Hickory-Fired Honey Buffalo Wings
These super simple and RIDICULOUSLY delicious Hickory-Fired Honey Buffalo Wings are exactly the type of comfort food the Traeger was made for. This recipe can also be adjusted to any smoker/grill you'd like, or even in the oven, because the basic principles are the same. So fire up your weapon of choice and get cooking!
Equipment
- 1 Traeger Grill (any other grill or oven will work just fine too)
- 1 Medium Sauce Pan
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Meauring Cup
- 1 Set of Measuring Spoons (or you can wing it ;))
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs Chicken wings (whole or divided)
- 1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
- ¼ cup Mustard (your choice, I prefer brown or stone ground)
- ⅓ cup Honey
- 4 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup Corn starch
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Chili powder
- 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat chicken wings dry with a paper towel and carefully divide them at the joints (or leave them whole if you prefer).
- In a large bowl, mix together corn starch, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Add chicken wings to dry ingredients and thoroughly coat wings on all sides.
- Lay chicken wings on a wire rack or baking sheet in a single layer, making sure they don't overlap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow them to dry out. (Preferably leave them overnight if you have the time to prep ahead).
- Pre-heat your grill or oven to 400° (I'm using my Traeger Pro 780 with hickory wood pellets). Once pre-heated put your wings directly on the grill grate (or a wire rack if using the oven).
- Cook wings for 20 minutes and then flip and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temp has reached 190°.
- While the wings are cooking, make your sauce on the stovetop. In a medium sauce pan, combine Frank's Red Hot Sauce, mustard, honey, red pepper flakes, and butter. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is completely melted and all ingredients have blended together.
- When the wings have hit 190° internal, pull them off and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the honey buffalo sauce and toss until wings are thoroughly coated. Make sure to save the leftover sauce.
- Throw the wings back on the grill for an additional 5 minutes to let the sauce set. Pull them off (at this point they will be around 200° internal), let them cool for 5 minutes, douse them with the remaining wing sauce, and DIG IN!