Make the best smoked wings ever. You’ll love the taste of these hot smoked chicken wings with dry rub and buffalo sauce. Use any pellet grill to smoke wings. In the video demo, you’ll see I’m making Traeger wings. Let’s do it!
Table of Contents
These smoked wings are the best because…
- Crispy skin. The outside gets nice and crisp, but the inside is practically falling apart.
- SO MUCH FLAVOR. Between the seasoning for these dry rub smoked chicken wings and easy buffalo sauce recipe, I’ve got you covered in the flavor department with these smokey wings.
- Healthier than restaurant-style wings. No frying here!
- Fast smoked food recipe. It does not take long to smoke chicken wings.
- A great smoker recipe for parties and potluck dinners. Expect these to be requested at all your cookouts going forward!
Ingredients
You probably have almost everything you need for this crispy smoked chicken wings recipe on hand.
Smoked wings rub
- Chicken wings (flats & drums)
- Garlic powder
- Baking powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt
Buffalo wings sauce
- Frank’s hot sauce (buffalo style)
- Butter, melted
- Parsley, fresh chopped for garnish
Serving ideas
- Blue cheese dressing
- Celery and carrot sticks
How to smoke wings
Here’s what you need to do to prepare and smoke the wings to perfection.
Step 1. Season wings with the smoked wings rub. Pat wings dry with a paper towel and add them to a large bowl or a large gallon size plastic bag.
And dry rub spices to the bag (garlic powder, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and salt). Seal the plastic bag closed and shake the chicken wings and seasoning, making sure all ingredients are distributed to coat the wings. Refrigerate seasoned wings for at least 30 minutes so they absorb all the flavors of the seasoning.
Step 2. Prep the smoker. Preheat the smoker to 180°F (preheating the Trager pellet grill takes about 15 – 20 minutes to reach the smoked wings temperature).
Step 3. Start smoking chicken wings on low. When it comes to how long to smoke wings, there are two different settings you’ll use. First, place chicken wings in the smoker, on the grill grates for 20 minutes at 180°F. (I don’t find it necessary to use any olive oil or cooking spray)
Step 4. Finishing smoking wings at a higher temperature. Then flip the chicken wings with tongs, turn up the Traeger smoker temperature to 350°F, and cook for another 50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the largest chicken wing reaches 165°F. This is a good time to make the wings sauce.
Step 5. Make buffalo sauce while smoking chicken wings. Add Frank’s buffalo wings sauce and melted butter to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Add fresh chopped parsley to the sauce and combine for a final time. Set aside until the wings are ready.
Step 6. Coat smoked wings in buffalo sauce. Once wings finish cooking, add them to a large bowl. Add buffalo sauce and toss them until coated evenly. Transfer to a platter, drizzle on any buffalo sauce from the bowl, and serve immediately with your favorite condiments.
FAQs for smoking chicken wings
Cherry wood pellets are a great choice. Though often my husband and I use the Traeger blend from Costco and the results are always good!
Other ingredients to experiment with in the smoked wings dry rub include brown sugar, bbq salt, garlic salt, or even just simple salt and pepper. You can also use bbq sauce to finish them at the end, instead of buffalo sauce.
Overcooking chicken in the smoker is one of the easiest ways to ruin your wings, so keep a close eye on your chicken when they’re in the last half hour and use a meat thermometer towards the end because how long to smoke chicken wings varies depending on the size of the chicken wings.
Rubbery chicken is typically caused by not getting the smoker hot enough, so you’ll want to double check that your heat settings were right during cook time. If you follow my time and temp recommendations, you should be getting some delicious smoked chicken with a skin that is almost crisp and not at all rubbery.
You can! For an even cook, consider spatchcooking a chicken. You’ll need the specific time and temperature adjusted from this smoked chicken wings recipe.
Once you get the hang of how to smoke chicken wings, it’s time to work on your “sides game”. Serve your smoked chicken wings with jalapeno ranch dressing, blue cheese coleslaw or a pasta salad.
Side dish ideas
- Air fryer chicken wings
- Potato recipes
- Stuffed shells
- Sautéed onions and peppers
- White sauce
- Baked chicken wings
- Sautéed mushrooms
- Spinach pesto pasta
- Make ahead Mexican salad
- Best Caprese salad
- Creamy pesto pasta salad
- Roasted cherry tomatoes
- Focaccia bread
- Sausage stuffing
- See all side dishes
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, these Traeger smoked chicken wings are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tasty hot wings. Try this recipe for baked chicken wings, melt-in-your-mouth sous vide wings, or make this air fryer chicken wings recipe.
And if you’re a fan of sauces like I am, you can not miss this recipe for Italian-inspired garlic parmesan chicken wings. They’re so freakin’ delicious.
Before you go, find me on Instagram @sipbitego to stay in touch with new tasty recipes – I always share previews before the recipes go live. For more deliciousness, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel on YouTube.
Smoked Chicken Wings With Buffalo Sauce Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
For the smoked wings rub
- 2 lbs chicken wings flats & drums
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For smoked buffalo wings sauce
- 2 tbsp Frank’s hot sauce buffalo style
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- ½ tbsp parsley fresh chopped
Serving suggestions for smoked hot wings
- ¼ cup blue cheese dressing
- 1 medium celery sticks
- 1 medium carrot sticks
Instructions
- Season wings with the smoked wings rub. Pat wings dry with a paper towel and add them to a large bowl or a large gallon size plastic bag. And dry rub spices to the bag (garlic powder, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and salt). Seal the plastic bag closed and shake the chicken wings and seasoning, making sure all ingredients are distributed to coat the wings. Refrigerate seasoned wings for at least 30 minutes so they absorb all the flavors of the seasoning.
- Prep the smoker. Preheat the smoker to 180°F (preheating on the Trager pellet grill takes about 15 – 20 minutes to reach the smoked wings temperature).
- Start smoking chicken wings on low. When it comes to how long to smoke wings, there are two different settings you’ll use. First, place chicken wings in the smoker, on the grill grates for 20 minutes at 180°F. (I don’t find it necessary to use any olive oil or cooking spray)
- Finishing smoking wings at a higher temperature. Then flip the chicken wings with tongs, turn up the Traeger smoker temperature to 350°F, and cook for another 50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the largest chicken wing reaches 165°F. This is a good time to make the wings sauce.
- Make buffalo sauce while smoking chicken wings. Add Frank’s buffalo wings sauce and melted butter to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Add fresh chopped parsley to the sauce and combine for a final time. Set aside until the wings are ready.
- 6. Coat smoked wings in buffalo sauce. Once wings finish cooking, add them to a large bowl. Add buffalo sauce and toss them until coated evenly. Transfer to a platter, drizzle on any buffalo sauce from the bowl, and serve immediately with your favorite condiments.
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