These budget-friendly, effortless chicken wings are cooked low and slow in a brilliantly simple two-ingredient sweet and savory glaze. Finished under the broiler for perfectly caramelized edges, they are the ultimate party appetizer or easy weeknight meal!
Prep Time: 10minutes minutes
Cook Time: 4hours hours 5minutes minutes
Total Time: 4hours hours 15minutes minutes
Servings: 4 6
Ingredients
3 to 4 pounds frozen chicken wings unthawed, flats and drumettes
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce any basic pantry brand you keep on hand
1/2 cup grape jelly or similar purple jelly from the pantry
Instructions
Prep Wings: Place the frozen chicken wings in the bottom of a slow cooker, spreading them out as evenly as you can. They can be stacked a bit, but try to keep them in a fairly even layer so they cook uniformly.
Mix Sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the barbecue sauce and grape jelly until the mixture is mostly smooth and combined. It does not need to be perfect; the heat of the slow cooker will help it melt together.
Coat Wings: Pour the barbecue sauce and jelly mixture evenly over the frozen wings, using a spatula to scrape every bit of sauce from the bowl. Gently toss or turn the wings with a spoon so most of them are coated in the sauce.
Cook: Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook the wings on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, until the chicken is very tender and cooked through and the sauce is bubbling. Stir once or twice during cooking if you can, to help coat the wings in the sauce as it thins and melts.
Thicken Sauce (Optional): When the wings are done, if you’d like the sauce a bit thicker and stickier, remove the lid and cook on HIGH for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, to let some of the liquid evaporate.
Prep for Broiling: For extra caramelized wings, line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat it with cooking spray. Use tongs to transfer the cooked wings from the slow cooker to the baking sheet, then spoon a little extra sauce from the crock over the top of each wing.
Broil: Place the sauced wings under a preheated broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely, just until the edges start to char slightly and the sauce looks glossy and sticky. This step is optional but gives them that oven-finished look and taste.
Serve: Transfer the wings to a serving platter, drizzle with any remaining warm sauce from the slow cooker, and serve hot while the meat is tender and the sauce is still nice and sticky.
Notes
Pro-Tip: For the absolute best presentation and flavor, do not skip the broiler step (Step 7); the direct heat caramelizes the sugars in the jelly, locking the sticky glaze perfectly onto the meat!
