These Honey Bourbon Wings are baked sticky chicken wings with a delicious sweet sauce. Perfect for any weeknight dinner, Game Day tailgating parties, and holiday parties!
This post was originally published on May 1, 2015. It was updated with new photos, more helpful cooking instructions, and recipe details and republished on January 20, 2024.
Baked or grilled, sweet or spicy, chicken wings always manage to make almost any meal a party.
We have loved wings here for a long time, if you haven’t noticed. My family makes a lot of Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Wings and Salt and Pepper Wings when we’re craving crispy skin. But we also love wings with sticky sauce, like these Baked Teriyaki Chicken Wings and Cilantro Lime Asian Chicken Wings.
We even like to make chicken wings a fancy main entree at times, like these Cranberry Pomegranate Sticky Wings.
This chicken wing recipe makes some of the best wings, because it features one of the most delicious flavor combinations on the planet: honey and bourbon.
It’s a flavor combo that’s delicious in everything from sweet Honey Bourbon Chocolate Truffles to savory Slow Cooker Honey Bourbon Meatballs. So it’s no surprise that it’s a winning combo for Honey Bourbon Chicken Wings, too!
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❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
You’re gonna love this honey bourbon wings recipe!
- Easy – This is an easy recipe that you can make with minimal prep work.
- Flavorful – The honey bourbon combination creates sweet, slightly sticky wings that have big flavors in every bite.
- Baked, not fried – Baking wings gives them that beautiful, yummy sticky skin while retaining super tender meat that’s packed with flavors. And, it’s healthier than fried chicken wings.
- Versatile – These wings can be served as a party appetizer, and would be great for any tailgating party or holiday soiree. These can also be paired with a salad and/or some rice to make a delectable meal any night of the week.
🛒 Ingredient notes
- Chicken – You’ll need two pounds of chicken wings, and you can use a mix of drums and flats, full chicken wings with the tips intact, or use all drums or all flats. It’s up to you!
- Apple cider vinegar – This adds a little tanginess to the sauce.
- Honey – This is the sweetness
- Molasses – Molasses helps add richness to the sauce and also gives it the stickiness.
- Bourbon – Use whatever bourbon you have on hand.
- Garlic – You can increase or decrease the amount of garlic based on your personal preference, but I love using three cloves of minced garlic in this recipe. You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon to one teaspoon of garlic powder if you prefer.
- Lemon juice – A little fresh lemon juice adds some nice acidity and balance to the sauce.
- salt and pepper – Use kosher salt and ground black pepper to season the wings.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
A full list of ingredients with measurements, and the full recipe with more detailed instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. But here are some step-by-step instructions to help you make these delicious wings.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients.
- Season the chicken wings and add to the sweet bourbon sauce marinade.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. You can make these the day before and refrigerate over night as well.
- Preheat oven to 350° degrees.
- Cover a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.
- Transfer wings from the bowl, setting aside the honey bourbon sauce marinade.
- Place chicken wings in a single layer on the foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- At 30 minutes, baste chicken with remaining sauce, and rotate the pan.
- Bake for another 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Allow the chicken wings to cool down, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
With the honey bourbon BBQ sauce that coats these wings, they are meant to be more sweet and sticky wings than a crispy wing. However, before seasoning, you can dry wings with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper, then coat with a little cornstarch before marinating. This will give wings a bit of a crispier texture while baking.
Chicken is done cooking and safe to eat when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads an internal temperature of 165°F.
🍽️ Serving ideas
During football season, serve these chicken wings on a Game Day platter next to your favorite hot sauce, Soft Pretzel Bites, Air Fryer Pigs in a Blanket, and Air Fryer Potato Skins.
For a weeknight dinner, serve these yummy wings with a simple salad. Try this tasty Asian Carrot Cucumber Salad, Thai Chicken Salad, or Arugula Quinoa Salad.
🍷 Wine pairings
Similar to the wine pairing for our Baked Teriyaki Wings, these honey bourbon wings would pair well with a Riesling. The high acidity of this white wine balances the sweetness of the honey bourbon flavors.
More chicken wing recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Honey Bourbon Wings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients (apple cider vinegar through garlic) into a large bowl.
- Add the chicken wings and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. You can make these the day before and refrigerate over night as well.
- Preheat oven to 350° degrees.
- Cover a baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.
- Remove chicken wings from the bowl, setting aside the marinade.
- Place chicken wings, wing-side down, on the foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- At 30 minutes, baste chicken with reserve marinade, and rotate the pan.
- Bake for another 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published on May 1, 2015. It was updated with new photos, more helpful cooking instructions, and recipe details and republished on January 20, 2024.
Made these chicken wings tonight and we’re delicious 🤤 this recipe is a keeper