11 Grilled Chicken Wing Recipes for Your Best Backyard Barbecue

This collection of grilled wings run from sweet heat to off-the-charts spicy.

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Serious Eats / Eric Kleinberg

‘ title=”A large plate of grilled cajun chicken wings on the right hand side of the image. On the left side is a smaller blue plate with three chicken wings on it and a glass holding a glass of a golden-colored beverage.”>

Serious Eats / Eric Kleinberg


Grilled chicken wings require some skill to cook to crispy, flavorful perfection. This collection of grilled chicken recipes has sauces and spice rubs that run from a gentle sweet glaze to a fiery spice. We'll also teach you how baking soda can help you achieve the crispest skin, and how to utilize direct and indirect heat on your grill for perfectly cooked wings, every time. Let's get to it!

Grilled Turkish-Style Chicken Wings

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

‘ title=”A platter of grilled Turkish chicken wings with a small bowl of sauce on a gray plate, placed on top of a striped cloth napkin.”>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik


An improved setup for skewers brings these grilled wings closer to the heat, while a marinade based on Turkish hot pepper paste infuses them with flavor.

Get Recipe: Grilled Turkish-Style Chicken Wings

Hawaiian Huli Huli Grilled Chicken Wings

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Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg

‘ title=”Hawaiian huli huli grilled chicken wings on a wooden board with grilled pineapple wedges, snipped scallions, lime wedges, and a bowl of fresh sliced jalapenos.”>

Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg


Sticky, sweet, smoky, and tangy, these chicken wings get their flavor from an easy-to-make Hawaiian marinade. They're grilled until tender and brushed with glaze, and they're as great for a barbecue as they are for game day.

Get Recipe: Hawaiian Huli Huli Grilled Chicken Wings

Grilled Cajun Wings

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Serious Eats / Eric Kleinberg

‘ title=”A large plate of grilled cajun chicken wings on the right hand side of the image. On the left side is a smaller blue plate with three chicken wings on it and a glass holding a glass of a golden-colored beverage.”>

Serious Eats / Eric Kleinberg


A highly seasoned skin gives these wings an earthy and spicy coating, while the sauce has a complexity that goes beyond the standard Buffalo. They're grilled over indirect heat until blistered and crunchy, then tossed in a simple sauce of butter, Louisiana-style hot sauce, and Worcestershire.

Get Recipe: Grilled Cajun Wings

Grilled Spicy Chicken Wings With Soy and Fish Sauce

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Serious Eats / Shao Z.

‘ title=”A white rectangular platter of grilled spicy chicken wings with fresh cilantro.”>

Serious Eats / Shao Z.


With great savory depth from a marinade, these wings are easy to prep, requiring only an overnight soak in soy sauce, fish sauce, Shaoxing wine, and spices for maximum flavor.

Get Recipe: Grilled Spicy Chicken Wings With Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce

Grilled Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A white plate of grilled sweet and spicy chicken wings.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


These wings are coated with a rub, cooked over indirect heat with apple wood chunks, and finished with a sweet and spicy barbecue-honey glaze. There's a lot going on here, including a succulent smoky meat, peppery rub, and a sticky sauce that starts sweet and leaves a pleasing, lingering heat.

Get Recipe: Grilled Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

Grilled Hoisin-Glazed Chicken Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A platter of hoisin-glazed grilled chicken wings with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and scallions.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


These sweet and savory wings are grilled over indirect heat to crisp the skin, then brushed with a hoisin, honey, and soy sauce glaze that gets set with a quick fire over direct heat.

Get Recipe: Grilled Hoisin-Glazed Chicken Wings

Grilled Honey Chipotle Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A close-up of grilled honey chipotle wings with fresh cilantro.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


Here, cooking the wings over high heat caramelizes the sauce, tempering the spiciness and bringing out the sweetness of the honey.

Get Recipe: Grilled Honey Chipotle Wings

Grilled Habanero Barbecue Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A close-up of habanero barbecued chicken wings on a grill rack.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


Rubbed wings stay juicy and get a nicely browned skin after 30 minutes of cooking, at which point barbecue sauce is applied and allowed to caramelize. These are coated with a roasted habanero sauce, because a touch of heat on a smoky wing just makes it all the better, right?

Get Recipe: Grilled Habanero Barbecue Wings

Grilled Sriracha Hot Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”Grilled wings with sriracha sauce on a platter with fresh cilantro.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


To double up the Sriracha awesomeness, these wings are first brushed with a rich Sriracha-based sauce during the last minutes of grilling. After that coating bakes in, they are tossed with the remaining sauce, creating two layers of hot garlic goodness, ensuring every bite is full of flavor.

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Jerk Chicken Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A close-up of grilled jerk chicken wings on a grill.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


The essence of jerk is the amazing mixture of herbs, spices, and chiles, and when it comes to wings, the marinade-to-chicken ratio tips well in favor of the jerk. That means more heat and more spice, with just enough juicy chicken to temper the seasoning to the perfect amount.

Get Recipe: Jerk Chicken Wings

Spicy Cumin Wings

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Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

‘ title=”A close-up of spicy cumin wings on a grill.”>

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


These wings feature a spice rub with a hefty portion of cumin, ground Szechuan peppercorns, salt, and baking powder, that latter of which helps achieve a crispy and textured skin on grill-roasted wings. The rub features red pepper flakes, garlic, soy sauce, sherry, rice vinegar for a bit of tang, and a little sesame oil for that roasted sesame undertone.

Get Recipe: Spicy Cumin Wings

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