Let’s talk paleo chicken wings. Is this even a thing?
I am here to tell you, yes. Yes it is!
Watch me bring these wings together! (I also make a dry rub wing in this video!)
You get a crispy chicken wing! You get a crispy chicken wing! Everybody gets a crispy paleo chicken wing!!
And when I say crispy paleo chicken wing, I mean extra crispy. As approved by Jeremy. And Jeremy is very picky about chicken wings. In fact, he usually does not order them out because he is sure he will be disappointed.
But last night I watched him polish off a plate of these wings and then proceed to tell me they are the best wings he has ever had.
So let’s just dive right in, shall we? Because you’ve got wings to make.
Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Wings
There are three steps to making extra crispy chicken wings (that do not involve deep frying!):
- Dry chicken wings
- A baking rack
- Baking powder. And sister listen to me, I mean BAKING POWDER. (To keep this clean be sure to purchase an aluminum-free, gluten-free baking powder. Or, here is a great recipe for homemade paleo baking powder.)
Do dry your wings with a paper towel. Cover a baking sheet in parchment paper and thoroughly oil down a baking rack.
Coat the wings in the baking powder. And add to the baking rack.
My inspiration for how to bake the wings to get them extra crispy comes from Cook’s Illustrated! They found the best way to make wings so crispy, they taste just like they were deep fried!
And now, let’s talk about the sauce. You guys, I tested this sauce for awhile and it has reached PERFECTION! In fact I drizzled it over a salad I had today. Because I am living my best life.
Four simple ingredients.
- Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce
- Butter from Grass-Fed cows
- Honey
- Fresh Garlic
After the wings bake you will toss them in the sauce.
Get them real, real good.
I serve them with my homemade fresh herb dressing along with carrots and celery.
The best part is this recipe easily doubles and triples (in case you are going to have a packed house for the Super Bowl or other parties).
Also? You can make the sauce a few days ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container ready to coat the wings whenever you bake them!
Bring all the people into your home. Eat all the wings!
Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Wings
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 70
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredients
For the wings:
- 3 lbs chicken wings (or about 30 wings)
- 2 TBS aluminum-free, gluten free baking powder
Sweet and Spicy Sauce:
- 8 TBS butter from grass-fed cows, such as Kerrygold
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Original Hot Sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
To serve:
- Herb Dressing
- Celery
- Carrots
Instructions
Important notes for these wings: Be sure to use Baking POWDER and not Baking Soda (very big difference). The goal is to very lightly coat the wings. This recipe is for 30 wings. If you are using less wings, use less baking powder. Start with 1/2 TBS baking powder at a time and continue to add until the wings have a very faint coating of baking powder.
- Preheat oven to 250℉.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place a baking rack on the baking sheet and liberally coat with oil.
- Thoroughly dry chicken wings with a paper towel, this will help get them crispy! Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Sprinkle with baking powder. Toss well to coat.
- Arrange chicken on the baking rack in a single layer. Do not overlap the wings or they will not get crispy. Do these in batches if you are making a lot of wings.
- Place pan in oven and cook for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn the oven temperature to 425℉ and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, rotate the pan and cook an additional 20 minutes or until chicken is crispy and lightly browned.
- While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is melted, whisk to combine and remove from heat.
- Remove the wings from the oven. In batches, add a few chicken wings to a bowl and toss with some of the sauce. Remove sauced wings from the bowl and continue until all wings have been tossed in sauce.
- Serve wings with remaining sauce, herb dressing, celery and carrots!
Notes
For extra spicy sauce:
- 8 TBS butter from grass-fed cows, such as Kerrygold
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
Add to a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until butter is melted. Stir to combine and remove from heat. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled! For a homemade paleo baking powder, checkout this recipe.
Oh!! Yum Yum Yum! Chicken Wings are the best, and a baked version? Yes, please!! I need to get one of those baking racks and try this out!!
I hope you love them!! I got my baking rack at Target and I also linked to one from Amazon in my post!
these are absolutely amazing!! thinking we need to make them at least every other weekend!!! my 20yo daughter who has down syndrome made these all by herself today….thats how easy they are – and how capable she is!!! ( i whipped up ranch dressing from cashew yogurt thinned with coconut milk, splash of lemon juice some dill weed and salt!!!0
This comment truly made my day! What a gift! I am so grateful your family enjoyed them and your daughter was able to make them herself – such a joy! Your ranch dressing sounds dreamy! Thank you for trying this recipe and for the comment!
After several chicken wing failures I was skeptical about trying again. But I trust Bri’s recipes as well as the encouraging pep talk she gave about these wings. So with Super Bowl-Inspired cravings, I gave a try. And I felt like being my own cheerleader when we sat down to eat them. These wings are SO good. And since they are baked, I feel like I’m eating healthy. We’re not one for spicy hot so Bri suggested I use less Frank’s and increase the honey a little if I liked. I did and the sauce was just right. I’ve already done these another night and they will be on our weekly meal plan rotation often. Thanks, Bri, for another grand slam on this one (I know, it’s not a football term but these will be good in baseball season as well.)
I made these tonight and they were delicious! Perfectly crispy and the sauce was yummy. My husband raved about them!
These wings are so delicious and crispy and so easy to make! The sauce is the perfect blend of sweet and heat. My husband and I loved them and can’t wait to make them again!
This sauce. I have NO words. We made wings and had leftover sauce that keeps ending up on….well, everything. Brisket tacos were PHENOMENAL with this sauce. Oh…and tortillas and bread dipped in it! Lol! We are now OBSESSED!
If I do not have the baking rack should I just flip them halfway through? I really want to make these!!
You can flip them halfway during cooking! They might not turn out as crispy. The baking rack allows equal heat distribution which allows the skin to get very crispy!
Trying a KETO diet (no—err slight—carbs) for diabetes —– do you think a sugar free maple syrup or a granular other sweetener would work? (E.g. monkfruit, Stevie, erythritol?) I also have liquid stevia…. just trying to find a suitable substitute for the honey. ????♀️
Think I could use ghee instead of butter? My husband is allergic to milk proteins.
Yes! You can absolutely use ghee in place of butter.