I’m a big fan of messy foods. Give me a poncho, a pack of wet-naps, a judge-free zone, a pile of messy chicken wings and I’m a happy man. On the rare occasion though, I like to go sauceless and instead opt to throw together a simple dry rub for my grilled chicken wings. This simple dry rub gives the wings a nice balance of smokey, sweet and spicy and can be thrown together with ingredients that I usually have in my pantry.
Dry Rub Chicken Wings on the Grill
Dry rub recipe for grilled chicken wings
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium heat. Looking for about 400 degrees. If you are using a charcoal grill, pile all of the coals to one side of the grill so that you have hot and cooler sides of the grill to work with.
- Cut the wing tips off of the chicken wings if they are still attached (you can't really eat those).
- Rub the chicken wings on all sides with a generous amount of the dry rub.
- Once the grill is up to heat, place the wings on the hot part of the grill.
- Grill with the lid closed, turning occasionally to crisp up the skin and create some great color. There is a lot of sugar in the dry rub, so make sure you don't char them too much. Move the chicken wings to the cooler side of the grill and continue to grill with the lid closed if they are getting too charred.
- Grill the chicken wings until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees without touching the bone with the temperature probe.
Steve says
Simple and delicious
Danielle says
Not able to pin to Pinterest. It says it has invalid prrameters and needs a photo to be uploaded. Looks good tho!
Heidi says
Very easy and tasty wings, but be sure to cook them low and slow because they burn easily from the sugar in the rub.
Connie says
It was raining the day I wanted to make these so I used my oven at 400 degrees. They turned out fabulous! I used a rack over a foil lined cookie sheet to keep them from being soggy. It worked perfectly.
Dan says
Goina put 60 lbs in the smoker in the morning with this on them , thn goina flash fry them for crunch.
Q says
Thanks worked great
Alison says
Great rub. I forgot the salt and didn’t miss it. It was my first time doing wings on my own; I’ve been missing out!
Bob says
This recipe is absolutely off the hook! Best wings I have ever eaten. Just the right amount of heat, nice and crispy on the grill. Awesome!
Joe says
Made these tonight. My Wife & I thought they were AMAZING!! Definitely will be making these again.
R says
So yummy!
Try adding some salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning to the mix for some zing. Also maybe try fully cooking the wings first, then tossing in the seasoning before serving.
chris Hansen says
Good rub…. Will do again. Due to sugar in rub do low and slow to avoid burning!
chris Hansen says
Good rub…. Will do again. Due to sugar in rub do low and slow to avoid burning. Very tasty!
Chris Hansen says
Great rub for wings! Cooked at 250 on smoker for about an hour. Then raised temp to 400 to crisp up skin.
Very tasty!
Chris Hansen says
Great rub for wings. Smoked at 250 for about an hour. Then raised temp to 400 to crisp up skin.
Andrea says
absolutely delicious
A says
smoked at 250 for an hour then 400 for 10-15 minutes and they were delicious
Katie says
Good rub, made in oven. Cooked 350 for 20 mins then flipped for another 10. Finished it off on a low broil for 10 mins towards middle of oven instead of right under heat. Added a little dried mustard to the recipe to play of them sweet, spicey and tangy a bit.
Renee says
Yep!!!!!! No need to look any further!This is a fantastic rub for grilled chicken wings!
ANJEE says
THESE WINGS WERE AMAZING….
Laura says
Easy-delicious. Great rub for all chicken!
Jason says
Best dry rub I’ve tried!!! I mean I just plowed back 20 wings and am debating firing up 20 more they were that good!
GM says
Excellent. And that coming from people who, for some crazy reason, tended to shy away from chicken on the bone. My husband makes this regularly now and it’s great.
Mark says
Amazing recipe and easy too! Thank you for posting this.
I read through the other reviews and kept the grill at low temperature like others recommended. The wings turned out perfect and were a huge hit with my partner
Sol Diekmann says
Great! I am one of those Keto or no carb or sugar weirdos, so I used a brown sugar Swerve. OMGosh so good. So sub if you are diabetic or Keto like me.