Chicken wings are a constant at our house — if sticky, saucy wings are your thing, Spice Rubbed Chicken Wings and Air Fryer Chicken Wings are both worth having in the rotation.
The sauce is the whole story with Instant Pot Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings — smoky from liquid smoke and chipotle, sweet from golden monk fruit, and layered with three forms of heat: cayenne, Frank’s Red Hot, and crushed red pepper flakes. The wings pressure-cook in that sauce, come out tender and thoroughly coated, then go under the broiler just long enough to get that slightly charred, sticky exterior that makes them so hard to stop eating.
These are the wings I reach for when I’m feeding a group — the sauce simmers on the stovetop while you prep everything else, the Instant Pot handles the actual cooking, and then the broiler does the finishing work. Chicken wings have been on my Could-Eat-Every-Day list for years, and this from-scratch barbecue version is the one I keep coming back to.
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Reader Love
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 !
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- A from-scratch sauce that comes together in 10 minutes. All the barbecue sauce ingredients go into one pot — tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, Frank’s Red Hot, liquid smoke, and three types of pepper — come to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until the flavors meld.
- The Instant Pot does the heavy lifting. Ten minutes on Manual pressure means the wings come out fully cooked and thoroughly coated in sauce with almost no active watching on your part.
- The broiler finish makes the texture. Eight to ten minutes under the broiler after the pressure cooker — flipping halfway — gives you that slightly charred, sticky exterior that makes these wings worth making.
- Spice with real depth. Cayenne, ground chipotle chile, crushed red pepper flakes, and Frank’s Red Hot all build on each other, so the heat has layers rather than a single flat note.
- Easy to dial the heat up or down. Drop the cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes for a milder version — readers in the comments have done exactly this with great results — or keep the full amounts when you want serious kick.
- Makes 6 servings from 2 pounds of wings. The recipe is sized for a group, and the sauce scales well if you want to double the batch.
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- Golden monk fruit sweetener (Lakanto) is what the recipe calls for. Regular granulated monk fruit or Swerve can swap in — Cynthia in the comments used Swerve when she ran out of the golden version and sweetened to taste.
- Regular sugar will also substitute for the monk fruit, as Sara confirmed in the comments. Start with a similar amount and adjust as you go — just know it changes the carb count.
- To reduce the heat, omit the cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes entirely — Sara’s specific suggestion from the comments for readers who don’t do spicy. The hot sauce is also adjustable; use less for a gentler kick or skip it and rely on the other spices.
- For the protein, Sara’s comment confirms that chicken thighs would likely work with a cook time similar to the wings. Boneless thighs will change the nutritional profile.
✨ Variations
- No Instant Pot? Sara noted in the comments that a slow cooker on High for 2 hours with the sauce gets the job done — then transfer the wings to the broiler to crisp up the skin exactly the same way.
- If the skin starts to separate in the Instant Pot, reader Diane found that reducing the pressure cook time to 9 minutes and extending the broil to about 12 minutes gave better results. Sara also recommends looking for pasture-raised wings, which tend to have thicker skin that holds up better to pressure cooking.
〰️ How to serve
- These are a natural on a game-day spread — line them up on a platter and keep napkins nearby.
- Serve alongside Dill Pickle Dip for a cool, briny contrast to all that heat.
- For a full appetizer table, Caramelized Onion Dip rounds out the spread — the sweet onion flavor plays well against the spicy wings.
- For a weeknight dinner, pair them with a green salad or roasted vegetables on the side.
💬 FAQs
Can I make these without an Instant Pot?
Yes — Sara suggested in the comments cooking the wings in a slow cooker on High for 2 hours with the sauce, then transferring them to the broiler to crisp up the skin. The final broil step is the same either way.
The sauce looked watery — is that normal?
It can be thinner than a store-bought barbecue sauce, and that’s fine. It coats the wings well and tightens up during the broil. If you want it thicker from the start, Sara recommends stirring in about 1/8 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Can I adjust the spice level?
Absolutely. For a milder version, omit the cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes — Sara recommended this directly in the comments. You can also reduce or skip the Frank’s Red Hot. On the other end, use all the heat sources at full amounts when you want real kick.
Can I swap the sweetener, and how many net carbs are in the wings?
Any granulated monk fruit sweetener or Swerve swaps in for the Lakanto Golden Monk Fruit called for here — Cynthia in the comments used Swerve successfully. Regular sugar also substitutes, as Sara confirmed, though it changes the carb count. Made as written, the recipe’s nutritional info puts each serving at 1.6 grams of net carbs.
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Instant Pot Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 4 oz. tomato paste
- ¼ cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ tablespoons golden monk fruit sweetener
Chicken Wings
- 2 lbs. chicken wings
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
Miscellaneous
Materials
Instructions
- 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.
- To a medium bowl, add chicken wings and coarse salt. Stir until wings are coated in salt.
- Add salted wings to the Instant Pot insert. Pour sauce over top of wings.
- Seal the Instant Pot lid and set to Manual setting for 10 minutes.
- After the timer goes off, using the quick release method, depressurize the Instant Pot.
- 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.
- Using a tongs, transfer wings from the Instant Pot insert to baking rack.
- Using a basting brush, brush barbecue sauce from the Instant Pot insert onto both sides of the chicken wings.
- Broil wings for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway. Be sure to watch the wings to ensure they only slightly char and do not burn.
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