Chicken wings bursting with flavor from a perfect dry rub of dark brown sugar, oregano, smoked paprika and more! Your boring chicken wings just became the best dang chicken recipe you’ll have this month!
I’ll be the first to admit it, I was wrong. Chicken wings are not a waste. Chicken wings are in fact delicious. I don’t know how such a teensy tiny amount of meat can be so good but these Dry Rub Smoked Chicken Wings are proof of the deliciousness. If a dry rub and smoker aren’t your thing, try our traditional buffalo wings, air fryer teriyaki wings, or our garlic parmesan grilled chicken wings recipes!
I remember the first time I ever tried chicken wings. It was at a restaurant in Idaho and the sauces all tasted almost identical. The chicken tasted like it was frozen and reheated and there was a lot of stale popcorn.
Maybe it was just that location.
Maybe I was the problem.
I don’t know, but it was not my favorite dinner and in fact I went home from that date with a stomach ache.
Fast forward 500 years and bust out your Traeger (or any smoker) because I’m totally on board with this lil’ chicken wang thang!
How to Make Smoked Chicken Wings
The first step to making these smoked chicken wing recipe is to prep your Traeger (or pellet grill of choice). Preheat the smoker with super smoke for 5 minutes with the lid closed. Set the heat to 225 degrees and allow the smoker to preheat for 10 minutes.
While the Traeger is preheating, prepare the dry rub. See section below and the recipe card for more details on the dry rub. We like to use a disposable pan for smoking these wings. Pat the wings dry with paper towels. Toss the wings and the dry rub in the disposable pan until the wings are completely coated. Then arrange the wings in a single layer in the pan.
Place the pan in the smoker. Cook the wings for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the internal temperature of the wings in their thickest part is 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.
How to Get Crispy Skin on Smoked Wings
When the wings have reached temperature, remove the pan from the smoker and set the smoker to high heat or heat up your grill if your smoker doesn’t have the high heat function. Grill the wings on both sides until grill marks appear and then let them rest for 5 minutes. Serve and eat!
read more: Looking for Traeger recipes? Check out our Traeger Chicken Breast Recipe or our Whole Smoked Chicken Recipe next!
What Goes in the Dry Rub?
The dry rub is where all the flavor comes from. Combined wi