Buffalo Wings Recipes - How to Make Hot Wings

Buffalo Wings Recipes

Hot wings and especially buffalo wings are incredibly popular finger food, attested by the numerous sports bar appetizers and even entire food chains dedicated to the spicy dish. Perfect for football and Super Bowl parties, poker parties, or just plain old party gatherings, a great buffalo wings recipe will keep everyone happy. Just be sure to ask someone to bring the beer. Who doesn't like hot wings?

Historically, people used all parts of the chicken, including the wings – even though the wing was considered good for little else other than soup stock material. However, this all changed in a little town called Buffalo, New York.

Theresa Bellisimo was hosting her son and his friends at her restaurant, called the Anchor Bar. The date was October 30th, 1964 and the hour was late, so the restaurant proprietress was left with unlikely ingredients on her hand with no opportunity to go shopping. Faced with a band of hungry kids and the need to satiate them, she fried up a pile of chicken wings she had on hand, dipped them in a spicy batter, and served celery and dressing alongside the wings to complement the dish. To her surprise, they were a huge hit with the kids, and many people started to come to the Anchor Bar just to try “Buffalo’s wings!”

And thus, a legend was born. The Anchor Bar soon became the biggest hit in Buffalo, and the buffalo chicken wing phenomenon spread throughout the country like wildfire.

Basic Buffalo Wings Recipe

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken wings (about 12-20 wings, depending on the size), separated and wing tips removed if desired
5 tablespoons butter, melted
6 tablespoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

Rinse wings and pat dry, then add to a large bowl or plastic bag.
Create your basic buffalo sauce by combining melted butter, hot sauce, garlic, cayenne pepper flakes and salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Mix well.
Marinate the chicken wings with all but a few tablespoons of the buffalo sauce. Be sure to completely coat.
Cover or seal the wings and marinate about 20 minutes.
Drain buffalo sauce and discard, as the marinade sauce should not be used.
Your wings are now ready for cooking. See below for cooking methods and times.
Once the buffalo wings are done cooking, toss them with the remaining buffalo sauce and serve!

Hot Wing Cooking Methods - How to Cook Hot Wings

Deep Fried Hot Wings: If you have deep fryer, you can now deep fry the wings in oil per the deep fryer settings and temperature recommendations, about 12-15 minutes, or until nice and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Broiled or Baked Hot Wings: For a slightly healthier option, you can broil the Buffalo wings about 20 minutes a few inches from the heat source. Flip them about half way through cooking.

Grilled Hot Wings: Another option is grilling - get the grill good and hot, then grill about 10 minutes each side, or until wings are nice and crispy.

Serve with your favorite Bleu Cheese or Ranch Dressing and celery sticks.

Notes on Buffalo Sauces

The above recipe is a basic buffalo style hot sauce, but there are a number of variations of wing sauces available to you. Visit our Hot Sauce Recipes section, or learn more at HotSauceMadness.com.