I have a confession to make... I had never eaten hot wings until I became an adult and started taking myself out to explore the world of food. This seems weird to even me, because as a parent I have tried to expose my daughter to so many different kinds of cuisine as she is growing up. We even made it a point to eat wings in Buffalo, New York right after taking a trip through Niagara Falls! I want her to be able to experience everything, including all the amazing food there is out there.
When we lived in the suburbs, we had a restaurant down the street that served the best wings I've ever had out. After moving to the mountains, we found that there aren't as many options for eating out. At first it felt inconvenient, but honestly, learning how to make all of our favorite things at home has been so rewarding. We've recreated lots of things we used to eat out, and to be honest, they usually taste better than the original and are healthier. Win win!!
Since I tried wings for the first time, they've obviously become one of my top five favorite foods! How could they not?! All the different sauces, the crispy skin (if they're made right) and all the sides that come along with wings are absolutely perfect. Yes, even the carrots and celery, but I'm a veggie girl myself. That said, I guess we should get to it friends!
***Read through the entire recipe before you start cooking! This will help you with multitasking and to ensure things are done at the same time. This is a great tip for EVERY recipe!
Ingredients for Wings
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2 lb - Chicken Wings (thawed)
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2-3 tbsp - Corn Starch
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1 tbsp - Olive Oil
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Salt and Pepper (to taste)
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Granulated Garlic (to taste)
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Ground Paprika (to taste)
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Cooking Instructions for Wings
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Start with thawed chicken wings then take them out of whatever packaging they're in and pat the wings dry.
- Place the wings in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss the chicken to lightly coat.
- Now sprinkle in the corn starch and seasonings. Toss the wings again really well and make sure all the corn starch and seasonings are distributed evenly.
- Place wings on a lined baking sheet with a "cooling rack" on top. Pictures below. I line my baking sheet with foil so I don't have to scrub it later 🙂 and I would recommend spraying the cooling rack with non stick spray before adding wings.
- Place the wings in the oven. Bake for 30 min, FLIP the wings then bake another 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven then toss in the sauce until each wings has a nice even layer of sauce.
**Make the sauce while your wings are cooking. Directions below.
Sauce Ingredients
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3/4 cup - Franks Red Hot Sauce
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1/4 cup - Honey
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2 - Cloves of Garlic, Minced
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3-4 tbsp - Butter
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Dash - Soy Sauce
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Pinch of Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Sauce Cooking Instructions
- Place butter in a large non stick pan over medium heat. I use a large enough pan that I can toss the wings in it when they are done. If you don't have a large enough pan, you can toss everything together at the end in a large bowl.
- Once the butter melts, add your minced garlic and sauté for about 1-2 minutes. You'll know it's cooked when it becomes fragrant. Do not burn the garlic!
- Add Franks Red Hot Sauce, honey and a dash of soy sauce to the pan and stir to combine the ingredients.
- Simmer, stirring often for about 10 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly. This is where I add a sprinkle of black pepper but this step is optional.
- Toss the crispy wings into the sauce as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Serve these HOT with your favorite sides and ranch or blue cheese dressing. Or both! My sides always vary depending on my mood, but celery and carrots are always involved. My mother in law just tried the wings and served hers with mozzarella sticks!
I've made a lot of wings since moving to Evergreen, but these are by far my favorite. That sauce is fire and it really will take your wing game up at least six notches. Adding ingredients to the Franks Red Hot helps create something special, and is so much better than plain! This recipe was another thing that came from me just winging it (see what I did there) in the kitchen, then afterward having to go back to remember what I just did so I can share with you all! I'm really bad at following recipes and usually go off on my own tangents in the kitchen. This is great, but then when someone asks for a recipe I have to really rack my brain. I had to start scribbling everything down as I go so I could start this blog haha.
As far as the actual wings go, sprinkling with cornstarch gives the chicken the most perfect crisp, which is a necessity for great wings in my opinion. Definitely need to thank my friend and favorite cooking partner, Marin, for this tip! Using a baking sheet with a rack lifts the chicken off the pan and allows airflow all around the wings, this also helps get a crispy skin. There's nothing worse than a soggy hot wing! Nothing!
If you love wings as much as I do, you must try this recipe! These flavors will have you dancing at the dinner table, which is encouraged at our house! That means I created something worth celebrating! Recreating foods that you usually eat out is so fun and gives you the freedom to add or subtract ingredients as you see fit. You can also cook with fresher and higher quality ingredients without as many preservatives which gives you a better end product every time.
Thank you all for cooking with me! Great food = happy people, so Enjoy!
Ashley Tuttle
**Below I have listed some of my favorite kitchen tools used in this recipe.
