Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings
55 Comments Nov 07, 2022
Updated Nov 11, 2025
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If you hate deep frying foods, try Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings instead! The slow cooker makes the wings tender, and a quick broil in the oven gives them that classic crispy skin.
Try making your chicken wings in the crock pot instead of frying them for great results. These wings are super saucy with extra buffalo sauce, nothing is worse than when you order wings, and they are all dried up with no sauce! See how I make these wings taste even better than a restaurant.
Key Ingredients
Chicken Wings – Try to find packaged chicken wings that are not frozen and have the drumsticks and the “flats” separated for you already. If you can’t find them separated, you need to cut them yourself and discard the wing tip. If you buy frozen wings, be sure to thaw them completely and drain any liquid off.
Buffalo Sauce – I recommend Frank’s Red Hot Original sauce. Note that it doesn’t say “wing sauce” on it. This is the pure hot pepper sauce you want to use for authentic flavor. You can make a homemade buffalo sauce, if desired, which has a few more seasonings than this store-bought sauce.
Salted Butter -This is the KEY to good buffalo wings. Restaurants add butter to the buffalo sauce to mellow it out. It also is a flavor explosion when paired with the buffalo sauce. Place the butter on top of the wings in pats, or you can use melted butter.
How to Make Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings
- Add the wings, Buffalo sauce, and sliced butter to your slow cooker, then cook on high until tender.
- Broil the wings for a few minutes per side to get that crispy finish.
- Toss them back in the sauce before serving with ranch or blue cheese, carrots, and celery.
Recipe Variations
- Use barbecue sauce for part of the buffalo sauce, sounds like a weird combination, but they balance each other out perfectly.
- Whole chicken drumsticks can be used instead of small wings for a complete dinner. You’ll want to cook longer to ensure the chicken is done.
- You can add a packet of ranch seasoning mix for a punch of ranch flavor right into the slow cooker chicken wings.
How to serve
- Ranch Dressing – Always have ranch dressing available, for many do not like blue cheese dressing.
- Blue Cheese – Serve the crock pot chicken wings with really good blue cheese dressing. Don’t buy the shelf stable blue cheese from the regular salad dressing aisle; instead, get it next to the salad mixes in the refrigerator section; this blue cheese dressing is really good. You can even add blue cheese crumbles on top of the wings.
- Sides – A refreshing side for crock pot buffalo wings is celery sticks and carrot sticks, and they go great with ranch or blue cheese as well.
- Other Apps: Other game day favorites we love to make with this are Grape Jelly Meatballs, Crockpot Rotel Dip, and a Nacho Bar!
How can I make crockpot buffalo wings not so hot?
Look for “mild” red hot sauce for starters. Add more butter to the recipe and also a touch of brown sugar to tame the heat. And don’t forget a heaping amount of ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce if you don’t like the heat, but still love the flavor of frank’s hot sauce.
Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. chicken wings, thawed not frozen
- 12 oz. Franks Red Hot Original Sauce
- ¼ cup salted butter
For Serving
- good blue cheese dressing, I used Litehouse “Big Blue”
- ranch dressing
- carrot sticks
- celery sticks
- green onion for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Add the chicken, sauce, and butter (slice it up and lay on top of wings) to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 2.5 – 3 hours. DO NOT open the lid while the wings are in the slow cooker, heat will escape and they will not cook.
- After cooking time is done, preheat the oven to broil. Take the wings out of the slow cooker onto a baking sheet, leaving the sauce in the slow cooker.
- Broil the wings in the oven for a few minutes on each side until browned and crisp. Remove all but one cup of the sauce from the slow cooker.
- Add the wings back to the slow cooker, and stir them back into the sauce.
- Serve with ranch dressing or blue cheese, carrot sticks, and celery sticks. Sprinkle the wings with green onions (optional).
- Enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
- Do not use frozen chicken wings. Thaw them completely and drain well.
- You can use full size drumsticks for a complete meal. Cook for 4 hours on high.
- Nutritional values do not include dipping sauces or sides.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes to try:
If you love that spicy Buffalo flavor, try my Buffalo Chicken 15 Bean Soup or Buffalo Chicken Soup for something cozy and hearty.
For easy dinners, Buffalo Chicken Pasta or Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken are always hits.
And if you’re hosting, serve Buffalo Drumsticks or my creamy Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip — perfect for parties and game days.
I am making this tomorrow, can’t wait for the outcome.
Can I use an instapot for this recipe to speed it up? Thanks
Do you have to broil them in the oven? Or can you just cook them in the crockpot?
You can just do them in the crockpot, but some people don’t like the texture of the skin without browning it.
I’d like to know if you must put wings in broiler after they are cooked in crockpot ?
You do not, but the skins will be soft.
you can buy franks buffalo wing sauce,tastes more like real buffalo wings.you still mix butter with it. regular franks you taste more of peppers in it. franks buffalo wing sauce you dont.
i forgot to mention,ive live in the burbs of buffalo