Crock Pot chicken wings eliminate the mess and oil of deep fried chicken wings while creating the perfect game day snack!
Using a slow cooker means these Buffalo wings come out perfectly tender, fall off the bone and are loaded with flavor!
Served up with carrots and celery sticks and cooling ranch dressing, these will be the first thing gone at your party!
Repin these Buffalo Wings Here
I am so excited to have partnered with Litehouse to bring you this belly warming recipe.
No game would be complete without a plate of Buffalo wings!
Hot wings are pretty much a game day staple and we always serve them up with celery, carrot sticks and plenty of Litehouse Homestyle Ranch dressing to cool our taste buds!
To start, these Crock Pot chicken wings are tossed with a flavorful Buffalo sauce and cooked low and slow.
Once tender, a quick broil before serving helps to crisp the outside and caramelize the sauce.
I love a good chicken wing recipe but what I don’t love is deep frying and the smell and mess that oil leaves!
I find cooking wings in the slow cooker is SO much easier than traditional deep frying (and no splatter or oil to deal with), especially if I’m serving a few other appetizers (like our favorite Jalapeno Popper Dip) during parties or on game day!
Buffalo wings are typically served with a dip for added flavor or to cool your mouth from the spice! We love the flavor and consistency of Litehouse Homestyle Ranch Dressing (although I do love their Chunky Blue Cheese dressing too).
Litehouse Homestyle Ranch dressing has a great fresh flavor and is loaded with fresh herbs and vegetable flavors, making it the perfect dip. It has a nice thick consistency, we use it to dip everything from hot wings to veggies (and even pizza crust)!
You can find it in the refrigerated produce section of your local grocery store.
Not only does it taste delish, it helps cool the heat of these slow cooker chicken wings and contains no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. I love making appetizers smothered in Buffalo sauce but always serve them with ranch to keep the heat at the perfect level!
When you dine out, Buffalo chicken wings are traditionally deep fried then tossed in a sauce to coat them. This recipe takes all of the deep frying out of the equation, which means less oil and less mess!
I normally just purchase a premade Buffalo sauce but you can easily create your own Buffalo sauce at home with just two ingredients. Simply combine 2 parts hot sauce to 1 part melted butter. Stir to combine (easy right?).
You can add whatever sauces or marinades you’d like to create things like slow cooker teriyaki chicken wings, but my all time favorite are definitely these buffalo hot wings.
How long does it take to cook chicken wings in a crock pot?
Chicken wings take a bit longer to cook in a Crock Pot than they would if you were to deep fry them, but you will end up with the most tender wings. These chicken wings take about 2.5-3 hours on high (cooked from frozen) making them perfect to put into the slow cooker before your guests arrive.
I would suggest using a meat thermometer inserted into the meaty section of the wing. Once it reads a temperature of 165 degrees, your wings are done and ready. Make sure your thermometer does not hit the bone when checking the temperature, as your thermometer will not read correctly.
Can you cook frozen chicken wings in a slow cooker?
The short answer is yes, a slow cooker is an easy and great way to cook chicken wings from frozen! I almost always cook them from frozen (but you can use fresh in this recipe as well).
Cooking your chicken wings from frozen will create more liquid in your slow cooker. Once cooked, I remove them from the cooking liquid (which I discard), brush with a little bit more marinade and give them a quick broil.
After broiling, I place these crock pot chicken wings back into the slow cooker to keep warm so my guests can enjoy them throughout my party! (This is a perfect way to keep wings hot if you’re taking them to a potluck as well)!
These crock pot chicken wings are always gone so quickly, my family and friends couldn’t believe that they were this easy to make!
I always have trouble not eating the whole batch, they are so deliciously tangy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Don’t forget the ranch dip!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken wings fresh or frozen
Buffalo Wing Sauce
- 1 ½ cups Buffalo sauce plus additional for finishing
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
For Serving
- carrot
- celery
- ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Combine Buffalo wing sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Place wings in a 6qt slow cooker and cover with Buffalo wing sauce. Stir to combine.
- Cook on high for 2 ½ - 3 hours for FROZEN wings or on low 3 hours for FRESH wings.
- Once cooked and wings have reached 165°F, remove from the slow cooker and place on a foil lined pan (discard liquid).
- Preheat broiler to high. Brush with additional Buffalo sauce and broil until lightly browned/crisp about 5 minutes per side.
- Serve with celery, carrots, extra buffalo sauce and Litehouse Homestyle Ranch for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Repin this Easy Slow Cooker Recipe
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I am excited to have partnered with Litehouse to bring you this belly warming recipe. While I was compensated for this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Working with great brands I love allows me to keep bringing you the great recipes you love!
Can you do these with a honey BBQ instead of buffalo?
I haven’t tried it but I think that would work
Why do people comment just to tell her that you think your way is better or to ask if you can just dump bbq sauce on the wings? Sorry but the comments here are ridiculous. Holly is handling them well, but my goodness…just look for another recipe if you don’t like this one or if you want bbq wings. Did anyone actually make this recipe?
We don’t need to read a whole story before getting to the recipe!
As this is a blog, I answer as many questions as possible before the recipe to ensure the best success for my readers. If you don’t want to read the info, there is a “jump to recipe” button located at the top of each post so you can skip past. Hope that helps!
We don’t need your comment either Jedd.
Well Jedd clearly saw your recipe was #1 on Google and wanted to bring you down anyway they could. Shame there are some people in the world like that.
I don’t normally comment on anything like this but feel like after putting the time and effort into posting this for us, the author should be given a bit more respect.
Rude
Have you tried cooking these on low for a longer time? Just wondering if it’s something I could make on a work day.
I haven’t although I’m sure it would work just fine!
Used this recipe to make barbecue wings for the release of Call of Duty – Black Ops 4. Turned out awesome! I think this is the easiest thing I’ve made in the crock pot yet!
I am so glad you loved them Marie! Definitely a time saver.
FYI in Buffalo, NY, where chicken wings originated, we never serve ranch dressing with them. Blue Cheese dressing is how it’s done. So much better than ranch.
I do love a good blue cheese dressing!
You beat me to it. This recipe is pure sacrilege. Wings with soggy skin and served with ranch? And you need to start prepping by 10am to be ready for 1pm game starts?
I’ll keep to the 30 mins it takes to fry 1lb of wings. That includes the time it takes for the oil to heat up to 375°. While they fry, you mix hot sauce with melted butter and if you’re particularly interested in doing so, make blue cheese dressing with buttermilk, sour cream, mayo and an acid. Prep to finish for 5lbs takes about an 1 hour, most of which is prep/waiting for the oil to heat.
There are many ways to cook wings and deep frying is delicious for sure! This recipe is a nice easy one where you can just toss the ingredients in and the meat comes out melt in your mouth tender. A quick crisp at the end under the broiler makes them delish! Based on the reviews, some people like them this way too! :)
There’s an old saying: if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything. And it fits your case. If you don’t like her recipe – don’t use it. Simple. “Explaining” how she, and everybody else who liked it on this site, are stupid and have no idea how to do wings didn’t make you look better than anybody – except in your eyes. Feel free not to use the recipe.
Blue cheese is gross. I’ll stick with my ranch. We both have an opinion!
Old timers taught us “never say anything bad about food.” I hope for your sake that you never need to eat all those things you put under “gross”, “disgusting” or “yuck”.
I’m making these for dinner tomorrow and I’m making them for a baby shower next month if they turn out okay tomorrow but I have a couple questions…
Can I replace the brown sugar with stevia perhaps?
I’ve recently had Gastric Sleeve done and I’d love to try them myself but I can’t have all that sugar.
What would go good as a side dish with these since I am making them for a dinner?
I haven’t tried it with stevia but I think it would work (please let us know how it goes).
I would serve it with a salad with a creamy dressing (to counter the spice) and maybe rice or potatoes.
How many wings is a serving? My 4 lb bag only had 16 wings in it, so are two wings a serving?
Are your wings really big? On average, 1lb of wings should have 8-12 wings… so 4lbs would expect to have 32-48 wings (depending on size). I allow for about ½ lb per person as an appetizer/snack.
I have a question. My husband doesn’t care for the sauce on his wings. So I have to just season the wings and fry them. Can you cook the wings in the slow cooker without the sauce?
I’ve only tried this recipe as written. Please let us know how it works out if you try them without sauce!
Put a little water in the bottom of the crockpot.
SO I’m currently making these now and I tried them once before. Both times I feel like 3 hours is not long enough time. Came out good the first time after extra time and broiling but just a forewarning to others you might need more time!
How much longer would you recommend? I am making these today
Made this tonight and they came out perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’m making these right now and they don’t look at all like the picture. In the crock pot the sauce isn’t staying on them so they look like normal wings with sauce pooled at the bottom. Haven’t broiled them yet so hoping they actually resemble baffalo wings when they are all done.
Yes if you watch the video, that’s exactly how they look when the come out of the slow cooker. Once sauce and broiled the sauce sticks and they get color.
Can I use honey BBQ instead of Buffalo sauce?
I have only tried this recipe as written. If you do try it, please let us know how it goes!
Do you warm up you’re crockpot for a while first
Before you put you’re wi vs in
I’ve always cooked them from frozen. If you prefer to cook them from fresh or defrosted, there are instructions in the post.
Thank you Natalie!
Can you use any other sauce other than buffalo sauce ? In the crock pot
I’ve only tried this recipe as written. Please let us know how it works out if you try another sauce!
Yes you can use any sauce you like on wings. I have made wings with several different spices and/or sauces since I don’t care for hot wings much and every one of them came out tasting great.
What if you want honey B.B.Q
I’ve only tried this recipe as written. Please let us know how it works out if you try another sauce!
I’m drooling over those photos, can’t wait to try these!
Thank you Emily!
I never thought of making wings in the crock pot. Not only easier, but they’ve got to be healthier since you don’t fry them!
I never thought to do them in the slow cooker – great idea and perfect game day food. I am craving ranch dressing now too.
Our favorite Dannii!! Enjoy!