You’re heard of Nashville hot chicken. Heck, you’ve probably had it plenty of times, just like me. And I’ve made a few batches of wings with Nashville hot sauce on them. There are a number of good bottled sauces out there, like the one from Buffalo Wild Wings. Well, move over Nashville! New Orleans hot wings are in the house! I took the same concept, battered fried chicken wings with a spicy paste, and Cajun-ized it! These wings bring the flavor, the crunch and just the right amount of heat.

Make ‘Em Hotter. Or Don’t.
You can make your New Orleans hot wings as hot and as Cajun as you want. Or tone it down a little, if that’s your thing. Add more hot sauce to make the sauce a little thinner and of course, a little hotter. The more seasoning, the more of that Cajun flavor and the thicker the paste is. It’s a fine line. You don’t want a thin sauce here but you also don’t want it so thick you can’t get it to stick to your wings.
You can use whatever hot sauce you prefer, but for me, this recipe screams Crystal hot sauce. It’s from Louisiana. Boom!
Also try my peri-peri wings!
Check out my always-growing list of over 100 homemade wing recipes, including sauces and seasonings!
New Orleans Hot Wings
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup your favorite hot sauce or more, to taste
- 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning or more, to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix buttermilk with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt in a large bowl.
- Add the wings and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Heat 3" of oil in a Dutch oven or deep fryer to 350 F.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, paprika and remaining kosher salt.
- Remove the wings from the buttermilk and drain. Do not pat dry.
- Place wings in the flour mixture and toss to coat well.
- Working in batches if needed, deep fry the wings 8-10 minutes or until they reach 165 F. Transfer to a wire rack over a baking sheet or a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Transfer the wings to a large bowl.
- Combine the hot sauce and Cajun seasoning. Drizzle over the wings and toss gently to coat. Click here for our guide on how to sauce your wings.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.