Most of the time, you’ll find me making my wings on one of my grills. Quite regularly, actually. But sometimes I am just not up to fighting the weather or I prefer a more traditional wing. That’s when my restaurant-style deep-fried wings make an appearance. For me, a deep-fried wing has to be battered, but not heavily so. Somewhere between grandma’s fried chicken and no-batter-at-all is what I want. Something for the wing sauce to stick to, and something with just a little crunch. A little kick, if I want. Like these wings, right here.
My Go-To Recipe
This is my base recipe for my restaurant-style deep-fried wings. When I’m cooking dry wings (not sauced after cooking), I will often take the dry wing spices and incorporate them into the coating, leaving out the paprika and/or cayenne if they will clash. My Buffalo Ranch dry wings are a great example.
Big Wings Take Longer (Duh!)
Frying time varies with the size of your wings. I always buy family packs of fresh wings. They’re big and meaty and take a full 9 minutes or longer to fry. If you buy frozen un-cooked wings (thaw them first!) you’ll often find they are smaller and don’t require so much cooking time.
Fry, Baby!
I love deep-fried wings. But it’s usually just me I’m cooking for. So there’s no reason for me to drag out my big deep-fryer that could easily cook for a crowd. No, this calls for my Fry Daddy. Perfect for one-to-four people’s-worth of wings. And it doesn’t use a lot of oil, that’s a major plus. It gets to temperature quickly and maintains it even when I add cold wings. It’s priced right too and lasts forever!
- SPECIAL GREEN/GOLD EDITION: Our best-selling…
- FOUR SERVINGS: Makes four servings of french fries…
And whatever you do, don’t go tossing these wings in sauce. You’ve spent all that time getting that wonderful crunchy coating on them. You treated them like they were gold. You watched them fry, waiting for that perfect moment to take them out of the hot oil. The right color, the right crunch. Why in the world would you want to beat them to death in a bowl, tossing them with a sauce? If you gotta sauce them, either do I as I already mentioned and dip them in the sauce on the side or brush the sauce on with a brush. Any no matter what, don’t hit them with a cold, refrigerated sauce. Make sure your sauce is at least at room temperature first. Or even better, warmed slightly on the stovetop!
Also try my crazy-good Grippos-crusted wings!
Check out my always-growing list of over 200 favorite store-bought wing sauces and seasonings!
Restaurant-Style Deep-Fried Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
For the wings
- 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
- vegetable oil for frying
For the coating (feel free to add your favorite wing seasoning too!)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Add enough oil to a deep fryer or Dutch oven to cook the wings. Bring to 375 F.
- Rinse wings and pat dry. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Combine the coating ingredients and sprinkle some (but not all) over the wings. Toss to coat. If the wings don't get fully coated add some more coating. You might have leftover coating.
- Working in batches, transfer wings to the oil and fry 5-6 minutes per side, flipping once.
- Remove to a paper towel-lined plate then to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Serve hot.
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