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3 Ingredient Easy Crockpot BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe

Pair a bag of frozen chicken wings with some Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce and one secret ingredient and you have the best every BBQ Chicken wings recipe.

My 3 Ingredient Crockpot BBQ Chicken Wings recipe is our go-to for an easy scrumptious party or game day food any time of the year!

I can’t even tell you how many times I have made this easy recipe for my own family and they still enjoy them. It is one of our favorite recipes for any time of the year, especially game-day food.

BBQ Chicken Wings with a little char on them piled into a serving pan
Best Ever Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Wings

We like just a tiny bit of char on our Chicken Wings. The secret to making delicious Crockpot BBQ Wings is in the final step.

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Tools Needed

  • Large Crockpot, (shop Crockpots at Walmart)
  • Large Colander
  • A large slotted spoon to scoop out the wings
  • Disposable Crockpot Liners (optional)

Ingredient List for Crockpot BBQ Chicken Wings

  1. Coca Cola
  2. Frozen Chicken wings
  3. BBQ Sauce, I like this brand
frozen chicken wings used in BBQ wings recipe

The Wings I Cook

  • Bone in
  • Skin on
  • Store brand Chicken Wing Drummettes  They come in 2 1/2 lb. bags and I usually cook two bags for my family. These small chicken drumettes are perfect especially for game day food.

The Crockpot I use

I use a 6-quart Crockpot like this one for this recipe with 5 to 10 lbs. of wings and they fit comfortably.

No need to thaw the chicken wings. Wings are thin meat so they thaw and cook at the same time. I always rinse my chicken first. We are going to cook them frozen and they may have a few ice crystals to be rinsed off.

Place the chicken wings in a big colander in the sink and rinse with slow-running water to remove any ice crystals which may be on them from the freezer. Leaving ice crystals on them will ‘water down’ the liquid while cooking. This colander looks exactly like mine which is large enough to hold 5 lbs. of wings at one time.

Use low water pressure, and don’t turn the water on full force, so you won’t splash chicken water all over the place. But just to be safe please wash the sink and counters around it any time you have rinsed chicken in your kitchen sink.

Raw chicken wings being rinsed off in a colander in the sink
Rinse the wings gently with running water

Do Not Thaw

Do not thaw the wings prior to cooking! They thaw, cook, and soak up flavor all at one time in just 2 or 3 hours! 

Step 2

Add your frozen wings to the Crockpot.

Cover with cola. When we have Coke on hand that is what I use but the store brand and even diet cola work just fine also. Folks have contacted me to say they even used Sprite or Dr. Pepper and it worked well too. Do not use water for this recipe.

Frozen Chicken wings in the slow cooker with liquid being poured over them

The wings are going to create their own juice while cooking so you only want to barely cover them with cola. The combination of the chicken juices and the cola will create a tender juicy deliciousness in your BBQ Wings!

Boiled chicken wings being drained in a colander in the sink

Step 3 Drain the wings

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Carefully remove the wings from the slow cooker back into the colander to drain the juice. I use a large slotted spoon  like this one

Do not use tongs to remove these slow cooker chicken wings from the crockpot. They are very tender and will fall apart easily. A slotted spoon is best because it allows the juice to drip back into the pot.

Wings on baking pan slathered with BBQ sauce. Ready for the oven

Step 4 Ready for the oven

Line a large baking sheet pan with foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Now, it is time to learn how to barbeque chicken wings into a deliciousness you can’t resist.

Place chicken wings out in rows, in a single layer on your prepared sheet pan. Brush with your favorite barbeque sauce. We like Sweet Baby Rays Honey flavor for these BBQ Wings.

Now let’s bake that yummy sauce onto those wings.

A white dinner plate full of BBQ Chicken Wings

Step 5 Finish your Crockpot BBQ Wings

Place the baking pan into preheated oven. Bake the wings for 10-12 minutes then turn on the broiler to get a little char on the skin of your wings. Don’t walk away, char happens quickly. The end result is finger-licking delicious chicken wings!

Also, See how to make these into Lemon Pepper Wings

Scroll down for a complete printable/downloadable recipe.

BBQ Chicken Wings

BBQ Wings are great game-day food. Make this crowd-pleaser for the super bowl, a family dinner, or even as an appetizer. Crockpot BBQ chicken wings with coke will be one of your family favorites.

BBQ Chicken Wings
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4.41 from 134 votes

3 Ingredient Crockpot BBQ Chicken Wings

Easy recipe for BBQ Chicken Wings. Only 3 Ingredients and best of all it is a Crockpot recipe!
Course Appetizer, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Crockpot recipe, wings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 19 minutes
Servings 3
Calories 591kcal

Ingredients

  • 12-16 chicken wings do not thaw
  • 1 12 oz. can Coke
  • 1 Cup BBQ Sauce we use Sweet Baby Ray’s

Instructions

  • Turn Crockpot on low. (I like this Crockpot with great ratings)
  • Pour the can of Coke into the crockpot.
  • Place all of the chicken wings into the Coke.
  • Cover with lid and cook on low for 3-4 hours.
  • Remove wings from Crockpot using a slotted spoon onto a baking pan covered with foil.
  • Brush wings generously with BBQ sauce
  • Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, just until the BBQ sauce is heated. Then turn on the broiler to get a little char on the skin of your wings. Don't walk away, char happens quickly.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 6wings | Calories: 591kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 1122mg | Potassium: 521mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 496IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg

The Secret To The Success of Crockpot BBQ Wings Recipe

The secret to perfectly cooked Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken Wings is placing them in the oven for a few minutes after removing them from the crockpot. The oven sets the BBQ sauce and keeps the wings from being too wet from cooking in the liquid. 

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Kitchen Tips

When we have a big crowd and I cook a lot of wings I serve them from disposable aluminum pans like these for easy clean-up. Just sit the tongs by the pan and step out of the way! Everyone loves these slow-cooker wings!

Use Slow cooker liners for easy clean-up. I l-o-v-e them and don’t dare ever run out of them.

Side Dishes to Serve with BBQ Chicken Wings

More Weeknight Dinners for Family

 BBQ Chicken Wings

Updated 1/5/2021

Thank you for sharing!

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79 Comments

  1. Great recipe! These are simple, not time consuming and delicious! I let mine cook for 3 hours in the crock pot as suggested, and mine were done in that time. They were not falling apart. Now, when I placed them in the oven I did reapply the BBQ sauce after 15 minutes to do the other side. I let them stay another 15 for the other side. To get that done “crunch” look, I put them on “Broil” and watched them. My twin boys of 20 both loved them! Thank you! Will do these again! Pam

  2. Can you put these back int he crock pot to keep warm after you oven cook them? Or will they over cook and stick to the pot?

    1. I do not recommend putting them back into the Crockpot. They may in fact become overcooked. You may consider covering the pan with foil and putting them into the oven on the Warm setting only for a short time.

  3. Those sound amazing and so easy! I often crisp up meat/ chicken/ etc in the oven after taking out of the crock pot and I can see how it would make such a huge difference with this recipe. Pinned and Shared.

    1. Shelby, if you have already thawed them, they won’t take too long to cook. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t fall apart. Since I always cook them frozen, I do not know how long it will take to cook them thawed. Let me know!

  4. You had me at crockpot! These look amazing!!!! Perfect for a bbq or potluck. Thanks for sharing this recipe on Whimsical Wednesday Link Party!

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