Crispy Broiled Wings with 3 Sauces

I'm just here for the snacks.

Wings bathed in afternoon sunlight, and honey buffalo sauce.

One of the most bewildering parts of motherhood, for me personally, has been suddenly becoming part of a “football family”.

I say suddenly, but I’m sure in some ways Artie architected this, quietly leading by example. Since the boys could sit up unassisted, he’s been carving out cozy couch time, enthusiastically explaining plays, and making all kinds of screentime concessions when it comes to watching The Game.

But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think there was any way to prevent Pete — my bombastic, (almost always) bare-chested little armadillo of a 5 year-old, from being seduced by the glamorized physicality and fancy footwork inherent to this sport.

For Pete’s birthday he chose a UNH vs. Harvard football game over a party. My family are Wildcats going back a few generations, and my dad is a die-hard UNH football fan.

The first thing Pete does the morning after a game, is run into our bedroom (bleary-eyed, in his underwear) and steal Artie’s phone to see the final scores. It’s brutal being a superfan when your bedtime is 8pm. He cannot read yet, but he knows every team logo (and seemingly every player) in the NFL.

My oldest Jack plays it a little cooler, but he’s also pretty obsessed, and happily, he shares mine and Artie’s love of Game Day Food.

Photographic evidence of Artie indoctrinating our friend’s child, Violet, exactly a decade ago.

With Taylor’s Swift’s boyfriend’s big game coming up (I think my family is NOT rooting for the Chiefs, but I need to double check), I thought it would be fun to share a wing recipe, and a few sauces to choose from.

A while back, I developed recipes for some air-fryer wings, and sauces, for The Rachael Ray Show (RIP that production, but you can still catch the recipe and video HERE.) I wanted to come up with an oven-friendly version, and tweak the sauce recipes slightly, as I figure out my own recipe-writing style in this newsletter.

I’ll say upfront that nothing beats wings fresh out of the deep-fryer. But if your Sunday looks anything like mine, you’re not going to be up for standing over a pot of boiling oil for an hour on Super Bowl Sunday.

I’ve always thought a broiler (or air-fryer) produce much better results than baking, and I’m taking a cue from

Ali Slagle

(prolific recipe writer/cookbook author/collaborator) and coating the wings with a baking soda and salt mixture ahead of cooking them.

The results are extra crispy wings, perfect for saucing, and watching the best commercials on broadcast television.

RECIPE

Broiled chicken wings with 3 different sauces.

You’ve got options! Each sauce recipe below will coat 1.5 pounds (half this wing recipe) generously. Try two sauces, or double one of them, or double the wings and sample all 3 sauces. Just be sure to broil the wings in batches if you scale up the recipe so they have breathing room to get crispy.

Ps if you have picky kids make one sauce, and serve the other half plain, with ketchup, BBQ or any favorite dipping sauce. My youngest football-crazy son goes nuts for Bachan’s.

WINGS

• 3 pounds chicken wings, cut into flats and drumettes (if you buy wings that are the whole wing, you’ll want to hack them in half at the joint…or ask the meat counter to do it for you, that’s what I would do)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1. Dump the wings onto a rimmed baking sheet and pat them dry with paper towels, this will help them get extra crispy.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon baking powder. Add the wings to the bowl, and toss them to coat, then dump the wings back onto the baking sheet and spread them out so they have room to breathe.

3. Preheat the broiler, and while it’s heating up make your sauce(s) of choice. SEE RECIPES BELOW

4. When the broiler is preheated, broil the wings for 10-15 minutes, flip them, and broil another 10-15 minutes until very crispy. IMPORTANT NOTE: Cook time will depend on the size of your wings, the strength of your broiler, and your crispiness preference. When I tested smaller organic wings they were crispy well-done in 10 minutes, the larger conventional wings take 15.

5. Toss the wings with sauce right on the sheet pan, and serve on a plate with carrot and celery sticks and ranch or blue cheese dressing.

SAUCES

Honey Buffalo Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, cut into tablespoon sized chunks

• ¼ cup Franks Original Hot Sauce

• 1 teaspoon honey

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the 4 tablespoons of butter, ¼ cup hot sauce, and 1 teaspoon honey. When the sauce is bubbling at the edges, pour over 1.5 pounds cooked chicken wings, and toss to coat.

Garlic Parmesan Butter:

• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, cut into tablespoon sized chunks

• 1 large clove of garlic grab your microplane, you’re going to grate this directly into the pot).

• 1 handful fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

• 1 lemon (you’ll cut into wedges to garnish)

• Small hunk of grated Parmesan or pecorino Romano

• Freshly ground black pepper

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until bubbling.

  2. Remove from the heat, grate in the clove of garlic with a microplane, and let sit for a minute to mellow.

  3. Meanwhile, roughly chop up a handful of parsley and set it aside, and cut 1 lemon into wedges.

  4. Grate 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese on the microplane, and stir it into the sauce.

  5. Pour the garlic-parm-butter over 1.5 pounds cooked chicken wings and toss to coat with tongs. To serve, transfer to a plate and top with the chopped parsley, a few grinds of pepper, and juice from lemon wedges (if using).

Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, cut into tablespoon sized chunks

• 2 tablespoons gochujang

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

• 1 bunch scallions

• 1 lime

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the 4 tablespoons butter until bubbling.

  2. Remove from heat and stir in the 2 tablespoons gochujang, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil.

  3. Thinly slice the scallions, and cut the lime into wedges.

  4. Pour the sauce over 1.5 pounds cooked wings and toss to coat.

  5. To serve, transfer to a plate and top with the scallions and sesame seeds and juice from lime wedges (if using).

PRINTABLE/SENDABLE RECIPE:

Broiled Chicken Wings With 3 Different Sauces

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