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 home-gating with the Crock-Pot® brand!
Are you ready for some serious home-gating? 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.
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.
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 (go Bengals!).
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 (home-gating 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!
HELPFUL TOOLS:
- Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker – There are so many types and sizes to choose from… but a locking lid is my “must have”
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
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
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
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Bobbi says
Girl….i love your recipes. Keep going. Nice job.
Kim says
So good and so easy. My father in law doesn’t enjoy buffalo wings, but everyone else in the family prefers them. In the past I’ve always had to make two types of wings for our football parties (BBQ and Buffalo). No more of that, he LOVED these. I followed the recipe with frozen wings, all cooked through. I popped them back in the crockpot after broiling for grab and go serving and they stayed sticky. Thank you for sharing.
Megan Burton says
Do you remove the skin before making these? I could only find bone-in and skin-on. I wasn’t sure if that was right.
The Chunky Chef says
These wings have skin on them, just if you’re wanting a crispier skin, you’ll need to follow the sticky glaze instructions.
Patty Lowndes says
My family who come from the east coast found that this recipe is way to hot for our taste. I had to cut the sauce with butter and vinegar
Lee Ann Theobald says
Made this today ! Mom & I really liked this! Will be making again !
Vicky says
I made this for dinner tonight and my son loved it. They came out perfectly and I can’t wait to see what else you have for us ☺️
Robin says
Made this and my husband loved them. Very easy
Erica says
Hello. I can’t wait to make these wings for dinner tomorrow! If I don’t have an oven safe cooling rack, can I just broil them on the aluminum foil covered baking sheet, turning them once to brush the other side with sauce? I assume I can but what are your thoughts? Thanks.
Fred says
Best wings I’ve ever eaten,if you mess this recipe up you better go back to basic cooking school, great wings great recipe
Jordan says
I cooked on high for 2 hours and my wings were still pretty raw. Have them back in now but dinner will be pretty late due to it.
The Chunky Chef says
Were your wings really large, or did you put them in frozen? All slow cookers do cook slightly differently, but I’ve never had my fresh chicken wings be pretty raw after 2 hours on high.
Kevin says
Applied the rub tonight to work it’s magic. Will see the results tomorrow.
Rachel says
Love your Bengals Crock!!!
Go Who Dey!! 🐅
Allyson Black says
This was awful. The skin was all soft and mushy. My family all couldn’t eat it. I’m so discouraged and I followed the recipe perfect.
The Chunky Chef says
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe 🙁 Without broiling as directed in the sticky glaze section of the instructions, the skin will be soft.
Dan says
I use this on drum sticks and it is amazing with that also.
Ann says
My boys don’t like wings, but they like any skinless chicken. Would this recipe work with skinless thighs or breasts do you think?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe other than as written, and I think the cooking time would be a little different, so it sounds like you get to do some fun kitchen experimenting 🙂
Dee says
They were great. I took them to a potluck at work and they were a big hit!
Markesha Guilford says
Very good, I had to substitute out a few ingredients because I didn’t have a few of them but over all very tasty.
Molly T. says
Could these be made the night before and then heated up for our party (party starts 11 am)?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t specifically tested that, but I think that would work well 🙂
Menaza says
My slow cooker options are high for 4 hours high for 6 hours low for 8 hours and low for 10 hours… which do you recommend I use? I would like to set this up to cook while I work on Christmas Eve for a family holiday gathering that night I get home.
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested, and recommend, cooking using the times listed in the recipe. Any longer, and the wings might end up dried out and not as tasty.
Tammy says
Hey there – Want to try this but won’t have access to an oven to broil. Can I just cook them in the slow cooker and be good to go? Thanks in advance.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Tammy 🙂 You can cook them only in the slow cooker, they just won’t have that sticky caramelized sauce.