3-Ingredient Garlic-Herb Grilled Chicken Wings

From the kitchen of Carly

Crispy-skinned wings coated in a minimal garlic and herb paste, grilled low and slow until the fat renders and skin shatters under your teeth. Three ingredients do the heavy lifting here, letting the chicken shine.

3-Ingredient Garlic-Herb Grilled Chicken Wings

Two pounds of chicken wings need nothing more than garlic, herbs, and oil to shine on the grill. The trick is drying them completely before the marinade hits, so the skin gets crisp instead of steamed. Fast enough for a weeknight, impressive enough to make people think you fussed. The herbs matter here, not as a background note but as the main event.

Prep
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Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 2 lbchicken wings
  • 6 mediumgarlic cloves, finely grated or pressed
  • 1/4 cupchopped rosemary, thyme, and/or oregano
  • 2 tbspvegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 tspkosher salt, plus more
  • 1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
  • 1plus more

Instructions

  1. Pat the wings very dry with paper towels, then whisk together the garlic, herbs, oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Add the wings and toss until thoroughly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or move everything to a resealable bag, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

  2. Set up a two-zone grill for medium and medium-high heat, or place a grill pan over medium. Working in batches if needed, lay the wings over the medium zone and grill, turning occasionally, until the skin starts to brown and the fat begins to render, about 12 minutes. Shift them to the medium-high zone (or bump the heat under the grill pan to medium-high) and keep cooking until the skin is crisp and lightly charred and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part without touching bone reads 165 degrees F, another 5 to 10 minutes. If they threaten to burn before hitting that temperature, nudge them to a cooler spot or dial the heat back slightly.

  3. Arrange the wings on a platter, season with a little more salt and pepper, and serve right away.

  4. The wings can be marinated up to 1 day ahead; just keep them covered and chilled until you are ready to grill.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Pat the wings absolutely bone-dry with paper towels before tossing with the marinade. Any moisture clinging to the skin will trap steam and keep it from crisping up.
  • Set up your grill with two heat zones from the start. Start low to render the fat without burning, then finish hot for crispness. If you only have one heat level, just watch closely and pull wings to a cooler spot if they char too fast.
  • Grate your garlic on a microplane instead of mincing it. It distributes way more evenly through the oil and herbs, and you'll get better flavor from less garlic.
  • Season again right after the wings come off the grill, when they're hot and the salt will stick. Those last pinches are not optional.

Variations

  • Skip the grill entirely and roast in a 450°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring halfway through and moving to a higher rack in the final few minutes for char. Not the same as grilled, but faster and still delicious.
  • Swap half the herbs for smoked paprika, a pinch of cayenne, and squeeze of lemon zest for a Spanish-leaning version.
  • Mix in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a tablespoon of grated ginger with the garlic and oil for an Asian tilt.
  • Double down on one herb instead of mixing. Fresh rosemary alone gets woody and serious. Thyme goes lighter and more delicate.

Make ahead and storage

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes to crisp the skin back up. They won't be quite as good as fresh off the grill, but they're still worth eating cold.