Spicy Buffalo Chicken
Who doesn’t love to gnaw on a spicy chicken wing or drummette, every bite a glorious combination of fat and meat that coats your lips with a red, buttery gloss. Diving into a plate of wings or drummies is a messy endeavor, but that’s why people love ‘em. It’s an excuse to suck a bone clean, lick your fingers and not worry about the smudge of hot sauce on your cheek even if you’re dining in public.
When a craving for Buffalo wings hits, there’s no reason to rely on bottled wing sauces or take-out joints that use questionable ingredients. If you’re a Buffalo wing purist, homemade wings or drummettes require only two easy ingredients: hot sauce and butter. No matter what brand of hot sauce is used, adding a few extra ingredients will intensify the flavor and make the wings even better. Paprika and apple cider vinegar add more smokiness and tanginess, respectively, and garlic gives the wings an extra kick. All three enhance the chicken without dramatically changing the classic spicy, finger-lickin’ good flavor.
A purist will also say the wings have to be deep fried, but deep-frying isn’t always convenient. If you’re not up for the mess and hassle of deep-frying, then turn on the oven or light up the grill – the wings or drummettes will turn out less greasy but no less tender or flavorful. In about 35 minutes you’ll be sitting down to a plate of wings, each one more addictive than the next. Dipping the wings or drummettes in Ranch is optional (we know some of you can’t resist) and so is serving cool, crunchy celery stalks on the side. However you decide to serve ‘em they’re likely to go fast, so make sure to get in there and grab a few before they’re gone.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 – 3 pounds chicken wings or drummettes
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons hot sauce, or more for a spicier sauce
Instructions:
Pat the chicken dry. An optional extra step is placing the chicken in the refrigerator uncovered for at least 8 hours. This dries out the skin completely, which some claim leads to crispier skin.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit or heat grill to medium-high heat.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the garlic, paprika, vinegar and hot sauce. Remove from heat. Pour 1/4 of the sauce into a small bowl and pour the remaining sauce into a large bowl and set aside.
If using the oven, the chicken can be placed on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, or for crispier results, place the chicken on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet so the fat drips down and away from the chicken.
Brush 1/4 of the sauce over the chicken.
If using the oven, bake for 30 minutes, turning once. Heat broiler to high and broil wings on each side until dark and crispy.
If using the grill, then grill over medium-high heat for 12-15 minutes for wings and possibly a few minutes longer for drummettes.
Dump chicken into the large bowl with the remaining sauce and stir to coat.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
Simple. I like that!
Yay, for simplicity!
Traditional hot wings are probably my favorite non-primal food next to fried chicken. So this is awesome.
What do you mean Non Primal. The ingredients are Paleo
Yum, they look delicious!
How many can I eat (skins-on, naturally) before even Grok looks at me in shame?
If I see food like this, I can’t believe I ever did that vegan cr*p for so long…those look delicious!
I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks!
Two words: Blue. Cheese.
Give me a Primal recipe for blue cheese dressing, and you will be my friend for life.
I second this! Bleu Cheese and hot wings were meant for each other.
OH yes! Never understood the Ranch thing — bleu cheese and hot wings and celery, oh MY!
I adapted this recipe for really good blue cheese dressing. I reduced the amount of mayo, which can be replaced with paleo-mayo. And I don’t use worcestershire sauce so instead used a mix of tamari and fish sauce.
Oops, no link . . .http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/bills-blue-cheese-dressing/Detail.aspx
Mix some 1/2 cup raw milk with 4 oz crumbled blue cheese, 4 oz cream cheese, pinch salt and pepper – blend until smooth or keep it chunkier. Add a pinch of smoked paprika for extra flavor.
This sounds pretty good. I will definitely have to give it a try! Have you ever tried using less cream cheese and subbing heavy cream in place of the milk?
Try Mark’s Homemade Ranch dip. Its awesome!
I steam mine, without them touching for 10 minutes as the first step then dry with a paper towel, which gets rid of the moisture. Then I bake them dry, which gives them a crispy skin. Then coat with he sauce.
I think I saw this method on Good Eats with Alton Brown, but I’ve never tried it. Is it worth the extra time?
The recipe is great with chicken thighs too! ( different cook times of course)
Do you know how much longer you cook the thighs?
Damn that looks tasty. I loves me some chicken wings.
Heroin wings are the best wings you can make. Period. They put all other wings to shame. Imagine a juicy, succulent wing sealed in a crispy coating of… breading? Not likely! Parmesan cheese! Sooo good, there are a few variations to the original recipe and you can always coat them in sauce when they’re done. Just be sure to use some non-stick tinfoil or you’ll lose half the coating
Parmesan coating in place of bread… I like it! I will add this to my list of wing recipes I want to try.
Next up is this desire I have had lately to devise a delicious lemon pepper wing sauce! I think I have the basic idea together after making a delicious creamy lemon butter sauce for our Salmon dinner on Saturday.
Extra garlic could be beneficial. It naturally temporarily increases your testosterone.
I used to eat garlic in everything it went well with, especially after workouts.
Aw, hell. Guess I have to go buy some wings now… yum!
I had no idea buffalo sauce was just butter+hot sauce with extras! I’m going to try this as my injection for whole roast chicken.
Will definitely have to try this.
great chow. you want easy…just fry ‘em in ghee, when cooked through pour on the crystal, reduce, then enjoy.
Cooked and then soaked in butter? Sounds divine to me.
Love buffalo wings! As soon as I saw the photo of a few everyday ingredients and the mention of apple cider vinegar to add tanginess, I knew I’d have to try this recipe the next time I cook chicken.
I think I am in love!!
Thanks for the recipe I made something just like it for lunch with what I had on hand and it came out delicious! Much healthier than the wings my friends order at 2am every weekend!
simple but awesome!
Wow. Hot wings were one of my favorite foods before going primal and I’m kind of surprised to think that I haven’t had them in any form -since- I’ve changed my diet.
These are going on tomorrow’s grocery list.
What is ‘hot sauce’?
Kim,
Hot sauce is a liquid made from chili peppers. The most famous I know of in the USA is Tabasco sauce.
Hope that helps.
I love chicken wings! I smoke them on my grill for about an hour and they always are 100x’s better than anything you buy at a bar or restaurant. For the sauce I use follow basically what Mark has up there.
Oh my god, they look yummy, I never buy anything like this at the shop as Im afraid what will be lurking in the ingredients, but i didn’t think it would be so easy to make it, my Little girl will enjoy these I am sure
I love eating like a caveman (I should say cavewoman)! Of course within limits of basic manners, and of course I do enjoy the occasional snooty venue….but my favourite is stuff you can dive into with your hands – giant king prawns ( which I invariably eat with the shell – crunch crunch crunch!!!) lamb chops on the bone, rotisserie chicken, freshly tooth-caught fish from Volga river down road (just kidding with last one). Messy is awesome, and I’m so trying this!
Made these this weekend (for the Gator game!!). They were so good!! Used the buffalo-style version of Tabasco. Thanks!!
My wife has to have the skin super crispy, but we are too impatient and lack the planning skills to dry the wings out a day ahead. My solution is to bake the wings for about 20-30 minutes on each side at 450f. Kep an eye on the wings and adjust the time depending on your oven and if your wings are frozen or thawed. Toss in sauce and enjoy!
OH MY GOD thank you!!! I have to eat relatively low sodium and it’s awesome to find a good wings sauce that both A) can be easily modified for low sodium and B) uses healthy amounts of real butter.
YUM!
I made oven baked buffalo wings the other month. MMM seeing this recipe makes me want more!!
Will have to do this again w/ the added spices
A little healthier than fried – thanks!