Hi friends! Today we are bringing you Epic and Oh So Easy Hot Wings!Hot Wings are hands down the most popular food in our family. I can’t even fathom how many plates of wings we have cooked up in our house! It’s the number one requested dish from visitors when they join us for a meal. Our family fell in love with hot wings probably 20 years ago. At that time, we ordered them when we were out at restaurants. My husband began to try and break down the recipe. He would make a batch and analyze it. He tweaked it until he got it perfect! And now he and my son Jake are hot wing aficionados!

We have a deep fryer, and we very often make them with the deep fryer, but that uses a lot of oil, and if you are just making a small batch, a frying pan works great. So we opted to share this recipe using a frying pan. So without further ado, let’s begin!

Ingredients: 

• 1 package of chicken wings (about 10-12 wings per pack- feeds 1-2 people: We usually buy 2-3 packs, and usually every wing gets eaten)
• Vegetable oil, enough to fill your frying pan about 1/3 full or about an inch deep
• 1/3 cup Franks RedHot Hot Sauce
• 1/3 cup Butter
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing as a condiment to the wings (optional)
• Note if you are making several packs of wings, just double or triple the sauce depending on how many packages of wings you make.

A word about chicken wings, notice this first package is called, “Wing Drumettes”, which come precut from the store. Chicken wings are challenging to cut, and since the meat is slippery, It can be very easy to cut yourself (my dear husband ended up at the ER one night preparing wings). I recommend getting the wings precut for simplicity and safety.

Below is a package of wings that have not been cut.

And finally here is what the Drumettes look like when they are coming out of the package.

Have a bowl ready with paper towel for when the wings are done frying.

First, lets get the hot sauce made so it’s ready to go when the wings are done cooking. We poured 1/3 cup of hot sauce into a microwaveable cup, and added in 1/3 cup of butter. Microwave the mixture until the butter is melted (1-2 minutes) then give it a stir. If you want your sauce hotter, you can add about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. You could also add 1/2 tsp of vinegar. We like ours with just the butter and hot sauce. The butter “cuts the heat” of the hot sauce, so if you like them milder, add more butter and/or less hot sauce.

Time to cook those wings! You need a frying pan with a lid because the oil can splatter quite a bit, you will also need tongs.

Fill the frying pan about 1/3 full with oil. It should be about an inch deep. Turn the heat on high. Take a paper towel and pat the wings dry before you add them to the oil.

Once the oil is hot, add your wings carefully. It might splatter a bit, so be careful.

While they cook, put the lid on. After your wings have cooked about 4-5 minutes, you will turn them over with the tongs, if you see the nice golden color, turn them. See the nice golden brown color?

And let them cook about another 3-4 minutes. Once again, you are looking for that golden color on both sides now. If you are not sure if they are done, take one out, cut it right down to the bone and be sure it’s not pink, that it looks cooked.

Now carefully take them out and place them on the paper towel in the bowl.

Salt and pepper them.

Remove the paper towel.

Pour the sauce over the wings.

Using a large spoon, stir to coat the wings in the sauce. At this point, my nose and eyes start to water! On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hottest, our wings are about a 6. Have plenty of icy cold drinks nearby!

They are ready!

We serve them with crisp veggies and ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Let’s serve them up!

Oh my! Don’t they look tasty?

Now let me just give them a little Tasty Tester!

Hot Wing Perfection!

Hot wings at our house are a symbol of all the good things in life! Everyone loves them! Pretty much every day, a text thread goes out to the family, someone starts it with “What’s for dinner?” My husband works in Detroit, my son is in school in Ann Arbor and I am in Canton. So it feels like a party when I answer, “We’re having hot wings tonight!” And you know you just made them smile with their whole heart! When family visits from out of town, they often request hot wings, we have so many good memories that include fresh hot wings at the table!

Aren’t you glad we were given the gift of enjoying food? I love how it reaches across all divides and brings us together! There is a joy and a deep satisfaction that comes with making something that tastes so good! And when you add in the factor of bringing loved ones together in community to share in the “feast”, well I think that is one of the very best parts of life! I love it!

The wings in the pictures above were made last night. I kid you not, my son Jake is making another batch right this minute! He knows what he likes!

Have a fantastic day!

Love Always,

Amy

Meals and memories are made here. Sit long, talk much and laugh often.   ~unknown