It’s no secret that our family is obsessed with wings! I think there are enough posts on the blog to prove it. Mostly what I love about wings is the crispy chicken skin, but this recipe is all about the sauce. This sauce is layers upon layers of flavor, sweet, spicy, and smokey. It’s like everything you love about BBQ sauce, but 10 times better. Words cannot express how much my family loves this sauce for Sticky Wings!
Normally, I am all about frying wings, but I learned this trick from Epicurious to render the chicken in the oven first, before tossing the wings with sauce. This results in the chicken skin getting fairly crispy, which makes the wings so much more satisfying. Note, this recipe makes a lot of sauce, basically, double what you need (unless you want more for dipping). Freeze the leftovers or keep it in the fridge (up to a couple of weeks) for the next time you have a wing craving!
- Sticky Sauce:
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup chili powder (preferably Ancho if you can find it)
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- Wings:
- 3 pounds chicken wings, (drumettes and flats separated)
- 1 tbsp of neutral flavored oil, such as vegetable oil or grapeseed oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- few grounds of black pepper
- 2/3 cup sticky sauce
- In a large saucepan, combine the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, dry mustard, Dijon and chili powder. Whisk to blend. Bring to a simmer over low heat and add the garlic, ginger, and lemon juice. Simmer until flavors meld together at least 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Place the wings, oil, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread the wings out on the rack. Bake wings until cooked through and skin is crispy, 45–50 minutes. Remove the wings from the oven.
- Turn on the Broiler.
- Transfer the wings to a heatproof bowl, and toss with 2/3 cup of the sticky sauce. Place the wings back on the rack (fitted with the baking sheet). Broil for 4-5 minutes or until some parts to char and the sauce sticks to the wing. If desired serve with additional sauce, otherwise refrigerate or freeze the remainder.
More recipes like this one can be found here!