Grilled chicken wings with a chipotle dry rub
I know this will probably get me my own scarlet A tattoo on my chest but I am not a fan of wet wings and prefer a good spicy dry rub wing that has been grilled. That way the joyous skin gets some nice blackening on it and I think you can get a lot more flavorful wing through a dry rub than the standard buffalo style preparation (I can see a few people hitting unsubscribe right now).
Chipotles are smoke dried jalapenos. Usually end of the season you will have some peppers that did not get used and they have turned red and lost a lot of moisture. Well instead of wasting them or sacrificing to the compost bin people discovered they can be preserved by smoking them till they were dried. They are great for adding a little bit of heat (jalapenos are pretty mild on the scoville scale) and a nice hit of smoky flavor. Usually you can find them packed in adobo sauce in a metal tin hanging out in the Mexican aisle however, look around at your local Mexican market/mega super market and you can find the dried version with the rest of the dried peppers.
For this recipe you will need:
- 1 pound of chicken wings
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2-3 dried chipotle peppers. This is where the heat is going to come from so if you are a wimp use 2 or put 3 in and build up that heat tolerance.
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch of black pepper
- 4 TB of unsalted butter melted
Combine the dry ingredients, taste, and adjust.
Pat the wings dry, brush on the unsalted butter, and then sprinkle the rub over to coat.
My grill has really been feeling the love this week. Have to make up for a couple months of neglect thanks to freezing cold weather. I have found that a medium temperature on the grill is the perfect temperature for grilling chicken wings without torching them and taking half a lifetime to finish. If you don’t have a grill, still getting snow, or to windy then a 350 degree till the wings are done (about 30-45 minutes depending on thickness) is your best friend.
Serve and enjoy!
Who needs sauce??? Sauce is messy. These look great! I happened to be looking at a Cooking Illustrated article on grilling chicken wings today. They said to parboil the wings first and finish them off on the grill, which I thought was kind of interesting.
Who needs sauce??? Sauce is messy. These look great! I happened to be looking at a Cooking Illustrated article on grilling chicken wings today. They said to parboil the wings first and finish them off on the grill, which I thought was kind of interesting.
Should add good post. Looking forward to reading your next post!
Jeff, these look good, the spic mix sounds delish!
you won’t be branded or ostracized by me–this is fabulous. i think i prefer a dry rub myself.
WOW this looks delicious. We’ve been looking for a wing recipe for opening day of baseball season. I’m forwarding a link to this to my husband (our Grill Master).
While I do love my Buffalo wings, they’re not always appropriate. They’re messy and can be a pain. A dry wing can be very, very delicious.
They look fantastic! Wet or dry I love chicken wings and I can practically smell how good these would be cooking!
I’m with you on the “don’t understand wet wings” front. These sound fantastic and remind me that it’s time to clean and fir up the grill. Thanks! (If you are ever in Portland Oregon, check out the amazing wings (sticky, not wet) at Pok Pok.)
wow this looks finger licking good!!! I can smell it all the way from here! Wings are my favourite part of the chicken and looking forward to try this on the BBQ over the weekend. The sun better hold up!
this sounds much healthier than my recent recipe on fried wings - it was the first time i had made them and we loved them. i cant imagine a spicy wing recipe that i wouldnt like. i think i’ll be making these in the near future
I just made a whole batch of chipoltes in adobo but I saved some dry ones ..just in case. I have been looking for a good dry rub for wings, something spicy or a little cajun like. I will definitely give this a try and let you know how it turns out…Thank you so much for posting this.