I’m a sucker for good wings. But they often come at a cost. Most restaurant versions are battered and deep fried, then smothered in a really buttery buffalo sauce. Delicious, but not the healthiest! Plus, it’s often hard to get all the meat off of the bones depending on how they are cooked, leaving those precious morsels to go to waste. These crockpot wings are the perfect healthier solution. Here’s why:
Cooking wings in the slow cooker with olive oil and spices makes them much healthier than battering and deep frying. The buffalo sauce uses less butter than traditional buffalo sauces (with ketchup added to make it thick and add flavor and a touch of sweetness). And the low and slow cooking method also ensures fall-off-the-bone tender wings, meaning it’s easy to get all the meat off without wasting anything!
You’re going to love these Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings. And if you’re not a fan of buffalo sauce – don’t worry! You can use any sauce you want. Teriyaki, BBQ sauce, sweet and sour sauce… or any other sauce that would be good with wings. And since they’re seasoned with spices while they cook in the crockpot, they’re also delicious plain!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Chicken Wing Pieces – you can use drumsticks or whole wings if you like, but I prefer the smaller pieces.Olive oil – or another cooking oil such as canola.Spices – kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. You can get away with just using salt and pepper if you like, or use a pre-mixed seasoning like your favorite bbq rub or taco seasoning.Butter – for the buffalo sauce (you can use ghee for a paleo/dairy-free version).Hot Sauce – I always use Frank’s Red Hot for buffalo sauce.Ketchup – my secret ingredient to add to homemade buffalo sauce to make it lower in fat, thicker, and caramelize a bit in the oven with more flavor. You can omit it and just use butter and hot sauce if you prefer.
This recipe uses a homemade buffalo sauce made from the butter, hot sauce, and ketchup. You can use a store-bought wing sauce if you like, or another kind of sauce like teriyaki or bbq sauce.
How to make chicken wings in your slow cooker
Can I cook frozen wings in my crockpot?
Yes! Just follow the same directions and cook on high instead of low for 3 hours. You’ll want to make sure the frozen wings are separated out from each other (so if they are all stuck together from being in a tray and frozen, it won’t work, but a bag of frozen wings will). Be sure to double check that the internal temperature is 165 degrees F if you are nervous about them cooking all the way through.
Tips and Tricks
For mess-free cooking, you can use a slow cooker liner if you want, and line your baking sheet with foil before broiling. I also like using tongs to transfer the chicken into and out of the slow cooker so I don’t have to touch it.To broil evenly, you may want to rotate the baking sheet halfway through cooking.For extra spicy wings, add a little cayenne pepper to the spices when you cook the wings, and/or use extra spicy hot sauce.For an extra thick buffalo sauce layer, you can brush the wings with any extra sauce from the bottom of the bowl 1-2 times when broiling (similar to this bbq chicken and bbq salmon technique).
Other buffalo sauce recipes
Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings” (vegetarian)Healthy Buffalo Chicken TacosBuffalo Chicken Stuffed ShellsCrispy Honey Buffalo Chicken ThighsBuffalo Mushroom Naan Pizza (vegetarian)
Other slow cooker chicken recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken BreastsHow to cook a whole chicken in a slow cookerSlow Cooker Turkey Breast (OK not chicken but close!)Slow Cooker Greek-Style Green Beans and Chicken Thighs
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