Grilled Buffalo Wings

These Grilled Buffalo Wings are juicy and delicious – and tossed in an easy homemade buffalo sauce. Fire up the grill and invite some friends over!

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There was a time when I was afraid to grill chicken wings. I’d tried it a few times, and I ended up with wings that were either (1) perfectly golden on the outside and raw on the inside or (2) no longer raw but burnt to an absolute crisp. Then I realized my mistake. Grilled chicken wings need to be grilled on indirect heat.

Direct Heat vs. Indirect Heat

When it comes to grilling, direct heat means cooking your food directly over the heat source while indirect heat means cooking your food next to the heat source. It might sound like a minor difference, but it leads to major results!

If you’re placing food on the grill grates directly over the open flame (either gas or charcoal), then that’s direct heat. Grilling over direct heat is perfectly fine for most foods. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts and even some veggies cook well over direct heat. Obviously, you still have to keep a close eye on the grill to prevent the food from burning.

In order to grill using indirect heat, you simply place the food on grates that are next to the open flame – not directly over the open flame. As a result, the food is cooked from the heat circling around the closed grill. If you think about it, indirect grilling is very similar to an oven – except you end up with all of the smoky grill flavor, too!

How to Set Up a Grill for Indirect Cooking

The good news is indirect cooking on the grill is very easy! As long as you have a grill of some sort, then you can cook using indirect heat.

• If you are using a gas grill, turn on the outside burners to medium heat while leaving the center burner off. Once the grill has preheated, the food will be cooked over the center burner (the one that is turned off). This method is known as M-O-M, or medium-off-medium.

• If you are using a charcoal grill, the method is very similar. Simply split the charcoal into 2 piles – one on the left and one on the right. Once the charcoal is heated and ready, the food will be grilled in the center of the grill (the area with no charcoal directly below).

• And if you happen to have a smoker or ceramic grill, then it likely came with an insert for indirect grilling. The insert blocks the direct flames so that the entire grill/smoker can be used for indirect cooking.

Grilled Buffalo Wings

Now that we’ve jumped into the world of fancy-sounding grilling techniques, let’s talk about an excellent way to use that indirect grilling knowledge. Grilled Buffalo Wings. These hot wings are absolutely fantastic!

In order to grill buffalo wings, we start by brining the wings – that step will make the wings juicier and tastier. Then the wings get tossed in a bit of vegetable oil, salt, pepper and granulated garlic. At this point, there is nothing buffalo about these wings. They go on the grill, and ~45 minutes later you’re looking at an amazing plate of grilled chicken wings.

The buffalo portion of these Grilled Buffalo Wings comes in at the end. Once the wings come off the grill, they get tossed in a homemade buffalo sauce. You could use store-bought buffalo wing sauce, but I strongly prefer this homemade sauce. It’s got the perfect proportions of butter, vinegar and hot sauce!

A quick note about the buffalo sauce: it’s optional. My 9-year-old son isn’t a fan of spicy foods (yet), so I just left some of the grilled wings unsauced for him while the rest of the wings got tossed in buffalo sauce. Everyone was happy! (I literally wanted to lick the buffalo sauce off of my plate – it’s that good!)

If you’re looking for a delicious backyard grilling recipe, then make a batch of these Grilled Buffalo Wings. They’re a summer staple around our house! Happy Grilling!

Did you make this Grilled Buffalo Wings recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!

Grilled Buffalo Wings

These Grilled Buffalo Wings are juicy and delicious – and tossed in an easy homemade buffalo sauce. Fire up the grill and invite some friends over!

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 768kcal

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Ingredients

For the Brine

• 8 cups water
• ⅓ cup kosher salt
• 1½ Tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 pounds chicken wings separated into drumsticks and flats (most bags of frozen chicken wings are already separated when you purchase them)

For Grilling

• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• ½ Tbsp black pepper
• 2 tsp granulated garlic

For the Buffalo Sauce

• ⅔ cup hot pepper sauce I used Frank’s Red Hot
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• chopped parsley for garnishing
• {optional} carrots, celery and/or blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing for serving

Instructions

For the Brine

• Using a large bowl, add water, salt and sugar; stir until salt and sugar have dissolved into water.
• Place chicken wings in bowl. (If needed, add more water until wings are covered.)
• Cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For Grilling

• Set up grill for indirect cooking and preheat to 375°F for indirect cooking (see note).
• Remove wings from brine; discard brine.
• Pat wings completely dry with paper towels and then return them to the empty bowl.
• Using a small bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Pour mixture into bowl with wings and toss until well coated. (Tip: Wipe the grill grates with a folded paper towel soaked with vegetable oil before placing wings on grill – this helps prevent the wings from sticking to the grates.)
• Cook wings for ~45 minutes, flipping about halfway through. (Note: While the wings are cooking, make the Buffalo Sauce.)

For the Buffalo Sauce

• Using a small saucepan, add all ingredients and place over medium heat.
• Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat. (Note: If necessary, keep saucepan over low heat so the sauce stays warm until needed.)
• Remove wings from grill and place in a large bowl; add Buffalo Sauce and toss until wings are well coated.
• Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley. {Optional} In keeping with the buffalo wing tradition, serve with carrots, celery, blue cheese dressing and/or ranch dressing

Notes

Indirect cooking on a grill is the opposite of cooking over direct flame. Most ceramic grill/smokers have inserts for indirect grilling. If you have a gas grill, you can set it up for indirect grilling by turning the two outside burners on medium or medium-low. Then just leave the middle burner(s) off. This method is called “M-O-M,” or medium-off-medium. You will grill the chicken wings over the middle (off) portion of the grill. For charcoal grills, simply pile equal amounts of charcoal on either side of the grill but leave the center portion without any charcoal. You will grill the chicken wings over the middle (no charcoal) portion of the grill.

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