Chicken wings are hands down one of the most popular party foods. Affordable, tasty and can feed a crowd there are endless reasons to love chicken wings. One way to make wings even better? Brining them. Whether you bake, fry or grill them brining chicken wings takes them from good to great. Discover this Easy Brine for Chicken Wings and make your next batch of wings your best ones yet.
The Casual Foodist contains affiliate links, when you make a purchase through these links the Casual Foodist receives a small commission that helps support this site at no additional cost to you.As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
What is brining?
At it’s heart a brine is a mixture of salt and water; and with food there are often spices, sugar and other ingredients to add flavor. Brining meat before cooking allows it to absorb water (the salt allows for osmosis) resulting in meat that is much more moist.
Why brine chicken wings?
Sure, you can certainly make chicken wings without brining but taking this extra, but very simple step results in wings that are moist, tender and flavorful. In addition to salt the sugar in this brine will help make your wings crispier and due to osmosis any spices you add to the brine will make your wings more flavorful. (I also like to use a dry brine for my spatchcock turkey recipe).
How to make brine for chicken wings
Making brine is quite easy. In a large pot heat the water, salt and sugar just enough so that the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the red pepper flakes, black pepper, apple cider vinegar and stir to combine. Combine the brine and the chicken wings making sure they are fully submerged, you can brine your wings in either a resealable bag or a large bowl. Refrigerate the chicken wings and brine for at least 2 hours or up to 4 hours (with the small size of chicken wings you don’t need need to brine them for a long time). Pat the wings dry (but don’t rinse) and prepare via your preferred method (baking, grilling, frying or in the air fryer).
Looking for more wing recipes? Be sure to try my Smoked Chicken Wings , Hot Honey Chicken Wings, Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Wings and Tequila Lime Chicken Wings!
If you like this Easy Brine for Chicken Wings be sure to take a look at some of my other recipes!
Lemon Garlic Greek Yogurt Marinated Chicken
If you make this Easy Brine for Chicken Wings please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making!
Easy Brine for Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- large bowl
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp ground black pepper
- 3 pounds chicken wings
Instructions
- In a large pot heat the water, salt and sugar just enough so that the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the red pepper flakes, black pepper, apple cider vinegar and stir to combine. Allow the brine to cool.
- Combine the brine and the chicken wings making sure they are fully submerged, you can brine your wings in either a resealable bag or a large bowl.
- Refrigerate the chicken wings and brine for at least 2 hours or up to 4 hours. Remove the wings from the brine and discard the brine.
- Pat the wings dry (but don't rinse) and prepare via your preferred method.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
William Wagner says
Great, thanks!
Ramona says
I have tried this marinade and it is terrific! I am saving it as I am not sure I will be making anything else for a while at least. Yumm!
Raquel says
Such a great recipe for flavorful wings! Will make again.
Julia says
Ooh I’ve never brined my chicken wings before! This was super easy and definitely made air fryer chicken wings more unique!
Swathi says
This chicken wings looks delicious perfect treat.
Brianna May says
I love this recipe!
AISilva says
This recipe is so great. I’ve been meaning to make more wings this summer, so I’ll definitely use this recipe again!
Erin Gierhart says
Game changer! I love how flavorful and juicy this makes the chicken!
Anaiah says
This brine definitely makes a difference! I don’t think I’ve ever made chicken wings soo good!
Ashley says
We make wings quite often, cooking them up in the air fryer. I’ve never heard of brining them, though. You can never go wrong with crispier wings, so I will definitely have to try this next time. Thanks for sharing!
Jeannie says
This recipe is a hit in our get-togethers and easy to prepare too.
veenaazmanov says
Love the simple and easy marination. These Chicken wings look moist and juicy.
Tyanne says
I’ve never prepared chicken in a brine before until now, and this was the best idea yet! Very great flavor to have!
Amy Liu Dong says
This is so easy, and will definitely try this at home. Thank you!
Brianna May says
This brine is so good! It made a huge difference.
Kate says
Wonderful recipe! This was my first time trying out homemade brine and let’s just say, I was blown away.
Colleen says
I would never have thought of brining wings, but I am going to try this on our next wing night!
Jessica Formicola says
I’ve brined pork chops and turkey, but never chicken wings until I tried this recipe! Won’t be making them any other way!
Allyssa says
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! Super easy to make and tasted so flavorful! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Ramona Sebastian says
I made this last weekend and will be making it again this week for my friends. It is definitely a marinade rescue worth saving.
Mihaela | https://theworldisanoyster.com/ says
Yum, I’m adding this to my marinades list and will surely prepare it for the next barbeque. It sounds easy to make and has all the nice flavours combined!:)
Veronika Sykorova says
This sounds and looks so easy to make! The wings look so tasty and juicy, I’m def making this recipe for my family this weekend for dinner.
Jacqueline Debono says
I have never thought to brine chicken wings but I’d love to try it. Always looking for ways to make wings more flavourful!
Silvia says
I had never thought of brining chicken wings! But it’s an amazing idea, this brine looks so easy to make and I bet it’s delicious. Printing the recipe right now.
Loreto and Nicoletta says
We are with you on brinning. It is a step that is crucial to keep wings from being to dry and taking the flavor up a couple million notches, lol. Your wings look so good and now I am craving them souch. Better get a brine going, tonight is going to be wing night!😋🥰🔥👌👍
Natalie says
I bet this brine makes the chicken so much more flavorful. I never used brine for chicken wings. But thanks for the idea. I will definitely try it now.
Jere Cassidy says
It’ never occurred to me to brine wings, and it’s such a good idea.
Jere Cassidy says
I have never made chicken wings so I can’t wait to try your recipe. I am a big fan of brining
Freya says
This worked so well, the chicken was tender and full of flavour!
Nora says
This sounds so delicious! My husband will be happy to make them for us on his grill! And I’m looking forward to trying them afterwards! 😀
Genevieve Jerome says
I love this brine recipe and it was super easy to make!
Question says
Are you supposed to let the water cool before adding the wings?
Brianna says
Yes! I’ll update the recipe to include that.
Bernadette McKnight says
I’m not sure if it’s because I had to leave them in the brine an extra 24 hours, or; that I used sea silt instead of kosher salt, but mine were very salty through and through. The were excellent in the flavor department but the salt was overpowering to the point where it reminded me of a piece of ham. You couldn’t over-eat them like you would want to eat wings because they are good. How I would fix something like that after they are cooked is beyond my cooking skills.
I’m absolutely going to try it again because I love the simplicity of it. I just have to tone down the salt.
Brianna says
Saltiness is definitely an individual preference and I couldn’t adjust that after they’ve been cooked either. I would try brining on the lower end of time (2-3 hours) and see if that works a bit better for you. I’m glad you like the overall flavor of the wings though 🙂
Jonathan says
Would doing a rub after the brining process be overkill? Normally I rinse after the chicken is done with the brine.
Brianna says
I’ve personally never done one but you certainly could! If you try it let me know how it goes 🙂
david mason says
So do I not season the chicken after pat drying?
Brianna says
‘t need to as the brine absorbs into the meat.
mikes says
Just a thought re: brine. Instead of the extra steps of heating the water to dissolve the salt and sugar, I add the salt and sugar to cold tap water and use my milk frother as a sort of immersion blender to get it to a dissolved solution. Takes a minute or two. I’ve done this with solutions up to 1:1 ratio of water and sugar to make simple syrups. Brine is ready, gotta fire up the grill to do these wings.
All the best.
Brianna says
I’m intrigued, let me know how it works!
Jim says
Wings were moist but too salty!
Dan Lombard says
Very simple and extremely tasty!
Lambert says
2-3 Hrs in Brine Is Perfect
Jeremy D Kuehnau says
Pretty decent brine, left the meat tender and flavorful. It was just a smidge too salty for my liking and I did a little over five pounds of wings and left it soak for a little under two hours. Next time I will probably cut the salt in half.
Connie says
Omg too much salt!!! I am so sad! Had to throw it all out!
Brianna Simmons says
How long did you brine it for?
Kristen says
This is my go to recipe now, thank you so much!! Quick question though, do you think I could cut the salt in half and substitute buffalo sauce to infuse the meat with a little buffalo flavor?
Brianna Simmons says
I’m so glad you liked it! I think you substitution would work, if you try it please let me know how it goes 🙂
SS says
Last weekend I used this brine on wings for a party. I brined them the day before, then used a dry rub on them overnight in the fridge before smoking them. Everyone loved the flavor. I loved it so much, I’m trying it on smoked drumsticks this weekend! Thank you for the recipe!
Brianna Simmons says
I’m thrilled you liked it
Angel says
Oh oh I added 2/3 cups of red pepper flakes as I used another recipe called for that. I guess we shall see how their turn out