Crispy wood-fired chicken wings with a tangy Alabama white sauce are hard to beat! I could easily eat a dozen myself, and these are really easy to make.
For this recipe, I used my Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven. It’s great for wings because you can smoke them on a low setting using wood pellets for that wood-fired flavor and then crank up the temp to a broil setting to get them nice and crispy.
These wings could be made using any pizza oven or smoker.
Smoked Wings with Alabama White Sauce
Ingredients you’ll need
- Chicken wings – separate wings from flats if whole
- Olive oil
- BBQ rub – any all-purpose rub, or try our turkey rub (which goes great on chicken).
- Alabama white sauce – recipe here, or you can use store-bought.
Equipment you’ll need
- Pizza Oven – or smoker
- Metal bowl
How to make Smoked Chicken Wings with Alabama White Sauce
1. Season the wings
Place the wings in a bowl, drizzle on olive oil as a binder, and then season with BBQ rub.
Give everything a good toss to make sure the wings are nice and coated.
Place them on a wire cooking rack, this makes it easier to move them around.
2. Smoke the wings
I set my Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven to the smoke setting, which brings the cooking temperature to 250°F, and smoked the wings for an hour.
You’ll be amazed at how much smoke the oven produces with just a few pellets.
Chicken really absorbs smoke flavor in a short time, and an hour is perfect to give them the flavor we are looking for.
3. Make the white sauce
While your wings are smoking, you can make up a batch of Alabama white sauce. It’s super easy to make and gives the wings a tangy and bright flavor.
The sauce can be made in minutes by combining mayonnaise, horseradish, apple cider vinegar, and cayenne pepper.
Grab our full recipe here.
4. Crank up the heat to get the wings crispy
After the wings are done smoking, crisp them up by cranking up the heat. On my Woodfire I just turned the dial to broil. This really give the wings a crispy skin.
If using a smoker, you want to crank the heat up to 350°F.
Check every few minutes and flip the wings so both sides are evenly cooked.
I let the wings cook until they reach an internal temperature of 185°F degrees.
And no, they won’t be dry. Chicken wings can be cooked past 165°F, unlike chicken breast, because they have much more fat.
5. Sauce the wings
Toss the wings and sauce in a bowl until well combined.
After I plate them up, I add a little more BBQ seasoning on top for an extra pop of flavor and garnish with parsley or green onions.
Optionally, you can always serve the sauce on the side and allow people to dip as they want. You can’t go wrong either way!
If you love chicken wings, be sure to check these out:
- Chili Oil Chicken Wings
- Smoked Mango Habanero Wings
- Smoked Lemon Pepper Wings
- The Best Smoked Buffalo Hot Wings with Crispy Skin
- Chicken Wings with Garlic and Parmesan Sauce
Smoked Wings with Alabama White Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken wings
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp BBQ rub
- Alabama white sauce see recipe here or store brought
Instructions
- Separate wings from flats if whole.
- Place wings into a bowl, add olive oil as a binder, and BBQ rub. Then mix together to combine. Place wings on a wire rack.
- Preheat your smoker or pizza oven to 250°F.
- Smoke wings for an hour, then broil at 350°F until wings are crispy. Flip wings during broiling after a few minutes to get even cooking on both sides.
- Remove wings, let them cool down for 5 minutes, then toss with Alabama white sauce.
- Add a sprinkle of bbq rub and sliced green onions to finish.