My husband and I have been absolutely loving our Traeger smoker. In addition to fall-off-the-bone, tender smoked ribs and brisket, it actually makes fantastic grilled chicken wings. The skin is earth shatteringly crispy! Don’t have a pellet grill? No problem! You can follow the same cook time using either a gas grill or charcoal grill. Full instructions in the recipe card below.
If you’re looking for more wing recipes that can be baked in an oven or fried, try my juicy garlic Parmesan wings or lemony black pepper chicken wings next!
You can pair pretty much any side dishes with chicken, but my favorites when entertaining are this grilled corn and zucchini salad with walnuts or a simple elevated tomato mozzarella salad. If you have extra space on the smoker, try adding some potatoes and give this smoked potato salad a try–it’s topped with fresh burrata cheese and crispy snap peas!
Get Crispy Chicken Skin Every Single Time
While you could certainly cook wings low and slow (around 250°F/121°C) on a smoker or pellet grill, I think the best way to get impossibly crispy skin without frying is to cook them at high heat (450°F/232°C) over direct heat.
Quick Seasoning Notes
When oven-baking or roasting wings, I tend to coat them with cornstarch or even baking powder, but it’s not necessary when grilling, smoking, or frying (because of the higher heat).
If possibly, look for wings with the wing tips removed.
As far as seasonings and rubs, use what you love! Traeger makes some fantastic dry rubs, but it’s really easy to make them at home by yourself and it’s a great way to use up spices before they expire. But you can absolutely just use salt and pepper and end up with fantastic results.
Hot Sauce Optional
If you’re feeling like you want to toss the wings in sauce — perhaps Buffalo sauce? — grab a bottle of Frank’s hot sauce, a little butter, and some white vinegar. You can also toss them (while hot!) in your favorite store-bought sauce or marinade. But listen, you really don’t need one. These are still finger lickin’ good on their own.
I also tend not to use dipping sauces, but my husband totally does. He likes ranch dressing, blue cheese, or a nice cracked black peppercorn sauce.
My Preferred Wood Pellets
I’ve tested this recipe using a variety of different wood pellets, and the one I always come back to is apple wood — the flavor is smoky and sweet and I love it. Other great options are mesquite, hickory, or maple woods.
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30-Minute Crispy Grilled Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings wings and tips separated
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp Traeger fin and feather seasoning blend optional, or any other poultry or homemade seasoning blend
- Blue cheese, ranch, buffalo sauce for serving, optional
Instructions
- Season the wings. Place chicken wings in a large bowl, then toss wings with 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp Kosher salt, and 1 tsp black pepper. If using a spice seasoning or dry rub, add olive oil to wings, but omit the salt and pepper.
- To cook the wings on a smoker. Preheat a smoker or pellet grill to 450°F (232°C). Place wings directly on the grates, allowing excess oil to drip over the mixing bowl, then cook for 30 minutes over direct heat, turning every 5-10 minutes, until an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) is reached. Serve immediately with your favorite sauces.
- To cook the wings on a gas grill. Preheat a gas grill over medium-high heat to 425-450°F (218-232°C). Place wings directly on greased grill grates, allowing excess oil to drip over the mixing bowl, then cook for 20-30 minutes (this really depends on the size/thickness of the wings) over direct heat, turning every 5-10 minutes or so, until an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) is reached. Serve immediately with your favorite sauces.Note: gas grills are more prone to flare ups. It's important to allow excess oil to drip off the wings before placing over direct heat.
Notes
- To reheat – Place chicken wings on a parchment or foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Reheat in an oven preheated to 375°F (191°C) until skin crisps up again, about 10 minutes.
- To serve with classic buffalo sauce – combine ½ cup Frank’s hot sauce, 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, and 1 Tbsp white vinegar in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer until butter is melted. Toss cooked wings with sauce just before serving.
This recipe ROCKS! I added smoked Paprika but followed otherwise … 30 mins and they were perfectly cooked – even my wife (white meat lover) ate a bunch LOL. I used to slow cook my wings (cuz it’s chicken) but this method makes the skin very crispy and its better than frying – soooo good! Thanks for sharing.
Yesssss, love hearing this, Pablo! Love that crispy skin! xo, Ari
Planning to try these this weekend. Should I cook the wings over direct or indirect heat?
Hey Ben! For this recipe, we’re cooking the wings over direct heat. I will make that explicitly clear in the instructions. If you’re looking for a really easy grilled chicken that utilizes indirect heat, this grilled spatchcock chicken is easy and feeds a crowd easily!
Looks great! My question is you state in the recipe direct heat and turning every 5-10 minutes. Most don’t consider a Traeger direct heat and turning so often isn’t generally necessary. Is the recipe for the Traeger or gas grill?
It works on both! The Traeger does get up to a higher heat if you set it that high (it maxes out at 450F). This original recipe was developed for and tested on a Traeger multiple times before we tested it on our Weber gas grill. Both are fantastic, but the Traeger adds a smoky flavor.
Also, please consider not rating recipes in the future that you haven’t tried. Anything less than 5 stars can hurt the recipe developer. Best,
Ari
This recipe is a weekly must at my house! So easy and delicious I even make chicken thighs the same way… so so so good!!!
So glad your family loves it too, Dee!! It is our favorite too! xo, Ari
Pretty good but the wings still weren’t crispy on my Traeger. And, as SM stated, using direct heat isn’t possible on a Traeger pellet grill.
Solid call. The flames from the oil just scorched my wings.
Hi Shawn — did you allow excess oil to drip off the wings when you placed the chicken on the grill, or did you simply pour the wings on the grates? Yes, oil leads to flare ups. If you happen to get a flare up, we’d recommend removing the wings from the grill or lowering the flame until the oil burns off, then raising the heat again and continuing on with cooking.
Followed this recipe exactly, with the exception of adding some garlic powder to the salt and pepper, cooked them to exactly 160 degrees and unfortunately did not get any crispy wings.
I almost feel like you’d have to overcook them and burn them to get some crispyness.
Hi Sean — out of curiosity did you use a gas grill or a Traeger? Thanks! Ari