Whether you love chicken wings with classic buttery Buffalo flavors, a sticky fruit glaze, or a sweet-and-sour sauce that makes your mouth tingle, chicken wing sauces make for the perfect finger-licking food on game day. Chicken wings (and drumettes) are ideal for the grill, oven, or deep fryer because the meat stays juicy as the skin crisps in the high heat, ready to take on whatever flavors strike your fancy. Read on for more of our best chicken wing sauces, from pepperoni to huli huli, before your next snack attack or football watch party.
Adobo Sauce with Filipino Pico
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Kay E. Clarke
Soy sauce and vinegar lead the umami-rich flavors of a blend that gets used as marinade and finishing sauce for these oven-baked adobo chicken wings. The bold, slightly acidic flavor is perfect alongside Filipino pico, which packs its own savory punch from fish sauce, tomatoes, and herbs. Serve with steamed rice for a more substantial dish.
Hot Honey Glaze
Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
These crispy drumettes and flats are seasoned with lemon pepper, air-fried, and coated in a buttery hot honey glaze, which doubles as a dip. The whole thing is easy and utterly satisfying.
Spicy Guava Glaze
Cedric Angeles
2017 F&W Best New Chef Nina Compton roasts these delectable wings in the oven, then tosses them in a spicy, fruity, and sticky glaze made with guava paste, crushed red pepper, and smoked paprika.
Sticky Ginger-Orange Glaze
Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Chinese-style wings come together in a large wok or deep skillet. Rice wine, ginger, and citrus peel are star players in the layers of flavors, and the combination of soy sauce, molasses, and brown sugar really takes this sticky-sweet recipe to the next level.
Fish Sauce
These wings from Vietnamese American chef Peter Cuong Franklin are marinated in a mix of fish sauce and lime juice then wok-fried in a similar sauce, achieving a dense flavor profile and sticky texture. Fried garlic, fresh scallions, and dried shrimp add a final burst of flavor and crunch.
Pepperoni Sauce
Not just for pizza and pasta, pepperoni sauce works slathered on tender oven-baked wings that have been marinated in tart-sweet limoncello. Flavorful and multipurpose, this tomato-based sauce belongs in the rotation for dips and sandwich spreads too.
Honey Mustard Sauce
Food & Wine / Photo by Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Alexandria Juhl
Combine sweet honey and tangy mustard with butter, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and seasonings to create a bold coating for these deep-fried chicken wings. Toss the wings in the sauce, then serve any extra on the side as a dip.
Huli Huli Sauce
Hawaiian chef Sheldon Simeon’s smoky grilled wings — paired with pineapple slices — are slathered in a teriyaki-spiked homemade sauce (huli huli means “turn turn” in Hawaiian, reflecting this dish’s rotisserie origins), which is enhanced by fresh ginger and tangy pineapple juice.
Spicy Gochujang Glaze
Marcus Nilsson
Opting for the oven instead of the deep fryer, chef Matt Jennings tosses these baked wings in a spicy glaze made with savory, sweet, spicy Korean gochujang. Thinly sliced scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and chopped cilantro crown the dish as a garnish alongside lime wedges.
Pineapple-Teriyaki Glaze
Todd Porter & Diane Cu
Toss fried or roasted wings in a sweet and savory glaze of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, pineapple juice, sugar, and vinegar. Extra glaze pulls double-duty as a dipping sauce.
Sticky Miso Glaze
Line Klein
Miso, lime juice, ginger, and fish sauce make for a spectacularly funky, sweet-sour glaze for crispy baked chicken wings. Brush the glaze over the wings during the last 10 minutes of roasting for maximum flavor.
Sweet-and-Spicy Pantry Sauce
Reed Davis
National barbecue champion and restaurateur Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQ, bumps up the flavors in these sweet and sticky wings by slashing the inside of the joints so they cook through and basting the meat with the reserved marinade as it grills.
Penang-Style Sticky Sauce
Stephanie Meyer
Chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern calls this homage to his favorite wings from Penang food stalls “a schmaltz version of beurre monté,” as the chicken fat emulsifies into the soy sauce, sake, oyster sauce, mirin, star anise, and dried chile glaze as the wings cook on the stovetop.
Maple-Bacon Glaze
Todd Porter & Diane Cu
Punchy ingredients like bacon, maple syrup, ketchup, applesauce, soy, and more come together in this sticky, sumptuous, finger-licking glaze.
Cherry Barbecue Glaze
Lucy Schaeffer
Sweet, sour, and fiery, this glaze of sour cherry preserves, lime juice, and habanero is perfect for grilled wings. Be sure to coat just before serving to prevent the sugars from burning.
Soy Sauce
Todd Porter & Diane Cu
Soy sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, and brown sugar combine in a salty-sweet wing sauce. Toss whole deep-fried chicken wings in the sauce and garnish with green onions to make these wings sing.
Yogurt Sauce
Peden + Munk
A yogurt marinade tenderizes these Indian-spiced tandoori chicken wings, while a minty yogurt sauce bolstered by cream cheese is served alongside for dipping, making them virtually irresistible on game day.
Spicy Apricot Sauce
Marcus Nilsson
Pitmaster Chris Lilly of Alabama’s Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q combines spicy with sweet in the apricot sauce he uses to both glaze and serve alongside his wings.
Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce
Wendell T. Webber
For some seriously savory and sophisticated wings, marinate the chicken in fish sauce, sugar, and garlic before frying them. Then heat and reduce the marinade to a syrup to toss with the crispy cooked wings.
Spicy Sriracha
Maura McEvoy
Chef Michael Symon’s crispy chicken wings get their heat from a generous amount of his favorite hot sauce, sriracha. For a fun variation on classic Buffalo wings, blend sriracha with butter, lime zest, and cilantro, then toss with fried or roasted wings.
Angry Sauce
Con Poulos
Keep a handful of napkins nearby for this recipe! Lisa Shin, former co-owner of now-shuttered Wing Wings in San Francisco, uses this versatile sauce — based on ginger-kissed Korean gochujang (hot pepper paste) and gochugaru (chile powder) — as a marinade for crispy wings. The concoction works equally well for pork dishes and as a dip for cucumber spears.
Fragrant Herb Sauce
Con Poulos
Make a spectacular sauce with tons of herbs and scallions along with jalapeño and habanero peppers — plus a little honey to counter the heat. Toss it with baked wings for a vibrant snack, appetizer, or party platter.
Green Jalapeño Sauce
Rick Poon
Skip the deep fryer and roast these Buffalo-style chicken wings, then smother them in a spicy green jalapeño sauce that combines fresh and pickled jalapeños for an extra hit of puckery pleasure.
Texas Ranch Dressing
Peden + Munk
Chef Ben Ford brings sweet, tangy heat to his buttermilk ranch with the addition of sugar, pickled jalapeños, and apple cider vinegar. It’s an ideal dip for Hill Country Smoked Chicken Wings, but you’ll find plenty of ways to savor this sassy dressing.
