Crispy Smoked Traeger Chicken Wings
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These easy, crispy smoked Traeger Chicken Wings are perfect for game day or a Friday night appetizer! Ready for your favorite dipping sauces, the wings are moist with the perfect amount of smoky flavor. They will be an instant hit!
This delightful Traeger smoked wings recipe is one we have been making for nearly 10 years now–ever since we got our Traeger! You can, of course, make this recipe with any pellet grill.
These crispy wings were so good that we would host a BBQ purely to make them for people and show off.
The best part? They are SUPER easy. While Traeger grill chicken wings are super flavorful in and of themselves, the game changer is the technique I will outline in the recipe below to help the skin retain its crispness.
You can take the flavors in different directions by using various sauces, like buffalo sauce or honey BBQ, or even trying different blends of wood pellets. We use a general all-purpose pellet blend we get from Costco for simplicity’s sake, but any pellet would go great with these wings!
This has become one of my favorite chicken recipes for the smoker!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This smoked party wings recipe is super simple and results in smoky, meaty wings with crispy skin doused in your favorite sauce…I mean, what’s not to love?
Ingredients & Equipment
You don’t need much to make this simple smoked chicken wing recipe! While the recipe below is written for about 2 lbs of wings, it is super scalable to ANY amount of wings you want.
- Chicken Wings – My favorite wings are the organic party wings from Costco. They are very meaty and high quality.
- Avocado Oil – You can use any oil you want, but I like Avocado oil for its healthy nutrition profile and neutral taste.
- Salt & Pepper – I recommend kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Feel free to use your favorite dry rub spices if you’d like to, but this recipe prepares the wings for sauces.
You will also need a pellet grill smoker to make these and a wire rack to set the wings on.
Instructions
1. Dry Wings in the Fridge
Arrange chicken wings on a wire rack set on a sheet pan. Use paper towels to completely dry chicken wings. Place the wings uncovered in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to dry out the skin.
If you want crispy skin, do not skip this drying time!
2. Preheat Traeger
Toward the end of the drying time, preheat the Traeger to 225 degrees F.
3. Coat in Oil, Salt, & Pepper
Remove the wings from the refrigerator. Lightly spray or brush avocado oil over one side of the wings, then season the first side with the desired amount of salt and pepper.
Flip the wings and repeat on the other side.
4. Smoke the Wings
Place the wire rack on your preheated Traeger grates. Cook at 225F for about one hour.
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5. Turn up the Heat
Raise the temperature to 350°F. Cook wings for about 30 minutes to crisp up the skin.
If not crispy after 30 minutes, give them a little more time. Pull off the Traeger when the wings are crisped to your liking, but keep an eye on them to make sure you don’t dry them out.
6. Toss in Your Favorite Sauce
Immediately toss wings with your favorite serving sauce and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
After pulling the wings off the smoker, you can either toss them in a bowl of your favorite sauce, or serve them plain and allow people to add sauces to their plate based on their preferences. Here are my favorite sauces:
- Buffalo Sauce or other Hot Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
- Parmesan Garlic
- Asian Stir Fry Sauces, such as Teriyaki
Quick Tips
–If you like crispy skin, do not skip the refrigerator step. If you’re short on time and need to, expect the skin to be less crispy.
–Watch the skin on the wings toward the end of cooking–let it go as long as you need to to get the skin to the desired level of crispiness, but make sure you keep an eye on it so they don’t burn or dry out.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.
To reheat, preheat the oven to 350°F and arrange the wings in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake for 10-20 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the skin is crisp.
Other Delicious Traeger Recipes
If you love these crispy smoked wings, you’ll love my other Traeger recipes!
My Smoked Whole Chicken with chili lime rub is a delicious, healthy dinner the whole family will love. In the mood for beer can chicken instead? My Hard Cider Smoked Beer Can Chicken is a hit!
My Spatchcocked Smoked Chicken is great when you need to get that whole bird cooked up faster! Spatchcocking is a great technique to help save time and encourage even cooking.
Feeding a crowd? Make my smoked turkey with dry brine on the Traeger!
My Smoked Chicken Legs with Chimichurri is another favorite. Chimichurri is the perfect accompaniment to smoked meats!
If red meat is more your jam, you’ll love my smoked Ribeye Roast or my juicy Pellet Grill Picanha Steaks. My Traeger Burgers are also incredibly moist and flavorful!
Leave A Comment & Review!
If you make these deliciously smoked chicken wings, please leave a comment and review! It means the world, and I reply to every comment! 🙂
📖 Recipe
Crispy Smoked Traeger Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings aka party wings
- 1-2 tablespoons avocado oil
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
For Serving
- Favorite wing sauces, like buffalo or honey BBQ
Instructions
- Arrange chicken wings on a wire rack on a sheet pan. Use paper towels to completely dry chicken wings. Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to dry out the skin. If you want crispy skin, do not skip this drying time!2 pounds chicken wings
- Toward the end of the drying time, preheat the Traeger to 225 degrees F.
- Lightly spray or brush avocado oil over one side of the wings, then season the first side with the desired amount of salt and pepper. Flip the wings and repeat on the other side.1-2 tablespoons avocado oil, sea salt, black pepper
- Place the wire rack of wings on the preheated Traeger grates. Cook at 225°F for one hour.
- Raise the temperature to 350°F. Cook wings for about 30 minutes to crisp up. If they are not crispy after 30 minutes, give them a little more time. Pull the wings off the Traeger when crisped to your liking, but keep an eye on them to make sure you don't dry them out.
- Immediately toss wings with your favorite serving sauce and enjoy!Favorite wing sauces, like buffalo or honey BBQ
This is the ONLY way we will eat chicken wings for the last 10+ years in this house! So simple, but so genius. We really love the Costco organic wings because they are super meaty compared to other brands. These are a treat and we can’t get enough!