Easy Buffalo Wings Recipe
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Difficulty: Easy |
Total Time:
35 mins, plus marinating time
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Active Time:
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Makes:
6 to 8 servings as an hors d'oeuvre
In this oven-baked version of the classic fried finger food, a short marinade combined with broiling crisps up the skin and leaves the meat juicy. A last-minute dip in hot sauce guarantees that spicy flavor.
What to buy: The spiciness of these wings will depend on your choice of hot sauce. We prefer the mild to medium spiciness from brands like Frank’s RedHot or Crystal, but feel free to use something hotter if you like.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mild to medium hot sauce
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 pounds chicken wings, separated into 2 pieces and wing tips discarded
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
- Blue Cheese Dressing (optional)
- Celery sticks (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place 1 cup of the hot sauce, the buttermilk, and the garlic powder in a large resealable plastic bag and stir to combine. Add the wings; seal the bag, pressing out any excess air; and turn the bag to coat the wings evenly. Let marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally, for at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours.
- Heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on it.
- Remove the wings from the marinade, letting any excess drip off, and arrange in a single layer on the rack. (If possible, don’t allow the wings to touch.) Discard the marinade and broil the wings until the meat starts to pull away from the bones and the skin is deep golden brown, bubbling, and crisped, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the wings over using tongs. Return wings to the oven and continue broiling until the skin is deep golden brown, bubbling, and crisped on the second side, about 12 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/2 cup hot sauce and melted butter in a large bowl and set aside. Add cooked wings and toss to coat. Serve immediately with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, if using.
I never marinate the wings, the sauce is where the flavor comes from anyway. I suggest cooking wings on 450F, skin side up, for 25 minutes, and then throw them in the deep fryer (375F) for 3-5 minutes untill crisp. Then immediately toss in butter/hotsauce mix.
we always let the wings sit with a nice spicy rub, grill the wings then toss in hot sauce melted butter combo turns out great!!
your way the hot sauce runs off my way it stays on the wing . i start with 1/2 stick of( margarine or butter ) melt in microwave i start with 30 seconds. but not to hot just stir it untill melted then 1, table spoon of ketchup with the hot sauce add a little at a time , taste it to make it hotter if to hot addd more margrine or butter defried or broiler the wings. Put wing in a bucket with lid shake well somtimes I put parmesan cheese in the sauce.now the sauce wont run off the wing .it the ketchup that makes it stick the the wing
@ eratosthanes: The grease is probably as a result of the chicken wings losing moisture, thus the increased weight. That's my guess anyways.
Alton Brown advocates baking his wings in the episode of good eats he did. I also like to bake mine, they come out plenty crisp, maybe not as much as a fryer, but definitly worth the tradeoff.
What trade off is that? Well my entire apartment / kitchen and all my clothing doesn't smell like oil for 3 days, I dont have to do tons of cleanup with spattered grease everywhere and I can do 30 wings at once instead of the 6 I could in my deep frier.
If you were out back and had a turkey frier or fish fry setup or something it'd be one thing, but I've come to think that fried wings are best left to places like pubs that have the proper equipment.
I think this "easy" recipe is more of a hassle then just deep frying. I've been making Buffalo wings on football Sundays for years. First I do think a key is rinsing off the raw wings then drying them on towels as well as possible. I lay them out on a kitchen towel after rinsing, then lay another towel on top and press to dry off as much as possible. You should really be careful handling raw chicken of course, including the towels, counter or anything that comes in contact with the chicken.
I have found it worth the extra buck or so per pound to buy the fresh (not frozen) wings already separated into wing and drumette sections as it saves having to cut them, clean up etc. One thing, though, if you do buy whole wings and cut them up yourself, you can keep the wing tips, combine them with the leafy celery tops from the (mandatory) celery sticks you'll serve with the Buffalo wings, add water and a little salt, bay leaf or whatever, and make an excellent quart or so of homemade chicken stock.
So, the key then is to bring about 2-3 inches of oil (I use canola) to near smoking temperature in a heavy pot that has as least another six inches of depth above the oil. Don't add the wings all at once as they will potentially boil over making a dangerous mess, and they will drop the temperature of the oil too quickly. I add 12-18 wings, quickly but one at a time, to the pot without crowding. After a minute give them a stir to keep them from sticking to each other or the pot. It may take about 6-8 minutes to get them nicely crisp and brown. Turn them as needed a couple of times. I drain them in a brown paper supermarket bag (or on paper towels) and set them aside and if needed make another batch or two, or more. You can keep them warm in the oven, or what I prefer if the pot is large enough, is to give them all a quick second fry in one large batch that reheats them and crisps them, and allows you to serve them all at once. I've made as many as 100 together in one huge pot, but usually about three or four dozen. Drain again if you do the second fry.
Saucing is as simple as melting butter or margarine (depending on the number of wings 1/4 to one stick of butter) and adding good old Frank's hot sauce (again depending on the amount of wings) in a large frying pan then tossing the wings to coat them. Adding extra butter will also decrease the hotness, and you can increase hotness by adding Tabasco. As far as I know this is the original way it's done at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, and these are at least as good as the ones I've had there.
Also, instead of just celery sticks, also have baby carrots and red bell pepper strips on the side. And, my kids aren't wild about blue cheese dressing so I use Ranch dressing (or other creamy dressing.)
It's pretty simple once you've got the process down, and if you fry them properly I am of the school of thought that feels there's not much added fat from deep frying as long as you add them to hot oil (which quickly seals the skin) and drain them well to remove excess oil. You can save more calories with little effect on flavor by using something like Smart Balance instead of butter in the hot sauce.
Yes, I found that recipe online somewhere a long time ago. All I have to go by is various restaurants and joints I've worked that call them "buffalo wings" as I have never been to Buffalo. You would have try them and get back to me if it's close to the real deal. I added the recipe here as an alternative to frying. There's nothing quite like a deep fried wing. You don't eat 'em for your health, ya know. lol. But, I think this is a very good alternative when you have an oven but lack the fryer. You're also right about the wing size. Some of those frozen wing packages in the store have hardly any meat on them. Be very careful what you buy. I've been burned more than once.
Hey skindog. I've seen that recipe for 'Original Anchor Bar' wings online, but I don't believe it. You can also find the actual one (at least, I believe this is the one)--it's much simpler. After you deep-fry the wings, toss them in a mixture of butter and Frank's (Durkee) Hot Sauce, with a little vinegar added. Not all those other flavors.
I've eaten hundreds of wings in Buffalo NY, and believe me, it's a very simple process. There's nothing wrong with creatively flavoring your wings, but they aren't 'Buffalo wings'.
I appreciate all the efforts by everyone here to try to equal them through oven baking. I think that the main secret is to start with the huge wings that are served in Buffalo bars and restaurants. That way, when you bake them, they'll still be fairly good-sized after the water and fat cooks off.
Buttermilk will make the sauce creamier. I would substitute it with butter and add some paprika. We deep fry our wings and then mix them in the sauce. Make sure you pat dry your wings before dropping them in the deep fryer, otherwise, you will have a spectacular splatter show. One important factor is make sure the oil is hot before you add the wings and fry them long enough so there wouldn't excess oil in the wings.
Sorry. I should've proof read it first. Add the teaspoon of salt (preferably kosher or sea) to the chicken and oil. The 1/4 tea. is added to the sauce. Omit or very little if using salted butter in the sauce.
While I'm here I'll tell you another trick. Make a roux using 1 T. of butter and 1 T. flour. Add the Franks stirring constantly, then the remaining butter or oil. This will thicken the sauce and make it stick to the wings.
Skindog, how much salt is the correct amount for that recipe? You list salt twice in the ingredient list.
Here is the original Anchor Bar recipe tweaked for the oven. I will sometimes sub the butter with oil.
I make these twice a month for my family. There's nothing but bones left on the plate. Enjoy!
36 chicken wing pieces (one wing makes 2 pieces - the "flat" and the "drum")
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce (Frank's is the brand used in Buffalo)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
celery sticks
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
If necessary, cut whole wings into two pieces. In a bowl toss the wings with the oil, and salt. Place into a large plastic shopping bag, and add the flour. Shake to coat evenly. Remove wings from the bag, shaking off excess flour, and spread out evenly on oiled foil-lined baking pan(s). Do not crowd. Bake for about 20 minutes, turn the wings over, and cook another 20 minutes, or until the wings are cooked through and browned.
While the wings are baking, mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan, and over low heat bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and then turn off.
After the wings are cooked, transfer to a large mixing bowl. Pour the sauce over the hot wings and toss with a spoon or spatula to completely coat.
These are ALWAYS served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing on the side, and, in my opinion, a good, cold beer.
I've always found that marinating the wings before broiling leads to soft, flabby wings.
I start a day ahead and brine the wings in a mixture 2 cups of salt, 1 cup of sugar and a gallon of water. Let them soak about 2 hours. Drain, rinse thoroughly and drain again.
Then pat them dry and lay them out on a cookie sheet and let dry overnight uncovered in the fridge. In the morning drain any accumulated liquid from the tray and turn them over so they are good and dry by dinner time
Then you can broil up some crisp wings that while not on par with deep fried, can give them a run for the money.
I then toss the wings with the sauce before serving.
Buffalo-Indonesian wings? I'll give 'em a try.
Just noticed I spelled Louisiana wrong. Must have had a brain cramp
I think the taste of Louiseanna Hot Sauce on chicken wings is horrible. If a person is going to make cook chickin wings they should use a sauce that is tasty and compliments the wings. I use Sambal Oelek for a great flavor and real zip. Here is my sauce recipe. It is really simple.
1 lb fresh red jalapeno peppers
1 1/2 tsps salt
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup of water
Place peppers in blender with salt and water and puree. Put mixture in sauce pan and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove from heat and add vinegar. Pour in clean jar, cap and refrigerate.
Cook in a well vintilated area. I use a hotplate in the garage.
On the subject of fried vs broiled vs baked etc - I actually came across a pretty awesome food experiment (well, awesome if you love buffalo wings). This guy set out on a mission to find a way to make buffalo wings in the oven that are AS CRISPY AS ones that are fried.
He details the trial and error process until he finally settles on a method of getting the wings SUPER DRY --- air drying them in the fridge overnight after patting dry --- with a coating of salt and, get this -- baking powder. Apparently it changes the pH of the skin in such a way to promote browning, without lending any off flavors. His final recipe follows after the experiment part.
I found this site, and coinciding with super bowl, I had a go at it --- I pulled them out of the oven and squeezed a wing --- I lost my crap. The results are AMAZING. They were perfectly crispy, not dried out at all, and no burnt spots from using the broiler trying to crisp them up. The crispy skin holds sauce immensely better than soggy slippery skin if you just baked them normally.
If you love wings, do check THIS recipe out instead. I'll eat my hat if you don't like it (I don't have a hat...but I know you'll like it!)
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/02/th...
Did this for Super Bowl, and they came out surprisingly well.
A few notes. Next time, I need to remove more of the marinade...I think it inhibits crisping..might even give a rinse and dry before putting on the baking sheet..
I broiled 12 mins per side, mid-oven, as reco'd, and found they were just starting to crisp, so added 4 mins more per side, closer to broiler element, and that helped; meat was perfect, cooked thru, but still juicy, skin could have been a bit crisper, but in no way rubbery or offensive.
In addition, at each flip, there was a lot of rendered fat/grease in the pan, which I poured off each time I pulled the tray out. Next time, maybe put them on a rack to elevate them above the drippings? This might also shorten cooking time a bit, so will need to watch.
I'd call the sauce "mild-to-medium"...might want to increase ratio of Franks to butter if you are like me and prefer some more "pow". And I agree that a bit of reduction would be good...the coating was there, but could have been a bit thicker.
All in all, a pleasant surprise, and a good first effort for a novice wing cooked/experienced wing eater. I had my doubts about not-frying, but as someone else mentioned, I wasn't going to fry them 3-4-5 at a time, and miss the game. Definitely will do again, with the modifications noted above.
Also, for the blue cheese dressing, did this one, below, since I had a whole carton of buttermilk, and it was excellent!:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Absolute...
Did a batch for 12 servings for 3.5 lbs of wings, and it was about doulbe what we used, but I did have some light dippers.
Made this recipe last night - it worked pretty well with marinating for 4 hours. Alas, the roasting pan was too close to the heating element so the wings were a bit scorched after the first 12 min. We ended up finishing them at 350F for 18 min. The meat was actually much more tender than some restaurants' fried wings... guess that was the buttermilk. I can't comment on taste because the hot sauce we used was too hot (Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce) - next time that would be ok for the marinade but not for the final sauce.
I meant watery, VINEGARY is good, lol.
You know, I have never understood why people say it is less fatty to fry them, even though it's ALL over the place. We weighed the grease before and after, and there was MORE after, so using simple mathematics, you would assume there would be less calories...
Also, no one bothers to reduce the butter/hot sauce dip, so it ends up vinegary and doesn't really coat the wings, more like kinda washes them. *shrugs* Mine aren't traditional either, so to each their own, I guess.
actually if you look at a Paula Deen recipe for chicken wings, she bakes them till almost done and then throws then in the deep fryer for a few minutes to get the crisp factor. the other way around (ie frying then baking), will release juices/oil from the skin and make the bottom soggy
@BustedFLush I would reverse it, Deep fry first, then put on a sheet pan in the oven to finish. Ina had a fried chicken recipe she does like that, and they chicken stays crispy. That being said, I do them under the broiler all the time, and while they are not as deep fried yummy, they are significantly less fatty.
I'm not convinced that broiling can ever do as good a job of crisping the skin as a deep fryer, and there is a lot of flipping going on here.
At the same time, preparing wings for a party is nearly impossible in my fryer because I'm limited to about 6 at a time. Any more is too big a thermal drop.
I wonder if a hybrid approach would work best - get the meat cooked and up to temperature in the oven, and then crisp them up in the fryer?
Marinating is weird enough for Buffalo wings -but blue cheese and celery are most definately NOT optional! Former Buffalonian.