Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings
Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings is a great recipe for the smoker or Traeger pellet grill!
Kung Pao is an Asian sauce that can be described as slightly sweet, somewhat spicy, and topped with peanuts.
As always, I have created an easier home cook version of the traditional sauce recipe to make it easier to make at home 🙂
And instead of serving the dish as it typically is served with vegetables in a stir fry, we are doing a chicken wing thing today!
How to make Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings
We have our sweet ingredients with the hoisin and brown sugar.
Spice is courtesy of sriracha, or you can use any Asian chili sauce.
And some rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.
Mix together 1/4 cup each of the hoisin, soy sauce, and vinegar.
A few tablespoons sriracha, more or less depending on your spice preference.
And 1 1/2 tablespoons each brown sugar, garlic, and ginger.
I used a microplane grater for the garlic and ginger, but you could also finely mince them.
Or use the ginger and garlic paste to make this even easier 🙂
Just whisk this together and you have both the marinade and the sauce to brush over top.
Put 3 to 4 pounds of chicken wings in a gallon size plastic bag.
And a few spoonfuls (almost half) of the marinade, massage the bag, and marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
Then remove the wings from the bag and season them with kosher salt and pepper.
Yes, there is salt in the soy sauce, but the wings do still need some seasoning.
Set the smoker or Traeger pellet grill to 250 degrees and place the wings on the grill grate.
They will do their thing on the smoker or pellet grill for 2 1/2 hours total.
Flipping them halfway through.
And brush with the remaining sauce a few times during the last half hour.
They will get nice and glazed, and even charred in some places!
They would be great just like this!
But we need to top them with chopped peanuts in true kung pao style 🙂
Sweet, spicy, and a little smoky… Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings sure bring BIG flavors!
With the peanuts on top and the sticky sauce, they sure are the definition of finger licking good 😉
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If you like Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings, you might also like these recipes…
Smoked Lemon Herb Shrimp
Smoked Mexican Chicken Wings
Traeger Philly Cheesesteak Lasagna
Traeger Game Day Appetizers
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Smoked Kung Pao Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Smoker
- Traeger/Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 pounds jumbo split chicken wings
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar works too)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sriracha (or another Asian chili sauce)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic paste or grated garlic
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger paste or grated ginger
- kosher salt, pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
- Optional: chives or chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Pat the wings dry very well and put them in a gallon size plastic bag.
- Combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sriracha, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger in a bowl, whisk together.Note: I used a microplane grater for the garlic and ginger, you could also very finely mince them.
- Put some of the sauce in the bag with the chicken. Massage the bag until the chicken is coated, marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Save the remaining sauce.
- Set the smoker or Traeger pellet grill to 250 degrees. Remove the wings from the marinade, season with kosher salt and pepper, and put the wings on the grill grate for 2 1/2 hours total, flipping halfway through. Brush the remaining sauce on the wings during the last half hour.Oven Directions: Place wings on a lined baking sheet and put in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, flip them halfway through. Brush with the sauce during the last 10 minutes. Wings should have an internal temperature above 165 degrees.
- Serve the wings with the chopped peanuts sprinkled over top and with chives or chopped cilantro if desired.
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