If you love fall-off-the-bone chicken wings that are both sweet and savory with a touch of spice, these Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken Wings are about to become your new favorite crowd-pleaser!

We developed this recipe from real kitchen testing and plenty of family dinner feedback — no chef training required, tried-and-true techniques that bring big flavor with minimal fuss. Slow cooking lets the honey and soy sauce blend into a sticky, irresistible sauce that hugs every bite, while easy pantry ingredients keep this suited to weeknight dinners or game day spreads.

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

How to Make Sweet and Spicy Honey Soy Slow Cooker Wings

We are not generally a fan of sweet wings- to us, wings need to be spicy and have a ton of flavor. However, we love the sticky, thick texture honey gives to wing sauce when cooked on a low temperature over time. We knew we needed to find some bold, good spices to pair with the honey to get the flavor we were looking for… we decided to make our own recipe and put a little bit of an Asian-inspired twist on them with some shoyu (soy sauce), a little chili paste, and some special spices. Thus, these Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken Wings were born!

Soy Chicken Wings in Crock Pot Ingredients

To make these wings assemble the following ingredients:

Honey – honey balances out the spice of the chili paste for a beautifully flavored sweet and spicy wing.
Soy sauce – soy sauce is a salty vaguely meaty Asian sauce that doesn't have a good substitute. You can use low sodium or regular.
Rice vinegar – compared to other vinegars, rice vinegar has a mild sweetness and slightly sour flavor.
Chili paste – chili paste is a complex combination of fruit zests, chili peppers, and other spices in olive oil. Buy a high-quality chili paste, this is the most important ingredient.
Onion powder – onion powder is a great way to get that punchy strong onion flavor without adding more moisture to the slow cooker.
Garlic powder – this powerhouse is a common addition to Asian food and helps compliment the other spices for a mouthwatering flavor.
Cumin – cumin has an earthy subtle taste that compliments the other spices.
Cayenne pepper – cayenne is a great way to kick the heat up a notch. If you don't want the wings to be spicy, omit this.
Baking powder – baking powder is used to thicken the sauce for these wings. See FAQs for alternatives.
Chicken wings – We cut our wings in between drum, wing, and tip but you can leave them whole if you prefer.
Green onions – diced green onions make an good fresh garnish for these succulent wings.
Sesame seeds – sesame seeds add a crunchy texture to these wings, you can use black or white sesame seeds.

Steps to Make Honey Soy Crockpot Wings

Combine ingredients – combine all of the ingredients except the chicken wings and baking powder, stir them together and set them aside.

Coat Chicken – coat the chicken in the baking powder, we like to shake them together in a plastic bag to coat them well.

Combine and cook put the chicken wings in the slow cooker followed by the sauce. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours. Stir about every house to make sure the sauce is even around the wings.

Stir and Serve – When ready to serve stir the wings and sauce well and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions, enjoy!

Kitchen notes

Not all slow cookers are created equal. The type and brand of your slow cooker will partly determine how long the cook time is. To determine doneness, look for when the meat is easily separating from bone, and wings have reduced in size by about half.

Garnish like a pro – Sesame seeds and chopped green onions add fresh crunch and color before serving.

Keep it practical – If your sauce seems thin at first, don't worry — the wings release juices as they cook, giving you that rich, caramelized finish.

Don't sweat the sauce before cooking – It will look like you don't have enough sauce when you add it to your crock pot, but don't worry the chicken will release a lot of moisture that will add to the sauce during cooking.

Flavor balance – Honey brings sweet stickiness while soy sauce provides umami depth — adjusting chili paste lets you dial heat up or down.

Honey Soy Chicken Wings in Crock Pot FAQs

Can we make use a different thickener than baking powder?

If you don't want to use baking powder, you can use 1 tsp of cornstarch instead.

How do we make these less spicy?

The spice level here is determined by the amount of cayenne. If you want it less spicy add less or none.

Can we use chicken thighs instead of wings?

Yes — dark meat like thighs works well. adjust cook time until the meat is tender.

How should leftovers be stored?

Store cooled wings and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days. Reheat gently.

More SLow Cooker Favorites

Check out our other favorite chicken recipes by clicking here.

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Ingredients

2 tbsp honey
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp chili paste
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp baking powder
1 lb chicken wings, we cut them in between drum, wing, and tip but you can leave them whole if you prefer
To garnish:
3-4 green onions, diced
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method

In a medium sized bowl, add all ingredients except for the baking powder and chicken wings.
Stir well to combine, set aside.
Add chicken wings and baking powder to a ziploc bag, shake well to coat chicken wings evenly.
Add chicken wings to slow cooker.
Pour sauce over wings.
Cook on high for 2-3 hours. If cooking on low, cook for 4-5 hours.
Stir about once every hour to make sure sauce is even on all wings.
When meat is easily separated from bone, and wings have reduced in size by about half, plate wings or serve right out of the slow cooker. stir well to make sure all wings have a good amount of sauce on them.
Top with sesame seeds and freshly chopped green onions.
Time will vary based on the slow cooker or crock pot you use.