These crispy grilled chicken wings are simple, easy, and delicious! The wings are seasoned beautifully with the homemade spice rub, made of basic pantry ingredients. This is the ultimate chicken wings recipe for home grillers to make all summer long. It's also a great chicken recipe for any weeknight dinner throughout the year.
In this post, you will learn how to get crispy skin on grilled chicken wings that taste just like or even better than deep-fried wings! These wings are made with very little oil, meaning fewer calories.
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Why You'll Love This Crispy Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe
- Crispy Skin and Tender Meat. The meat is so tender and moist on the inside while crispy on the outside. It's the perfect crispy chicken wings recipe without all of the oil and deep-frying!
- Flavorful. Buffalo chicken wings taste great and are quite popular but I think it's time to try something new with this recipe. These chicken wings are seasoned with a unique spice blend that you can easily find in your pantry or at local grocers.
What Makes These Grilled Chicken Wings Taste Great?
These chicken wings taste great because of the seasoning and the good quality of the meat. The homemade seasoning or rub spice is made of black peppercorn, five-spice powder, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, brown sugar, salt, and oil.
This combination of spices adds complex flavors to the wings, yet does not overpower them. It just has a nice balance of saltiness, and sweetness, with both peppery and smoky flavors.
Crisp the Chicken With Baking Powder
I added baking powder as a secret ingredient to achieve truly crispy and restaurant-style chicken wings without deep frying. It's the same baking powder that people use as a leavening agent in baked goods.
Combining baking powder and salt helps break down the protein and draws out the moisture in the wings' skin. As a result, the skin will be crispy while the meat remains moist.
Please note, do not substitute baking powder with baking soda as it will make the chicken taste bad when used in excessive amounts or cooked too long at high temperatures.
Recipe Tips
- Drying. Make sure to pat dry the chicken wings before mixing them with seasoning and baking powder.
- Marinating. Arrange the chicken wings on a prepared baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours or up to overnight. You want to chill them uncovered, so be sure to put them in the safest place in the fridge, away from fresh produce to avoid cross-contamination. If you don't have enough space in the fridge, feel free to marinate in an airtight container or a large zip-lock bag.
- Let it sit out. Make sure to bring the wings close to room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking.
Can You Bake These Chicken Wings?
Of course! You can bake these chicken wings in the oven at 425°F or even use any kitchen gadgets, such as an air fryer or an electric pressure cooker.
Whatever cooking method you choose, this chicken wing recipe will never fail you!
Check Out More Delicious Chicken Recipes
- Healthy Baked Chicken Tenders
- Chicken Shawarma (oven-roasted + Instant Pot)
- Dry Rub Chicken Wings (oven-baked + Instant Pot)
- Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Roasted Half Chicken
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don't mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating. Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly recipes and follow me on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Crispy Grilled Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings (pat the wings dry with paper towels)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon five-spice powder
- ¾ tablespoon ground cumin
- ¾ tablespoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (and more to oil your grill)
- 1 tablespoon fresh whole black peppercorns (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or use ¼ teaspoon less salt per 2 pounds of chicken if you are salt-sensitive)
Method
- In a small bowl, add dry rub ingredients (including the oil) and mix well. Place the party wings into a ziplock bag or large mixing bowl. Add dry rub and massage it all over the party wings.
- Put the wings in a single-layer prepared baking sheet in your fridge, uncovered for at least 8 hours and up to overnight (preferably). *see notes*
- Remove the wings from the fridge. Bring the wings close to the room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking.
- Preheat the grill over medium heat. Oil your grill, add wings, and cook. Flip the wings every 5 minutes for a total of 20-25 minutes of cooking time or until fully cooked and no longer pink.
Dannii says
oooh these look super crispy and delicious. Great game day food.
Alexas says
I’ve never grilled wings before this recipe and now I crave them! The flavor and crisp is so good! We don’t toss them in sauce because we love this flavor. I’ve shared with family and friends and they loved them as well!
Rika says
Hi Alexas,
I'm so glad you tried grilling wings for the first time! It's great to hear you love the flavor as-is, and even better that your family and friends loved them too.
Best,
Rika
Beth says
Yum! These are making my mouth water! I can't wait to make these!
Rika Livingston says
They are so tasty! Enjoy!
Anjali says
I love that these chicken wings are grilled and not fried!! They taste delicious but are so much better for you!
Rika Livingston says
Agreed! Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Ashley says
I cannot believe I grilled these, and they were as crispy as frying/baking with baking powder!! YUM!
Rika Livingston says
I am glad that this grilled chicken wings recipe turned out well for you!
Tawnie Kroll says
These were so crispy and delicious. Thank you for a yummy recipe!!
Rika Livingston says
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Tawnie!
Susan F says
Delicious and easy! I quadrupled the recipe for a Labor Day BBQ and seasoned the wings with the spice rub for 24 hours before grilling time. After cooking, we tossed some with a sauce made from melted butter, dehydrated onions & garlic and Franks Red Hot sauce for those that liked their wings spicier. They were a big hit. The few that were leftover reheated nicely in the toaster oven the next day. Thanks, Rika.
Rika Livingston says
Hi Susan,
I appreciate you sharing your feedback! I am glad that this worked out for you and especially for a holiday barbeque. The sauce sounds really good, I have a huge bottle of Franks in my kitchen and will have to try your combination. Thanks again, Susan!
Kim S says
Do you only use the oil on the grill or are you supposed to add it to the rub?
Rika says
Hi Kim,
That's a great question. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the dry rub and use more oil (as needed) to grease the grill.
I'm here if you have any further questions.
Best,
Rika
Kelly says
Made these wings for Super Bowl party today. Needed no sauces to dip wings in. The spice rub was a great combination. Oven temp and length of baking was spot on. I took this wings to our daughters house (25 minute drive) and put paper towel down in a box and wings on top to absorb any moisture and they stayed crisp and warm. Thank you for recipe.
Rika says
Hi Kelly, that's so awesome to hear thank you! Glad the temp and timing worked well; it good idea on the paper towels.
I am actually watching the big game right now and I too made wings... I hope everyone is enjoying them!
Best,
Rika
John Badshot says
I've used this recipe several times at the insistence of my wife . . . I may never be able to Southern fry chicken wings again!! Very unique taste and also crispy. I add a little heat to my wings after they're cooked, and the recipe itself is really amazing! You may never cook wings any other way again! Definitely 2 thumbs up!!
Rika says
Hi John,
Thank you so much for your awesome feedback! I am thrilled you and your wife are loving the recipe - and I love the idea of adding a little heat at the end. So glad you're enjoying those crispy wings!
Best,
Rika