We took a few days and went over to Bloomington, IL to do a little antiquing. Our hotel was next door to a grocery store, a regional chain named Schnucks. This of course meant I had to go on a wing sauce hunt. And boy did I make out like a bandit! Schnuck’s has a big selection of its own brand of wing sauces. I grabbed them all. The nice lady at the checkout didn’t even blink an eye. When we got home I made a batch of easy air fryer wings and sauced them up. I loved these Schnucks Mild Buffalo sauce wings!
Nice Flavor. Great Heat.
I love a good mellow, tasty Buffalo wing sauce. These Schnucks mild Buffalo sauce wings hit the spot. I was more than happy. Great flavor. Just a little bump of heat. A hint. And let me tell you, you can’t beat the price either. Next time we’re anywhere near a Schnucks I’m stopping by and grabbing some more of this sauce and all their others!
I could wings using a lot of different techniques and tools, but the air fryer is probably most common just because it’s fast and easy and is perfect for making a batch of wings just for myself. It’s as simple as seasoning them, cooking them, and saucing them. Today I made a batch of Braswell’s Spicy Hot Wing Sauce wings. Kind of a traditional Buffalo wing sauce, it made for the perfect lunchtime wings. A little kick. Tremendous flavor. What more could I ask for?
Traditions Last
These Braswell’s Spicy Hot Wing Sauce wings are a nice nod to the classic Buffalo wing sauces. Vinegary. A little thin (that’s not a downer, that’s just what vinegar is like!). Fantastic seasoning with a wonderful slightly different taste. The heat level isn’t very high. I’d call them sorta spicy. Spicy-ish? Depends on your level of heat tolerance, though. Some might say they’re quite spicy. So if you’re serving these to your pals, ya might want to give them a heads up first!
Lightly spray the basket of your air fryer with non-stick spray. Preheat per manufacturer’s recommendation.
Combine the baking powder and wing seasoning. Sprinkle over the wings and toss to coat.
Add the wings to the basket (be careful it’s hot!). If you have trouble fitting them without overlapping, stand the drumettes along the sides of the basket.
Cook at 360 F for 12 minutes for large wings, 10 minutes for smaller ones.
Carefully flip the wings (rotate the drumettes if they are standing) and cook another 12 minutes again (10 minutes for smaller wings) at 375 F.
Flip the wings one last time. Increase the temperature to 390 F and cook another 6 minutes (4 minutes for smaller wings).
I actually surprised myself. I was not expecting to fall in love with these easy steakhouse wings. Heck, I thought they’d be too ‘steak-saucy’. You know, like that time as a kid when you dumped half a bottle of steak sauce on your steak at Howard Johnsons. Ok, maybe that was just me. But still, too much steak sauce is…. too much… for me. But not here. I loved these wings. I went light on the sauce and the flavor came out perfect.
Air-Fried Wings Or Whatever Wings
I made a batch of my standard air-fried wings when I made some easy steakhouse wings for lunch. You can also toss them into the oven at 400 F for 30-40 minutes. Or deep fry them. Whatever you want. The key here is to make wings that aren’t going to ‘fight’ the steak sauce. No fancy seasonings. Keep it simple. Salt and pepper is all you need. Just like cooking a steak, fancy is not required.
Lightly spray the basket of your air fryer with non-stick spray. Preheat per manufacturer’s recommendation.
Toss the wing flats and drumettes with salt and pepper.
Add the wings to the basket (be careful it’s hot!). If you have trouble fitting them without overlapping, stand the drumettes along the sides of the basket.
Cook at 360 F for 12 minutes for large wings, 10 minutes for smaller ones.
Carefully flip the wings (rotate the drumettes if they are standing) and cook another 12 minutes again (10 minutes for smaller wings) at 375 F.
Flip the wings one last time. Increase the temperature to 390 F and cook another 6 minutes (4 minutes for smaller wings).
Remove wings to a bowl and drizzle with steak sauce. Toss to coat.
It’s comforting to know that there’s someone out there looking out for the rest of us. They toil and toil, night and day, making sure we all get the greatest wing sauces ever. At least one of them is at The Dirty Buffalo, a southern Virginia regional sports pub that clearly is devoted to great food and in particular, wings. Their Buffalo Soldier wing sauce is just one example of the results of a devotion to great-tasting sauces. I couldn’t get enough of my homemade wings tossed in this sauce.
Jerk. And Right Kind of Jerk.
The Dirty Buffalo Buffalo Soldier wing sauce hits you with a decent island-inspired jerk flavor. And a good dose of heat, too. Neither is overwhelming. I love jerk flavors, I often make jerk chicken on my charcoal grill. But it can be too much for me. It’s the allspice that can do me. But not in this sauce. It has just the perfect amount. Enough (along with other ingredients) to give me that jerk flavor without being too much jerk.
I kept my wings simple. I was after the sauce. Just my simple air fryer wings. You can use any plain wings you want. Just don’t use anything that is heavily spiced or flavored. You don’t want the wings to fight with the sauce.
I love this sauce. It’s finger-licking good. Just like every single other sauce I’ve had from The Dirty Buffalo. Jump over to their site and order some of them. Or rather, all of them.
Note: If your wing sauce is refrigerated, set it out on the countertop before starting the wings so that it warms up a bit. You don’t want to put cold sauce on hot wings.Note: The full 30 minute cook time is for large, meaty wings. If your wings are a bit thinner (er… scrawny) back the times down to 10/10/4 minutes instead of 12/12/6 minutes.
I’m usually a little leery of baked wings that are marinaded in anything with sugar or honey in it. High heat tends to make the marinaded skin char easily. That’s why I went into making these roasted honey chicken wings with a little bit of worry. Well, whew, they came out great! Oh yeah, a little longer in the oven would’ve been bad news, but the cook time was spot-on. I ended up with super-tasty wings that were cooked just right. No char flavor at all, just yumminess! Lightly sweet, with a Asian-inspired taste, these are really great baked wings.
Turn Once And Enjoy
The process for making these roasted honey chicken wings is pretty straightforward. Make marinade. Add the wings. Go do something for 3 hours. Come back. Put the wings in the oven. Flip the wings once while cooking. Eat. Seriously, how much easier can you get?
I used a silicone mat on a baking sheet when I made these wings. The nice thing about it is that it saves me a few cents on foil. The downside is there is a little cleanup involved. Foil works just fine and honestly, I’m leaning towards using that the next time. You could use parchment paper instead if you want.
This right here is why I go down the aisle of my local grocery store where they have the chicken fry mixes. There’s usually quite a few of them, and I like to try them all. There are hot ones. Mild ones. A few crunchy ones. Even extra crunchy. All sorts of them. So I always grab some. And I go home and make some wings! Today I made some Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Hot and Spicy Chicken wings. It’s the perfect batter. The kind that sticks to my wings. And it’s nicely crunchy but without being too much so. It’s spicy, but definitely not too spicy. This is my kind of wing mix!
Sauce. On The Side.
Sure, you bet, I could eat this Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Hot and Spicy chicken wings straight up. Naked. Without any sauce. And I have and they are darned good. But I can also sauce things up a bit. But on the side. I am not a fan of saucing deep-fried battered wings, in most cases at least. You go to tossing those wings in sauce and two bad things happen. First, that crunchy, delicious batter starts flying off. That’s not good at all. Second, what batter is left gets soggy. And that’s not good either. So I pour my sauce in a little ole cup on the side, perfect for dipping or drizzling right before I take a bite! Perfect!
According to my calculations, these crispy and juicy oven-baked chicken wings were 16.8 times better than I’d ever expected. Or hoped for. I could not get over how much I loved these wings. That’s saying a lot because I’m not always a baked wing fan. Well, out the window goes that thought because these wings were flavorful, lightly crispy, and just flat-out great.
Saucy. Or Not…
I tossed my crispy and juicy oven-baked chicken wings in a little bit of bottled Buffalo wing sauce before serving. I used very little sauce. The flavor on the wings is so great that I didn’t want to bury them. I could’ve easily just served them right out of the oven, sans sauce as we say. These wings would be perfect for a party. Easy to make, and delicious. And, by using different sauces, you can satisfy anyone’s tastes.
Place into a large bowl and drizzle with the oil. Toss or turn to coat well.
Combine the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper and sprinkle over the wings. Toss or turn to coat.
Transfer the wings to the baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, turning once.
If desired, place the wings under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to brown slightly. NOTE: This only applies if you are using aluminum foil. DO NOT put silicone mats under the broiler.
So I went and ordered a bunch of sauces from The Dirty Buffalo a more-than-a-wing-joint in Virginia. I kinda randomly started with them, making wings, having a great time. Then along came these The Dirty Buffalo Garlic Parmesan wing sauce wings. And my world changed. Sure, all the sauces I’ve tried are amazingly good. Fantastic. But this sauce? Above and beyond. I am stuck on these wings big time. Oh so good and garlicky. Lots of it. And Parmesan? Parmesan galore. My goodness do I ever love this sauce. Many thanks to The Dirty Buffalo for this one.
Dip Or Drag
I love this sauce so much that I found myself dragging my wings thru the sauce on the bottom of my plate so I didn’t waste any. The Dirty Buffalo Garlic Parmesan wing sauce wings are so good I just couldn’t stop. I licked my plate. I can do that because I was eating at home. But honestly, I’d do it in their restaurant too. I’m betting that they are used to that by now! If you’re worried what others might think of you, just order more sauce on the side and get to dipping!
Just Make Some Wings
I used my air fryer to make my standard batch of wings then sauced them. You can make your wings any way you want. Just don’t use anything that might overpower the sauce. Don’t go crazy with any seasoning. The sauce is the winner here. Big time. Let it shine!
I Shoulda Bought More
I think this sauce would be fantastic on a salad. I’m not going to try it though. I just bought one bottle. I gotta have my wings. Next time, I’ll get more and try it on some greens!
Note: If your wing sauce is refrigerated, set it out on the countertop before starting the wings so that it warms up a bit. You don’t want to put cold sauce on hot wings.Note: The full 30 minute cook time is for large, meaty wings. If your wings are a bit thinner (er… scrawny) back the times down to 10/10/4 minutes instead of 12/12/6 minutes.
Do it. Go down the aisle of your local grocery store where they keep the chicken fry mixes. There’s usually quite a few. Hot. Mild. Crunchy. Extra crunchy. All sorts of them. Grab some. Grab them all. And go home and make some wings! I highly recommend you start out with some Louisiana Fish Fry Spicy Fried chicken wings. It’s the perfect batter, the kind that sticks to the wings. All over. Crunchy. Oh so crunchy. Seasoned perfectly with a little spicy kick.
Make It Buffalo-Style
Yep, you sure could eat these Louisiana Fish Fry Spicy Fried chicken wings ‘naked’. No, no, not without clothes on! I mean without any sauce! Me, I wanted a little Buffalo feel to mine. A little more heat. So I served a little cup of Buffalo wing sauce on the side for dipping. I recommend dipping these wings instead of putting them in a bowl and dousing them with sauce and tossing. Tossing will knock that beautiful, delicious, crunchy coating off. What good would that be? So don’t do that. Dip them, if you want.
It’s not that complicated. Delicious hot sauces make for delicious wings. Nothing was complicated about these De La Viuda hot sauce wings. But they sure were delicious. The sauce is the real winner here. It is easily one of the best-tasting hot sauces I’ve had. A tremendous combination of peppers, it brings a little heat, but not so much that it’s overwhelming. I don’t like sauces that are so hot that I miss the flavor. This was spot-on great.
Have It Your Way. You Rule.
You can cook up your wings any way you want. I went with my simple deep-fried wings. Just flour and a little seasoning. I didn’t want to over-power the sauce so I kept the seasoning ‘tame’. I mixed the hot sauce with a little butter (I went with the medium heat version) and let it get all warm and cozy in a saucepan while the wings cooked. Everything came together in a delicious wing-after-wing experience. I can’t wait to make more De La Viuda hot sauce wings!
In general, the ratio of butter to hot sauce is as below. For example, if the ratio is 3:1 that means you use 3 parts of butter for every 1 part hot sauce. For a mild sauce: 3:1For a medium sauce: 2:1For a hot sauce: 1:1
