When it comes to wing recipes, Korean chicken wings are near the top of my list. These oh-so-flavorful baked wings are coated in a savory, sweet, spicy, and sticky sauce that makes them almost addictive.
Perfect for game day and get-togethers, our Korean Chicken Wings are second only to our Buffalo wings in popularity. These spicy chicken wings and the sticky sauce are a match made in heaven!
Our spicy Korean BBQ Chicken Wings are bursting with flavor. The soy-based sauce has just the right amount of heat and sweet that will kick your taste buds into overdrive.
If you love sweet and spicy chicken wings, try our honey sriracha chicken wings and honey barbecue wings recipes.
Ingredients to make Korean Barbecue Chicken Wings
Start by gathering the ingredients needed to make our Korean Chicken Wings recipe. In culinary terms, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into “Everything in its Place.”
Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also helps ensure you have all of the ingredients on hand to make the recipe.
What is Korean BBQ Sauce?
If you’ve never had the pleasure of sampling Korean BBQ sauce, you’re missing out. The spicy sweet sauce is a soy-based sauce made with soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sriracha, and gochugaru (Korean chili flakes). Check out our recipe to make your own homemade sauce.
You can also use your favorite grocery store brand of sauce to make the recipe.
How to Make Korean Barbecue Sauce
- Add the cornstarch to the water to a small bowl.
- Stir together to combine to make a cornstarch slurry. Set aside until needed.
- Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha and sesame oil to a saucepan over medium heat.
- Whisk to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and gochugaru (or gochujang paste) to the mixture.
- Whisk to combine and bring the ingredients to a light boil.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and whisk it into the sauce.
*The cornstarch will settle as it sits, so make sure to stir it before adding to the sauce. - Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until the spicy sauce reduces and thickens. Whisk during the process to keep it smooth.
*You can make the sauce days ahead of time. Just keep it refrigerated in a well-sealed container until ready to use.
How to Cut Chicken Wings
- Place the whole chicken wings on a cutting board, then cut them at the joint into two pieces. You can serve the wingette with the wingtip attached, or if you prefer, remove it.
- Pat the wings dry with paper towels.
*If you do remove the wingtip, freeze them and save them for soup stock.
How to Make Korean Barbecue Chicken Wings
- Add the gochugaru (red pepper flakes), garlic powder, ginger powder, brown sugar, and kosher salt to a small bowl.
- Mix the dry seasonings together to combine.
- Add the wings to a large bowl and sprinkle the dry seasonings over them.
- Toss the wings to combine, then let them marinate in the seasoning for 30 minutes as they come to room temperature.
*You can apply the seasoning in advance and allow the wings more time to absorb the flavor. Just make sure to remove them from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking them.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the seasoned chicken in a single layer on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet with a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with cooking spray.
*If you don’t have a wire rack, you can cook them directly on the sheet pan. - Place the baking sheet on the top rack of the preheated oven and cook for 40-45 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees has been reached.
*Watch them so they don’t burn. If they start to get too dark, move the pan to the lower rack of the oven. - Remove the pan from the oven and brush the wings with Korean BBQ sauce.
- Place the pan back in the oven for 5 minutes so the sauce gets hot, bubbly, and sticky. Then, remove the pan from the oven and serve with your favorite dipping sauce or additional Korean BBQ sauce.
Garnish the Korean Chicken Wings with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Serve them with your favorite dipping sauce or extra Korean Barbecue Sauce. It’s finger-licking good!
Store any leftover Korean BBQ Wings refrigerated in an airtight container for 1-2 days. They can be frozen but won’t do as well when reheated.
Recipe FAQ’s
It’s all about the seasonings and the sauce. Korean BBQ sauce has a sweet, savory, and spicy glaze made with ingredients like gochugaru (red pepper flakes), soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. The sauce adds a sticky coating that caramelizes.
Traditional American BBQ wings is a tomato based sauce, that has a smokey, tangy flavor.
They can be pretty spicy depending on the amount of gochugaru you use. Of course, it’s easy to cut back on the seasoning, if. you’re not a fan of heat.
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Korean Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Wings
- 1½- 2 pounds chicken wings
- 2 teaspoon gochugaru or red chilli pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup Korean Barbecue Sauce or your favorite bbq sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds optional for garnish
Barbecue Sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup soy sauce regular or low sodium
- ⅓ cup brown sugar or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- 2 teaspoon fresh garlic finely minced
- 2 teaspoon gochugaru or red pepper flakes= more or less to your taste preference
Instructions
Wings
- Pat the chicken dry using paper towels.
- Using a knife split the chicken wings apart at the middle joint, making a drumette and a flap including the wing tip.*If you prefer you can remove the wing tip and save it for soup.
- Pat the wings dry with paper towels.
- Add the gochugaru (red pepper flakes), garlic powder, ginger powder and brown sugar to a small bowl.
- Mix the dry seasonings together to fully combine
- Add the wings to a large bowl and sprinkle the dry seasonings over them. Toss the wings to combine.
- Toss the wings to combine, then let them marinate in the seasoning for 30 minutes as they come to room temperature.*You can apply the seasoning in advance and allow the wings more time to absorb the flavor. Just make sure to remove them from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking them.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the seasoned chicken on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet with a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with cooking spray.*If you don't have a wire rack, you can cook them directly on the sheet pan,.
- Place the baking sheet on the top rack of the preheated oven and cook for 40-45 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees has been reached.*Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. If they start to get too dark, move the pan to the lower rack of the ove
- Remove the pan from the oven and brush the wings with Korean bbq sauce.
- Place the pan back in the oven for 5 minutes so the sauce gets hot, bubbly, and sticky.
- Remove the pan from the oven and serve with your favorite dipping sauce or additional Korean BBQ sauce.
Barbecue Sauce
- Add the cornstarch to the water to a small bowl and stir together to combine. Set aside until needed.
- Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, and sesame oil to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and gochugaru to the mixture and whisk to combine. Bring the ingredients to a light boil.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and whisk it into the sauce.*The cornstarch will settle as it sits so make sure to stir it before adding to the sauce.
- Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. Whisk during the process to keep the sauce smooth.
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