This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Saturday was the perfect day for hot wings. Did you know that if you eat hot, spicy food when the weather is really hot, you won’t feel as hot?
Alright, I think I made that up actually, but on a day like Saturday, it would have been difficult to feel any hotter, thus, wings seemed like a perfect choice. So, I whipped up some potato salad and Larry fired up the grill. Yes, that is right – I said the grill. We never deep fry our wings.
When we first started making wings 25 years ago, we grilled them because it was so much cheaper. It takes a lot of oil to fill up our deep fryer, so we experimented with finding a cheaper alternative. You can just roast or broil them in the oven of course, and in the dead of winter, that is how I do it, but in the summer, the grill is our perfect solution. They are lower in fat too, so you can eat more of them, with less guilt. Not a lot less guilt probably, but we don’t need to split hairs when we are talking about iconic summer food, right?
One important thing to note is that you need to think ahead to make these. Unlike the deep fried ones, they need to be thawed completely, plus we are going to marinate them for up to 24 hours. To have these Saturday night, I took the wings out of the freezer Friday morning, and once they were thawed, I put them in the marinade in the fridge for right around 24 hours, pulling them out to come to room temp an hour or so before dinner time on Saturday.
The marinade is easy to make, from stuff you most likely have sitting around your kitchen already.
The other consideration is what hot sauce to use. Here in the Northeast it is usually Frank’s RedHot Hot Sauce, but in other parts of the country you might find Crystal Hot Sauce or Cholula, both of which will work nicely, though people around here will accuse of you heresy if you use anything but Frank’s. Even if you like things spicy, you don’t want the hot sauce to be a searingly hot one – you can add more chili powder to make it hotter, and Frank’s also has a nice vinegar flavor as well, so it’s a better choice than something like straight. 
Grilled Buffalo Hot Wings
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of chicken wings - about 20 pieces
Marinade
- 1/3 cup of olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and mashed to a paste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon spicy chili powder
Wing Sauce
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 cup of Frank’s RedHot hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- few grinds of pepper
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
Instructions
- Trim any dangly bits from the wings, because they will burn on the grill anyway.
- Wash, and then pat dry
- In a bowl large enough to hold the wings, whisk together the oil, mashed garlic, salt, pepper and spicy chili powder.
- Add the wings, and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, stirring a few times. If you only have an hour or so, they will be fine on the counter.
- An hour before you are going to start cooking, bring the bowl out and let the wings come to room temperature.
- Prepare the wing sauce by measuring the butter, hot sauce, smoke paprika, chipotle chili powder, salt, pepper and lemon juice into a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for a couple minutes. Set aside.
- Prepare your grill or barbeque as you normally would to cook chicken, or according to the directions that came with it.
- Grill the wings until done, basting with the oil marinade in the first 10 minutes, but not after that, to ensure food safety. You can check one of the wings by cutting into it near the bone - there should be no pink showing, and the outsides should have some nice char on them.
- Put the cooked wings in a clean bowl, large enough to hold them all, and pour over the sauce mixture. Stir to coat all of the wings and serve with some celery stalks and bleu cheese dressing for dipping.
They are great with all of the usual Hot Wing additions – celery, bleu cheese dressing – and of course, potato salad.
So, give this a try and save the deep frying for onion rings!
Orzo Stuffed Zucchini
Turkey and Pesto Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Chipotle Maple Chicken
Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Zucchini
Pork Loin Chops with Apples and Onions
Chicken Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit Crust
Buttermilk Sriracha Chicken Burgers
Butternut Sausage Soup
Guinness Beef Stew
Southwest Chicken Kebabs
Oh, yeah, these sound amazing! And I love that they’re not deep fried 🙂
Thanks Liz – that’s my favorite part too – ’cause then Larry cooks them!
I’m just starting to like things with bones. And chicken wings are most everyone’s favorite. I may have to give these a try. Thanks!
Definitely a good “starter” thing with bones Abbe!
This’s a really good idea, and one I’d have never though of. Now that I see yours, I know what we’re having for a cookout this coming weekend. Can’t wait to give these a try!!!
Hope you love them Dave – come back and let me know how they turn out for you!
I just started making wings 2 years ago. I usually have an annual cook-off, sometimes chili, soup, then one year it was wings. I baked mine also and they won although I do not win while I’m hosting 🙂 Now I love to cook them and this recipe is getting bookmarked, they sound terrific!
Thanks Suzie – they are good baked or broiled too, but I hope you give these a try!
Holy moly Donalyn! These look wonderful and I love that they are grilled. Yum yum yummy!
You have got that right Carla – they are very yummy!
I think you are quite right about eating hot foods when it is hot. Indian, Mexican, and I am sure other cuisines go for the hot factor for that reason but all we need to focus on is the deliciousness of these little morsels you have made there.
bellini, I am curious about it now – I’ll have to do a little research on this to see if my theory was right. And thanks!
Very nice! I prefer chicken wings grilled or broiled. These rock. Thanks for sharing.
Velva
Grilled instead of fried is a great healthy option. I love how you mentioned that because your wings are frozen you have to think ahead. I know what you mean as there is nothing worse than leaving for work and then forgetting to leave something unthaw in the refrigerator. Your wings look finger licking good!
Thank you Bam – and I hate that as well! Nothing worse than getting half way through the day and remembering that there is nothing out for dinner – ugh! 🙂
I love chicken wings, and these one, so sticky and hot, must be delicious! 🙂
Look at the colour! I loved your grilled buffalo hot wings recipe. Of course, I will try your way of cutting down on oil. And I never knew tthat eating hot foods in hot weather doesn’t make you hot. In fact, I used to think just the opposite!
Thanks Purabi – I hope you enjoy them!
I love grilled chicken! We make a lot of grilled chicken in the summer, it is so much better for you than fried! The color on your chicken is beautiful.
Hi Foodie – we eat lots of grilled chicken as well – it’s one of things we most look forward to when the weather warms up!
Mighty scrumptious! Those flavors are mouthwatering.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Rosa!
Your wings look fantastic! If I only had a real grill, I would make them next weekend. The sauce sounds amazing too.
I hope you’ll be able to try them sometime Sissi!
I can eat spicy food no mater the weather. Your grilled hot wings look mouthwatering. I prefer your grilling method to the traditional deep fried. Thanks for sharing Donalyn, they’re gorgeous!
Thanks Nancy & ditto on the spicy food – anytime!
Great choice grilling over frying- grilled ALWAYS tastes better! These look delicious, looks like they’ll be on my grill this weekend!
thanks!
Fried wings taste just a tad better (just a tad, though) but the grilled ones still have great flavor. Besides, it’s all about the sauce! And yours sure have great flavor. I’ve read that about spicy food making you feel cooler – something to do with making you sweat, and as the perspiration evaporates, it creates a cooling effect. I’d rather turn on the AC. 😉 Fun post – thanks.
We don’t have AC, John, so i guess we are stuck with the wings 🙂
Perfectly cooked, deliciously tasting, I’m sure.
Thank you, Karen!
Yummy!! I can’t wait to crank up the grill to make these delectable wings!! Oh, that sauce 😀
I could almost drink that sauce, Kiran!
I believe it 🙂 And even if it isn’t true…good wings make everything better! These look just scrumptious. Now I only need to get a grill! Thank you for sharing, my friend!
You’re welcome Monet – I hope you get to try them soon!
Our “old” friend Marilyn R. Does this with chicken thighs…..really good.
Thighs are really my favorite part of the chicken – any old way you cook them!
I adore wings – these look delicous. I’ll have to check out your theory the next time Seattle sees hot weather!
Thanks Kristi – hope you don’t have to wait too long!
You really make this recipe seem so easy. I’m going to give it a try this weekend to see if we will use it for our big family picinic over the 4th.
I hope it works well for you David – thanks for stopping by!
Hey there! Giving you a big thumbs up for this excellent idea! I’m signing up for your newsletter and will be back for sure.
thanks Chantal – I hope you enjoy the newsletter 🙂
Wow,
This looks super delicious!