The Best Barbecue Chicken Wings
Delicious at Home Wings Made Easy
The Best Barbecue Chicken Wings are a snacking dream. They’re crispy wings that you brine and then top with a tangy, doctored up barbecue sauce that bakes on sweet and savory.
You will love these wings!
They are perfect for a Super Bowl recipe or any kind of snacking opportunity. The recipe features simple ingredients that you should have on hand.
The full, printable recipe card is at the end of this post. You can scroll down to the card and hit the “print” button under the picture of the recipe and the recipe will be condensed onto a one page version with no ads.
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Chinese Five Spice
Chinese Five Spice is an Asian inspired blend of spices that is GREAT for barbecue.
The spices in Chinese Five Spice are: star anise, fennel, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon.
The five spices represent the five elements of fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. Even if you think you do not like these spices, I strongly encourage you to give this a try.
The spice flavors change when combined with the other ingredients and during the baking process. When I make these wings, everyone always loves the flavor and is surprised when I tell them about this spice.
You can find it in most spice aisles or in the Asian aisle at your store.
Open Pit Barbecue Sauce
Open Pit Barbecue Sauce is a regional sauce for sure, and I sometimes have a hard time finding it elsewhere. You can check their website for a retail locator to see where it is available in your area.
I also see that it is available on Amazon and I listed it HERE ON MY AMAZON SHOP.
*This is an affiliate link meaning I make a small commission on the sale if you use it. Amazon pays this and it costs you no extra.
I cannot really recommend another barbecue sauce because I find a lot of other brands to be too sweet for this recipe. If you want or need to use another sauce, use one that is not super thick and has a more vinegar base.
These wings are great on their own, but if you want to dip them in a ranch or blue cheese, I won’t tell you otherwise.
The Best Barbecue Chicken Wings
The Best Barbecue Chicken Wings are a snacking dream. Crispy wings that you brine and then a tangy, doctored up barbecue sauce that bakes on sweet and savory. You will love these wings.
Ingredients
- 18 ounce bottle of Open Pit Original BBQ Sauce
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice
- 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
- 6 cups of water
- 12 to 18 smaller size chicken wings
- 3 tablespoons of butter
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with the 6 cups of water and the 1 tablespoon of the salt, stir to dissolve the salt, then add your chicken wings and allow them to sit in the salt water, on the counter for about 30 minutes.
- In a bowl, add your barbecue sauce, honey, soy sauce, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, oregnao, black pepper and the Chinese five spice and stir well until combined. Add the Chinese Five Spice a little at a time and add more of you want. The spices can be adjusted to your preference. Taste as you go and adjust. If you have questions about the Chinese Five Spice, see the paragraph above the recipe card explaining.
- After the chicken sits in the salt water for 30 minutes, drain this carefully, Spread some paper towels on a baking sheet and add the chicken wings and blot them dry. Make sure you are careful when pouring out your salt water from the chicken, wash and sanitize the bowl and sink after to prevent cross contamination.
- Heat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Cover another sheet pan in foil and then add the chicken wings.
- Melt the butter and brush each wing with butter. Discard the butter after doing this.
- Season the wings lightly with some black pepper and onion and garlic powder.
- Place the wings in the oven and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- I separate about 1/4 cup of the bbq sauce to use for serving and then use the rest for basting. Pull the wings from oven after the first 8 to 10 minutes, flip over and baste the backs. bake for 6 to 8 minutes and take them out, flip them again, baste with the bbq sauce and bake agian 8 to 10 minutes. I repeat this one more time, ending with the wings being right side up and baste them one last time and bake until the sauce is sticky and slightly crispy.
- Remove from oven and serve.
- All ovens are different so keeo an eye on the temp and the wings so they are not getting too dry. You can reduce heat if your oven runs hot. The thickness of your wings will also affect cook time. Just keep an eye on them and they will be great. Wings cook fully fairly quickly, you just want to get that sauce baked on well. Do not use the basting sauce to serve, serve with the sauce you put aside.
- If you have a lot of sauce left from basting, which I never do, you can add it to a sauce pan, bring it to a boil, simmer for a few minutes and use it as a dipping sauce.
Want another tasty chicken dish? My Pancake Battered Chicken Tenders make for a tasty surprise.