Today’s recipe celebrates the classic Buffalo chicken wings made on a Weber Kettle. T
raditional Buffalo chicken wings are deep fried, then finished with butter and hot sauce, and served with ranch dressing and celery sticks. But with this recipe, we’re going to grill the chicken wings on the Weber Kettle instead and finish them with the traditional Buffalo chicken wing sauce.
Why You Should Try This Weber Kettle Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe
- Chicken wings? Come on! – Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (with the exception of vegetarians, of course), has eaten chicken wings at some point in their life. They are heavenly little morsels of insanely delicious, mouthwatering, crunchy, dark chicken meat and fat. Add a combination of warm butter and hot sauce to finish the insanity, and you wish you could grill them up and pig out on them every day!
- Uncomplicated and easy to prepare – With just four basic steps to prepare the Buffalo chicken wings: add the chicken wing rub, grill the chicken wings, make the Buffalo chicken wing sauce, and dunk the wings in the sauce. This is such an easy way to satisfy your Buffalo chicken wing craving. Oh, and I forgot the fifth step: DEVOUR!
- And chicken wings are so much fun to eat – Let’s get real now! Who doesn’t like devouring wing after wing at a backyard barbecue while tailgating at a football game or partying with friends and family? What could be better? Really? Nothing!
Ingredients For Weber Kettle Grilled Chicken Wings
Ingredients for the chicken wing rub:
- 3 pounds chicken wings and drumettes (roughly 15 wings)
(We’re calling the combination of wings and drumettes “chicken wings” in this recipe)
- ¾ cup chicken wing rub (plain chicken rub is fine, too)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
Ingredients for the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce:
- 1 cup hot pepper sauce
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon powdered garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions For Grilling Weber Kettle Chicken Wings
1. Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets to each pile.
2. Bring the chicken wings to room temperature – Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel. Combine the chicken wing rub with the cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle each chicken wing with the chicken wing rub, ensuring the entire chicken wing is completely covered with the rub.
3. Place the chicken wings on the Weber Kettle grill grate – Place the chicken wings in the center of the Weber Kettle grill grate and grill indirectly for 30 minutes, then flip the chicken wings over and grill indirectly for another 30 minutes. Rotate the chicken wings away from the heat of the coals if necessary. Add more charcoal to both piles if necessary as well.
4. As the chicken wings are grilling, make the Buffalo chicken wing sauce – Combine all the Buffalo chicken wing sauce ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan and, while stirring with a whisk, bring to a low simmer.
5. Move the chicken wings over the charcoal pile for extra char – With grill tongs, move the chicken wings to the sides of the Weber Kettle grill grate for direct grilling. This will complete the grilling of the chicken wings and add a nice char-finishing flavor. This step should take about a minute a side. Watch the chicken wings carefully, as you don’t want to burn your precious hard-earned yumminess.
6. Remove the chicken wings and add the Buffalo hot sauce – Place the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce in a large bowl. While both the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce and the grilled chicken wings are still warm, add the chicken wings to the Buffalo sauce about five at a time. Thoroughly submerge and mix the chicken wings with the Buffalo sauce until the chicken wings are completely covered in the Buffalo sauce. Repeat this process until all the chicken wings are covered with the Buffalo sauce.
Variations And Substitutions For Weber Kettle Grilled Chicken Wings
Try using other cuts of chicken or other poultry – The chicken wing rub and the Buffalo chicken wing sauce are perfect for any other cut of chicken as well. A boneless breast, thigh, leg quarters, or even a whole chicken will be just as delicious as the chicken wings when prepared with this “Buffalo chicken wing style.”
Not your typical traditional condiments – Buffalo chicken wings are traditionally served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing. But why stop there? Add other condiments for a generous appetizer tray for your family and guests. Try adding cubes of pepper jack cheese, sliced carrots, parmesan potato wedges, coleslaw, mac and cheese, garlic bread, grilled vegetables, potato salad, or mozzarella sticks. The list is literally endless.
Add soaked wood chips – If you want to add a bit of smokey flavor to your Buffalo chicken wings, add some small wood chunks or wood chips soaked in water to the top of your charcoal pile. The smoke from the soaked wood will add just a hint of smokey goodness to your chicken wings.
Tips And Tricks For Weber Kettle Grilled Chicken Wings
Use a Weber Kettle hinged grilling grate – The hinged portion of the grill grate on both sides lifts up so you can add more charcoal or wood chips as you need to. This is an incredible game changer because you don’t need to lift the entire grill grate off the Weber Kettle every time you need to add more fuel.
How do I know when my Buffalo chicken wings are done – Using ameat thermometer, check the thickest part of a drumette. The chicken wings are safe to eat at the standard 165 degrees, but the chicken wings taste better at 175 degrees. This is because the dark meat has more connective tissue that needs to dissolve into gelatin to be more flavorful and less chewy.
Why add cornstarch to the chicken wing rub – Adding cornstarch helps create a crispier and crackling coating. So our chicken wings have a more crispy and crunchy base, eagerly ready to accept the Buffalo chicken wing sauce.
Weber Kettle Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wings
Equipment
- 1 Weber Kettle Grill
- 1 Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter
- 1 BBQ Tongs
Ingredients
Ingredients for the chicken wing rub
- 3 pounds chicken wings and drumettes, roughly 15 wings
- We’re calling the combination of wings and drumettes “chicken wings” in this recipe
- ¾ cup chicken wing rub, plain chicken rub is fine, too
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
Ingredients for the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce
- 1 cup hot pepper sauce
- 1 stick, 1/2 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon powdered garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets to each pile.
- Bring the chicken wings to room temperature – Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel. Combine the chicken wing rub with the cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle each chicken wing with the chicken wing rub, ensuring the entire chicken wing is completely covered with the rub.
- Place the chicken wings on the Weber Kettle grill grate – Place the chicken wings in the center of the Weber Kettle grill grate and grill indirectly for 20 minutes, then flip the chicken wings over and grill indirectly for another 20 minutes. Rotate the chicken wings away from the heat of the coals if necessary. Add more charcoal to both piles if necessary as well.
- As the chicken wings are grilling, make the Buffalo chicken wing sauce – Combine all the Buffalo chicken wing sauce ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan and, while stirring with a whisk, bring to a low simmer.
- Move the chicken wings over the charcoal pile for extra char –
- With grill tongs, move the chicken wings to the sides of the Weber Kettle grill grate for direct grilling. This will complete the grilling of the chicken wings and add a nice char-finishing flavor. This step should take about a minute a side. Watch the chicken wings carefully, as you don’t want to burn your precious hard-earned yumminess.
- Remove the chicken wings and add the Buffalo hot sauce – Place the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce in a large bowl. While both the Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce and the grilled chicken wings are still warm, add the chicken wings to the Buffalo sauce about five at a time. Thoroughly submerge and mix the chicken wings with the Buffalo sauce until the chicken wings are completely covered in the Buffalo sauce. Repeat this process until all the chicken wings are covered with the Buffalo sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
