Experimenting is a great thing. But sometimes sticking to tradition is even better. Chicken wings are one of our favorite items for summer grilling. I’ve been testing out different ways to cook honey soy chicken wings since summer began, trying to find a faster way to get the wings ready without marinating them. I tried different formulas to create a thick enough glaze to brush onto the wings during grilling. My idea was that I could simply season the wings with salt and pepper, cook them until almost done, then brush on the sauce to finish them up. The result was good, but I found that it required a lot of work. The sauce would fall through the cooking grate and I had to brush multiple layers to impart enough flavor.
After many attempts, I went back to the good ol’ fashioned way – marinating the wings before cooking. The cooking process was reliably simple and the results were great. No matter whether you plan to fire up the grill or bake them in the oven, this recipe works.
You do need to be fairly organized during prep. It requires at least 2 hours of marinating. If possible, try to marinate the wings for a few hours or preferably overnight. The marinade will penetrate the wings thoroughly and the meat will be seasoned evenly, not just on the surface. I saved the honey till the end. Adding honey into the marinade will cause the wing surface to burn quickly, so you should apply the honey glaze at the end of the cooking. If you’re cooking this dish in the oven, you can apply the honey glaze halfway through the baking. The wings will have a sticky, shiny, and beautifully charred surface in the end. These wings are the perfect party snack, but we enjoy serving them on movie night, too. We usually throw some asparagus and eggplant onto the grill after cooking the wings, and serve everything with beer while watching TV shows. It is so much fun, and healthy too! Craving more chicken wing recipes? Check out lemon chicken wings, oven fried wings with Korean BBQ sauce, easy baked wings, and Coca-cola chicken wings.
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), take a picture, and tag it #omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
