Perfectly grilled chicken wings inspired by crave-worthy Vietnamese Pho soup and marinated with ginger, garlic, lime and fish sauce. Jump to the Pho Inspired Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe or read on to see how we make them.
Grilling chicken wings at home is easy, not to mention, chicken wings are perfect on the grill thanks to their high ratio of skin to meat.
We’ve already shared our Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken Wings Recipe with you. This time we wanted to pull inspiration from one of our favorite recipes on Inspired Taste, our Vietnamese Pho Soup recipe. If you haven’t had Pho before, you really need to try it. It’s an insanely delicious, crave-worthy Vietnamese noodle soup, made from beef or chicken bones, ginger, onions and lots of aromatic spices. It’s nothing short of soup perfection.
Making your own fabulous bowl of Vietnamese pho soup at home is not hard, all you need is a straightforward recipe, a few secrets and a nice big stockpot. Check out our Homemade Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe now!
How to Grill Chicken Wings
We’ve worked as many of the flavors found in Pho into the marinade for this chicken wings recipe as we could. There is garlic, ginger, fish sauce, coriander and lime. These are excellent grilled. Let me show you how we do it.
Step one for grilled wings is to marinate — we like to leave the wings in the marinade at least 1 hour and will go longer if we have the time.
By the way, we don’t bother to separate the drumstick from the “wingette” (or middle portion). If you are up to it, here’s a little tutorial with a quick video that we put together a while back showing you how to separate a chicken wing.
Everything is tossed into a resealable bag — there’s green onion, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, lime, a little sugar, coriander and some spice from Sriracha. Then after some time marinating, they are ready to grill.
When it’s time to grill, use both indirect and direct heat. Start them skin-side up over low or indirect heat, close the lid and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes. Once the skin and fat have rendered, grill the wings over high or direct heat, turning occasionally, until golden brown and just slightly charred.
To serve, we whip up a quick and simple dipping sauce made from mayonnaise, a little Sriracha and lime. It’s creamy, a tiny bit hot and has just the right amount of bite from the lime. By the way, this recipe works beautifully with chicken thighs and chicken breast so be sure to print it, pin it or save it however you like. Enjoy!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: If you are looking for more grilled wings recipes, these parmesan dusted, lemon garlic chicken wings are here to help. Jump to the Lemon Chicken Grilled Wings Recipe.
Recipe updated, originally posted July 2015. Since posting this in 2015, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Pho Inspired Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These Vietnamese pho-inspired wings are a must-try. By first grilling the wings over low, indirect heat the skin and fat render. Then we move the wings to a hotter, more direct heat until they become golden brown and slightly charred.
You Will Need
Grilled Wings2 pounds chicken wings
2 scallions
3 quarter-sized coins fresh ginger, crushed with the side of a large knife
3 cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a large knife
Zest of 1 lime, peeled or finely grated
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (1 to 2 limes)
2 tablespoons fish sauce (see notes below for our fish sauce buying guide)
1 tablespoon neutral flavored oil, such as grape seed or canola
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
Sriracha Dipping Sauce1/4 cup mayonnaise, try our homemade mayonnaise recipe
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Salt, to taste
Directions
- Marinate Chicken
1Cut the scallions where the white turns to green. Remove the ends then chop the white part and save the green tops for serving.
2Combine white part of scallions, ginger, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, Sriracha, sugar, coriander, pepper and clove in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken wings, seal bag, and turn to coat. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Grill Wings
1Prepare grill for indirect heat. Remove wings from marinade and place, skin-side-up on grill. Cover grill and cook until fat has rendered and an instant-read thermometer reads close to 165º F, about 10 minutes.
2Move the wings over direct heat. Grill, turning occasionally, until wings are golden brown and slightly charred, 5 to 10 minutes. Stay close to watch for the occasional flare up. If this happens, move the wings to a slightly cooler part of the grill.
- To Finish
1Make dipping sauce by combining mayonnaise, Sriracha, lime juice and black pepper in a small bowl; season to taste with salt and/or more Sriracha.
2Transfer wings to a platter. Thinly slice the green ends of the green onion from earlier then scatter over wings. Serve alongside dipping sauce.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- How to Set Up Your Grill for Wings: We like to use both indirect and direct heat to grill wings.For a gas grill, preheat the grill with all burners on high. Turn one side off or to low – this will be the side you start your wings. After the fat has rendered, move the wings to the side with burner still on. For a charcoal grill: Bank most of the coals on one side of the grill. The side with little to no coals will be the side you start your wings. After the fat has rendered, move the wings to the side with more coals.
- Fish Sauce Buying Guide: Our fish sauce sits within arm’s reach of our stove. We use it in everything and absolutely will not make pho soup without it, which is why you see it in this recipe. We’ve come to trust the Three Crabs brand of fish sauce, which you can buy online or in Asian markets. When shopping for fish sauce, look for glass bottles, not plastic and allow price to guide you. Go for the mid to high priced fish sauce (which will run you $4 to $5). You can sometimes find fish sauce in grocery stores, but we’ve had the most success shopping at International or Asian markets since they have a much better selection. Another premium fish sauce brand is Red Boat. It’s excellent.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
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