Honey Ginger Garlic Wings {Instant Pot or Slow Cooker}

Sticky, saucy, finger-licking-good, fall-off-the-bone sweet and spicy Honey Ginger Garlic Wings - in other words, the best chicken wings recipe ever!

This recipe feeds a crowd and is perfect for game day. Make these chicken wings in the Instant Pot or the Slow Cooker - your choice.

Ya'll. These honey ginger garlic wings are fantastic! We always make these when we are craving wings. 

Perfect  honey garlic wings

These wings are so tender, and the meat just falls off the bone. The sauce is absolute perfection - sweet but not overly so, a bit spicy which went perfectly with the sweetness, a bit tangy, and just absolutely sticky and finger-licking good.

The flavors of the sauce are amazing: honey, ginger, lots of garlic, and orange juice which adds a subtle sweetness and flavor.

And the best part is that this recipe so easy! Yes, there are a few separate steps, but they are so worth it end up with such delicious wings.

Related recipe: Air Fryer Orange Chicken

Slow cooker *OR* Instant Pot Wings

You can make this wing recipe in the instant pot or in the slow cooker - your choice. Of course, the instant pot is much faster. The instant pot cooking time is only 5 minutes and you can have these wings ready from scratch in under an hour.

But the slow cooker is not a bad option either, since it doesn't require any extra work on your part. You just need to start on the wings 4 hour earlier than for the Instant Pot. Not a problem if you're just hanging out at home anyway.

I'll show you how to cook these wings in the slow cooker and the instant pot. Trust me, this extra step is absolutely worth it for fall-off-the-bone wings. Without the slow cooker or instant pot step, the wings are always a little tough if you try to cook them only by roasting them.

After the Instant Pot or the slow cooker, the wings are brushed with sauce and placed in the oven to get that beautiful browned crisp and make the sauce sticky-saucy-perfect.

More sweet n tangy recipes: Instant Pot Glazed Meatballs

Chicken wing recipe to feed a crowd:

This recipe uses 6 pounds of chicken wings, which makes about 4 dozen (FORTY EIGHT!) wings. This is a good amount to feed 8-12 people, if you have lots of other snacks you will be serving. That will be about about 4-6 wings per person. 

Related recipe: Honey Rum Chicken Breast

What kind of wings to use

When I say "wings" here, I mean the American/US definition of chicken wings - each "drumette" and "wingette" is called a "wing" even though, technically, each piece is half a wing.

You can take a look at the description of a chicken wing on thekitchn if you are not sure what I mean. Or, don't worry about the semantics. Just know you're making about 6 pounds of wings, which is a nice amount.

What you'll need to make honey garlic chicken wings:

Instant Pot: We have the 8-quart Instant Pot and it's perfect for this recipe. The 6-quart one is a little tight for this many wings - but it all depends on the actual size of your wings! Don't overpack your Instant Pot - follow the maximum fill line recommendations from your manual.

You can always cook the wings in the Instant Pot in 2 batches - since it only takes 5 minutes of cook time.

Slow cooker: We have this 6-quart slow cooker and it's just the right size for this recipe - the wings fill up almost the whole thing.

Lots of garlic: I use lots of garlic for this recipe, which gives the sauce an amazing flavor. It doesn't come out too garlicky, because garlic mellows as it cooks. To make this easier on yourself, get a good garlic press (such as this one) so you can just squeeze the garlic right into the saucepan instead of having to mince each garlic clove.

Fresh ginger. The powdered stuff won't work for this recipe. I find it easiest to use a microplane zester/grater (such as this one) to grate fresh ginger. If you want, you can use the same zester to mince the fresh garlic as well.

Spices: In addition to fresh garlic and ginger for the sauce, you'll also need powdered spices to season the wings: garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper powder. I know I often talk about using fresh spices, but the powdered stuff definitely has its uses, such as in this recipe.

Honey: The honey is cooked pretty thoroughly in this recipe, so there's no need to get the highest quality honey. There's no point in getting fancy, local honey or anything expensive for this recipe. Just use the cheapest honey you can find - the honey garlic sauce will taste amazing either way, I promise! This large bottle of honey is perfect for cooking - you won't feel bad using lots of it in one recipe!

Looking for other great entertaining recipes?

• Slow cooker honey chicken
• Bourbon chicken - restaurant quality bourbon sauce chicken, so good!
• Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken
• Instant Pot shredded Buffalo chicken
• Buffalo chicken cheese dip
• Easy salami appetizer
• Cheesy chicken corn dip
• Spicy crunchy chicken salad
• Orzo coleslaw salad
• No mayo potato salad
• Refried bean dip

I hope you make this chicken wing recipe, and I hope your guests love it as much as we did! If you end up making it or saving it on pinterest for your next party, please let me know in a comment below! I love to hear from you. 

Print Recipe

4.58 from 14 votes

Honey Garlic Wings - Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Instructions

These tasty, sticky, fall-off-the-bone honey garlic wings can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. The results are so worth it - these are the tastiest wings I've ever had!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Slow Cooker option total time:4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 servings of about 4 wings each

Author: Kate

  Cook Mode: Prevent your screen from going dark

Cost: $1 per serving

Ingredients

For the wings:

• 6 lbs chicken wings - (about 4 dozen small wings), thawed
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon powdered cayenne pepper - (or less to taste)
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 cup soy sauce - (less sodium preferred)
• 1 cup orange juice
• ½ cup honey
• 5-6 garlic cloves - , grated or minced
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger - (about 2 1-inch pieces)
• 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes - (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Optional garnish: Sliced green onions, sesame seeds

Instructions

• Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper together. Rub the seasoning mixture all over the chicken wings. Use the Slow Cooker option or Instant Pot option below to cook the wings. 

Slow Cooker Option:

• In a 6-quart slow cooker, cook the seasoned wings on HIGH for 2 hours, and then on LOW for 2 more hours. When the wings are done cooking, they will have released a lot of liquid. Just take out the wings with tongs when you are ready to Bake the wings. 

Instant Pot Option:

• Place the steamer insert inside the Instant Pot. Add ½ cup water. Gently place the seasoned wings on top of the steamer insert. Put the lid on and turn the valve to sealing. Cook on manual setting on high pressure for 5 minutes. Use the natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes, then you can quick release if needed.

Make the sauce:

• While the wings are cooking, prepare the sauce: In a small/medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, honey, grated garlic cloves, grated ginger, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure the honey is dissolved. Slowly whisk in the corn starch, stirring constantly so it doesn't clump together. Continue to cook the sauce for another minute, until it thickens to the desired consistency. 

Bake the wings (after cooking them in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker):

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with foil (for minimal clean-up )and spray the foil with non-stick spray. Place the cooked wings on the baking dish, and brush the wings with the sauce. Flip each wing over, and brush the other side with the sauce. 
• Bake the wings at 350F for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the wings - if the sauce starts burning on the foil, lower the temperature to 325F. It's OK if the sauce burns a little on the foil - the sauce on the wings won't burn and will turn into a delicious sticky sauce. 
• Remove the wings from the oven and brush them with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with sliced green onions or sesame seeds. 

Notes

The liquid that remains after cooking the wings in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot is a delicious, healthy bone broth!! Don't throw it out - use it as a broth for soup or to cook quinoa, rice, or pasta in it.

Don't overcrowd the instant pot - be mindful of the maximum fill line. Cook the chicken wings in 2 batches in the instant pot if they don'tsafely fit into a 6-quart instant pot.

Nutrition

Calories: 352kcal (18%) | Carbohydrates: 18g (6%) | Protein: 25g (50%) | Fat: 19g (29%) | Saturated Fat: 5g (25%) | Cholesterol: 94mg (31%) | Sodium: 2337mg (97%) | Potassium: 328mg (9%) | Sugar: 13g (14%) | Vitamin A: 270IU (5%) | Vitamin C: 12.3mg (15%) | Calcium: 34mg (3%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)

The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.