Chicken Wings, Every Which Way

Become the MVP of game day (or any day, really!) by frying, grilling, baking or air-frying up a batch of crispy, saucy wings.

January 13, 2022

Save Collection

By: Trish Clasen Marsanico

Related To:

Photo By: KATE MATHIS

Photo By: Quentin Bacon

Photo By: Stacy Howell

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Photo By: Matt

Photo By: Christopher Testani

©Food Stylist: Anne Disrude

Photo By: Con Poulos

Photo By: Levi Brown

Photo By: Con Poulos ©Con Poulos

Photo By: Armando Rafael

Photo By: Con Poulos

Photo By: Charles Masters

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

When it comes to game day food, nothing can really compete with chicken wings (sorry nachos, you tried). Wings are crispy, coated in your favorite sauces and one of the few foods that are acceptable to eat with your hands. Plus, there are practically hundreds of ways to serve them. You can switch up the cooking method — opting to bake instead of frying, make wings in the air fryer or throw wings on the grill — or you can experiment with different seasonings and sauces. Start with our classic chicken wings recipe, rejiggered for the air fryer, then discover new favorites from Food Network pros like Alton Brown, Eddie Jackson, Tyler Florence and more.

Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Smoky Rubbed Chicken Wings with Honey, Bourbon and Molasses Sauce

"I order chicken wings anytime I see them on a menu, and this recipe will make you realize just how incredible they can be," says Chris Santos. He coats his wings with a smoky rub and a sweet bourbon BBQ sauce, plus gives you the option to roast or grill your wings.

Get the Recipe: Smoky Rubbed Chicken Wings with Honey, Bourbon, and Molasses Sauce

Buffalo Wings

Alton Brown's method results in crispy wings without smoking up your kitchen. His secret? Steam and cool the chicken before roasting in a hot oven. This "renders out a considerable amount of fat." He tosses his with classic buffalo sauce, but you can use this method then toss with your favorite sauces and seasonings.

Get the Recipe: Buffalo Wings

Spicy Peanut Chicken Wings

These wings are fried twice — first at a lower temperature and once again at a higher temperature — to create extra crispy skin. Then, they are tossed in a sauce that's inspired by the spicy and savory flavors of chicken mafe, a West African specialty.

Get the Recipe: Spicy Peanut Chicken Wings

Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings

Molly Yeh describes her wings as "a deep-fried, crispy, juicy, raging party for your mouth," and she's right. Dredged in a paprika-cayenne flour, deep-fried, and coated in a fiery BBQ sauce, these wings are the definition of finger lickin' good.

Get the Recipe: Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings

Sea Island Wings

Kardea Brown amps up the flavor of her wings with a handful of pantry staples — including hot sauce, molasses, garlic powder, smoked paprika and brown sugar.

Get the Recipe: Sea Island Wings

BBQ Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Butter

Geoffrey Zakarian says, "my secret is blue cheese butter." He combines softened unsalted butter with crumbled blue cheese, then dollops it all over BBQ chicken wings. Everything melts slightly, and it's just so delicious.

Get the Recipe: BBQ Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Butter

Foil-Pack Grilled Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

Thanks to a few pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil, there is an easier way to cook a whole bunch of wings on the grill — no flipping or basting required!

Get the Recipe: Foil-Pack Grilled Sweet-and-Spicy Chicken Wings

Cranberry Glazed Sticky Chicken Wings

The secret ingredient in these sweet and sour wings is a bag of frozen thawed cranberries. We turned the tart cranberries into a sticky glaze by cooking them down in a skillet along with a sweet chili sauce, water and scallions.

Get the Recipe: Cranberry Glazed Sticky Chicken Wings

Filipino Adobo Chicken Wings

Cook chicken wings adobo style — braised in a marinade of vinegar, soy sauce and spices. Then, serve them with banana ketchup, a homemade version of the traditional Filipino store-bought condiment.

Get the Recipe: Filipino Adobo Chicken Wings

Chicken Parm Wings

With all the signature elements of a classic chicken Parm, these cheesy, saucy wings can be served with a side or pasta or featured as an app. (P.S. They're gluten-free, too!)

Get the Recipe: Chicken Parm Wings

Grilled Buffalo Wings

Katie Lee Biegel has a different technique for grilling wings. "I like to keep them whole and I like to stack them up," she says, explaining that the goal is to keep the wings close enough together that they'll steam, which helps you to render the fat. At the end, she cuts up the wings and spreads them out on the grill to get them nice and crispy.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Buffalo Wings

Grilled Cajun Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

"Grilled chicken wings are the quintessential finger food for a cookout with family and friends," says Eddie Jackson. Grilling is also an ideal cooking method if you're bringing a portable grill to a tailgate or setting up a TV in the backyard.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Cajun Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

Wings 3 Ways

Sunny Anderson makes it easy to set out a spread of wings that everyone will love. Her recipe for crispy fried wings features three different ways to boost the flavor — toss 'em into a homemade Honey BBQ Sauce, classic spicy butter sauce or simply sprinkle with lemon and lime zest.

Get the Recipe: Wings 3 Ways

Crisp Chicken Wings with Chili-Lime Butter

Introducing the real star of this recipe, a chili-lime butter made by throwing Thai red curry paste, soy sauce, butter and honey into the blender. As you add your hot wings to the equation, the butter melts, making it so everything evenly coats the wings.

Get the Recipe: Crisp Chicken Wings with Chili-Lime Butter

Slow-Cooker Chicken Wings

Free up your oven to make other game day snacks (hello, bacon-wrapped tater tots!) by making a batch of wings in the slow cooker. A quick trip under the broiler right before serving gives them a crispy char.

Get the Recipe: Slow-Cooker Chicken Wings

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings

Crispy classic wings without the oil or mess? Count us in! Pro Tip: Don't toss the wings with the buffalo sauce until after they're done cooking, otherwise you'll be stuck with a burnt mess.

Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings

Sweet Chile Garlic Wings

Trisha Yearwood coats an assortment of roasted wingettes and drumettes with a sauce that's slightly sweet, slightly spicy and 100% delicious.

Get the Recipe: Sweet Chile Garlic Wings

Moroccan Harissa Chicken Wings

Pro tip: To get extra crispy skin without frying, toss the wings with baking powder before baking. Arrange the wings on a wire rack placed inside a rimmed baking sheet to help the air circulate more freely.

Get the Recipe: Moroccan Harissa Chicken Wings

Parmesan-Garlic Chicken Wings

We're firing up the grill to make these wings! To avoid the wings from charring up too much, set up your grill for indirect grilling: Bank the coals to one side of a charcoal grill or turn off half the burners for a gas grill. You will grill the wings on the cooler side of the grill for 30 minutes, then move to the hotter side for the last 10 to 15 minutes to help the skin get crispy.

Get the Recipe: Parmesan-Garlic Chicken Wings

Sticky Honey-Soy Chicken Wings

Skip the frying, roasting and grilling. This method simply requires you to sear marinated wings in a skillet in butter that becomes the base for your glaze. (Side note: Tyler Florence's marinade of soy sauce, ginger, cilantro, garlic and lemon juice would also work beautifully with chicken thighs.)

Get the Recipe: Sticky Honey-Soy Chicken Wings

Game Day Wings

Football and wings go hand in hand. With Kardea Brown's formula for making a variety of wings at once, you can keep everyone happy. But be warned, her Garlic-Parmesan-Ranch Topping may just steal the show.

Get the Recipe: Game Day Wings

Classic Hot Wings

With over 100 5-star reviews, Ree Drummond's classic game day fare is a fan favorite. She adds a few dashes of hot sauce and Worchestershire sauce to her butter hot sauce.

Get the Recipe: Classic Hot Wings

Sticky Onion Crunch Wings

Sunny Anderson deep fries her wings before dousing them in a flavor-packed sauce made with hoisin, pomegranate juice, horseradish and scallions. She brings everything to the next level by coating the saucy wings in crushed French-fried onions.

Get the Recipe: Sticky Onion Crunch Wings

Ranch-Chipotle Chicken Wings

We're brining the chicken wings in a mix of buttermilk, onions, dried dill and seasonings before roasting in the oven until crisp.

Get the Recipe: Ranch-Chipotle Chicken Wings

Greek Souvlaki Chicken Wings

Take a cue from classic chicken souvlaki and marinate wings in wine, lemon juice and herbs before grilling until lightly charred and tender.

Get the Recipe: Greek Souvlaki Chicken Wings

Hot Wings with Blue Cheese-Yogurt Sauce

Of course you can serve your wings with bottled blue cheese or ranch dressing — but you can also do what Bobby does and whip up your own homemade dipping sauce from scratch. It's cool and creamy, making it ideal to serve with his fiery wings that are both seasoned with ancho chile powder and coated in a chipotle sauce.

Get the Recipe: Bobby Flay's Hot Wings with Blue Cheese-Yogurt Sauce

Crispy Wings with Hot Honey Sauce

Hot honey may just be one of our favorite condiments. You can drizzle some all of a batch of freshly fried wings and call it a day. Or, you can follow Ree's lead and make hot honey the star of a sticky-good sauce: Just add barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chiles.

Get the Recipe: Crispy Wings with Hot Honey Sauce

Baked Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese-Yogurt Dip

We lightened up the classic wings two ways — first, we poached then baked the wings. Next, we whipped up a lighter blue cheese dip, featuring Greek yogurt, to dunk 'em in.

Get the Recipe: Baked Buffalo Wings With Blue Cheese-Yogurt Dip

Spicy Rum Chicken Wings

Eddie Jackson's wings are perfect for tailgating: Pack them up in a sweet, slightly spicy marinade, then char them up on a charcoal grill once you get to the parking lot.

Get the Recipe: Spicy Rum Chicken Wings

Dijon Chicken Wings

If you're not a fan of spicy foods, this one's for you: Chicken is coated with a mix of honey, mustard and garlic. Not a single chili pepper or splash of hot sauce in sight.

Get the Recipe: Dijon Chicken Wings

Extra Crispy Korean-Style Chicken Wings

Unlike traditional Korean fried chicken, these wings are only fried once. Their extra crispy crust comes thanks to a cornstarch batter. Toss them with a sriracha-honey sauce fresh straight from the fryer, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.

Get the Recipe: Extra Crispy Korean-Style Chicken Wings

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

When Tyler Florence bakes his chicken wings, he drizzles olive oil all over them to help them crisp up. While they're in the oven, whip up a homemade teriyaki sauce with soy sauce, hoisin, grapefruit juice, and a few other ingredients.

Get the Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Garlic Butta Hot Wings

Guy Fieri's garlic-cayenne spice mixture does double duty: He uses it as a seasoning for the wings before throwing them on the grill, but he also adds a couple of tablespoons to the sauce.

Get the Recipe: Garlic Butta Hot Wings

Spicy Pesto Wings

Pesto isn't just for pasta! Here, Eddie Jackson slathers his homemade pesto all over a batch of freshly fried wings.

Get the Recipe: Spicy Pesto Wings

On Tonight