You’re probably going to read through this recipe and think, “No way, too many steps, too many ingredients, too much trouble.” But if you’re a lover of buffalo wings, like myself and my husband, it’s really not that much trouble. The hardest part was prepping the chicken wings. Something I’ve never done, and didn’t particularly enjoy while in the midst of it. I hate handling raw meat. With a passion. But the end result is worth it. Tasty little pieces of meat dipped in homemade ranch sauce. Perfect for a fall football party.
If you can handle a lot of heat, up the amount of hot sauce. I kept dripping more sauce in and the wings still weren’t that hot. Read the recipe carefully before starting. I didn’t and forgot to rub the first batch of wings with the garlic and pepper mix.
Buffalo Wings with Ranch Dressing
adapted from Olive Magazine
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Marinade Time: 2 hours to overnight (for chicken wings), 1 hour for ranch dressing
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
for the chicken wings:
- 14 large chicken wings
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/5 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup low-fat mayonaise
- a few stalks of fresh parsley
- a few stalks of chives
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Prep:
for the chicken wings:
- Remove the tips of each chicken wing and then cut the drumstick off at the joint. If you’ve never done this before, here’s a great tutorial from Yum Sugar. Discard the tips.
- Melt the butter.
- Crush the garlic.
- Mince the parsley, place in paper towel, rinse under cold water then wring out as much water as possible. Set to the side.
- Chop the chives.
Directions:
for the chicken wings:
- Heat up several inches of frying oil (canola, grapeseed, peanut or safflower). Oil needs to reach, and maintain, a temperature of 375°.
- Meanwhile, combine the garlic salt, onion powder and black pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the chicken wings and rub in until wings are covered with seasonings.
- Deep-fry the wings in three separate batches for 3 minutes until almost, but not yet, brown. Remove the wings from the oil and place on a paper towel-lined platter.
- Let the chicken cool for a few minutes while preparing the hot sauce marinade.
- Combine the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, melted butter, and hot pepper sauce in a large bowl. Mix together until smooth. Transfer the wings from the platter to the bowl, and let marinate for at least 2 hours. If prepping for a party, you can let marinate overnight or in the morning for an afternoon party.
- After wings are finished marinating, remove from fridge. Heat a grill up and cook wings for 6-10 minutes on each side. Baste with leftover sauce on both sides. Let the sauce caramelize before removing from grill.
- Serve with ranch dressing and vegetables for dipping.
- Mix the garlic and salt together to make a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together. Let sit for an hour before serving cold.
Tip:
The longer you fry the wings, the crispier they’ll be. You can skip the grill and fry each wing for 10 minutes to cook completely. Making sure that the oil temperature doesn’t drop below 375°.
Don’t have a thermometer? Here’s some advice from About.com: “The easiest, and safest, method I have found is to stick the end of a wooden spoon into the oil. If you see bubbles form around the wood and they start to float up, your oil is hot enough to cook with.” Source
If you want to add even more heat, melt a little bit of butter and mix it with hot sauce. Coat the wings after they’re finished grilling. Would you rather have BBQ wings? Cover them with your favorite BBQ sauce. Use your local wing joint’s menu as inspiration. Your guests will love it.
