Slow Cooker Chili Lime Chicken Wings + VIDEO

These slow cooker chili lime chicken wings are the perfect game day appetizer. You can also make this easy wings recipe in the Instant Pot.

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Super bowl is right around the corner! I have a few favorite “game day eats” with chicken wings being at the top of the list. The idea for this recipe came from my second cookbook, The Low Sodium Slow Cooker Cookbook. There’s a chili lime chicken breast recipe in the cookbook that I used as a base for this recipe.

Homemade Chili Lime Sauce

As with most of my recipes, this one is all about the sauce. The homemade chili lime sauce is a combination of enchilada sauce, 1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, lime juice and simple seasonings like cumin. How many chipotle peppers in adobo should you use? It depends on how much heat you want in your wings. Do you like spicy food? Use two chipotles. Chipotle peppers are jalapeños that have been dried and smoked. It’s common for them to be packaged in a can of adobo sauce. While the peppers themselves can be spicy, the adobo sauce on the other hand is slightly sweet, smokey & tangy. If you’re not sure how many chipotles to use, start with one (or less), taste your sauce, and add more if needed. If you don’t want your wings to be spicy at all, don’t add the chipotles from the can; instead add 1-2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce only. It will give it a bit of a smoky flavor but without the heat. Most chipotle peppers in adobo that you find in the grocery store are not whole30 compliant. Here’s a good link to a homemade compliant version. Or you can use 1 teaspoon dried chipotle powder.

before (slow cooker)

Other wings recipes you might enjoy:

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Lemon-Pepper Wings

Honey Mustard Wings

after (slow cooker)

Broiling The Wings

Bring on the crispy wings! When the wings are done cooking, I like to broil them to crisp the skin. This is an optional (they’ll still taste fine if you don’t) but recommended step. To do so, carefully remove the wings from the slow cooker or pressure cooker. They will be hot so use tongs. Lay the wings on a baking sheet and place them under your broiler until they’re crisp to your liking. This is usually 3-5 minutes for me. Sometime I flip them halfway through cooking but not always.

broil (optional but recommended)

You can find a homemade enchilada sauce recipe in my latest cookbook, The Low-Sodium Slow Cooker Cookbook. I haven’t added my homemade enchilada sauce to this blog yet but it’s listed below. Or if you’re not worried about the sauce being compliant, you can use store-bought..

Homemade Paleo/Whole30 Slow Cooker Enchilada Sauce
15 ounces crushed tomatoes
12 ounces tomato paste
8 ounces tomato sauce
2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6. Let cool then blend until smooth.

I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.

Slow Cooker Chili Lime Chicken Wings

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• Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2–3 pounds chicken wings
• 1 cup water (for pressure cooker)
• Handful fresh cilantro for garnish

Sauce:

• 1 cup enchilada sauce
• 1–2 chipotle chile peppers in adobo, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried chipotle powder
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

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Instructions

Slow Cooker

1. Add chicken wings to the slow cooker.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients. Pour sauce on top of chicken wings.
3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
4. See broil steps below. After broiling, pour remaining sauce on top of the wings and serve.

Electric Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)

1. Pour water into the pressure cooker. Add trivet.
2. Season wings with salt & pepper (optional). Pile the wings on top of the trivet.
3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook 5 minutes. When done, quick release remaining pressure.
4. Carefully remove wings from pressure cooker with tongs. In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients.Toss with half the sauce & then continue on to the broil steps below. After broiling, pour remaining sauce on top of wings.
   • If you’re not going to broil your wings, you can toss the wings with all of the sauce and serve.

BROIL (optional but recommended): when done cooking, remove wings from the appliance and lay them on a large baking sheet. Place the baking sheet under your oven’s broiler for 2-5 minutes or until wings are crisp to your liking. 

• Author: Shannon Epstein
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/

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