Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken Wings
The easiest wings you will ever make. Just throw everything into the crockpot and you’re set for the most tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken wings!
I’ve made quite a few wings recipes in my day, mainly because Jason is pretty much obsessed with any kind of wings – hot, buffalo, asian-style. You name it.
I’ve also tried deep-frying and baking them, but I’ve never made wings in the slow cooker until I tried this. And boy was I in for a treat for the easiest, most effortless wings ever.
There’s absolutely no hot oil, no deep frying, no dreading, nothing. Just throw everything into a slow cooker, press the high or low button and that’s it. Really. It’s just that easy.
And the results are unbelievably amazing. These babies are cooked absolutely perfectly, soaked in all that flavor for hours on end. And the meat literally falls off the bone!
Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
For the sauce
- ⅓ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, honey, garlic, Sriracha, ginger powder, pepper and onion powder.
- Place wings into a slow cooker. Stir in soy sauce mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours or high heat for 1-2 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water. Stir in mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Preheat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Place wings onto the prepared baking sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes, or until caramelized and slightly charred.
- Serve immediately with remaining sauce, garnished with sesame seeds and cilantro, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I made these wings 2 nights ago. I came back to read comments on the recipe and add my own.
First of all, they were amazing! The only ingredient I did not use was cilantro because I didn’t have any. I substituted choppped chives. Worked out great!
I used my Breville risotto pot that has a slow cook feature as well as a sauté. I only used 2 lbs wings, but left everything else the same. Started on sauté to get the heat up, then dropped to high slow cook. After two hours wings were done, removed them to the broiler, switched to sauté feature to reduce with cornstarch. Perfect! I made some fried rice on the side. My house smelled deliciously like a Chinese restaurant!
I have 3 different slow cookers. I know that this one worked great with this recipe. So to the commenters who ran into technical problems, know your slow cooker!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Do they need to be thawed out first or can you put the wings in frozen?
Thawed.
I’m really upset about these wings. I’ve now made them twice.
The FIRST TIME, was on Thanksgiving. I cooked them on low, for about 41/2 hours. I did EXACTLY as the recipe calls for. The sauce was like water – which resulted in very flavorless wings. They were indeed, “fall off the bone”, but it didn’t matter because they had no taste. I had to throw away the majority of the wings.
The SECOND TIME, was today actually. We had a party at my work and I saw wings on sale at the store, so I figured I would give this recipe one more try before I threw it out. I’m even more disappointed the second go round. This time, I cooked them on high for about 3 hours. I added more cornstarch to a little less water in hopes to have a thicker sauce. But unfortunately, they came out even worse than the first attempt. The sauce was still soupy water and the wings were not “fall off the bone” tender (which I understand I cooked them on a higher temp this time) A few people tried them, but most were honest and said they didn’t want to try them for two reasons:
1.) They did not look appealing. In the least bit.
2.) Other people told them that they were not good.
I just don’t understand why it came out like this, twice. I voiced my concern to a fellow teacher this morning as I was prepping and we both thought it would come out thicker… which would result in a more flavorful wing. But, it did not. I’m so embarrassed to have served these to fellow co workers.
Are you saying you seriously didn’t even try to do the most basic and common sense level thing of… reducing the sauce if it wasn’t to your preferred consistency? Seriously? That’s like… beginner level knowledge on how to cook.
Forgive me- I’ve never made wings before. Do we leave the skin on the wings?
Yes.
I decided to try chicken wings in the crockpot for a change; the fall weather always makes me think crockpot. I came across this recipe on the internet and decided to try it. I didn’t have any Sriracha sauce so I used Frank’s Red Hot sauce instead, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. They were absolutely delicious and fall off the bone tender. A thumbs up from everyone in the house.
I forgot to mention that I think the comment from Ron E. back on 1 Feb 2015 was spot on! Prebaking on aluminum foil in the oven at 400 degrees F. should indeed remove some of that excess moisture and fat. I don’t know about doing that for 20 minutes, but I will certainly experiment with this before placing them in the crock pot. He contends that it solves the issues of floating fats, watery sauce and fallen off the bone meat issues that were part of so many of the previous posts. I forgot to mention in my earlier post that once the wings have been thawed overnight in the refrigerator be sure to pad them dry with paper towels, again to help reduce the moisture content prior to cooking. I can’t wait to try this recipe. I love chicken wings and usually flavor them with one form or another of hot sauce. I fully anticipate that thawing completely, pad drying with paper towels and pre-cooking will result in a thicker sauce and that if I broil the wings prior to serving I should get the desired results and with a thickened sauce, but I will certainly watch the pot closely on the first cooking in order to adjust time or temperature as needed. Thanks for what appears to be a great recipe. Thanks to Ron E. for the advice on precooking.
Different brands of Slow Cookers have different heat settings for High, Medium and Low. The size of the crock pot also influences the internal temperature of the device. I suspect that whatever crock pot Chungah used was one that reduced the sauce more quickly than many or most of those who complained of soupy, not sticky, sauce. Another factor is that Chungah repeatedly has definitely mentioned that she used thawed chicken wings. Previously frozen chicken wings if mishandled during transport or at the grocery store by thawing, or partially thawing, and then refrozen will pick up extra moisture in the form of ice crystals on the surface of the wings. In fact, the presence of ice crystals on the outer surface of the wings so that they actually stick together by the ice is a sure sign that this thaw and refreeze cycle has occurred. It isn’t supposed to happen, but anyone who has shopped much for chicken wings can attest that it does happen. Extra moisture is picked up in the process and that extra moisture may be why so many complained of thin and soupy sauce. Don’t buy chicken wings when you see the individual wings frozen together by ice crystals. There are health issues in eating poultry, or any meat, that has been thawed or partially thawed and then refrozen as well as the issue of extra added water. As for the issue of the complaint of the chicken falling off the bone during cooking…. this again relates to the differences in actual temperature achieved amongst various brands of slow cookers. It all depends on what exactly is “High” and what exactly is “Low” for your own individual slow cooker compared to the one used by the author of the recipe. Something to keep in mind with any slow cooker recipe. A good idea is to check the contents of the slow cooker once every 45 minutes to an hour the first time you cook a particular slow cooker recipe. Lift the lid and take a good look and ask yourself if you need to adjust the temperature setting or adjust the cooking time. Following blindly cooking settings like “Low” and “High” when using a slow cooker may indeed result in results quite different from those of the author of the recipe. Prevention beats trying to cure bad results.
Loved the idea of this, but like many others above – it was soup with wings. Bummer!
I’m sorry but these were the most tasteless wings I’ve ever made! The first time I make a recipe, I do it EXACTLY as described and these were awful! The house reeked of the vinegar, and after they were finished (including an EXTRA half hour for the cornstarch, which never really thickened) the only thing we could tasted was balsamic vinegar. My husband loves my cooking, and I’m lucky enough to do it for a living but even he pushed his plate away after the first wing. I took the very watery sauce back to the kitchen, added some more hot sauce, a little salt, and a 14 ounce can of crushed pineapple and reduced it by half. Poured it back over the wings, let it set for ten and served it again. *sigh* The wings tastier, but still not very good. The pineapple had picked up some flavours, but I took the whole thing back to the kitchen, stirred in a cup of fresh orange juice and shoved it in the fridge for the night. Hopefully, tomorrow, when we reheat them on the grill outside, they might be enjoyable. I won’t make this recipe again.
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well. However, I understand that we all have different taste preferences, and I really appreciate your honest feedback.
I made these last night and they were so good! The flavour of the sauce is delicious! I don’t have a crock pot so I made them in a large non-stick pot on the stove. I was making a few different varieties of wings so I just bought a club pack and separated it into 3 batches so I think I used maybe 15 wings in total for this recipe. I made the whole batch of sauce and then poured maybe 3/4 of it over the wings, set it to medium-high and put the lid on. The sauce started boiling fairly quickly (unsurprisingly) so I turned it down to medium. I stirred pretty frequently (maybe every 2 minutes or so) because I didn’t want the sauce to burn. It continued simmering on medium so I figured that was a good heat to keep it at. After about 25 minutes I added the cornstarch mixture and stirred everything up and put the lid back on. The sauce thickened immediately and became so sticky that there was no longer any sauce left in the pot (it was all coating the wings) so I reduced the heat to medium-low and cooked for another 5 minutes (so total cook time of half an hour). Then I took the wings out using a pair of tongs and laid them out on a foil wrapped cookie sheet and broiled them (all coated in sauce) for 3 minutes per side. The sauce was very sticky and it caramelised very nicely in the oven but I think if I had left them in for another 3 minutes or so they would have crisped up a bit better (no complaints here though, they were still delicious all soft and sticky).
I think the only problem with my method seems to be that I only got 15 wings out of it (by choice) and if I had added all of the sauce I could maybe have gotten away with another 5-7 wings so since most of you will want to make a lot more wings I just wanted to mention that I think the reason my sauce reduced so much is because I started it out on medium-high heat and it started boiling right away (which cooked out a lot of the liquid and left me with a fairly thick sauce even before the cornstarch step) and then even when I reduced the heat to medium it was still simmering and further reducing. I also attribute the quick boiling to the fact that my pot was quite large (not sure the size, but it’s a pretty standard stew/chili pot) and I only had 15 wings in it so the sauce was spread out in a fairly thin layer.
So anyways I think if I had more wings (say a total of 30-35) and I started on medium heat and then maybe reduced to medium-low once I added the cornstarch and obviously adjusted my overall cook time to allow for more wings at a lower temperature (maybe a total of 45-50 minutes) I would have had the same end result (perfectly thickened sauce coating all of the wings) but would have ended up with more wings. So that’s probably what I’ll try if I ever want to make a full batch. Hopefully that all made sense, I just wanted to be clear that the recipe does make enough sauce for a lot of wings as long as you don’t let it reduce too quickly. Just some advice for anyone interested in cooking these on the stove 🙂
I should also reiterate that my pot was non-stick (which was definitely the way to go) and that I kept the lid on throughout the entire cooking process which helps trap in the heat so that the wings cook all the way through.
I made these the other night it was my first time I ever made any Chicken wings in the crockpot & they turn out awesome. I didn’t have any Sesame seeds or fresh cilantro leaves either. I cooked them on high about 2 1/2 hours then broiled for 3 minutes I poured the juice in a pan mixed up the corn starch & water to thicken it up. They turn out awesome…Thank you
How much fresh ginger would I use as I prefer it versus the powder?
The ratio for dry to fresh spices is typically 1:3.
I made this because it was 100 degrees outside and didn’t want to turn on the oven. Horrible. Will not do it again. I did the 1-2 hours on High, but the chicken was not done.
Karen, I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
Did you try cooking it for a longer period of time until it was fully cooked through?
I made these tonight and they turned out really well. I cooked for three hours in my crockpot and they were done. I transferred the sauce to a pan before adding cornstarch. Added some extra siracha and brushed the sauce over the wings before broiling. They could have still been a little bit more spicy for me but overall a great recipe.
Hi! I just wanted to say thank you so much for this great recipe – I highlighted all of the reasons why an Instant Pot (a kitchen appliance that includes a slow cooking function) is a must-have for young recent graduates in the kitchen, and this recipe was the perfect example!
I also linked to your post on Slow Cooker Corned Beef!!
You can read the post here, if you’d like! http://themillennialmenu.com/blog/the-one-appliance
Thanks for your great food!
After a year or so of keeping this bad boy on my List of Things to Make One Day, I finally tried it last night — only I used a pressure cooker (electric) instead of a slow-cooker. Same principle, though:
add wings and sauce to pressure cooker; set cooker for 10 minutes; release pressure, remove wings to wire rack over foil-lined baking pan; oven-broil wings for 5-10 minutes (watch them!) while thickening sauce (I set the pressure cooker to “Saute” with the sauce still in, and added a little cornstarch and water); brush or pour sauce liberally on wings and broil for 3-5 more minutes; flip wings over, slather on more sauce, broil for another 3 minutes or so, and OH, BABY. Happy faces for days. I didn’t bother with the sesame seeds or cilantro, though I think they’d be lovely for presentation. I just threw those bad boys out to the madding crowd, and watched them disappear. Thanks for this recipe!
Just made these for a luncheon party. Followed the directions for 2 hrs on high. The sauce was, I thought, was quite a bit too bland. Tasted pretty good before being cooked, but I think the chicken releases its juice which thins out the sauce and destroys the flavor. If I tried it again, I woul WAY shorten the cooking time. Or I wouldn’t use a slow cooker. My wings weren’t sticky at all.
I cooked these on high in a 5 quart crock pot and they were done in 2 hours. The sauce did not thicken, I reduced it on the stove in a sauce pan. I broiled a few racks down from the top for 3 minutes on each side for a 6 minute total. Came out really good. I didn’t have brown sugar left so I substituted white sugar with 1 tablespoon of Molasses. They were done and falling of the bone. The skins didn’t crisp well but I don’t care. Delicious!
Oh so GOOOOOOD!!! Mine are just finishing up in the crockpot right now, then will go under the broiler. I left out the sriracha because I didn’t have any, used apple cider vinegar (didn’t have what the recipe called for). The smell of those wings is amazing! My poor dogs have been pacing in the kitchen for the last 3 hours. LOL Going to be serving them with potato “logs” tonight. Perfect recipe that I will definitely be making a lot more often! THANK YOU!
I just made these and they certainly are “sticky” and good. I had to double up the sauce recipe though and i only used 2.5 pounds of chicken wings. The amount of sauce the recipe called for barely covered the bottom of the crock pot so i doubled it and it was enough to cover almost all the chicken wings. I also used much more sriracha and added some salt as the recipe is very sweet. The combination of honey and sugar do make for a good sticky wing though after you broil them. I broiled mine on high for about 7 minutes on each side until they were crispy in spots but still fall off the bone tender.