Y’all know I love me a good wing recipe, and these honey bbq wings are something else. I spice them up just right then make a homemade honey bbq sauce that’s sweet, a little spicy and zesty with a hint of orange in the mix. The best part is you can make these anyway you want. Bake, grill or air fry these, and they still turn out perfect each and every time.
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How to Make Honey BBQ Wings
Step 1: In a small bowl, whisk together salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne until combined. In a large bowl, pat dry chicken wings with a paper towel then sprinkle with baking powder to make sure they stay dry. Then sprinkle on seasoning mix in two intervals until chicken is thoroughly coated. To bake, line all the wings onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Air fryer and grilling instructions in recipe card.
Step 2: Add butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat until it melts then add garlic and cook until fragrant for about 30 seconds. Next add bbq sauce, honey, orange juice, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer then decrease the heat to a low and continue stirring allowing the flavors to come together, for about another 10 minutes.
Step 3: When the wings have finished baking, place them all into a large bowl. Pour the honey BBQ sauce over the wings, then toss the wings to completely coat.
Step 4: Now return the wings to an oven to get that sauce super sticky. Add them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes on 400 degrees or in the air fryer at 400 degrees. The sauce should be sticky, caramelized and bubbly.
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Honey BBQ Wings Recipe
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
For the Seasoning Blend
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 1/2 lbs party chicken wing dings they should be disjointed with tips removed
- 2 tsp baking powder
For the Orange Honey BBQ Sauce
- 2 tsp salted butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup fave thick bbq sauce
- 1/2 cup orange blossom honey
- 1/4 cup orange juice no-pulp
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
For the Chicken Wings
- In a small bowl, whisk together salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne until combined.
- In a large bowl, pat dry chicken wings with a paper towel then sprinkle with baking powder to make sure they stay dry.
- Then sprinkle on seasoning mix in two intervals until chicken is thoroughly coated.
For Baking
- Line all the wings onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the wings and flip them to the other side. Return to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes. While wings are baking, prepare the Honey BBQ Sauce.
For Air Frying
- Set your air fryer temperature to 400 degrees. Spray rack using a cooking oil spray and arrange chicken wings evenly on the rack. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the wings so they can cook evenly.
- Allow wings to cook for 15-17 mins making sure to flip halfway. They should be pretty much done.
For Grilling
- Oil your grill rack, preheat to medium heat (about 350) and grill your wings for about 12 minutes. Turn your wings occasionally to help slowly render the fat and cook the flesh without burning.
- Place the wings on direct heat to get charred marks if desired when they are close to being done.
For the Honey BBQ Sauce
- Add butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat until it melts then add garlic and cook until fragrant for about 30 seconds.
- Next add bbq sauce, honey, orange juice, brown sugar and cayenne pepper.
- Allow the sauce to simmer then decrease the heat to a low and continue stirring allowing the flavors to come together, for about another 10 minutes.
To Assemble Wings
- When the wings have finished baking, air frying or grilling, place them all into a large bowl. Pour the Honey BBQ Sauce over the wings, then toss the wings to completely coat.
- Now return the wings to an oven or air fryer to get that sauce super sticky. Add them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes on 400 degrees or in the air fryer at 400 degrees. The sauce should be sticky, caramelized and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Dry them Well: Make sure those wings are dried really well. Any extra moisture will keep them from crisping up.
- Cooking tips: Turn the pan halfway during baking time to make sure they bake evenly. If you are air frying, don’t overcrowd or they won’t crisp up. Also if grilling, cook over indirect heat so they don’t burn.
- Serve Quickly: You don’t want to let these sit too long or they will get soggy and not stay as crispy. Enjoy right away if you can.
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WOW Unbelievable delicious. Didn’t have cayenne pepper so I added more red pepper flakes.
Oh great sub!
These Honey BBQ Wings look absolutely mouthwatering! I can’t wait to try this recipe for my next game night. The combination of sweet and savory is just perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely my pleasure.
I made this recipe last night for dinner. My entire picky family loved it. I did made a tweet to the recipe. I used orange marmalade jelly because I couldn’t find the orange blossoms honey and it tasted great. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Stacey
I just did these wings today on the grill. My daughter and grandson said that they were ‘fire’. I think that there are 4 left. I am going to hide them! I will make them again and again.
Haha love it! So glad everyone enjoyed the wings and I hope you got the last 4!
I’ve only made these baked and they are the best, moist, tastiest wings I’ve ever made or eaten. They were a great hit with the family and always requested on repeat!!
Made this last night for dinner with CHICKEN THIGHS.
It was sooooooooooooo GOOD!!!! Restaurant Quality GOOD!!!
Juicy tender chicken smothered with caramelized sticky gooey barbecue sauce.
Used Wildflower Honey (didn’t have Orange Blossom), and added about 1 tsp Orange Marmalade to compensate for Orange flavor in honey.
Doubled recipe for 6 lb. Chicken Thighs and had more than 1 Cup extra sauce which we used to dunk chicken into while eating.
I made the sauce first and let it cool on stove while chicken baked, The sauce did thicken slightly when cooled, which made it stick better to chicken when coating.
The addition of Baking Powder to chicken before seasoning was a GREAT trick!!! The chicken retained most of it’s juices and the pan only had a few Tablespoons of liquid. From now on, I will try this “trick” every time I bake chicken!
I only baked the Chicken for 30 minutes at 425 F. Drained pan of the few tablespoons of juices, and baked barbecue drenched chicken for additional 10 minutes per side (at 425 F), starting with skin side down. Even though insta-read thermometer registered 178 degrees (chicken is done at 165 F), it was very juicy and not dry at all, after the additional 20 minutes (Chicken baked for a total of 50 minutes).
I highly recommend using 2 layers of aluminum foil to cover pan instead of parchment paper. Clean up was a breeze since foil contained all the sticky sauce.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS RECIPE!!!!
I had to laugh at the thought of “left overs”! Even IF there were some left over after the meal, I’ll guarantee by morning the wings would be gone from all the nocturnal visits to the fridge! These are fantastic cold!
Have you ever done this with thighs? Any suggestion on cooking times if I were to use thighs?
I haven’t but I would just increase the bake time for sure.
I made this recipe last night with Chicken Thighs and it was FABULOUS!!!!!
Read my review.
I really liked these wings! Really sticky, and delicious. My new favorite wing recipe!