Hot Honey Chicken Wings

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword chicken-wings-recipe, hot-honey-recipe, hot-honey-wings

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 54

Total Time 1 9

Servings servings (may vary)

Calories 192kcal

Ingredients

Wings:
3 lbs chicken wings flats and drumettes separated
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp lemon pepper or black pepper
Hot Honey Butter Sauce:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup hot sauce i.e. Frank's, Crystal or similar
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (Adjust to your taste)
fresh parsley for garnishing
prepared Ranch dressing for serving (Use your favorite brand)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Fit an oven safe wire rack into a large baking sheet and brush with oil or spray liberally with cooking spray. Set aside.
Add the cornstarch, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, granulated garlic, onion powder and lemon pepper to a large Ziploc bag. Seal then shake to combine.
Pat dry wings using paper towels to remove excess moisture. Add the wings to the plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake the bag until the wings are completely coated.
Transfer the wings to the wire rack without touching. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Hot Honey Butter Sauce: Meanwhile, in a small saucepan melt together honey, butter and hot sauce over medium heat. Once melted, add paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Mix well, remove from the heat. Divide the wing sauce into two separate bowls so as to not contaminate the wings when basting.
After the wings have baked for 20 minutes, use a pastry brush to both sides of the chicken wings with the oil. (Use tongs to lift the wings, they're hot) Cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the wings are crispy.
Char the Wings: Remove the wings from the oven. Using a pastry brush again baste both sides of the wings with the sauce. Discard the basting sauce from that bowl.
Broil wings for 5 minutes turning as needed for even charring and the wings are crispy. (Chicken should have an internal temperature of 165° F.)
Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to a platter. Garnish with fresh parsley and reserved hot honey sauce and ranch dressing on the side.
Air Fryer Instructions: Spray the basket of an air fryer with cooking spray Arrange the wings in the air fryer basket leaving room for air to circulate. Cook for 10 minutes. Flip the wings over and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the juices run clear. Test with an instant read thermometer for an internal temperature of 165° F.
Deep Frying Instructions: Deep fry the wings in vegetable oil or peanut oil at 350°F for 8-12 minutes. Don't crowd the pan and they'll take less time to cook through and will fry more evenly.

Notes

What's the Secret to Crispy Wings? In this recipe it's a combination of baking powder and cornstarch! Make sure to use baking powder and not baking soda.
Bake. Deep Fry or Air Fry - These hot honey wings can be made in the oven, deep fried or air-fried. See the Cook's Notes for directions.
Adjust the Amount - The amount of servings will be directly effected by the weight of the chicken and the amount of flats and drumettes included. You can double or even triple this recipe with ease.
Spices - You can adjust the level of spice in these chicken wings by using less red pepper flakes and the amount of hot sauce. Likewise you can add a little heat with cayenne pepper.
Hot Sauce - Use any flavor and brand of hot sauce that you enjoy. Frank's, Crystal's or your favorite!
Garlic - For a stronger honey-garlic wings flavor add 2-3 cloves of minced fresh garlic to the sauce.
Honey - For a shortcut you could use Mike's Hot Honey or a similar prepared hot honey that you like to make the hot honey butter sauce.
Extra Sauce - After basting the wings with the first bowl of sauce, you can serve leftover sauce on the side or toss the wings in a large bowl with the extra sauce just before serving.

Nutrition