5 Hot Wings Recipes - plus Dipping Sauces

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t have a collection of hot wing recipes or some other form of chicken wings recipes. Well, perhaps “collection” might be a stretch for some folks, but wings are super popular here in the South, so it’s not at all unusual for a southern cook to have numerous recipes for hot wings. Not all the creations are “hot,” but the term has sort of stuck and is sometimes used for just about any wing recipes, whether they’re actually hot and spicy, or not. Chicken wings are great ideas for cookouts, tailgate parties, snacks, or family movie night. They’re pretty inexpensive, and they’re also fairly quick and easy to make. The frying process takes just a few minutes, while baked wings can be put in the oven and left alone. These things are really great for feeding crowds, and we eat them on a regular basis at our house. Based on my experience and on some of my kitchen experiments, I have a couple of tips for you, along with several hot wings recipes and sauces.

Most hot wings recipes use wing sections instead of whole wings. Chicken wings have three sections: the drummette, the wing tip, and the middle section. The drummette, sometimes called the “drum” or the “pegleg,” is the part closest to the breast muscle and is the meatiest part. The center part of the wing is usually just called a “flat.” The wing tips are basically just bone and skin, so they’re usually discarded or saved to make chicken stock. Once the tips have been removed, the two remaining sections are separated on the joint, creating two separate pieces.

Hot wings can be cooked and prepared in a number of ways. The traditional method and perhaps the most popular is to fry the wings, “naked,” and coat in a hot sauce. By “naked,” I mean that the wings aren’t floured or battered. Of course, many folks prefer for their chicken wings to include a crispy breading. If, however, you want to stick with the traditional method, rinse the wings and let them drain on several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle the poultry lightly with salt and let stand at room temperature for about five minutes. Turn the wings and salt the other side. Wait for five more minutes before frying. This will make your wings extra crispy.

Here’s another tip for frying recipes for hot wings: You’ll get better results with more uniform frying. The drummettes are thicker and meatier than the flats, so they’ll take just a little longer to cook. It’s a good idea to fry the flats together and to fry the drummettes together. Don’t crowd the frying pot, either. Also, when you remove a batch of fried wings from the pot, give the oil a minute to reheat before adding another batch.

For a hot wings recipe baked in the oven, you have two choices. Some people like to use a baking rack inside or on top of a larger pan. This makes the wings crisper and less greasy. If this isn’t a big issue for you, or if you don’t have a rack, just place the wings directly on a sheet that’s been lined with aluminum foil. I strongly suggest you first spray the foil with just a little cooking spray.

I sometimes serve this recipe for hot wings as an entrée. When I do, I use whole wings instead of wing sections. Either can be used, but the whole pieces will need to cook a little longer. The wing sections will cook in about 10 minutes, while whole wings will need to fry a couple of minutes longer.

Ingredients:

25 wings sections

1 tablespoon Lawry’s garlic salt

1 tablespoon cayenne

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

¼ cup buttermilk

¼ cup Louisiana hot sauce

2 eggs

Self-rising flour for dredging

Oil

Directions: Rinse wings and place in a large bowl. Combine garlic salt, cayenne, paprika, black pepper, celery salt, and lemon pepper and add to chicken. Massage spices into chicken wings. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Whisk together buttermilk, hot sauce, and eggs. Place flour in a paper bag. Heat deep fat to 360 degrees. Dip a few wings at the time into the egg wash and shake in flour.

Fry wings until golden brown. Don’t overcrowd the fry pot.

Boneless wings are made from boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I pound my chicken first s o that it’s the same thickness all over. These fry quickly, so be careful not to overcook.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless breasts (usually 2 large pieces)

Lawry’s garlic salt

Black pepper

¼ cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Self-rising flour

Oil for frying

1/3 cup hot sauce

½ stick melted butter

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon cayenne

Directions: Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place a breast on a cutting board. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper and pound with a heavy mallet. Pound until the meat is about ½ inch thick all over. Slice into small squares.

Combine buttermilk and eggs with a wire whisk. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then dredge in flour. Fry at 370 degrees until brown and crisp. Drain.

Combine remaining ingredients for hot wing sauce. Add garlic salt, if desired. Pour sauce over cooked and drained wings. Toss to coat evenly.

This is an awesome hot chicken wings recipe! I love the combination of hot and sweet, and when you add the flavor of garlic and the smokiness of chipotle, you’ve got a winner. The wings are crispy, with a wonderful sticky coating.

With a hot wings recipe baked in the oven, no deep frying is required, so they’re easier to make. These baked wings are crispy and yummy!

Ingredients:

10 wing sections

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons cayenne

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Place chicken wings in large bowl and cover with remaining ingredients. Stir with hands to make sure each section gets some of the coating.

Place wings on baking sheet and bake for about one hour.

Ingredients:

8-10 wing sections

Oil

3 tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cayenne

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray.

Fry wings at 360-370 degrees until just beginning to brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large bowl, combine ranch dressing mix, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, sugar, and onion powder. Drop wings in bowl and roll around until they’re all coated. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

Okay – what’s hot wing sauce? Actually, it can mean two different things. It can be used to describe the sauce that coats the wings before, during, or after the cooking process. Most of the time, this is a hot, spicy sauce. With the more traditional hot wings, the sauce coats the wings after they’ve been fried. Sometimes, however, a different type of sauce is used on chicken wings. It can be sweet, tart, spicy, or savory. With some sweet, sticky sauces, they’re applied when the wings are almost done, after they’ve baked in the oven. Once the wings have been dipped or brushed with sauce, the wings are often returned to the oven to finish cooking.

Most coating sauces are modeled after the original Buffalo hot wings recipe, which includes Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and butter. This is pretty good, but I like to include more flavors, so I usually add some garlic, some Worcestershire sauce, and just a little vinegar. Sometimes I might add onion powder, and for some smoky heat, I might mix in some chipotle powder. And, by the way, I prefer to use Louisiana Hot Sauce.

The other type of wing sauce is a dipping sauce. Hot wings or other types of chicken wings are sometimes served with a dipping sauce on the side. The field is pretty much wide open in this regard. If the hot wings are really hot, a cool dip with a dairy base is often served. This might be ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, sour cream, or yogurt. Other dipping sauces might be more like sweet-and-sour sauce, teriyaki sauce, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or a mayonnaise-based sauce.

This hot wings sauce is definitely one of my favorites. Sometimes I practically drown my wings in the stuff. It’s creamy and cool, but at the same time, it has a little heat and just a little bit of sweetness. For a lower calorie version, use low fat or fat-free blue cheese dressing. For lower carbs, you can substitute Splenda for the sugar.

Ingredients:

½ cup blue cheese dressing

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons hot sauce

1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions: Pour dressing into a small bowl. Dissolve sugar in hot sauce and citrus juice. Combine with dressing and stir in garlic salt.

This spicy orange sauce is great for dipping your hot wings. In fact, it's tasty with any type of chicken wings, including grilled!

Ingredients:

½ cup orange marmalade

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Pinch salt

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat until marmalade is almost liquefied. Stir well. Serve on the side of your chicken wings as a dipping sauce.