If you love hot wings and you’re into the sweet and spicy combo, hold my beer while I show you how to make Honey Fire BBQ Wings. These sweet and spicy BBQ wings are so freakin’ delicious thanks to my new HNY FYR BBQ Sauce. It’s the small-batch artisanal barbecue sauce I recently launched through FYR.
For this killer Honey Fire BBQ Wings recipe, we’re keeping it simple. After smoking chicken wings, we’ll dredge them in the honey barbecue sauce and then fry them. Then, they are sauced up and fried again. The result? A tasty and crispy flavor explosion in every juicy bite.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love HNY FYR BBQ Wings
- This sauce is FYR!
- Ingredients for the Sweet & Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe
- How to make blue cheese sauce for the Honey Fire BBQ Wings
- How to Make Sweet & Spicy BBQ Wings
- What to Serve with Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings
- More Fried Deliciousness
- Leftovers & Reheating
- Honey Fire BBQ Wings FAQs
- Flavor X Fire & FOOD X Fire
- HNY FYR BBQ Wings Recipe
Why You’ll Love HNY FYR BBQ Wings
For this simple recipe, the easy 3-step process of smoking and double-frying creates the most mouthwatering bite with the crispiest, most flavorful skin.
I freely admit that I am not always a big fan of BBQ sauces, but my new HNY FYR BBQ sauce is next level. The sweetness in the perfectly seasoned sauce comes from molasses and clover honey, cayenne pepper adds the heat, and soy sauce adds the umami notes. Of course, the recipe is crafted with my favorite go-to seasonings: garlic powder, Kosher salt, and black pepper joined by onion powder.
Get stoked for life
This sauce is FYR!
Born from a deep passion for food and flavor. Whether you’re grilling in the backyard or live fire cooking around the world, we have what you need to transform every meal into an adventure.
These delicious chicken wings are perfect for game day eats, your next party, or Sunday night dinners for busy families. If you can’t wait to get the wings started, skip to the recipe card or keep scrolling as I take you through the ins and outs of making the best chicken wings ever.
For more chicken wing recipes from OTFC, check these out! Double Fried Chicken Wings, Honey Chili Oil Chicken Wings, Honey Chipotle Garlic Chicken Wings, Elote Style Chicken Wings, and Huli Huli Chicken Wings
Ingredients for the Sweet & Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe
- Chicken – Pick up a big pack of raw chicken wings at your local grocery store. I always recommend antibiotic-free or free-range if you can swing it. Before the BBQ sauce step, we layer on some BBQ dry rub ingredients with some canola oil. For the frying oil, I used peanut oil, which always lends a classic flavor.
- BBQ Sauce – HNY FYR BBQ Sauce is available online in limited supply. If you can’t get your hands on any, feel free to add some honey to your favorite hot BBQ sauce. You can also check out how I used this sauce to make some delicious BBQ Beef Sliders!
- Dipping Sauce – Blue cheese sauce is my go-to complement for spicy chicken wings. To make your own, see my basic recipe below.
- Garnish – Chopped chives add a peppery kick and help by leveling up the presentation.
How to make blue cheese sauce for the Honey Fire BBQ Wings
To make a killer blue cheese sauce to cool off your sweet and spicy BBQ wings, here’s a basic recipe. Combine 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of sour cream in a small bowl until smooth. Then, gently fold in 4 ounces of crumbled blue cheese along with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
Once mixed, cover the bowl and refrigerate the sauce for at least 30 minutes. This step allows the flavors to meld together and intensify. Before serving, give the sauce a final stir and taste to check the seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice, if needed.
For another variation of blue cheese sauce, check out how I use it in this Steak in Beef Tallow recipe!
How to Make Sweet & Spicy BBQ Wings
The Prep
Alright, let’s get started with this great recipe, Honey Fire BBQ Wings. First up, coat those chicken wings generously with oil. Then, grab a bowl and season them generously with your favorite BBQ rub. Place chicken wings into the fridge on a baking sheet or large bowl for about 20-30 minutes. This lets the flavors mingle on the skin.
In the meantime, fire up your grill to about 250° degrees F for some indirect cooking. If you’re craving that extra smoky flavor, toss in some wood chips too.
Smoking Time
Once the grill’s ready, slide those wings onto the smoker and let them hang out for roughly 2 to 2.5 hours, or until they hit an internal temperature of 165° degrees F. When they’re done, take them off and keep them close by in an aluminum foil bin or large bowl.
Frying Time
Now, here’s where the frying alchemy begins. Turn up the grill up to a toasty 400° degrees F. Grab a Dutch oven and carefully heat your frying oil to a medium heat of 350° degrees F. Be super cautious when adding the wings to the hot oil.
You’ll cook them for no more than 2-3 minutes while flipping frequently with your tongs. Once they’ve had their first fry, carefully lift them out and into your large bin or large bowl, where you’ll combine them with the lip-smackingly good HNY FYR BBQ Sauce.
Now, back into the frying oil they go for another round of frying, again for about 2 to 3 minutes. If you cook them any longer, the sauce can burn, so be careful in this step. Once the wings are nice and crispy, toss them in more BBQ sauce for good measure.
Serving Time
When they’re all done, arrange them on a plate or party platter with your favorite dipping sauces. Without further ado, enjoy and cheers!
You know, chicken drumsticks are just like wings, but bigger! Check out some other fun recipes in my The Best Chicken Leg Recipes! That is, if you’re not chicken…
What to Serve with Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings
I’m a fan of the classics, which means serving up these spicy wings with sliced carrot sticks, celery sticks, and maybe some colorful radishes. They complement the heat of the wings perfectly.
If you want a more well-rounded meal, consider making some sweet potato fries, creamy coleslaw, and honey cornbread.
More Fried Deliciousness
Leftovers & Reheating
On the off chance you have any leftover chicken wings, here’s what to do. Let them cool off for a bit before wrapping them tightly in aluminum foil and storing in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the fridge. When you’re ready to reheat, keep them in the aluminum foil and reheat them over a hot grill for about 10-12 minutes.
Honey Fire BBQ Wings FAQs
Feel free to use your favorite homemade BBQ sauce in place of mine. You can also use some sriracha sauce, chili powder, and honey to make sweet chili wings, or red hot buffalo sauce to make Buffalo Wings. Using the same multi-step cooking method, they will still taste amazing.
Peanut oil is a classic for frying chicken, but you can use other high-smoke point oils like canola, avocado, or grapeseed.
Great question! Hickory offers a strong, savory flavor that I like with my smoked chicken while applewood or cherry gives a mild, fruity sweetness. All the fun is in experimenting and figuring out what you like best.
Get The Cookbooks!
Flavor X Fire & FOOD X Fire
All the major tastes—salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami—are explored in depth, along with an investigation of other components you should consider when it comes to flavor, such as aroma, heat, and texture.
HNY FYR BBQ Wings
Ingredients
Chicken Wings:
- 2 lbs of Chicken Wings
- 1 cup Favorite BBQ Rub
- Canola Oil as needed
- 1 qt Frying Oil peanut or vegetable
BBQ Sauce:
- HNY FYR BBQ Sauce
- Blue Cheese Sauce for serving
- Chopped Chives for garnish
Instructions
- Lather your chicken wings in oil. In a bowl, season the chicken thoroughly with your favorite bbq rub. Set chicken in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your grill to 250 degrees F for a two-zone indirect cooking. Add some wood chips for added smoke flavor, if desired.
- Add your chicken wings to the smoker and cook them for about 2-2.5 hours or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Once the wings are done, pull them off and keep warm until it's time to fry them.
- Next, kick up the heat in your grill to 400 degrees F. Add a Dutch oven to it and *carefully* add your frying oil heating up to 350 degrees F.
- Carefully add wings to frying oil (cooking in batches as needed) and cook for 2-3 minutes. Flip and stir occasionally.
- After the wings have fried for the first time, pull them off and add to a large bowl.
- Add about 1 cup of HNY FYR BBQ Sauce and toss.
- Next, add the tossed wings back to the frying oil at the same temperature and fry for another 2-3 minutes (cooking in batches as needed).
- Once fried, toss them again in more bbq sauce.
- When the wings are done, place them on a plate with ranch or blue cheese sauce. Serve and enjoy!
I love chicken 🍗