Category: Wings

Duck Fat Chicken Wings using the Vortex

Chicken wings cooked on a charcoal grill using a Vortex are the best. Not only do you get great flavor and crunchy skin, you get a light (or heavy.. It’s up to you, you can control it!) smoky flavor. You can’t wrong with them. But you can make them even better using duck fat spray. What a difference it makes, too. Better tasting and crunchier, these duck fat chicken wings using the Vortex are the decadent wings that dreams are made of.

Duck Fat Chicken Wings using the Vortex

The Vortex enables you to get super-hot temperatures on a charcoal grill. That heat not only cooks them perfectly, it gives them a crunchier skin. You just cannot beat duck fat chicken wings using the Vortex.

Adding duck fat spray not only helps with getting that fantastic crunchy it skin, it also adds a fantastic different flavor than if you’d used vegetable or olive oil instead. It makes a world of difference.

Also try my duck fat air fryer wings.

Duck Fat Wings using the Vortex
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5 from 1 vote

Duck Fat Chicken Wings using the Vortex

You can't wrong with these.
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: wings
Servings: 6
Calories: 503kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Place the Vortex into the center of your grill and add in the charcoal. Open the bottom vents on your grill by 1/3.
  • Light a charcoal chimney full of charcoal. Alternatively you can fill your Vortex with charcoal and light them inside the unit. If you want extra smoke flavor, place a small wood chunk or two over the center of the Vortex and let it ignire and smoke.
  • Let the charcoal get fully ashed over.
  • Place the wings into a large bowl. Spray lightly with the duck fat while tossing. Don't get them soaking wet, you're looking for a light coating. Think 'squirt squirt' and not 'fence painting'.
  • Add the chicken as shown in the picture above.
  • Close the grill and cook for 45 minutes. If you are using a large charcoal grill (22" or bigger) you might want to rotate the lid 90 degrees every 15 minutes. I haven't found this to be necessary on smaller (18" and 14") grills.
  • Transfer wings to a bowl and toss with your favorite seasoning and sauce as desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 503kcal | Protein: 42g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 175mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 354mg | Vitamin A: 333IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.

Aji Amarillo Wings

Aji amarillo is an orange-colored pepper from Peru. I haven’t been able to find it in the US in pepper-form, but you can find a paste made from pureed aji peppers in some foreign food markets, or order it online from Amazon. Aji amarillo rates between 35,000 and 50,000 on the Scoville scale, meaning it’s about as hot as Tabasco sauce. It has a nice fruity flavor that reminds me a bit of habanero, but without the scorching heat. I encountered aji amarillo often in dishes throughout Peru when I lived there long, long ago.

Aji Amarillo Wings

Since I love chicken wings, I decided to cook up a batch and instead of saucing them with just a traditional Buffalo sauce, I made a variation that adds aji amarillo paste. The end result was just a bit spicy, with a fantastic fruity pepper flavor.

These were fantastic wings, and definitely a nice twist on the usual. If you like your wings to be a bit spicier, just add more of the aji amarillo paste. Since it’s not overwhelmingly hot you don’t have to worry about a-little-goes-a-long-ways: you can add quite a bit and still get great flavor without burning the roof of your mouth.

You’ll also want to make these awesome wings:
Sweet Baby Ray’s Buffalo Wings
Sweet Baby Ray’s Garlic Parmesan Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings Jammin’ Jalapeno Wings
Texas Pete Extra Mild Buffalo Wings
Tangy Tapatio Barbecue Wings

Check out my always-growing list of homemade wing sauces and seasonings.

Aji Amarillo Wings
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5 from 1 vote

Aji Amarillo Wings

These were fantastic wings, and definitely a nice twist on the usual.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: spicy, wings
Servings: 6
Calories: 676kcal

Ingredients

For the wings

  • 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock

For the sauce

  • 2 cups your favorite hot sauce
  • 1 stick unsalted butter melted
  • 3 tablespoons aji amarillo paste or more, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon seasoning salt

Instructions

For the wings

For the sauce

  • Whisk all ingredients.

Nutrition

Calories: 676kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 215mg | Sodium: 2678mg | Potassium: 531mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1187IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings

It’s not like I hadn’t eaten in weeks. So only one thing can explain how quickly these oven baked garlic Parmesan wings disappeared. There were fantastic! I’d been on an air and deep fryer wing binge for a while. Time to change things up and go baked! And how glad am I that I did! Lightly crunchy chicken wings, with the perfect bite-thru skin and oh, flavor! So much flavor! Garlic, Parmesan and just the slightest bit of spiciness.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings

I used a wire baking rack when I made these baked garlic Parmesan wings, but you can cook them directly on foil or parchment paper. And in fact, I think you’ll find cleanup to be a lot easier if you skip the rack. And make sure you shake off the excess butter. If the chicken wing skin gets super oily (from the butter) it won’t crisp as well. Not a big deal, but something you might want to keep in mind!

If you’re into ‘wet’ wings, try Kosmos Q Garlic Parmesan wing sauce.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings
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5 from 1 vote

Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings

Make sure you shake off any excess butter after dipping the wings.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked wings, garlic, Parmesan
Servings: 4
Calories: 726kcal
Author: Inspired by a recipe from A Spicy Perspective

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder divided
  • 4 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese divided
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flake more or less, to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 450 F.
  • Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. You can also use a wire rack with foil underneath.
  • Place bowls into a large bowl.
  • In a small bowl, combine corn starch, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic powder.
  • Pour the seasoning over the chicken wings and toss to coat.
  • Transfer the wings to your lined baking sheet. Spread them out so they do not touch.
  • Bake for 20 minutes.
  • Flip the wings and bake another 20 minutes.
  • Place the melted butter into a small bowl.
  • In another small bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the cheese, the Italian seasoning, red pepper and the remaining garlic powder.
  • Check the wings. They should be starting to brown and be lightly crispy on the edges. If not, bake them a bit longer.
  • Remove the wings from the oven. Working one at a time, using tongs, grab a wing and dunk it into the butter mixture. Flip to coat it well then shake off any excess. Transfer to the cheese mixture and roll to coat. Shake off the excess and return the wing to the baking sheet.
  • Bake another 5-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Serve wings sprinkled with the remaining cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 726kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 226mg | Sodium: 1782mg | Potassium: 438mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 995IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 391mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.