These Slow Cooker Chicken Wings are fall off the bone tender, super crispy and smothered in the best savory, sweet and spicy bbq sauce. Learn how to make crock pot chicken wings completely stress-free and mess free! Make a batch of these easy slow cooker wings for parties or game day and watch them disappear like magic!
Honey BBQ Slow Cooker Chicken Wings
This recipe for slow cooker chicken wings is a complete game changer. Toss your wings with a simple spice mix, pour over them the spicy and sweet barbecue sauce and cook them in your slow cooker before placing them under the broiler to crisp them up a bit. Minimal effort, hands -free cooking, lots of flavor and no deep frying involved!
We love serving these crispy chicken wings with ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing, carrot sticks and celery sticks. These crockpot chicken wings are the perfect game day snack, a great appetizer for casual weeknight meals and a fun addition to your Super Bowl Sunday menu.
Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Chicken Wings Recipe?
- Finger-licking good!: This easy recipe combines the flavors of Texas-style bbq and the taste of traditional buffalo wings. Certainly a match made in wing heaven!
- Crispy wings: These crockpot wings are tender on the inside with delicious crispy skin.
- Easy to make: 10 minutes of prep time and a simple cooking process make this recipe stress-free and effortless.
What You’ll Need to Make this Crockpot Recipe?
This section reviews the best ingredients and substitutions for this wings recipe. For an exact list of ingredients and quantities, check the recipe card below
- Fresh Chicken Wings: For this slow cooker recipe, I use chicken wings that are cut into 2 sections, the drummette (that’s the meaty section that looks like a drumstick) and the wingnette. Sometimes these are sold as “party wings” at the grocery store. Frozen Chicken wings can be cooked in the slow cooker; however, because they are individually frozen, each wing has an ice glaze coating that prevents the spices from sticking to the meat. I personally prefer to thaw out the chicken before slow cooking them.
- Barbecue Sauce: For convenience, I use store-bought bbq sauce. I usually get original, but you can experiment with other flavors.
- Hot Sauce: I’ve tried many different buffalo wings recipes and I always go back to recipes that use Frank’s original hot sauce. To me, the combination of melted butter and Frank’s wing sauce can’t be beat. Use your favorite wing hot pepper sauce to make this recipe.
- Juice: I use apple juice or apple cider. Pineapple juice can also be used if that’s what you have at home. In a pinch, chicken broth can be used.
- Dry Rub: Brown sugar, garlic powder, smoked paprika, season salt (I use Lawry’s), onion powder, chili powder, ground black pepper.
How to Cook Chicken Wings in the Slow Cooker?
In this section we share step by step photos, cooking methods, techniques and an overview of how to make this slow cooker recipe. For detailed instructions, temperatures and timing, check the recipe card below.
- Combine the dry rub ingredients.
- Pat the wings dry with paper towels. This step helps the spices to stick to the wings.
- Place wings in the slow cooker and toss them with the dry rub to coat.
- Whisk together the honey bbq ingredients. Pour over wings and toss to coat
- Cover and cook for 2 hours on HIGH or 3-4 hours on LOW.
- You can serve the chicken wings or you can crisp them up by giving them a quick broil.
- Thickening the honey bbq sauce with a cornstarch slurry is an optional step. Instructions are provided.
How Do you Make Slow Cooker Chicken Wings Crispy?
- For crispy wings, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on top.
- Arrange the slow cooked chicken wings on a single layer on the wire rack, leaving some room between the wings so they are not touching. Place the wings under the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.Transfer the crispy wings to a serving bowl.
- You can return the wings to the slow cooker and gently toss them with the honey bbq sauce until they are well coated, then transfer them to a serving bowl or you can transfer the wings to a serving bowl and pour some sauce on top. Serve with additional sauce on the side.
Can I Cook Frozen Chicken Wings in a Slow Cooker?
Technically, yes! Frozen chicken wings can be cooked in a slow cooker; however, frozen wings are individually ice glazed, meaning they have a thin layer of ice that prevents them from sticking to each other. Because of this, the spices won’t adhere to the wings. To make things a bit worse, additional liquid from the ice glaze means a water-down honey barbecue sauce. I highly recommend that you thaw out the wings before cooking them. If you decide to slow cook the wings while frozen, you will need to adjust the seasoning and thicken the sauce with additional cornstarch slurry (about 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch + water)
Can you Put Raw Chicken Wings in the Slow Cooker?
Yes, you can put raw meat in a slow cooker. Make sure you cook the meat until its completely cooked through to a safe internal temperature.
How Long Should Chicken Wings Cook in the Slow Cooker?
Fresh chicken wings should take about 2 hours of cooking time on high and 3-4 hours on low. To cook frozen wings in the slow cooker, cook for 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.
How Do You Make Chicken Wings Not Soggy?
The best way to prevent soggy wings is to crisp them up under a broiler. The slow cooker cooks the wings until they are perfectly tender. Broiling them for a few minutes per side guarantees non-soggy, golden brown crispy wings.
Making Ahead, Storage, Freezing and Reheating
- Making Ahead: In my opinion, wings are best when eaten fresh; however, you can slow cook the wings and refrigerate them overnight. Remove the wings from the fridge at least 1 hour before you are ready to serve them. Before serving, broil the wings as directed in the recipe.
- Storage: Leftover wings should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Freezing: Cooked wings freeze well and will keep in the freezer for 2 months.
- Reheating: You can reheat the wings in a 325ºF oven tented with aluminum foil until heated through.
Best Slow Cooker Chicken Wings Recipe Tips
- Frozen wings can be cooked in the slow cooker; however, the ice glaze of each wing prevents the spices from sticking to the wing and the additional liquid from the ice will most likely water down the bbq sauce.
- Pat the fresh wings dry before seasoning them. Dry wings hold on to the seasoning better.
- Thickening the barbecue sauce with a slurry is an optional step.
- When broiling, flip the wings to broil both sides. They are done when they crisp up to your liking.
- A serving size is about 5 pieces (drummettes or wingettes counted separately).
Take a look at these other appetizer recipes:
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Honey BBQ Slow Cooker Chicken Wings
Ingredients
For the Dry Rub or Spice Mix
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons season salt
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
For the Honey BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (I used original recipe)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce (I use Frank’s original)
- 3 tablespoons apple juice or apple cider
The Chicken Wings
- 4 pounds chicken wings, patted dry
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (optional for thickening the sauce)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the dry rub ingredients.
- Pat the wings dry with paper towels. This step will help the spices to adhere to the wings when seasoning them.
- Place the chicken wings in the slow cooker and sprinkle the spice mix over the wings. Toss to make sure the wings get well coated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce, honey, hot sauce and juice until well combined.
- Pour the sauce over the wings and toss until the chicken is well coated. Cover and cook for 2 hours on high or 3-4 hours on low.
- After the cooking time is over, the chicken wings should be fully cooked and ready to eat. You can transfer the wings to a serving plate or bowl and keep warm. Follow instructions for thickening the sauce. For crispy wings follow the broiling instructions.
Thickening the Honey BBQ sauce (optional)
- After removing the wings from the slow cooker, make a slurry by combining the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Pour the slurry into the slow cooker and mix well. Pour cornstarch mixture into the Honey bbq sauce and mix to combine. Cook on high for 10 – 20 minutes or until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.
To crisp up the wings:
- For crispy skin, set an oven rack 5-6 inches below the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the wire rack with cooking spray.
- Arrange the slow cooked chicken wings on a single layer on the wire rack, leaving some room between the wings so they are not touching. You will need to work in batches. Place the wings under the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and carefully flip the wings with kitchen tongs. BROIL the second side for 2-3 minutes or until the wings are crispy and golden brown. Transfer the crispy wings to a serving bowl.
- You can return the wings to the slow cooker and gently toss them with the honey bbq sauce until they are well coated, then transfer them to a serving bowl or you can transfer the wings to a serving bowl and pour some sauce on top. Serve with additional sauce on the side.
Nutrition
This post has been updated with new photographs, still the same great chicken wings recipe!
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