The BEST Dry Rub Smoked Chicken Wings

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

Easy 30 Minute Grilled Chicken Tacos [+Video]

Looking for a delicious and nutritious meal option? Try these grilled chicken tacos, packed with lean protein and fresh pico de gallo, for a satisfying and healthy meal that will leave your taste buds and body happy.

A simple marinade tenderizes and flavors the chicken, and then we grill it to add that smoky bbq flavor. Warm up some Vista brand corn tortillas (these are our FAVORITE), add the grilled chicken and then top with homemade pico de gallo. So easy!

Watch How to Make Chicken Tacos

I grew up on tacos, but when I say that we have to take it with a grain of salt because my mother was raised on a farm in Idaho, which means not only was it always ground beef, flour tortillas, and shredded iceberg lettuce with occasional tomatoes or cheese, but the ground beef for sure 100% had potatoes grated into it, I’m not kidding. We call them Idaho tacos!

Once I was married, my world really started to expand in the world of tacos, but it’s kind of harder than you think when you start off cooking for yourself you want all the flavor, but you’re just not totally sure how everyone achieves it. You can find all sorts of crazy ingredients and marinating times out there, but I’ve found that simplicity is the answer and that’s exactly what these tacos are what you want for dinner tonight.

Ingredients for Grilled Chicken Tacos Recipe

You’ll need just a few ingredients to make the marinade, and you’ll have most of the items in the pantry already. Here is everything you will need:

• Chicken Breasts: Marinate and grill the chicken whole and then chop it into bite-size pieces right before serving.
• Garlic: Adds flavor.
• Lime Juice: Fresh is best of course, and it helps tenderize the chicken and adds flavor.
• Olive Oil: Adds flavor and moisture to the meat and helps tenderize it.
• Seasonings: Chili Powder, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Black Pepper, and Salt
• Corn Tortillas: We don’t use anything but Vista brand tortillas these days, but you can use whatever brand you love.
• Pico De Gallo: Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Limes, Garlic, Red Onion, Salt, Pepper and Cilantro

The measurements for each ingredient

Honey Lemon Basil Grilled Chicken [+ Video]

Grilled chicken is the perfect meal for summer! Add a simple marinade of the best flavors, and you’ll be making this Honey Lemon Basil Grilled Chicken all summer long! It is a healthy and easy chicken recipe your whole family will enjoy!

Our easy grilled lemon pepper asparagus or our simple roasted garlic veggies make the perfect side dishes for this easy grilled chicken.

The marinade is made with just 4 ingredients and produces tender, juicy and plump chicken that is delicious on its own, or it can be sliced up and added to your favorite salad or pasta. Try it in our Lemon Chicken Caesar Panzanella Salad or in our 20 Minute Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta! It is also great just over some simple white rice.

One thing I like about Utah is that there are definitely 4 distinct seasons. While I enjoy certain seasons more than others (winter, I’m looking at you!), there is at least one thing I love about each season. Grilling is one of the things I love about summer!

Pulling the grill out or the Traeger just makes me happy! I love the smoky flavor of food on the grill, and I love getting friends or family together for a fun BBQ. Let’s get to the details of making this simple grilled chicken!

How to Marinate Chicken?

Creating perfectly grilled chicken starts with a good marinade. A marinade infuses the chicken with flavor and helps the chicken stay tender. For this easy grilled chicken recipe, just a few simple ingredients are needed. You probably have them in your house already. No need for a trip to the grocery store!

• Lemon zest: adds bright fresh flavor
• Fresh lemon juice: helps tenderize the chicken
• Honey: adds natural sweetness and helps caramelize the chicken
• Montreal seasoning: adds flavor

Combine all the marinade ingredients together and reserve a couple of tablespoons for later. Place the chicken thighs in a glass dish and pour the marinade over the chicken. Flip the thighs over so they get coated on each side. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour (up to overnight).

Is It Healthy to Eat Grilled Chicken?

Yes! Skinless chicken is a healthy protein, though a chicken thigh is going to have more fat than a chicken breast. If you want a lean meal, go with a chicken breast. Our motto is balance and moderation in all things. Eating grilled chicken for every meal everyday wouldn’t be a healthy practice and pretty extreme, but a nice piece of grilled chicken paired with some healthy fruits and veggie

3 Ingredient Easy and BEST Grilled Chicken Marinade

Want the juiciest chicken recipe ever?? Then you’ve got to make this 3 ingredient chicken marinade. It’s the most simple combination of garlic and herbs, a hint of buttery-melt-in-your-mouth flavor and then that pop of the champagne vinegar. Which is a must if you haven’t ever tried using different vinegars.

Last summer we were crazy busy trying to move and I needed some fast and easy dinner recipes. On a whim I bought a bottle of Champagne vinegar and whipped up a lazy, 3 ingredient chicken marinade that ended up being the best chicken marinade EVER. In fact, I even caught a short little video of the process so scroll down and check out a blast from the past in our old house.

(PS, fun fact! Did you know we write our blog posts an entire year out? So right now it’s September 2022, and I’m sitting at the counter of the rental house we finally found after the most insane summer. Did you follow that story? Talk about stressful chaos! I wonder, by the time this recipe goes live, will we have found our future home and be getting ready to settle in? I can’t wait to see where life takes us so leave a comment if you want an update!

Chicken Marinade Ingredients

You can’t get any more simple than just 3 ingredients for the most delicious chicken marinade! This is all you will need:

• Olive Oil – the base of the marinade and helps the chicken stay moist and juicy
• Champagne Vinegar – this can be hard to find sometimes, but it really is the best flavor for this marinade
• Kinder’s Buttery Steakhouse Seasoning – we buy ours at Costco, but I’ve seen it at Walmart and Smith’s, and of course there is always Amazon

The measurement for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make a Grilled Chicken Marinade?

I like to throw all three of the ingredients into a shallow baking dish and to whisk it all together. Then place the chicken breasts into the marinade and give them a flip to coat both sides. Then let it marinade in the fridge.

You can also use a ziploc bag to marinate the chicken. Just whisk all the ingredients together in a glass measuring cup and pour the marinade over the chicken in the bag and let it sit in the fridge until you’re ready to grill.

Can Other Types of Vinegar Be Used?

The best substitute for champagne vinegar is Asian rice vinegar. White wine vinegar or sherry vinegar are also good substitutes.

Red wine or apple cider vinegar are ok substitutes but they are less sweet and pack bolder tangy vinegar flavor.

Can Other Cuts of Chicken Be Used?

You can absolutely use this marinade on chicken thighs, wings, or drumsticks.

How Long to Marinate Chicken

Marinating chicken for even just 15 minutes can add so much flavor to chicken. I have found the sweet spot for this marinade is from 2-6 hours. For the best f

This chicken thigh marinade is the perfect blend of mustard (2 kinds!), garlic, maple syrup, brown sugar, vinegar and seasonings. It is so simple and so good, it could be used to marinate socks!

This is one of those marinade recipes that’s wonderful on every single kind of meat you could consume — salmon, steak, pork tenderloin, chicken in all its varieties, etc. I love when when I find a fail-proof marinade recipe like that! We used to make this chicken all the time when the blog first began, but over the years you slowly start to try new things and before you know it, without even meaning to, you’ve forgotten some of the things that you love the most. 

Boy, if that’s not symbolic of life, I don’t know what is!

This chicken thighs marinade recipe is one that is simply whisked together, can easily be adapted if needed (see notes below) and works just as well marinating 30 minutes as it does for hours. But beware, not all meats can handle it the same, so check out the entire post. 

And if you haven’t already, you absolutely must take a second to pin our other marinade recipes like:

• The Best Steak Marinade
• Marinated Chicken Breasts
• Asian Steak Marinade
• Steak Fajitas Marinade
• Marinated Smoked Chicken

Family Dinners

We are about to send our first off to college in a year, another is deep in the waters of Jr High and still our caboose is entering the battlefield of the elementary school playground. If there’s one thing I know for certain it’s that family dinners are an absolute must to stay connected to one another. I would bet that it’s even life-saving for families. But with three kids at three different schools and totally different needs I can easily feel like I’m running around and never slowing down. This recipe is loved by everyone around the dinner table!

Ingredients for Chicken Thigh Marinade

The best marinades have a little salt, a little sweet, a little acid, and a little spice. This marinade recipe checks all the boxes. Here is what you will need:

• Chicken Thighs: boneless, skinless
• Dijon Mustard: pale yellow in color but bold in tangy flavor
• Stone Ground Mustard: adds texture to the marinade and the teeny tiniest bit of heat
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Dark Brown Sugar: light brown can be used, dark brown just has a richer flavor
• Maple Syrup: be sure to use the real stuff, Grade A
• Oregano or Marjoram: I used dried herbs for this recipe, but you can use fresh if you want. You’ll want to half the amount down to 1/2 teaspoon.
• Rice Vinegar: add