Instant Pot Chicken Wings: Ready in less than 30 minutes, these Buffalo Chicken Wings are the most tender and flavorful chicken wings you will ever have.
Wings are my husband’s favorite go-to football snack and he has been known to devour more than his fair share during a football game or two.
But convincing him that homemade buffalo wings are just as good as store bought wings, that is a bit harder sell.
However, even he agrees, these Instant Pot Wings are Incredible.
Instant Pot Chicken Wings
Not only are these chicken wings incredibly full of flavor, Instant Pot Wings are the most tender wings you will ever have!
Tossed with a homemade spice rub and steamed to tender perfection, the chicken wings are then finished with a homemade buffalo sauce and broiled to achieve crisp skin.
How to make Pressure Cooker Chicken Wings
- Season chicken wings with spice rub.
- Place 1 cup of water in Instant Pot.
- Place rack or steamer basket inside pressure cooker.
- Place wings on rack or in steamer basket.
- Close lid on pressure cooker and be sure to have it sealed.
- Pressure Cook Chicken Wings.
- Toss with half the buffalo sauce.
- Broil chicken wings until skin is crispy.
- Brush remaining buffalo sauce over chicken wings.
- Serve with homemade ranch dressing or bleu cheese dressing.
How to Cook Fresh Chicken Wings
- For Fresh Chicken Wings cook on high pressure for 9 minutes.
How to Cook Frozen Chicken Wings
- For Frozen Chicken Wings cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- When cooking frozen food, it may take up to 20 minutes for pressure cooker to reach pressure.
Homemade Buffalo Sauce
In my husband’s book, buffalo sauce is the only sauce acceptable for chicken wings. If Buffalo Sauce is not your favorite, feel free to use barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce on these chicken wings.
To Make Buffalo Sauce
- Mix together hot sauce (like Red Hot brand), with melted butter, honey, and garlic powder.
- The honey and butter help to add depth and balance the hot sauce and garlic makes everything better.
- If you need PALEO Buffalo Sauce, use Ghee.
- If you need Dairy-Free Buffalo Sauce, omit butter altogether or use a vegan butter substitute.
- For KETO Buffalo Sauce, omit the honey and add in 1 teaspoon sweetener of choice (or omit sweetener altogether.)
Notes on Buffalo Chicken Wings
- I prefer to use chicken drumettes, as they typically yield more meat.
- If using full wings, remove tips and separate drumettes and flats separated (cook time remains the same.)
- It is not necessary to broil the chicken wings, but most people prefer the crispy chicken skin on the wings.
- Don’t be afraid to toss frozen meat with seasonings, the rub won’t stick as well, but it will still help to season the chicken wings perfectly.
- Use ghee in place of butter and maple syrup in place of honey for Paleo Buffalo Chicken Wings.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Chili
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Wings
Ingredients
For the Chicken Wings
- 3 pounds chicken drumettes or wings
- 1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1 cup water
For the Buffalo Sauce
- 1 cup hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Toss chicken wings with seasoned salt.
- Pour 1 cup water into inner pot of pressure cooker. Place rack or steamer basket inside instant pot.
- Place seasoned wings on rack or in steamer basket.
- Seal lid of pressure cooker, being sure vent knob is closed to sealed.
- For Fresh Wings: Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- For Frozen Wings: Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Once the cook time has elapsed, do a quick release with a spoon or kitchen towel to protect yourself from burns.
- Remove chicken wings from instant pot and place in large bowl.
- Mix together the hot sauce, honey, butter, and garlic powder.
- Pour half the buffalo sauce over the chicken wings and gently toss.
- Place the chicken wings on a baking sheet lined with foil and topped with a cooking rack.
- Broil chicken wings under high heat for 2-3 minutes per side to crisp up the chicken skin.
- Brush the chicken wings with remaining buffalo sauce and serve.
TO MAKE INSTANT POT WINGS YOU MAY NEED
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Kristen Chidsey
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First time Instant pot user and I am making there today. The recipe doesn’t say what buttons to push and the video your hand is in the way! Lol.
Hi Amy! Sorry for the confusion. Press manual or pressure cook (depends on your model) and then use +/- buttons to adjust timing.
Amazing recipe and the steps were easy to follow. I’m new to using my Instant pot; this was only my second time. The wings were so tender and received rave reviews by my family.
I am so glad you and your family enjoyed! And I love hearing how easy this recipe was to follow. Thanks for leaving a comment Monique 🙂
Want to make these now but my wings are frozen and in a solid block. Is 15 mins enough? Will they fall apart while pressure cooking?
Hi Jaklyn, I would run the wings under cold water to seperate and then proceed with recipe as written for frozen wings. Enjoy!!
These were amazing. Im new ro the instapot world and I’m kind of intimidated by this machine. I did frozen wings with the season salt and cooked for 20 minutes just to be safe. But 15 would have worked. They were fall off the bone straight from the insta pot. After a bit under the broiler I really couldn’t wait to eat them. I used Frank’s redhot wing sauce, sweet baby Ray’s sweet and spicy bbq sauce and famous Dave’s original bbq. So quite the variety… and they all tasted great.
I am so glad you enjoyed RanDee and I hope you find more recipes here to enjoy!
Going to make these tomorrow, but I’m wondering what the “spice rub” is in step one….?!
Hi Molly! The spice rub is my homemade seasoned salt. I hope you enjoy!
Excellent wings! We made them tonight and they were great- thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed Melissa
Perfect texture. A little on the sweet side for my taste, I’m going to cut the honey in half the next time I make these. Great recipe, super easy and tasty.
I am glad you enjoyed Brian. Great idea to cut the honey to adjust for your tastes too!
Hi. I’m a brand new IP owner and have spent some time reading your recipes and information. You refer to using a rack or steamer basket to cook the chicken wings in the recipe above. My IP Duo Nova came with a metal trivet. Can I use this for the 3 lb of wings, or do I need to buy an accessory online?
Thanks very much.
Hi Nancy! Welcome to the world of instant pot cooking! The metal rack I am referring to is the metal trivet. That will work perfectly. Enjoy!
I have 5 lbs of frozen drumsticks … how long should I cook them for?
Hi Christina, I would increase cook time to 15 minutes for defrosted drumsticks, and 20 minutes for frozen drumsticks. I hope you enjoy!
These were easy and yummy. I did however NOT toss them with the sauce until after I put them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes each side. I also halved the sauce and that was more than enough!
I am glad you enjoyed! I like to broil with the sauce to really seal in the flavor–and then toss again after broiling. It really makes a world of difference in the flavor 🙂
I’m really hoping someone can answer, i just got through the frozen wings in the instant pot and they are so soft they completely felt apart. So i now have a mess of meat and bones in the oven to broil. Should i take my instant pot time down? Was the 15 min too long??
Hi Lyv! I am sorry you had an issue with this recipe. It may have been that your wings were much smaller than most. I would suggest cutting down the time by 3 minutes in the future.
We have made these quite a few times now and they’re a huge hit with family and friends! LOVE them! Our favorite hot sauce to put on these is Franks RedHot Chile ‘n Lime!
I am so glad you enjoy Raquel! And I love the idea the idea of using Chile n Lime seasoning–yum!
Easy, New to Instant Pot, simple and easy to prepare: Wife loved them.
I am so glad you and your wife enjoyed Jim! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
Thanks for this great recipe!
I didn’t have the seasoned salt on hand, in place I used
salt, pepper, garlic salt and Grill Mates Roasted Garlic and Herb.
My sauce was Red Hot, minced Garlic and melted butter. I drizzled honey before broiling…delicious!!!
I broiled each side for about 8 min. Watching them broil is like Must See TV.
I am so glad you enjoyed Lauren–and the the honey addition too 🙂
I finally got to make these instant pot chicken wings this past weekend and it was such a hit!!
YAY! I am so glad you enjoyed Bella!
I made these and they were delicious but the meat fell completly off the bones when we picked the wings up. Is this normal for IP wings? I’m used to my wings sticking to the bones so you can eat the meat off the bones. They were good though.
Hi Sharon! I am so glad you enjoyed the wings so much. I would decrease the cook time by 1 minute in the future to see if that helps keep the meat intact. Also only do natural pressure release for 10 minutes. I have never had the issue with the meat falling off, but those tips should help. 😊
Such a tasty, easy lunch with ingredients you should already have in your pantry. I almost skipped the honey step because I thought it would be too sweet with the sweet potatoes, but it was a great accompanying element to the spice. Didn’t measure spices, just sprinkled over top of potatoes.
I am so glad you enjoyed!
Thank you for posting the different variations to make this recipe. I just started my Keto journey and was happy to see the change to your recipe to fit those that choose to cook keto. Thanks again!
Absolutely! Hope you enjoy!
This was my first time and I used Roberts Reserve pineapple, coconut mango Tequila sauce. Excellent total time about 30 minutes
Oh that combination of flavors sounds amazing Shelia! Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Could you explain more what is meant by “remove tips and separate drumettes and flats separated ?” Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Ellen! If you purchase chicken wings that are are whole–they may need to have tips removed and be separated into 2 pieces (most wings are sold already separated). If you purchase your wings whole, you just want to locate the joints and use a pair of kitchen shears to snip through–leaving you with three parts: the Drumette, the Wingette (often called a Flat), and the tip. Discard the tip and use the drumette and flat. This may help–as it shows pictures https://thecookful.com/how-to-cut-chicken-wings/
Thanks for your quick response as I was on a tight schedule- Super Bowl! These turned out delicious even though not crisp. Maybe my broiler differed from yours. Will try longer next time. Your website has been great as I figure out how to use my Instant Pot.
Hi Ellen! I am glad you enjoyed the chicken wings, even though they were not as crisp as you would have liked. And I am happy your finding helpful info on my site. Reach out any time with questions.
Thank you for the recipe. I’m wondering what the rub is made of?
Hi Cheryl! This rub is my seasoned salt recipe, which is made up of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, cayenne, salt and pepper.