Today I’m sharing my tips for cooking the best BBQ smoked turkey legs. I’ll show you how to smoke turkey legs on the Traeger pellet grill on TWO different temperatures – to get tender meat and crispy skin. Let’s smoke ‘em…
This smoked turkey wing recipe is great for a game day main dish or Thanksgiving dinner.
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Why Smoked Turkey Wings are so easy to make…
- Not a lot of prep work! You can have turkey wings prepped in under 30 minutes.
- Smoke and go recipe! Just toss them onto the smoker, close the lid, and go tackle your sides. There’s very little to check on during the smoking process.
- Be creative! Similar to smoked chicken wings, you can use whatever type of seasoning dry rub blend you have on hand in this recipe. Or you could even top the wings with sauce at the end if you’d like.
New to cooking Smoked Turkey Wings? See my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
If you are new to Traeger recipes, see my FULL-LENGTH step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to cook smoked turkey wings.
- turkey wings
- BBQ or Poultry rub seasoning
- olive oil
- melted butter
See the best game day smoker recipes…
How to cook Smoked Turkey Wings
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Quick look at Smoked Turkey Wings recipe
- Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees F and prepare the turkey wings with seasoning.
- Smoke turkey wings for 3.5 – 4 hours basting with melted butter at the 3 hour mark.
- Continue smoking turkey wings until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees – 175 degrees F.
- Remove smoked turkey wings from the smoker and enjoy.
Try making your own cranberry BBQ sauce…
The seasoning used is this is the Traeger Fin and Feather Rub on Amazon…
Detailed recipe steps
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 250 degrees F.
- Prep turkey wings for smoking. Pat the turkey wings with a paper towel then drizzle olive over and massage in with your hands.
- Season turkey wings. Sprinkle either poultry or BBQ seasoning over the wings to coat.
- Let seasoning adhere. Place seasoned turkey wings in the fridge for at least an hour to let the seasoning marinate with the wings.
- Smoke turkey wings at 250 degrees F for 3.5 – 4 hours until the internal temperature reaches 165 – 175 degrees F.
- Baste turkey wings with melted butter after 3 hours into the cooking time. The internal temperature should read 150 – 155 degrees F.
- Remove turkey wings when they reach 165 – 175 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
- Rest smoked turkey wings for 10 minutes to cool down then enjoy.
For a smoked side dish, try smoked mac and cheese or smoked mashed potatoes...
FAQs
In this SipBiteGo recipe for smoked turkey wings, they are fully cooked in 3.5 – 4 hours. Since the wings were left whole and not split (flat & drum) the cooking time was longer. At the end of the day, smoke the wings until they reach an internal temp of at least 165 degrees F.
You can choose to smoke whole or split (drum & flats) turkey wings. In this recipe, I kept the turkey wings whole (ie, the flat and drum attached). That’s how I got them at the grocery store. Keep in mind that when you smoke whole turkey wings, the smoke time will take a little longer.
Smoking flats and drums separated will speed up the smoking time. The flats will cook faster since they are smaller, so watch for those to finish first then the drums after.
Seasoning turkey wings is pretty simple. See my review of the Traeger Fin And Feather Rub, which I used in this recipe.
If you don’t brine them, like I did in this recipe, I recommend that you coat the wings with a little bit of olive oil to start. Then sprinkle either BBQ rub or a poultry dry rub as seen in this recipe.
If you want your wings to taste a bit sweeter, then I recommend you add brown sugar to the dry rub that you’re using or making.
With any seasoning, you will need to let the rub adhere to the wings for at least 30 minutes at the bare minimum.
Remove the wings when they reach at least 165 degrees F internally.
Since turkey wings are dark meat, you can let them cook until the internal temp reaches 175 degrees F in the thickest part of the meat. At 175 degrees F, the wing meat will fall apart more.
You can use a lot of different pellets for smoking meats. Try something fruity like cherry or apple pellets. Or for serving smoked turkey wings for Thanksgiving, try the Traeger turkey pellets.
You can store cooked smoked turkey wings in an airtight container that’s kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 – 4 days.
While that’s not completely necessary, covering the wing tips in foil will help prevent them from burning. I did not cover the wing tips in this recipe and they turned out just perfect. Covering the wing tips in foil is more precautionary.
Checkout my full Thanksgiving smoker recipes list for great sides that go with smoked turkey wings or smoked turkey.
Next, try smoking a pork tenderloin…
Another easy recipe to try is smoking a tri tip…
See more on smoked foods for the holidays
1 – See the Sip Bite Go review of Traeger Turkey pellets.
2 – See what’s in the turkey brine kit.
3 – Check out these tasty holiday dishes to smoke on the pellet grill…
- Smoked ham
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked turkey legs
- Smoked turkey wings
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked mashed potatoes
- Smoked asparagus
- Smoked apple pie
- See more turkey recipes
- Check out the best smoked foods for a Traeger Thanksgiving dinner
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about Smoked Turkey Wings.
See how to get more smoke flavor from your favorite pellet grill recipes…
Connect…
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- Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection
See 9 EASY chicken wing recipes to make at home >
Traeger Smoked Turkey Wings Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 turkey wings about 1.5 – 2 lb each
- 2 tbsp BBQ or Poultry rub seasoning
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 250 degrees F.
- Prep turkey wings for smoking. Pat the turkey wings with a paper towel then drizzle olive over and massage in with your hands.
- Season turkey wings. Sprinkle either poultry or BBQ seasoning over the wings to coat.
- Chill and let seasoning adhere. Place seasoned turkey wings in the fridge for at least an hour (up to overnight) to let the seasoning marinate with the wings.
- Smoke turkey wings at 250 degrees F for 3.5 – 4 hours until the internal temperature reaches 165 – 175 degrees F.
- Baste turkey wings with melted butter after 3 hours into the cooking time. The internal temperature for turkey wings smoked in the Sip Bite Go demonstration read 150 – 155 degrees F at this time.
- Remove turkey wings when they reach 165 – 175 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer.
- Rest smoked turkey wings for 10 minutes to cool down then enjoy.
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