Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

Get a little saucy and sassy on game day with these savory, spicy, Bloody Mary Chicken Wings. Packing the bold flavors of brunch’s best friend including horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire, and lemon, these grilled wings are a total touch down for your taste buds.

What goes better with wings than a good cocktail? These crispy yet saucy wings unite the two for a fun and flavorful mashup guaranteed to be an instant hit. Simple ingredients that deliver big on taste will have you reaching for the last one. Serve this up with your favorite Bloody Mary fixings like celery sticks, olives, and pickled dilly beans.

Something magic happens when wings hit the grill. That get that crave worthy combination of succulent, juicy meat, but super crispy skin. Throw in that mysterious kiss of smoke that makes everything better and you have one seriously tasty bite. These grilled Bloody Mary chicken wings take that already delicious texture and flavor profile you get from cooking wings over live fire but builds on that with a super savory sauce that is nuanced with just the rick amount of kick. Just be warned, you are going to need a pile of napkins for the glossy, gorgeous girls!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The Sauce is Boss: Seriously, who doesn’t love buffalo sauce? I can practically eat it with a spoon and be happy. This bloody Mary sauce takes that flavor profile and builds on it with ingredients you find in your favorite Bloody Mary recipe. The result? A buffalo sauce that is incredibly layered without being scorching hot. Tangy, bright, a little garlicky, it has it all.
• Easy Process: Grilling chicken wings is one of the easiest, stress free ways of cooking wings. Because they’re grilling indirect you don’t have to worry about the skin burning, and you don’t have to babysit them too much.
• Budget Friendly: The ingredients for this sauce recipe include pantry staples like hot sauce, Worcestershire, and horseradish. It is just as easy to make a ton of this sauce as it a single recipe making it perfect for any party.

Ingredients

• Spicy Vegetable Juice: Not just for your morning breakfast and bloody Mary mix! Spicy V8 is used in both the marinade for the chicken wings and also the Bloody Mary sauce. It also slightly tenderizes the chicken wings because of the acidity in the tomatoes.
• Hot Sauce: And by hot sauce, I mean Frank’s, because we want that classic buffalo flavor. This is also pulling double duty in the marinade and the sauce recipe.
• Bloody Mary Seasoning: Can you use just salt and pepper to season your wings? Sure, but using a bloody Mary seasoning like the Spice & Tea Exchange will give you even more depth of flavor as well as a really good coarse, crusty texture on the chicken wings. It’s peppery, the right amount of salt, with a hint of umami.
• Worcestershire Sauce: You can’t have a bloody Mary without a good shake or three of Worcestershire sauce. It might be hard to pronounce but it adds an insane depth of flavor that is equal parts salty, tangy, sweet, and funky.
• Lemon:
• Prepared Horseradish: Pick one from the refrigerated section. It adds a different layer of spice that makes this sauce and the marinade come alive. Start with the suggested amount and you can always add more.
• Garlic: Give a fresh, pungent note.
• Unsalted Butter: Because other items in the sauce are already salty like hot sauce and Worcestershire, make sure to use unsalted butter. This will allow you to control the final flavor.

Substitutions and Variations

• Instead of spicy vegetable juice feel free to use regular vegetable juice.
• If you don’t have bloody Mary seasoning, you can substitute with your favorite cocktail rimmer like Old Bay. Season the wings the same but cut back on the amount of seasoning in the marinade and the sauce to prevent it from becoming too salty. You can even do a simple combination of coarse black pepper, kosher salt, and a pinch of celery seed or celery salt.
• Instead of lemon use lime juice for an even tangier option.
• Feel free to add up to 1/4 cup of vodka to your sauce and marinade if you like. A flavored vodka like pepper, jalapeno, or lime vodka would be delicious.

How to Make Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

• Mix together the marinade and marinate. Add all of the ingredients for the marinade to a bowl and mix to combine. Place the wings into a freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Seal it up, letting out as much air as possible. Place the wings into the refrigerator and allow them to marinate for a couple of hours up to overnight.
• Pat the wings dry and season. Remove the wings from the marinade and discard. Place the wings on a baking sheet and pat them dry. Season both sides generously with the bloody Mary seasoning and allow them to come to room temperature while you prepare your grill.
• Prepare your grill for indirect grilling. For a kettle style grill position your charcoal in the center leaving the outer perimeter as the cooler zone. For all other styles of charcoal grills, bank the charcoal to one side of the grill. For additional flavor add wood chips. For a gas grill, preheat your grill to around 400 degrees, not lighting all of the burners.

• Let the wings grill for 25-30 minutes. Place the wings on the indirect, or cooler side of the grill and leave them alone for 25-30 minutes. This is a great time to make your Bloody Mary buffalo sauce.
• Make the Bloody Mary Buffalo Sauce. Place the spicy vegetable juice and smashed garlic cloves in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow it to come to a simmer. Let it simmer until it slightly reduces. Add the hot sauce, Bloody Mary seasoning, Worcestershire, and horseradish and give it a stir. Allow that to come to a simmer and then turn off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, followed by the cold butter, only a tablespoon or two at a time while continuously stirring. Once it’s emulsified add a few more cubes. Continue this process until all of the butter has been added.
• Flip the wings. Allow them to grill for another 15-20 minutes, until their internal temperature is between 165-170.
• Sauce ’em up. Toss your wings in the sauce and place them back on the grill. Allow them to grill until the sauce is set and they’re between 180-185 degrees. Remove them from the grill.
• Dress them up. Toss with the remaining sauce if desired. Garnish them with your favorite Bloody Mary garnishes and enjoy!

What to Serve with Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

• Pickled Dilly Beans
• Olives
• Giadniera
• Bacon
• Carrot or celery sticks
• Tomato skewers
• Celery leaves
• Grilled citrus wedges
• Chunky blue cheese dressing

Tips From the Beach

• Don’t worry about taking your wings past 165. Chicken wings are the best texture when they’re cooked longer. This gives your that super juicy, fall off the bone tender bite.
• Make sure you’re using unsalted butter for these grilled bloody Mary buffalo wings. Keep in mind you’re adding other salty ingredients like buffalo and Worcestershire sauces.
• Slowly adding cold butter to the sauce when the heat is turned off will allow the sauce to emulsify and give it a smoother texture without that broken butter oil slick on top.

Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

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Get a little saucy and sassy on game day with these savory, spicy, Bloody Mary Chicken Wings.

• Author: Nicole Stover
• Prep Time: 10
• Marinating Time: 240
• Cook Time: 55
• Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: Entree
• Method: Grilling
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

• 2–3 pounds chicken wings
• 2 cups Spicy V8 or vegetable juice
• 1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon Bloody Mary seasoning, plus 2 tablespoons for wings

Bloody Mary Buffalo Sauce

• 1 cup Spicy V8 or vegetable juice
• 1 cup Frank’s hot sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish sauce, or more to taste
• 3 teaspoons Bloody Mary seasoning
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed, cold
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

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Instructions

Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

1. Add the V8, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, horseradish, and 1 tablespoon of seasoning to a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Place the wings in a zip top bag and pour in the marinade. Allow them to refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.
3. Remove the wings from the marinade and pat them dry. Sprinkle both sides with 2 tablespoons Bloody Mary seasoning.
4. Prepare your grill for indirect cooking. If using a kettle style grill center your coals in the middle and leave the outside as the cooler zone. For other types of charcoal grills bank your coals to one side of the grill and leave the other side cooler. For gas grills don’t ignite all of your burners. Let your grill heat to between 350-400 degrees. Make sure that your grates are clean.
5. Place the wings on the cooler side of the grill and close the lid. Allow them to grill for 20-30 minutes undisturbed.
6. Flip them, and allow them to grill for another 15 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and they are around 165-170 degrees.
7. Toss the wings in the sauce and place them back on the grill.
8. Let them cook until their internal temperature is around 180-185 degrees.
9. Toss them with the remaining sauce if desired.
10. To serve, plate them with your favorite bloody Mary garnishes such as olives, pickled vegetables, celery leaves, and celery sticks. 

Bloody Mary Buffalo Sauce

1. Add the V8 and garlic cloves to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Allow it to reduce slightly, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the hot sauce, Worcestershire, horseradish, and bloody Mary seasoning and let simmer another couple of minutes.
3. Remove from the heat. While stirring continuously stir in 1 cube of cold butter at a time until dissolved and emulsified.
4. Stir in the lemon juice. 

Notes

1. If you don’t have bloody Mary seasoning you can use your favorite seasoning you would rim your Bloody Mary with such as Old Bay, Cajun seasoning, or salt, pepper, and celery salt. However, start off with just a teaspoon for both the marinade and also the sauce as the salt content will me more.