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Buffalo Wings

Posted by Elise on Jan 3, 2006

Filed under Appetizer, Chicken, Gluten-Free, Low Carb

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Football (American) championship season. Sports bars, beer, and spicy things that make you want to drink more beer. Darts, pool, loud conversation, an either ill-spent or well-spent youth, depending on your perspective. Once in my early twenties I happened to be in Buffalo, New York for a wedding of a dear friend. On our site-seeing day the gang of us revelers happened to drive right by the Anchor Bar, home of the "Original Buffalo Chicken Wings". Did you know that Buffalo wings are so called because they were first invented in Buffalo, NY? I didn't, and it had always been one of those oddities that gnawed at the back of my brain during these beer filled nights. In San Francisco we had Tommy's Buffalo Burgers made with real buffalo meat. But buffalo wings? Hah! Mystery solved.

Buffalo wings are traditionally deep fried. But we don't have a deep fryer here at home, nor do I intend to risk my kitchen to cobble together one (once you've had one kitchen fire you don't want to repeat the experience.) So, this recipe calls for broiling the wings after they've been marinating in a spicy sauce.

Buffalo Wings Recipe

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Ingredients

Wings

2 lbs chicken wings (about 12 wings)
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank's Original)
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Celery sticks (optional)

Blue cheese dip

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced

Method

Wings

1 Cut off wing tips (discard or reserve for other use such as making stock). Cut wings at the joint. Put chicken wing pieces in a plastic bag. Set aside. Food safety note: when cutting raw chicken it is best to use a cutting board reserved just for cutting raw chicken. Wash thoroughly when finished. Do not let raw chicken juices come in contact with other food.

2 Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) Seal bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour. When marinating is finished, drain marinade and discard bag.

3 Place wing pieces on the rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.

Serve with Blue Cheese Dip and celery sticks. Makes approximately 24 pieces (about 12 appetizer servings).

Blue cheese dip

Combine dip ingredients - sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, vinegar, and garlic - in a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until smooth. Cover and chill up to a week.

Indexed: Chicken, Chicken Wing, Super Bowl

51 Comments

I went to college in Buffalo, and prefered Duff's wings to the Anchor Bar's (even if Duff's came second). Duff's was also a lot easier to get to without a car. :)

The Duff's sauce is basically Frank's RedHot with varying amounts of butter to control the heat - no extra ingredients needed. If you need it hotter, you can use Frank's Extra Hot. Just don't use the pre-mixed Frank's Wing Sauce - it has preservatives and additives galore. A good Duff's style wing is nice and saucy, so you only toss it in the sauce after it's cooked. (Although you could marinate, cook, then re-toss if you wanted to).

For a Duffs-like bleu cheese, start with Kraft Bleu Cheese dressing (it says something like "Roca Brand" on the bottle). Then add some B.C. crumbles (the foodservice dressing comes with them, what you can get at the grocery store doesn't), a little bit of whole milk, and some dry sherry. Just enough milk to make it creamy, and enouch sherry to ease the "bite" of the bleu cheese (I assume the vinegar in your recipe performs a similar function)

Obviously there are many ways to make wings (and as many different preferences), I just thought I'd share another "true to Buffalo" recipe.

Posted by: dmorriso on January 10, 2006 5:01 AM

I believe the orginal recipe uses Frank's Red Hot sauce for the bottled hot pepper sauce.

Posted by: Lori on January 10, 2006 8:01 AM

My kids love the hot wings I make at home. My
son often asks for these for his b-day din-
ner. I cut off the wing tips, salt and pepper them, and cook them on our Weber gas grill.

Then I toss them in a mixture of 1 bottle
Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce and 1 stick
unsalted butter - melted. According to my
sources Frank's is what they use at the
Anchor Bar in NY.

I serve them with a bottled blue cheese
dressing like Marie's, and carrots and
celery sticks.

Posted by: RD on January 10, 2006 8:09 AM

Could be a yummy treat as I watch my team, the Patriots continue to build the dynasty!

Posted by: jeanne on January 10, 2006 8:09 AM

We've used our turkey fryer in a pinch to fry up some good hot wings.

Go Bears!!!

Posted by: Monica on January 10, 2006 10:20 AM

Dear Elise,
I hope you had a wonderful holiday :-) Back to reading your blog again...Yeah, I passed through Buffalo, NY when Patrice and I crossed country from SF to NY with a car before we moved. There I couldn't remember the bar/resto (I had one or two pictures of that place for sure) it was where the Buffalo's Wings were first invented. I ate more than 10 myself :-D Yummy especially when the sauce is good. Cheers...

Posted by: Maya on January 14, 2006 5:26 AM

One thing that I will do (and a lot of wing places, I've noticed) is to deep fry the wings until they are almost done, and then dip them in the marinade and then bake them for around 10-20 min at around 350 to cook in the flavor some more. It makes a difference.

And now thanks to this making me crave wings so much, I better go get mine out of the oven... Yum :D.

Posted by: johnr on February 4, 2006 7:25 PM

This recipie was better than any resteraunt style Buffalo Wings that I have ever tasted. I made mine sans bones, and the taste was great!! Definately a keeper!! Thanks

Posted by: Jessica Gardner on February 16, 2006 1:55 PM

Here is how I do them:

boil the wings for 10 minutes, drain
fry the wings for 10 minutes in 375 degree peanut oil
immediately toss with sauce made from equal parts Frank's hot sauce and melted butter

Posted by: Ryan on October 26, 2006 4:30 PM

"Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade."

Basting with the marinade after the cooking is done?

This is potentially a recipe for exposing yourself to campylobacter, which is a nasty pathogen that will make you very sick.

Posted by: fil on December 22, 2006 2:40 PM

Hi fil -

See Step #2 "Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) "

The "reserved" marinade never touches the raw chicken and is perfectly safe to baste on to the cooked chicken.

Posted by: Elise on December 22, 2006 11:16 PM

Clean wings and season with accent, pepper, a little salt. Put in oven for 45 minutes until cooked and browned. Put on Frank's Buffalo Extra Hot Sauce. Cook 20 minutes more until wings are a litte crispy. You don't want them to dry out. Let wings cool off. Serve with ranch dressing. Wow wow Evelyn.

Posted by: evelyn thomas on January 13, 2007 2:36 PM

I am so excited to make these wings for Super Bowl sunday!! I really appreciate that you posted the photos as well - it sounds lame but I don't have a lot of cooking experience, and when I did a trial run of how to make hot wings I had no clue where to cut the wings off at. They turned out OK, but after reading your poste I feel far more confident that the next batch will be awesome!

Posted by: Summer in WY on February 4, 2007 9:45 AM

I love Buffalo Chicken Wings but only made them from the packets of spices I find at the store. When I found this recipe I had to try it and I am so glad I did. My wings were delicious. I printed out the recipe and have a book of favorites that I will put it in. Now I can make my own Buffalo Chicken Wings, which is great because they are a favorite of mine.

Posted by: Debbi Moulds on February 13, 2007 11:01 AM

This is THE best chicken wing recipe I have followed. Finally, one that doesn't just have you dipping the wings into the orange/red hot sauce after they bake forever. And broiling them is so much faster! I have made this recipe twice now. (first time was for the last super bowl.) This is my new permanent chicken wing recipe.

Posted by: Betsy on April 3, 2007 12:30 PM

I made these yesterday for our Canada Day celebration and they were fantastic, everyone loved 'em. I used Frank's, but not original...the kind I used was called Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce or something.

Posted by: Amy on July 2, 2007 7:59 AM

I tried this, and I don't think I'll be broiling my wings again. They must be fried. If they aren't fried, its hard to get the chicken skin crunchy all over. I dislike the texture of chicken skin that's not cooked until crunchy. They are much better if fried first, then baked for a few minutes. Also, it didn't seem like the sauce stuck to the broiled wings as well as it does when fried.

Posted by: Reg on July 29, 2007 5:46 PM

Coming from the Buffalo area and frequenting the
Anchor Bar a million times, I learned to really appreciate the concept of the perfect wing. Although deep frying is the way it should be done, sometimes it isn't always the most convenient(I make wings for 50-200 people weekly all year long) and oven baking is the easiest and comes out just as good -if not better. The success of baking the wings: Make sure the wings are moisture free(never marinade), use Frank's Louisiana Hot Sauce(not the phony premades-even the ones sold by the Anchor Bar-YUCK), oven must be hot 450 degrees. Must bake the wings until very golden brown and crisp (always put a whole wing with the split wings, the whole wing should be golden brown and split very easily when done. The skin will not absorb the sauce if the fat has not been rendered. The sauce-1 lg frank's sauce to 1 stick of butter. put the mix in micro or on stove top to melt- when wings are done toss in the sauce and keep tossing. You'll screw up a couple times because you'll think that the wings are done when they aren't, once you master this you will get rave reviews and never deep fry again. The last hint and the is is killing me to give it away, never mind I can't do it. Love you wing lovers

Posted by: SAS on July 31, 2007 3:30 PM

I just cook up the wings on the BBQ, no boiling, no oven. When they're about ready to come in I then baste them w/ a good sauce and let them cook for 5 min. then turn them over and baste them again and let cook for another 5 min.

You get the a good crunchy skin, well cooked interior, and they're so much better than any restaraunt!

Posted by: b_dog on September 15, 2007 5:56 PM

I've tried preparing wings several ways: fried, baked, and even baked in a bag (French's mix). Broiling is quick and easy. The skin was crispy and they tasted great. The sauce is about a 5 on a scale of 1-10 for hotness. I'll definately use this recipe again.

Posted by: emily on February 8, 2008 6:31 AM

Can this recipe be made with skinless chicken wings? Or will they dry out?

Posted by: Sophia on March 5, 2008 11:38 AM

This was an amazing recipe! My husband and I thought we had found the most amazing wings bar in NYC (in the upper east side of all places) but this recipe tops it. Thanks so much for posting the recipe.

Posted by: dev on March 16, 2008 7:46 PM

I tried this recipe after looking at several others, as this one appeared healthier (no frying) and simple. It also offers flexibility as you can choose to brush on extra marinade at the end - or not for those who don't like much heat. It makes great tasting wings! After my younger son ate seven of these, he announced I could 'make these again soon.' ...Guess I'll be doubling the recipe next time... sigh.

Posted by: Bill on March 29, 2008 6:37 PM

I just took chicken wings out of the freezer for dinner and was pleased to see the last post was kid-friendly. My beau's boy is particularly picky but loves chicken wings. I will be trying this recipe tonight. I might make a few honey-garlic too (or teriyaki).

I have tried a number of your recipes and they always turn out great. Thanks!

Posted by: Clevermonkey on April 9, 2008 10:09 AM

The wings turned out great, broiling is so easy and makes them nice and crispy. I added a bit of garlic and rosemary too (not so buffalo but tasty). My beau's boy loved them and wanted the extra crispy ones... he also prefers the "flats" which is great because I prefer the "rounds" (works out well).

I'm so excited that I can make wings at home!

Posted by: Clevermonkey on April 10, 2008 10:25 AM

These wings were so so so so good!!! Even my mother who really doesn't like spicy foods, absolutely loved these wings.

Regards,
Adiza S.

Posted by: Adiza S. on April 13, 2008 10:18 PM

Hot wings are so good with ranch dressing!

Posted by: holly on August 2, 2008 9:14 PM

Hi Elise, really adore your blog.
I am Indonesian and live in Indonesia. My husband is so into Buffalo Wings (the one in Pizza Hut over here), thus I was looking for Buffalo Wings recipe.

Yet, you have particular ingredients, such as Frank's Hot Pepper Sauce...which is difficult (and might be expensive) to be found in Indonesia.

do you have any suggestion to replace this ingredients?

thanks!

Posted by: Yuli on August 18, 2008 1:44 AM

I just finished making this recipe and I thought it was excellent. I've never understood why, in Australia, we don't have buffalo wings for sale in bars. I mean, who doesn't love them?? Anyway, I've had to resort to making my own and these were outstanding.

Yuli - with regards to the Franks Hot Pepper sauce, try tabasco sauce. It will be easier to find, and it's what I used!

Posted by: Mason Hell-Cat on September 20, 2008 3:59 AM

Can I marinade these over night in the fridge? Will it make a difference? I wanted to get everything done tonight so I can just cook them tomorrow.

Yes, marinating overnight in the fridge should work just fine. ~Elise

Posted by: Nicole on September 20, 2008 4:53 PM

Hi folks. Here is the way I make my wings. First start with fresh wings {hate frozen}. Deep fry till golden brown. While they are frying I start the sauce; it goes as follows:

1 bottle franks red hot
1 stick of butter
1/2 bottle Catalina french dressing and
1/4 cup sugar

Stir constantly over med heat till all butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Then let stand. It starts to thicken as it sets. Then when the wings are done frying, pour the sauce over them and serve with peppercorn ranch dressing for dipping! Enjoy.

Posted by: jimmy on October 12, 2008 2:54 PM

Has anybody tried Nicole's sauce with the 1/4 cup of sugar? I'll have to try it, too.

Posted by: BeauA on November 12, 2008 6:45 AM

You don't have any oven temp listed. I would assume the correct temp is 450 to broil, but you shouldn't assume everyone knows that.

You're right. So many ovens do things differently. Our oven doesn't have a broil temp, just a broil setting, and you have to leave the door slightly ajar in order for the broil to work in our oven. ~Elise

Posted by: laura on February 1, 2009 2:48 PM

Made this last night for the Steeler/Cardinal Super Bowl Game. My husband is pickey about his wings but said that I could make these wings for him on a weekly basis. :-)

Thanks for the great recipie. I let my wings marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Followed the recipie and it was delcious.

Posted by: Emily on February 2, 2009 5:31 AM

Ok, so I tried to follow everything here, bought all the ingredients.. But I never noticed the broiler pan. If I dont have a broiler pan at my disposal, can i use a regular oven tray instead?
Thanks and great site!

You need a pan that can handle very high heat. I don't know what you mean by oven tray. A roasting pan will work. A cookie pan will not, it will warp. ~Elise

Posted by: Javier on March 18, 2009 3:39 PM

Hi,
I have been using the recipes from your blog for years. Every time I think of something I'd like to make, I go to your website first to see what you did. I also surf to see what I can try.

These wings are great, I really enjoyed them.

Thanks for years of lovely meals!

Posted by: Natalie on March 25, 2009 9:44 AM

I did deep fry before coating them in the sauce, and the sauce was great even without really marinating. Fry - coat - lightly broil - baste ... came out perfect.

Posted by: M. Landers on April 3, 2009 5:38 PM

Thank you for the recipe.

Since I don't have the time and some of the ingredients. I just use whatever is available in my kitchen.

Chicken wings 12 pcs cut at joints.
Butter 2 tbs (got an unsalted)
Black Pepper (ground. how much is up to you)
Salt (up to you)
Tabasco Pepper (This is hot wings, so don't worry how much you put in there).

I mixed these in a big bowl (without the chicken of course). Set aside 2tbs of that mix for basting later. Put the chicken and the mix into a zip lock bag. Shake and marinate at least 30mins.

I followed the instructions above. Broiled for 10mins each side. Once I pull it out from the oven, I baste the 2tbs mix while the wings are still hot)

The most important is the dipping sauce. As I mentioned, I don't have the same ingredients.

So, I mixed in a small bowl the following. (how much and whatever you have is up to you)

Ranch dressing (1/2 cup) Yes! =)
Black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese (or use whatever cheese you have) how much is up to you.
Minced garlic (1/2 tsp)
Vinegar (1/2 tsp)

If you have baby carrots, then this is a perfect dip.

That's it! =)

Posted by: Elmer Bugaoan on September 12, 2009 11:38 AM

I tried this recipe yesterday night, using the "actifry". My husband just loves it! Yummy treat. :-)

Thank you, Elise. :-)

Posted by: Elvira on November 20, 2009 12:55 AM

Just stepped away from the table after cooking up a bunch of HOT wings using this recipe! I liked the addition of the paprika and cayenne to give the sloppy marinade and sauce some teeth to stick to the chicken. My daughter and husband were suffering a bit so I might back off some of the cayenne next time but I am glad I found this recipe!

Posted by: Jennifer T on December 16, 2009 5:27 PM

I tried these and they were yummy. mmmm... buffamalo.

Posted by: frank on December 26, 2009 11:54 AM

Posted by: Joanna Szandrocha Collingham Rd, London SW5 on January 2, 2010 4:08 AM

frank's red hot, melted butter, MUSTARD, pepper, mix it up, grill, they are the best!

Posted by: mark g on February 20, 2010 2:39 PM

I do the same dry baste first, however, my wife can't stand spicy stuff, so when she's eating them I replace the cayenne pepper with ground coriander, and go a little light on the black pepper and it comes out great. Of course I in turn soak my side in hot sauce because I like spicy.

Posted by: wendel on March 14, 2010 10:52 AM

Loved these wings! I fried them directly instead of broiling (was pressed for time) and they still came out perfect. Will try broiling next time. :)

Posted by: twinkle on April 5, 2010 6:13 AM

Made these for Monday night football gathering at my house. HUGE HIT! Most surprisingly, my picky kids couldn't get enough of them! I doubled the batch and hardly had enough for the whole gang! Only complaint is that broiling sorta smoked up the kitchen. What did I do wrong now?? LOL A keeper! Thanks!

Posted by: Traci St. Aubin on October 13, 2010 3:27 PM

I have baked by chicken wings for years since throwing out the deep fryer. I shake the wings in a ziplock bag with flour, cayenne pepper, sea salt, garlic salt & pepper. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam & bake at 425 degrees for 15 min., turn & bake another 15 min. Meanwhile, mix melted butter, Franks Red Hot sauce (to taste) and some BBQ sauce. Microwave until hot. Remove wings from oven & toss with sauce & serve. They are crispy & delicious.

Posted by: Kathy on January 1, 2011 2:49 PM

These are great wings. I put them on the grill to cook and they were wonderful. The dip is perfect. I am going to try to do a beer can chicken with this sauce.

Posted by: Barbara on July 11, 2011 6:37 AM

Elise, nice wings!! They are my favorite. The buffalo sauce is what makes it real spicy and tangy. Dip it in a ranch and you have a divine treat. Keep them coming :)

Posted by: Annu Sahay on November 1, 2011 12:24 AM

hi, went to Mexico on holiday from UK, had Buffalo wings in restraunt not nowing what they where. loved them, so have now found this recipe and made them for the first time last week, took them to a freinds house and they loved them as well.
would like to get the skin a bit more crispy, i cooked in oven then broiled them to try and get the skin crisp. any idea,s

Posted by: keith on December 3, 2011 11:16 AM

Amazing! My friends and I love to try new and interesting (especially hot) hot sauces. Instead of using Franks or any standard grocery store hot sauce I substituted something with more kick. I used 2 tbsp of Blair's Original Death Sauce (comparable to most restaurants hot sauce). I also added 1 tbsp of butter. It turned out awesome! Will make over and over again! Thank you! Link to sauce below...

http://www.amazon.com/Blairs-Original-Death-Sauce-Chipotle/dp/tech-data/B0000DIWWD

Posted by: Melissa on December 19, 2011 8:03 PM

I apologize for the inconvenience, comments are closed. ~Elise

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Buffalo Wings

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Buffalo Wings Recipe