Chicken wings are one of my all-time favorite foods, and we make them quite a bit! This post is going to walk you through all of our favorite recipes and answer all of your burning questions about making the BEST smoked chicken wing.
How to make the best smoked chicken wings
Get Good Wings
Making delicious smoked chicken wings starts with the wing itself. There are lots of options when buying wings, from getting them whole where the flat and drum are still connected, or pre-separated wings that are either fresh or frozen. No matter what kind of wings you buy, these recipes will work!
We mostly get our wings from ButcherBox. I’ll stock up when they have a sale, and when I signed up it was during a “free wings for life” promotion, so I get wings in every ButcherBox that shows up to my house.
Care about the skin
Wet, soggy skin usually issues less-than-crispy final results. If you care about crispy skin care about drying that out before you cook! Even if you choose to do the Smoke and Fry method, you’ll still have better skin if it isn’t soggy pre-smoke sesh.
That being said, I’ve definitely thrown on a bunch of individual wings that were frozen still, and just gave them extra time under the smoke to dry out fully before pulling them and frying them and they were awesome, so there are exceptions and workaround to every “rule”.
More Traeger Chicken Recipes
Chicken is one of our favorite things to make on the pellet grill. Click below to see all of our favorite Traeger Recipes featuring chicken!
What if you don’t have a pellet grill?
If you don’t have a pellet grill, you can do these recipes in the oven (minus the smoke), on a regular grill with a smoke tube, in a stick burner smoker, or on a gas grill. The same general instructions apply.
How to make incredible smoked chicken wings in the Traeger
There are a lot of different ways to make a GREAT chicken wing. I’m going to detail my pellet grilled favorites, from my most favorite on down to my other most favorite. There are no bad wings on this list.
Check out this infographic for our ratings at a glance, too!
Smoked and Fried Wings
1
Smoke and Fry
I LOVE the smoke and fry. I think it brings the best of all of the worlds together in one, delicious, tender, saucy wing.
Air Dry + 400° for 1 1/2 hours
2
Air Dry + 400°
We love this method because it is one of the easiest. While I personally love the taste of the smoke and fry, it takes longer and is more intense than this method, which just has you air drying your wings in the fridge overnight, seasoning, and cooking for an hour and a half at 400°.
Baking soda in the dry rub
3
Baking Soda trick
This one uses baking soda in the dry rub before cooking them at 250 for 30 minutes and cranking the heat up on the Traeger to 425° and continuing to cook until it is crisp.
Pro tip, make sure the baking powder is aluminum-free!
45 minutes at 375°
4
Straight-Up Grilled Wings
These are the easiest wings EVER and are super delicious. This isn’t like a “best to worst” wings list, this is a best-of-the-best list.
This wing method is also by far the easiest. You can just season them and toss them on the grill. The skin isn’t the crispiest, but some people don’t mind that.
Traeger Chicken Wing Recipe Collection
Traeger Hell's Kitchen Grilled Chicken Wings
These easy grilled chicken wings are grilled on the Traeger and then sauced with a spicy gochujang sauce.
Lemon Pepper Smoked Chicken Wings
These tender chicken wings are smoked on the Traeger and full of lemon pepper flavor before hitting either the air fryer or a hot oil bath! Smokey, crispy, and with a tangy peppery finish that'll have you wanting seconds!
Garlic Parmesan Smoked Wings
These delicious smoked chicken wings are smoked on the pellet grill before hitting the air fryer, and finally getting sauced with a fragrant garlic parmesan sauce.
Sweet Heat Smoked Chicken Wings
These sweet and spicy wings are smoked on the Traeger before hitting either the air fryer or a hot oil bath! Smokey, crispy, and with a slow sweet heat that'll have you wanting seconds!
Smoked Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Want to crack the code of crispy skin on a smoked wing? Fire up your smoked and your air fryer and get going!
Mango Chipotle Smoked and Fried Chicken Wings
Smoked and Fried wings are already the best wings you can get, but throw on some of this amazing mango chipotle rub from The Spice Guy, and you'd better buy double of what you think you need because people will be doing battle over the last of them.
Grilled Berbere Chicken Wings
Grilled Berbere Chicken Wings are super flavorful, easy to make, and coated in the most flavorful coconut sauce. You're going to love it! You've got to try it!
Traeger Asian Miso Chicken Wings
These Asian Miso Chicken wings are big and bold and grilled over a wood fire in your Traeger pellet grill. Delicious and spicy, any wing lover will be a fan of these.
Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings
My favorite wing sauce, ever, and the best way to grill wings.
Traeger Smoked and Fried Chicken Wings
These are the ultimate wing. The best of the best, and will go down in history as my all-time favorite appetizer. Quote me on it. They are SO GOOD. Smoked and Fried wings are my perfect match, and you have to try these at least once in your life, I feel that strongly about them.
Traeger Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe
This Traeger Grilled Chicken Wings recipe is going to have you buying wings in BULK.
The best sauces for chicken wings
I love a good sauce on my wings, and below are some of our favorites!
Cholula Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Homemade Buffalo sauce featuring one of my all-time favorite hot sauces, Cholula. This easy Cholula Buffalo Sauce recipe is super quick to make, and adds enough heat to the party to make you remember you're eating something that's supposed to be spicy.
Bloody Mary Buffalo Sauce
Bloody Mary Buffalo sauce is spicy and delicious, with a unique tang that only a great bloody mary mix can add. You're going to love this twist on a classic favorite.
Old Bay Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Homemade Buffalo sauce made with Old Bay Buffalo Sauce! Homemade buffalo sauce has never been easier, and you're going to love the kick from the Old Bay!
Bacon Bleu Cheese Dressing
Homemade bleu cheese dressing full of crispy Kurobuta bacon! This is simple to whip up and keep in the fridge and so much better than the bottled variety!
Sweet Chili Sauce
A homemade version of my favorite Thai Sweet Chili Sauce! Only 5 ingredients and you can have the best tasting homemade sweet chili sauce, EVER.
Nicole Johnson
Nicole Johnson, a self-taught expert in grilling and outdoor cooking, launched Or Whatever You Do in 2010. Her blog, renowned for its comprehensive and creative outdoor cooking recipes, has garnered a vast audience of millions. Nicole's hands-on experience and passion for grilling shine through her work. Her husband, Jeremiah Johnson, also plays a pivotal role in recipe development, adding his culinary flair to the mix. Together, they form a dynamic duo, offering a rich and varied outdoor cooking experience to their followers.