If there’s one food you need in your appetizer arsenal, let it be my Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken Wings. Bridger’s a big wing guy so when they disappeared minutes after I first made these for him and he requested them for his birthday dinner, I knew the recipe was a keeper. Much like my Better-Than-Takeout Orange Chicken from my cookbook that you guys have been loving, I’m beyond confident these wings will be another household hit for you too. And of course, they’re made the RGE way – nutritious and delicious. Now is the time to get these prepped and ready to impress all of your friends, family and favorite football fans, because nothing screams football like wings, amiright?
FLAVORFUL FOOD FOR FUEL
These Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken Wings are truly the most flavorful food for fuel. I’m craving them as I write this, TBH. They’re the perfect balance of being sweet in taste and sticky in texture, aka finger-lickin’ good. The best part is they’re good for you too – does it get any better? Unlike most of the restaurant versions, these wings are baked, not fried, yet maintain the most insane flavor. And yes, it does get better, because chicken wings are high in protein and other nutrients and minerals including potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron. All the health-filled things! I like to get pasture-raised wings (and/or drumsticks) since pasture-raised is one of the highest poultry standards and has more nutritional benefits than conventionally-raised chicken.
There are many reasons I love wings. To name a few: they’re easy to make, you can easily swap out the sauce which makes them customizable for any palate, and they make for an epic game day app (or any day, let’s be serious!). Let’s put it this way – there’s no losing with this recipe, no matter the outcome of your favorite team’s game. I promise you will seriously impress whoever is lucky enough to get their hands on one of these incredibly delicious wings.
A MOMENT FOR THE SAUCE
Since they’re baked, the wings come out of the oven so tender you could basically eat them as-is at this point, but the sauce – omg, it’s too good. Made with all the better-for-you ingredients – like avocado oil for healthy fats, fresh garlic + ginger for all the health-promoting + disease-preventing benefits, and honey for the perfectly sweet but not too heavy flavor and antioxidant properties, and more – it’s hard to make them any other way. Let the sauce shine!
So I know I said these Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken Wings are a must-have in your appetizer arsenal, but honestly, they make for a great dinner or weekend lunch. They can easily be paired with a side salad or any kind of potato, like fries (grab my go-to fries recipe here), or crispy smashed potatoes. My favorite way to serve them as a dinner is with rice and my Crispy Buttery Broccolini. I’d love to hear what you think of these wings and what you pair with them – share in the comment section below!
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:
For the Wings
- Avocado oil spray or extra-virgin olive oil spray
- Pasture-raised chicken wings (and/or drumsticks)
- Paleo baking flour
- Garlic powder
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Sauce
- Avocado oil
- Garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- Fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- Coconut aminos
- Honey
- Rice vinegar
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Red chili flakes, optional
- Arrowroot starch
HOW TO MAKE HONEY-GLAZED GARLIC CHICKEN WINGS
Make the Wings
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and set a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with the oil and set aside.
Using paper towels, pat the chicken wings completely dry. In a large bowl, whisk together the paleo flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken wings and drumsticks, toss well to coat.
Using tongs, transfer the chicken wings one at a time to the rack, spacing evenly. Spray the wings with more oil spray, and bake for 25 minutes. Turn the wings and return them to the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until crisp and cooked through.
Make the Sauce
While the wings are in the oven, make the sauce: In a small skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, just until fragrant. Add the coconut aminos, honey, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and chili flakes, if using, and cook, stirring constantly, for another 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low.
Place the arrowroot starch in a small bowl, add a spoonful of the sauce, and stir until the starch is completely dissolved. Add the starch mixture back to the sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce is shiny and thickened.
Transfer the hot wings to a large mixing bowl and add the sauce. Toss well to coat, and serve immediately.
RECIPE SUBSTITUTIONS & QUESTIONS
This is a pretty straight-forward recipe, but like I said, one of the best parts about chicken wings is you can customize the sauce to your liking. You could use the recipe for the base of the wings here and swap in any other sauce you prefer. If you want options, you can double the recipe and toss half in this Honey-Glazed Garlic sauce that I made and the other half in one of your other favorites. I like to use arrowroot starch to thicken the sauce, but feel free to use corn starch too. The coconut aminos works really well in this recipe because it is slightly sweeter and slightly less salty than soy sauce, but you can definitely use soy sauce instead if you’d like.
SHOULD CHICKEN WINGS BE BAKED OR FRIED?
Chicken wings can be both baked and fried. I prefer to bake my chicken wings to keep the nutrient content of the meat intact. Chicken wings have a higher ratio of skin to meat than other cuts of chicken, which is why they’re so flavorful. Deep frying of course makes them crispy, but also takes a little away from the distinct flavor of the skin. Baking helps to caramelize the skin and render the fat, which ultimately creates a more complex taste.
IS IT BETTER TO SAUCE WINGS BEFORE OR AFTER BAKING?
You’ll find that most oven-baked wings are tossed in sauce after they have been cooked. This allows for the wings to maintain their crispy texture but still be packed with all the saucy flavor. When making oven-baked wings, it’s super important to thoroughly pat the wings dry with paper towels before seasoning them and placing them in the oven so that the skin remains perfectly crisp in order to soak up all the sauce.
SHOP THE RECIPE
LOVE THESE CHICKEN WINGS? HERE’S MORE DELISH APPS + MAINS:
Gluten-Free Hot Honey Chicken Sliders
Healthy Fried Zucchini Blossoms
Click here to watch the reel I made of this recipe 🙂
Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken Wings
Ingredients
For the Wings
- Avocado oil spray or extra-virgin olive oil spray
- 20 pasture-raised chicken wings, and/or drumsticks
- 1/3 cup paleo baking flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the Sauce
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Red chili flakes, to taste, optional
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
Instructions
Make the Wings
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and set a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with the oil and set aside.
- Using paper towels, pat the chicken wings completely dry. In a large bowl, whisk together the paleo flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken wings and drumsticks, toss well to coat.
- Using tongs, transfer the chicken wings one at a time to the rack, spacing evenly. Spray the wings with more oil spray, and bake for 25 minutes. Turn the wings and return them to the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until crisp and cooked through.
Make the Sauce
- While the wings are in the oven, make the sauce: In a small skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, just until fragrant. Add the coconut aminos, honey, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and chili flakes, if using, and cook, stirring constantly, for another 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low.
- Place the arrowroot starch in a small bowl, add a spoonful of the sauce, and stir until the starch is completely dissolved. Add the starch mixture back to the sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce is shiny and thickened.
- Transfer the hot wings to a large mixing bowl and add the sauce. Toss well to coat, and serve immediately.
How would you recommend making these in the air fryer?