Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Wings

Make buffalo wings the easy way, by cooking them in the slow cooker! Made stress-free and loaded with mouthwatering finger-licking flavors, this recipe is perfect for homegating with the Crock-Pot® brand!

Are you ready for some serious homegating?  Try your buffalo wings in the slow cooker and watch how quickly they disappear!  Plus, they’re hands-off, so you can enjoy the game and your guests!

These Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Wings are sponsored by the Crock-Pot® brand. All opinions are mine alone #ad

When I think of great game day food, there’s one quintessential food that everyone loves and asks for… buffalo wings!  There’s something so tempting about those little bites of crispy, sticky, juiciness… so deliciously spicy and just waiting to be dipped in some ranch or blue cheese dressing!  Today I’ve partnered with Crock-Pot® brand to bring you this incredibly appetizer recipe!

True, there’s no dainty way to eat buffalo wings; at least not that I’ve seen or tried.  You just have to go for it, with sticky hands and usually some sauce on your face.  It’s so worth it though!

I know there are a LOT of chicken wing flavor combos out there, but my all-time favorite is the honey buffalo flavor.  I love buffalo sauce, but sometimes it can be overpowering, and a bit too spicy.  The honey comes in and just mellows it out, not to mention it helps the sauce caramelize beautifully when you broil them!

Just as there are a lot of sauce flavors out there, there are also quite a few cooking methods.  There’s the classic fried, there’s broiled, baked, and my new favorite, the slow cooked method!

Who knew making chicken wings could be SO easy!!  I love a great appetizer that I can pop in the slow cooker and forget about for a couple of hours.  Usually when I’m hosting a homegating party (or any party for that matter), there are what seems like a million things to do, and babysitting an appetizer for hours just isn’t on my to-do list!

I can serve food right out of this slow cooker during a party… which means less dishes to wash… and it looks beautiful!  It has all the great Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker quality you’ve come to expect from their products, plus I LOVE the NFL logo.  You can also get your favorite NCAA team logo!

For a true saucy consistency to the buffalo wings, just cook in the slow cooker and serve; but if you want a truly sticky glaze, there’s a little work at the end.  No worries though, it’s not super time consuming, and once it’s done, you can pop the glazed wings back in the slow cooker on warm for the party!

As far as what to serve these honey buffalo wings with, the sky is the limit!  Traditional carrot and celery sticks, blue cheese sauce, ranch dressing, lime wedges, green onion garnish… you really can’t go wrong!  My personal favorite is blue cheese sauce, but my family is hooked on ranch dressing, so we usually end up with both.

The next time you’re hosting a game day party (homegating for the win!), give these easy slow cooker honey buffalo wings a try!  You’ll love how easy they are, plus how amazing they taste!  With this recipe and your Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker, your homegating party will be a huge success!!

HELPFUL TOOLS:

• Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker –  There are so many types and sizes to choose from… but a locking lid is my “must have”

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Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Wings

4.47 from 73 votes

Author: Amanda

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Calories: 714

Servings: 6 - 8 servings

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Make buffalo wings the easy way, by cooking them in the slow cooker! Made stress-free and loaded with mouthwatering finger-licking flavors!

Ingredients

SPICE RUB:

• ▢ 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp onion powder or dried minced onion
• ▢ 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp chili powder
• ▢ 1 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ 1 tsp dried parsley

HONEY BUFFALO SAUCE:

• ▢ 3/4 cup hot sauce (Frank's Original is what I always use)
• ▢ 1/2 cup honey
• ▢ 1 Tbsp melted butter
• ▢ 1 Tbsp molasses (optional but recommended)

WINGS:

• ▢ 4 lbs fresh chicken wings, patted dry

Instructions

• In a small mixing bowl, add rub ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly.  Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray and add chicken wings.  Sprinkle rub over the top and use hands to massage the rub into all the chicken wings.  I like to use nitrile gloves for this - easy clean up!
• In the empty rub mixing bowl, add sauce ingredients and whisk to combine well.  Pour over spiced wings and toss gently to coat.
• Cover slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, or on LOW for 3-4 hours.

FOR STICKY GLAZE:

• Cook slow cooker recipe as directed above.  Line a baking sheet with 2 sheets of aluminum foil, then place an oven safe wire cooling rack on top.  Place cooked wings on cooling rack, then pour sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan.  Add 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water to a small bowl and whisk to combine well, then pour into sauce and whisk.  Cook over MED-HIGH heat until boiling, then reduce heat to MED-LOW and whisk as it cooks.  Cook about 5 minutes, or until thickened to desired consistency. 
• Brush wings with thickened sauce, then broil on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce caramelizes a little.  Brush with more glaze and broil another 2 minutes.  Repeat this one more time and you should have perfectly sticky wings!

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Chef Tips

Frozen wings can also be used, but the sauce in the slow cooker after cooking will be more watery, as most frozen chicken wings are ice glazed (each wing has a thin glaze of ice over it, so they don't stick together as much in the bag).  For best results, thaw frozen wings before cooking.

If cooking from frozen, cook time is 3 hours on HIGH and 4-6 hours on LOW.

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