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Home Recipes Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings

Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings

Net Carbs:1.6g
Published:01/12/18Updated:06/11/22
33 Comments This post contains affiliate links.
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Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings pinterest image
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These Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings top the chart on my Could-Eat-For-Every-Meal-Every-Day List. You, honestly, would never get bored of them!

Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings in a ceramic bowl with a cloth table napkin underneath

With the nifty Instant Pot as the primary kitchen appliance in our household, these wings are cooked and ready to be served in less than an hour. That’s practically 0% effort, which is definitely my kinda weeknight meal!

Low-Carb Barbecue Sauce For Chicken Wings

close up shot of Low-Carb Chicken Wings with Sweet & Spicy Barbecue sauce

Traditional barbecue sauce contains sweeteners like sugar, molasses, honey, etc., which are all not an option when following a low-carb, ketogenic diet lifestyle. Because of this, I’ve loved experimenting with low-carb alternatives to develop a barbecue sauce that not only mimics the kind you’d find bottled at the grocery store, but that surpasses all flavor expectations!

This Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Sauce does JUST THAT. Sweetened with cinnamon and my favorite low-carb- and paleo-friendly sweetener, Lakanto Golden Monk Fruit Sweetener, and spiced up with cayenne, ground chipotle chile, crushed red pepper flakes, and hot sauce! My mouth is watering just talking about it…

This sauce is completely customizable based on your preferences. Not a fan of spicy? Omit the hot sauce and cayenne! Want it a little sweeter? Add an extra teaspoon of monk fruit sweetener! Taste the sauce along the way and have fun with it!

I’ve made this sauce so many times and it still blows my mind!

These Chicken Wings Are Quick And Easy To Prepare Party Appetizer!

delicious Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings recipe by Sara Nelson of Real Balanced

When we host people at our house or when we’re invited to a party, I always bring a dish-to-pass that tastes delicious and one that I, personally, will be able to eat.

This recipe is perfect because it only takes less than an hour to prepare! I always have the ingredients on hand, it’s low-carb, and tastes SO GOOD. I have made this recipe multiple times and people never even know it’s low-carb, paleo-friendly, and refined sugar-free!

Net Carbs In Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet And Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings

With only 1.6 grams of net carbs per serving, you can enjoy these Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings and remain in ketosis!

Diets This Sweet And Spicy Barbeque Chicken Wings Recipe Is Compliant With

This recipe is low-carb, keto, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, and refined-sugar-free.

close up shot of keto Sweet & Spicy Barbecue wings

Ready for more keto-friendly recipes?

Try some of these keto and low-carb recipes next!

  • Keto Lemon Pepper Wings
  • Keto Chicken Wings
  • Air Fryer Pork Belly
  • Crock Pot Crack Chicken Recipe
  • Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Wings
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close up shot of keto Sweet & Spicy Barbecue wings

Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings


★★★★★

4.9 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Sara Nelson
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

These Instant Pot Low-Carb Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings are the ultimate keto-friendly appetizer! This recipe is low-carb, keto, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, refined-sugar-free, and has only 1.6g net carbs per serving!


Ingredients

Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Sauce

  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 4 oz. tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp ground chipotle chile pepper
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 tbsp golden monk fruit sweetener (use code “REALBALANCED” for 20% off Lakanto products)

Chicken Wings

  • 2 lbs. chicken wings
  • 1 tbsp coarse salt

Miscellaneous

  • Avocado oil cooking spray

Materials

  • Instant Pot
  • Baking rack

Instructions

  1. Add all barbecue sauce ingredients to a small pot. Over medium-high heat, bring sauce to a slight boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.
  2. To a medium bowl, add chicken wings and coarse salt. Stir until wings are coated in salt.
  3. Add salted wings to the Instant Pot insert. Pour sauce over top of wings.
  4. Seal the Instant Pot lid and set to Manual setting for 10 minutes.
  5. After the timer goes off, using the quick release method, depressurize the Instant Pot.
  6. Turn on oven broiler and move oven rack to second from the top. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and set a baking rack on top of lined tray. Spray baking rack with avocado oil cooking spray.
  7. Using a tongs, transfer wings from the Instant Pot insert to baking rack.
  8. Using a basting brush, brush barbecue sauce from the Instant Pot insert onto both sides of the chicken wings.
  9. Broil wings for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway. Be sure to watch the wings to ensure they only slightly char and do not burn.

Keywords: instant pot wings, keto wings, keto instant pot, keto chicken wings

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on Instagram at @realbalanced or leave me a comment & rating below.

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33 Comments

  1. Brittany Stevens says

    February 20, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    Too much cinnamon imo. Also I only added the hot sauce for spice. I think the rpf and cayenne are over kill.Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
  2. Betsy says

    November 15, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    These were absolutely awesome!! My family LOVED them! The only changes I made were omitting the red pepper flakes and using a tad less cayenne and chipotle pepper. My family likes things spicier than me, so I’ll probably try it using the full amounts next time, but the level of spiciness was perfect for me.

    I’ve been really unhappy with store-bought barbecue sauces, so I was so unbelievably happy to find that yours is truly perfect. Thanks for such a wonderful (and easy) recipe!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Stacy says

    July 18, 2020 at 1:01 pm

    Can I use real sugar instead of the Monks? If so, how much. These look fantastic

    Reply
    • Sara Nelson says

      July 20, 2020 at 9:58 am

      Yep! That will just change the carb content.

      Reply
  4. Theresa says

    January 5, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    I don’t do spicy or hot. Any suggestions as to how to tone it down!

    Reply
    • Sara Nelson says

      January 6, 2020 at 10:34 am

      Omit the cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

      Reply
  5. Diane MacKinder says

    April 11, 2019 at 7:52 pm

    Kudos to you ! These were great! Reduced salt by half for both and accidentally reversed the amts for hot sauce and vinegar but figured we love heat so proceeded … noticed someone had said skin was coming off abit so reduced to 9 mins in ipot and then under grill for closer to 12mins basting for the first 2 turns then not on last … so good !!! We ate them with sour cream, celery sticks and a carrot! It was like we were at a pub!
    Thank you !

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Sara Nelson says

      April 12, 2019 at 8:19 am

      So happy you enjoyed the wings, Diane!

      Reply
  6. Kayla says

    March 12, 2019 at 5:45 pm

    Thsnks so much for this recipe. I am not done cooking the wings but the sauce is very watery as opposed to thick. Is it supposed to be that way?

    Reply
    • Sara Nelson says

      March 13, 2019 at 1:43 pm

      It shouldn’t be too watery, no. Was it watery before you poured it into the Instant Pot? Either way, though, having the sauce a little thinner is totally fine! If you want to thicken it up, add 1/8 tsp or so of xanthan gum.

      Reply
  7. Cynthia says

    February 23, 2019 at 7:09 am

    WOW!! These were absolutely delicious!! I didn’t change a thing about the recipe except I didn’t have “Golden” monk fruit sweetener, just regular and I only had about 1 tbs left, lol. I made a double batch so I just used Swerve to sweeten to taste since I wasn’t sure about the equivalent measurement. I ate these with my husband and his friend and we were almost fighting over the last few. I will definitely make these again. Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Joan says

    September 18, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    Sodium 1991.5mg per serving is excessive! Wow, I don’t need to start my own ocean, lol.

    Could you post as to the boneless thighs equivalent to the wings? I would imagine the nutritional values would differ.

    Thank you for all the recipes you offer.

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • realbalanced says

      September 18, 2018 at 5:38 pm

      Hi, Joan! I don’t concern myself with sodium content much. Actually, I guess you could say that I eat a very high-salt diet. Salt is essential to a myriad of bodily functions and is incredibly important to those who follow a low-carb diet so as to replenish our electrolytes. Long story short, do not be afraid of sodium!

      For boneless chicken thighs, the macro breakdown per serving would approximately be as follows:

      Calories: 487
      Total Fat 25.7g
      Total Carbohydrate 7.3g
      Dietary Fiber 5.7g
      Net Carbs: 1.6g
      Protein 56.9g

      Thanks, Joan!

      Reply
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