The Best Chicken Wings Ever

Normally on Fridays, I write a post titled "Everything I know about..." I do a deep dive into a specific topic and share what knowledge I have about it. Today, I decided to do something different. Today, I am going to share with you the recipe for my favourite chicken wings. Why? Why not? It's Friday, that's why. Let's take a look.

What Makes a Great Chicken Wing?

In my opinion, a great chicken wing has to be crispy on the outside and tender inside. It is best when the wings are tossed in a sauce that nicely balances sweet and spicy.

What Makes a Terrible Chicken Wing?

Wings that are overcooked and dry are obviously pretty terrible. There is no question about it. Know what else is terrible? Breaded wings. There I said it. Someone had to. Breaded wings are the worst.

I know that there are some people out there who will completely, and adamantly disagree with me in regard to breaded wings. To them I say, you're wrong... Obviously, people are entitled to like breaded wings, just for me, I'm not a fan.

What else makes a terrible wing? Not enough or too much sauce. Yeah, both of these are a thing. You don't want a big pool of sauce at the bottom of your bowl or basket when you're done eating your wings. No one wants that. You also don't want dry spots on your wings that aren't sauced at all. That's just as bad.

How to Get Crispy Chicken Wings at Home

There are a few different techniques for getting wings crispy in the oven. The best one I've seen is to dust them lightly in baking powder and bake them on 375 degrees F, on a rack set over a baking sheet until they are cooked through. This does work... sort of. But here's the thing, the wings come out good, but there is something slightly weird about them.

Why You Should Just Fry Them

How often do you eat chicken wings? More importantly, how often do you eat wings at home? My guess is, probably not that often, right? So, since you don't eat them that often isn't it fair to say that when you do eat them you should strive to make them the best they can be?

Here's what I'm saying: more than likely the chicken wings that you are making at home are a treat for some specific occasion. So, treat yourself. Fry those guys. Fry em' up! Even if you don't have a deep fryer, you can shallow fry them in a pan with an inch of oil. Just be careful. Use a thermometer to watch the temperature and again, be careful. Getting comfortable with preheating your pan properly is one of the best habits you can build in the kitchen.

Here's the deal with wings: frying takes 7-10 minutes. They come out hot, crispy, and delicious. You don't need to add baking soda or flour to them. Just pat them dry with a paper towel, so the oil doesn't splatter too much when you put the wings in. Fry them on 365 degrees F, until they are cooked through. And enjoy.

No fryer and no patience? My broiled chicken wings get their colour from the top element instead.

The Sauce

My favourite chicken wing sauce is actually really simple to make and absolutely killer. I take two parts of my favourite hot sauce, combined with one part honey, and I boil it until it is thick. That's it.

For the hot sauce, I usually use either Franks Red Hot or Louisianna Hot Sauce. Both are delicious and both work very well with the honey. If you enjoy making your own condiments, my barbecue sauce recipe uses a similar approach of balancing sweet and tangy flavours.

Boiling the sauce concentrates the flavour of the hot sauce. This means that the flavour is much stronger. But, the honey helps to balance that out. So, what you end up with is a slightly sweet, really flavourful sauce, that is thin enough to completely and evenly cover the wings. It is also thick enough that it doesn't make a big mess. It holds on to the wings.

Because I'm a glutton I sometimes add a bit of butter into the sauce to give it a silky texture and richer flavour. That is the chunky stuff in the picture below.

Blue Cheese Dressing

To balance out the heat it is nice to have something cooling to dip the chicken wings into. Enter, blue cheese dressing. I really want to call this blue cheese ranch but that's not really what it is, so we will settle with the broad term "dressing".

What this really is: a bit of blue cheese mixed with sour cream, a bit of mayo, chives, vinegar, and pepper. And yes, it is perfect with these wings. It's not too fancy, or complicated and it can be put together very quickly. Delicious!

If your table is split, make blue cheese for one side and a cottage cheese ranch for the other.

Final Thoughts

These are genuinely my go-to wings, and every time I make them I'm reminded how much better homemade beats anything you'd order out. The honey hot sauce is dead simple and the blue cheese dressing takes about two minutes. Give them a try next time you're looking for something special -- I think you'll be hooked.

Recipe