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My oh my. I had no idea how fantastic these would be when I first came across this recipe for crab boil-brined wings. I thought, what if the crab boil is too strong? And what? A mayonnaise-based wing sauce? Isn’t that illegal? What the heck am I getting myself into, I wondered!
Well, color me wrong on both accounts because these wings were incredible. The crab boil flavor (one of my favorite tastes) is there, but it’s sort of just hanging around in the background. Very pleasant. You get it, all the way through the wing in each and every bite. But it’s definitely not overpowering.
The creamy mayonnaise basting and dipping sauce is truly outrageously great. It reminds me of the dressing for crab salad in a way. The wings and the sauce go really well together.
Something Different, Something Great
If you aren’t a fan of crab boil, you’ll still want to make these wings. You don’t want to deprive yourself of something this fantastic. It’d be ok to cut back on it a bit, but don’t leave out the crab boil. And if you’re like me, don’t be afraid to add more because my original worries about it being too strong were definitely unfounded. These crab boil-brined wings are something special.
Dips Ahoy!
The dipping sauce is just that. A sauce for dipping. It’s not a traditional wing sauce, like say a Buffalo sauce, that you would toss your wings in before serving. The wings themselves don’t get any extra treatment after they are cooked. You serve the dipping sauce on the side to dunk them in. I like to use these little serving cups for the sauce. They’re the perfect size for wings (and other things).
- Commercial Grade Stainless Steel: These sauce…
- Multifunctional Portion Cups: This set of sauce…
Also try my Buffalo-sauce injected wings.
Check out my always-growing list of over 100 homemade wing recipes, including sauces and seasonings!
Crab Boil-Brined Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
For the wings
- 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
- 5 cups ice cold water
- 4 tablespoons liquid crab boil
- 2 green onions chopped for garnish
For the sauce (double or triple the recipe below if you also wish to use the sauce for dipping)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes
- 2 green onions sliced thin
Instructions
For the wings
- Place wings in a large resealable container.
- Add the water and liquid crab boil. Seal and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Cook wings as desired. Click here for our guide on cooking wings in a grill, smoker, deep fryer, oven, air fryer or a Char-Broil Big Easy. If possible, baste the wings with the sauce the last 10 minutes of cooking. If not (cooking in a deep-fryer, for example), just brush the wings with the sauce before serving and while the wings are still hot.
- Garnish wings with the onions and serve with remaining sauce for dipping.
For the sauce
- Whisk together all ingredients.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.
- MIld Sauces
- Made for wings and more