Korean Chicken Wings
These Korean Chicken Wings hit all the flavor notes, and are a little sweet, spicy, tangy, and savory. The sauce only takes 5 minutes to make and coats the chicken wings beautifully with a consistency that’s similar to BBQ sauce. It’s the perfect appetizer for game night or parties!
Whenever I see chicken wings on sale at the grocery store, they always go in my cart. They’re one of my favorite foods ever and I love playing with different types of sauces.
That’s the beauty of chicken wings, as they are a blank canvas that can be coated in nearly any type of flavor combo.
While the classic Buffalo Sauce will always be my favorite, these Korean chicken wings are pretty incredible too. They have the perfect balance of tanginess, savory/umami, sweet, and spicy, and a rich thickness that coats the wings kind of like a BBQ sauce.
It’s definitely a situation where the phrase “finger licking good” comes to mind.
And bonus, this gochujang-based Korean wing sauce is nearly as simple to make as Buffalo sauce, and only takes 5-10 minutes. You can definitely make it while the wings are cooking.
Before we dive into the step-by-step, I should clarify that these Korean Chicken Wings are made with deep fried or baked chicken wings (your choice on however you cook them), then coated in a Korean sauce, and are not to be confused with Korean style chicken wings. Those are wings that are battered and deep fried, and have a crispy shell surrounding the meat.
Korean style wings are crazy delicious, but I like to go out for those since I don’t deep fry wings at home anymore, and those must be fried. Now I always bake mine per the recipe link in the previous paragraph, and they always turn out wonderfully crispy from a method of parboiling and baking.
Let’s dive in!
To get started, place butter, gochujang, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, rice wine, and rice vinegar in a small saucepan:
What is gochujang?
If you’re not familiar with gochujang, it’s a sweet and spicy fermented Korean chili paste. It is one of the most foundational ingredients of Korean cooking, and it has an incredible flavor. You should be able to find it at pretty much any grocery store these days.
One thing I’ll note about the gochujang is that the sweetness varies wildly from brand to brand, so if you prefer it one way or another, take a look at the label before buying one. I also prefer the more natural brands…some have things like corn syrup and preservatives in them.
Also, if you don’t have rice wine on hand, you can use water instead. It still has tons of flavor.
Bring all the ingredients to a boil, and let it simmer for 5 minutes:
That gives the sauce plenty of time to thicken a little bit, and for the garlic and ginger to cook.
Pour the Korean wing sauce into a big bowl, one that’s big enough to hold all the wings:
While the wings are hot out of the oven (I use this Baked Chicken Wings recipe), toss them into the bowl with the sauce:
Stir to coat, until every bit of surface area is covered:
Don’t they look kind of like BBQ sauce wings? They’re pretty similar, but with a Korean flavor theme.
Enjoy the wings right after coating with the sauce, otherwise they’ll get soggy.
The Korean Chicken Wing Sauce recipe is below, and here’s the oven method for Chicken Wings.
For non-spicy wings, try Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings. Or coat the wings in the classic Buffalo Wing Sauce and pair with homemade Blue Cheese Dip.
For similar Korean flavors, these Korean Chicken Rice Bowls are really popular and take less 15 minutes to make, there’s also this quick Korean Beef Ramen Stir Fry, and Kalbi.
Korean Chicken Wing Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp rice wine or water
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly, to the consistency of a ketchup or BBQ sauce.
- Toss cooked chicken wings with the sauce, then serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
24 Comments on “Korean Chicken Wings”
I’m going to try this. Looks yummy!
Thanks Susan!
Hi Joanne…im going to immediately take wings out of freezer to make these!!
Question…does gochujang go bad? I bought a fairly large container of this…opened it last month and stuck rest in fridge. Should it still be ok to use?
Still love your method for those baked wings. I have shared it countless times!!
Hi Dave, haha! I like that enthusiasm. The gochujang you have should be fine. I usually keep my containers for like 6 months to a year! There’s usually so much salt and stuff in there that it keeps a while. When in doubt, I always give it a sniff. Happy cooking!
Hi Joanne, I finally tried this recipe. OMG, the wings were incredible!! I just made a sample of them (12 wings, just to try before I make a larger quantity for multiples of friends and family). And using your method of boiling the wings as a first step made these come out as good any deep fried wings in a restaurant!!
Dave
Hi Dave, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed these wings. We really like them too. Happy cooking!
Made this tonight for dinner. Husband says we never need to buy another wing sauce. Hands down the best he’s ever had. Win!! His previous favorite was a hard-to-find (and expensive) sauce. Thank you!!
Hi Carol, that is wonderful to hear!! Hope you both continue to enjoy 🙂
Hi!! Is there a substitute for the gochujang? I would love to make these today, but thats the only ingredient I don’t have! Thanks so much!!
Hi Amber, gochujang is really foundational to the recipe and there’s not really a good substitute for it. Sorry! I hope you can find some though. They have it at Whole Foods and many other grocery stores these days.
Hello, I just ran across your page upon looking for a Korean chicken wing recipe. I am definitely giving it try
Hi,
Just wondering if you can marinate the wings night before then bake the next day? Or best eaten when the sauce is made fresh on the day?
Thanks
Sam
Done this a few times and its the tits!
My boyfriend hates eating spicy foods, but this recipe is so good, he just asks for more rice to tank the spiciness. Definitely 10/10.
My family loves this sauce! Thanks so much for the recipe. I have made it using 1/2 soju 1/2 water in place of the rice wine and it was tasty. I am new to Korean cuisine and am enjoying learning. Which rice wine do you prefer for this dish? Is it sake or is it mirin or something else?
Turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Joanne for your awesome recipe.
The whole family loved it. Finger liking good!!
This! Everything this!!! This is exactly what I was looking for! I loves me some buffalo sauce, but I’ve been searching for a good Asian style sauce. Instead, I found a GREAT one! This is going on the permanent family menu!
Can’t wait to try this, thank you for posting. Do your know what the equivalent is in grams for the gochugang?
I think it is about 80 – 85 grams.
Made this sauce together with your par-boiled baked chicken wings this afternoon. Delicious! I scattered a handful of white sesame seeds on top along with green onions for serving. Everyone loved them.
That’s great, James. Happy cooking!
Joanne,
Just checking , how can this amount of sauce cover 36 chicken wings or is it 72 wingettes and drumettes ?
Thank you.
Hi, I will change this to 36 “chicken wing pieces” because I mean 36 pieces of assorted wingettes and drumettes. I find this is enough sauce for that amount, but your preference may vary. Because the sauce is so bold and strong, I think they only need a light coat. Hope that helps.