You could cook your own wings. We’ve got a whole ranking of the best wing sauce to help you out. Or, if that’s too much work, you could air fry up the best frozen wings (or the best frozen boneless wings or the best vegan buffalo wings). Still too much work? Then you’ve come to the right ranking. Because we found the best grocery store wings—as in, pre-cooked wings that are ready to eat (or, at worst, need to be heated up). Ready for an effort-free centerpiece for your game day spread (or just a quick dinner)? Read on.
In our search for the best grocery store chicken wings, my taste-testing colleagues and I sourced 11 varieties of pre-cooked wings from six different grocery stores. We tried them all as-is for the most part (two were sold refrigerated and needed to be warmed in our counter-top oven). We judged them by the juiciness of their meat, how well they were seasoned, and the crispness of the coating or skin.
I went into this taste test excited—mostly because I was hungry but also because I had high expectations. I really thought most of the pre-cooked chicken wings we tried would be good. After all, most rotisserie chickens are at least good. But we only found three to recommend. If you’re feeling lazy or you need some last-minute food for a party, these are the best grocery store wings to buy.
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- Signature Select Breaded Hot & Spicy Wing Zings
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You’ll find Signature Select products at Albertsons-owned grocery stores (that includes places like Vons, Safeway, Shaw’s, Acme—it’s a long list). A lot of them are very good—we’re big fans of the brand’s chicken broth, macaroni salad, and rainbow sherbet. And now you can add pre-cooked chicken wings to the list of Sporked-approved Signature Select products—specifically, the Hot & Spicy Wing Zings. The meat is extremely seasoned. It’s definitely verging on salty, but that just makes these wings all the better for dipping in a creamy ranch or blue cheese dressing. The heat is there, but it’s pretty mild. It mostly just adds flavor. And the breading is minimal, which is good. These are the best grocery store wings if you’re looking to capture that fast casual restaurant appetizer platter vibe.
Credit: Merc / Albertsons
- Freshness Guaranteed Ranch
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It’s ranch seasoning powder on wings. Great. Good. Exactly what I’m looking for in supermarket wings. We tried a few pre-cooked chicken wings from Walmart’s Freshness Guaranteed brand, but the ranch flavor is the only one we can recommend. These dry-rubbed wings are breaded—but the breading isn’t too thick. And the meat itself is just right—not mushy, not stringy. But the real star, of course, is the ranch seasoning. Imagine dipping ranch-seasoned wings into Buffalo sauce. What a subversive snack! If you’re looking for something new, these are the best supermarket wings to buy.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Kroger Fried Wings (no breading)
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You can get two types of hot, ready-to-eat wings from the deli section of a Kroger-owned store (I went to Ralphs): breaded and unbreaded. The breaded wings are fine, but there is a lot of breading and the wings end up tasting more like fried chicken than wings. The un-breaded wings, though, are perfection. The skin is crispy, the meat is juicy and fatty and not too salty. I finished a whole wing in under a minute. Yes, they’re plain. But that just means you have the freedom to flavor them how you see fit. Hands down, Kroger makes the best grocery store wings.
Credit: Merc
Best Hot Wings
Best Unique Flavor
Best of the Best
Other grocery store wings we tried: Ralphs Breaded Wings, Signature Select Plain, 7-Eleven Buffalo, 7-Eleven Plain, Freshness Guaranteed Boneless BBQ, Whole Foods Buffalo, Sprouts Buffalo, Freshness Guaranteed Plain
