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Red White and Blue Chicken Wing Recipe
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Dr. Pepper Chicken Wings

Smoky, Crispy, and delicious. These chicken wings are brined in Cherry Dr. Pepper and then tossed in a patriotic sauce of your choosing. I'll never make chicken wings a different way again!
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine American, Barbecue
Keyword blueberries, chicken, chicken wing recipe, chicken wings, franks red hot, white sauce
Prep Time 18 hours
Cook Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Total Time 20 hours 20 minutes
Author Nick

Ingredients

  • 6 pounds chicken wings partitioned and tips discarded

Chicken Wing Brine

  • liter of Cherry Dr. Pepper
  • cup of kosher salt

For All the Wings, pre smoker

  • 1 tbsp bbq rub per pound of wings
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar per pound of wings
  • 1 tbsp corn starch per pound of wings

Red Sauce

  • 1 cup Frank's Red Hot
  • 4 tbsp butter

White Sauce

  • 1 cup of mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt

Blueberry Barbecue Sauce

  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  • cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ tablespoon molasses
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup water

Instructions

  • About 18 hours before you cook the wings put them in a 2.5-gallon zip lock bag with a liter of Cherry Dr. Pepper and 2 tbsp of kosher salt.
  • take the chicken wings out of the brine, pat them dry with paper towels.
  • put the wings in a bowl that is large enough for you to toss them with some seasonings.
  • for each pound of wings add one tablespoon of your favorite bbq rub or seasoning, one tablespoon of brown sugar, and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Toss your wings in the seasonings until they are all covered, and then throw the wings on your smoker.
  • put the wings on your smoker for about two hours at 150 degrees.

Red Sauce

  • In a saucepan over medium heat combine one cup of Franks Red Hot and four tablespoons of butter. Continue stirring the mixture until the butter has melted, and then let simmer for about ten minutes over medium-low heat.

White Sauce

  • To make the white barbecue sauce combine all of the white sauce ingredients in a shaker bottle
  • After adding all of the ingredients to your shaker bottle, shake vigorously.

Blueberry Sauce

  • In a medium saucepan combine the blueberry barbecue sauce ingredients
  • Stir all of the ingredients together over high heat. Once the sauce has started to boil reduce the heat and simmer for about ten minutes, occasionally stirring to prevent burning. The sauce will thicken up considerably. Pour the sauce into a mason jar and set aside.
  • After the wings have smoked for two hours at 150 degrees, they're really close to being done. You can probe one of the wings with your Thermapen but I promise they won't be at the safe eating temp of 165 degrees.
  • turn the temp up on your smoker to 400 degrees.
  • Place the wings in a bowl, and toss with the sauce of your choosing, and then return to the smoker.
  • Let the wings cook on the smoker for an additional 15 minutes. Check the temperature of the thickest part of a few wings with your Thermapen, and if you're over 165 degrees, you're good to go! Remove the wings, and enjoy!

Notes

I had a blast making this red white and blue chicken wing recipe. I was surprised by how good the different sauces turned out, and how delicious the wings were at the end. The Cherry Dr. Pepper added a nice touch to the brine, and there was a subtle taste of cherry with every bite of a chicken wing.