This spicy Thai chicken wings recipe is made with Thai chili peppers, tossed in a homemade peanut sauce. Big on flavor. Make a double batch! You'll love the peanut flavor.
Whenever Patty has a girls night out, I get to make anything I want. Oftentimes that is chicken wings because I make them as hot as I want. That may include Extra Spicy Chicken Wings (with Moruga Scorpions!) or Carolina Reaper Wings, but not this time.
This time I went Thai style. I had myself some bright Orange Thai Chili Peppers and they were screaming for a Thai version of this recipe. These particular peppers aren't very hot, though some Thai peppers are quite spicy. There are many different varieties of Thai peppers that range anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Scoville Heat Units. I just love them all.
This particular recipe uses a homemade chili paste that brings a lot of seasoning to the chicken wings, and as a spicy food lover, I think you're going to love them.
Let's talk about how we make Thai chicken wings, shall we?
Thai Chicken Wings Ingredients
- FOR THE CHICKEN WINGS
- 12 chicken wings wing tips removed and separated
- 1 teaspoon chili powder I used some Scotch Bonnet powder, but any milder powder is fine
- Salt and pepper to taste
- FOR THE THAI CHILI PASTE
- 6 Thai Chili Peppers, chopped - I used Orange Thai Chili Peppers from my garden
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons peanuts
- 1 teaspoon olive oil (sesame oil is great here, too)
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter if desired
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- Lime wedges and crushed peanuts to serve
How to Make Thai Chicken Wings - the Recipe Method
Preheat the Oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set it on broil if you have that option.
Season the Wings. For the wings, clean and pat them dry. Season them with salt, pepper and chili powder.
Bake the Wings. Set onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and cook for 45-50 minutes, flipping once about half way through. Keep an eye on them to make sure the skins get nice and crispy.
For the Thai Peanut Sauce. While the wings are cooking, make your sauce! Start by adding the chopped Thai peppers, garlic and peanuts to a food processor and process to form a paste. OR! If you’re like me, use your molcajete and do it by hand.
Cook the Paste. Scoop the paste into a small sauce pot and add a teaspoon of oil. Heat to medium and cook the paste about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Seasonings. Add chicken stock, soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer.
Optional Peanut Butter. At this point, you can add in some peanut butter, if desired. The sauce will be fairly thin and that is OK, but you might want it thicker. In that case, add the peanut butter and swirl to incorporate.
Simmer. Simmer about 5 minutes.
Lime Juice. Remove from heat and squeeze in a bit of lime juice. Stir.
Toss and Serve. When the wings are done, toss them with the Thai chili-peanut sauce to coat them. Serve wings with crushed peanuts and some lime wedges, maybe some spicy red pepper flakes.
Boom! Done! Easy enough, isn't it? The Thai chili paste makes a big difference in the overall flavor of the final wings. So good!
About the Chili Paste - BIG Flavor!
You can spice things up with powders or with additional red Thai peppers, but we're focusing on flavor here. You grind them up into a paste with garlic and peanuts and that forms the base of your sauce. I used my molcajete for this.
Like this! Here is your paste. Keep grinding.
Cook it then mix in your other sauce ingredients, which are listed below, and that will finish the sauce when your wings are ready for tossing or dipping.
Your choice! Also, a quick note about peanut butter in this recipe. It really isn't needed. It is up to you if you'd like to include it. It will thicken up the sauce though be careful not to add too much as it can dominate the flavors.
I've done this both ways. Thai purists might argue that you shouldn't use peanut butter and instead rely solely on the peanuts, which is fine, but this is your recipe now.
Make it your way! Enjoy.
Here is your Chili-Peanut Sauce. It isn't so much a sticky sauce or sticky sweet chili sauce you find in other recipes, but more savory and creamy.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy the Thai chicken wings! So tasty. I love the peanut dipping sauce. Very delicious. Perfect for a quick dinner evening. I'm a buffalo wings fanatic. Baked chicken wings are so good. Big Thai flavor here.
Check Out Some of My Other Popular Chicken Wing Recipes
- Crispy Baked BBQ Chicken Wings
- Jalapeno-Cheddar Chicken Wings
- Grilled Ghost Pepper Chicken Wings
- Baked Ghost Pepper Chicken Wings
- Sticky Habanero Glazed Chicken Wings
- One-Pot Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings
- Baked Garlic-Parmesan Chicken Wings
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Wings
- Grilled Jerk Chicken Wings
You Also Might Like These Popular Recipes
- Khao Soi (Northern Thai Coconut Curry Soup)
- Spicy Thai Curry Chicken Soup
- Yellow Curry Paste
- Sambal Oelek
- Homemade Sriracha Hot Sauce
- Easy Thai Peanut Sauce
Got any questions? Ask away! I'm happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Thai Chicken Wings Recipe with Chili-Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 chicken wings wing tips removed and separated
- 1 teaspoon chili powder I used some Scotch Bonnet powder, but any milder powder is fine
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 Orange Thai Chili Peppers chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons peanuts
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter if desired
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- Lime wedges and crushed peanuts to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set iton broil if you have that option.
- For the wings, clean and pat them dry. Season them with salt, pepper and chili powder.
- Set onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and cook for 45-50 minutes, flipping once about half way through. Keep an eye on them to make sure the skins get nice and crispy.
- While the wings are cooking, make your sauce!
- Start by adding the chopped peppers, garlic and peanuts to a food processor and process to form a paste. OR! If you’re like me, use your molcajete and do it by hand.
- Scoop the paste into a small sauce pot and add a teaspoon of oil. Heat to medium and cook the paste about 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add chicken stock, soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer.
- At this point, you can add in some peanut butter, if desired. The sauce will be fairly thin and that is OK, but you might want it thicker. In that case, add the peanut butter and swirl to incorporate.
- Simmer about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and squeeze in a bit of lime juice. Stir.
- When the wings are done, toss them with the Thai chili-peanut sauce to coat them.
- Serve wings with crushed peanuts and some lime wedges.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Sissy says
Hi there
These look wonderful and your recipe is user friendly and pics help to- my husband was station in Thailand and he just fell in love with Thai food especially Tom yum goo (I know it’s misspelled)
Can’t find a recipe and asking you if you may have one- I am making those chili pepper wings for the playoffs this weekend and I just bought red Thai chili peppers, arbol and guillina- he likes it spicy but not burning spicy how much would you recommend for the wings-
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Sissy. I do have a Tom Yum Soup recipe here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/tom-yum-soup/. Let me know if this is what you are looking for. Enjoy!
Beto says
This was awesome. Thai peppers are pretty mild, how about chile de arbol to kick it up a notch?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That would be great, I think!
Chicory App says
This looks super yummy. Love what you're doing !