General Tso’s Wings Recipe

General Tso’s Wings are excellent on the smoker, and wings are the perfect foundation for experimenting with different types of flavor.

For this recipe I’m using Asian style ingredients to mimic one of my favorite Chinese takeout dishes – General Tso’s Chicken. This is sauce is sticky, sweet, and has just enough heat to know you’re eating something spicy.

I start with a family pack of whole chicken wings (you can use individual pieces of flats and drums as well). To season the wings I use a foundation of Salt, Pepper, and Garlic (1/2 cup Killer Hogs AP Rub works great here) mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Chinese 5 Spice seasoning and 2 teaspoons of crushed Red Pepper. Combine these ingredients and evenly sprinkle over all sides of the wings.

I’m firing up my Yoder pellet grill for these General Tso’s Wings cook running Cherry BBQr’s Delight pellets for fuel/smoke.

Set the grill temp for 300⁰ for wings to get the skin just right. You can use any type grill/smoker for this cook just hold the temp steady at 300⁰ and throw on a few chunks of cherry wood for smoke flavor.

Once the grill is up to temp, place the wings on the cooking rack and cook for 45 minutes. Flip the wings over and continue to cook for another 25 minutes and glaze with the wing sauce.

General Tso’s Wing Sauce:

1 cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Soy Sauce
½ cup Hoisin Sauce
½ cup Rice Vinegar
½ cup Water
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper
½ Tablespoon Garlic Chili Paste
2 Tablespoons Green Onion chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger minced
2 Tablespoons Cold Water
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch

In a small pot start with 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil; add 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 Tablespoons of chopped green onion (white parts), 1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger, and 1 Tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper.

Sauté for a couple minutes to soften and then add ½ cup Soy Sauce, ½ cup Hoisin Sauce (Chinese Bbq sauce), ½ cup Rice Vinegar, ½ cup water, and 1 cup Brown Sugar. Stir this mixture and bring to a slight boil. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of Sweet chili sauce and ½ Tablespoon of garlic chili paste and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.

In a separate small bowl whisk together 2 Tablespoons of corn starch and 2 Tablespoon of cold water to make a slurry. Slowly add this mixture to the sauce and cook for a couple more minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and pour into a jar.

Glaze the wings with the General Tso’s Sauce on both sides and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce caramelizes on the wings.

Remove from the smoker and garnish with a little Sesame Seeds and sliced green onion.

If you’re a fan of Asian flavors, you’ll love this sauce on these General Tso’s Wings . The soy and hoisin give it a savory flavor but it’s also sweet and spicy.

It’s excellent on wings but you can use this sauce on just about any meat. Give it a try and let me know what you think!