with friends. I like grilling and serving them next to zucchini and potatoes to get everything done at the same time. They also pair well with more summer classics, like pasta salad, carrot and celery sticks, and broccoli cauliflower salad.

I don’t have an outdoor grill. Can I cook the wings on the stove?

Yes, these wings are just as easy to cook in a grill pan on the stove. And if you don’t have either, follow the instructions in my air fryer chicken wing recipe instead.

How long does it take to grill chicken wings?

Chicken wings take approximately 20 minutes to cook on a medium-high heat grill (375ºF to 450ºF). Remember to turn the wings every 3 to 4 minutes to help them cook evenly on all sides. If you’re still unsure if they’re done or not, use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature. Chicken wings are cooked through when they reach 170ºF internally. 

Storage

Refrigerator: Any leftover wings can be packed into an airtight container and stored in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Reheating: To make them crispy again, reheat the leftover grilled wings in a 350ºF oven or air fryer for 10 to 15 minutes or until warmed through.

More grilled chicken recipes

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!