Chicken wings are one of our favorite items for grilling or backyard cookout. They are the food of good times, whether you have a frosty beer or lemonade or iced tea that goes with it. If you love your wings with a bold flavor, then you must try these Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings. They are addictively good and you better make more because they would be gone in seconds!
The Marinade
I created these wings by adapting from my BBQ Short Ribs recipe. The marinade uses simple pantry ingredients such as soy sauce, mirin, garlic, sesame oil, and sugar. To add a savory heat, the secret is to use gochujang, the essential Korean condiment made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. It has both spicy and sweet flavors and umami from fermented glutinous rice.
We really enjoy the marinade and have been using it for different dishes, but one day I decided to give it a little tweak by adding honey and grated apple to the mixture. They were simple additions, but boy, how they could really enhance a dish. The honey adds a deep caramelization to the wings, and the apple gives a subtle tart sweetness. My kids gave this newly improved sweet and spicy marinade a big thumbs up and devoured the wings right away!
You can definitely use the marinade in other cuts of chickens, or even for grilled tofu or grilled beef. And don’t forget to adjust the amount of each seasoning to suit your taste.
No matter whether you plan to fire up the grill or bake the wings in the oven, this recipe works. I hope you enjoy!
Delicious Sides to Serve with These Chicken Wings:
- Asian Coleslaw with Sesame Dressing
- Japanese Potato Salad
- Macaroni Salad
- Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)
Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 lb chicken wings (flats/drumettes) (separated into drumettes and flats; I only used 1½ lbs or 13 pieces of wings to demonstrate this recipe but made enough marinade for 3 lbs of chicken)
For the Marinade
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup mirin
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 8 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 green onion/scallion (finely chopped)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 apple (grated; I used Fuji apple)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Please note that I recommend a marinating time of 4 hours to overnight for this recipe. Now, gather all the ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, whisk all the marinade ingredients together: 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup mirin, ½ cup sugar, 4 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste), 8 cloves garlic (minced or pressed), 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, 1 green onion/scallion (chopped), 1 Tbsp honey, and 1 apple (grated). Tip: You can prepare the marinade ahead of time and refrigerate it in a mason jar for up to 2 weeks.
- Put 3 lb chicken wings (flats/drumettes) and the marinade in a Ziploc bag or baking pan. Marinate the chicken for 4 hours to overnight.
To Grill Outdoors (method #1)
- Grill the chicken wings over indirect heat for 15–20 minutes (depending on the size of your wings), flipping every 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn the chicken.
To Bake in the Oven (method #2)
- If you want to use the oven, preheat it to 400ºF (200ºC). Place the chicken in a single layer on a wire rack on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (for easy cleaning later). Bake for 45 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken wings) until cooked through. Tip: The chicken is done cooking when its internal temperature reaches 165ºF (75ºC). If chicken is cooked through but not charred on top, then switch the oven setting to broil for 2–3 minutes.
Nutrition
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