These Calabrian Chili Wings are sweet and spicy baked chicken wings that are just ridiculously flavorful.
I prepare them in the morning, let them rest in the fridge all day, and bake them when I get home.
Warning: These wings are addictive! Their sweet and spicy flavor profile combined with their sticky texture is a match made in heaven. They even travel well, so you can bring them to a Sunday football party or tailgate.
What Are Calabrian Chili Wings?
They're delicious sweet and spicy baked chicken wings. The simple sauce consists of sweet honey, spicy Calabrian chili peppers, lemon, garlic, and rosemary. It's a perfect balance of delightful Italian flavors.
How to Make these Calabrian Chili Wings
- Dust wings with salt, pepper, and baking soda
- Refrigerate uncovered for at least 2 hours
- bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit
- Coat in your homemade sweet and spicy Calabrian chili sauce
- broil for 3 minutes, or until edges start to blacken
The key to perfect baked chicken wings
Seasoning the raw wings with salt and baking soda and leaving them uncovered in your refrigerator serves a few purposes
- Salt draws moisture out of the wings. This moisture can evaporate as long as you don't cover the wings. Less moisture means better browning and crisping later.
- Baking soda further helps them to crisp up and crackle a bit in the oven.
What you'll need to make Calabrian Chili Wings
Good mixing bowls and sheet pans are two of my most useful pieces of cooking equipment. They're both inexpensive and worth investing in.
My favorite mixing bowls are lightweight and have lids, just in case you want to use them as containers.
My favorite sheet pans by USA Pans allow your sweet and spicy baked wings to get crispy with minimal sticking.
Of course, you must have crushed Calabrian Chili Peppers to make Calabrian Chili Wings! My favorites brands are:
- Trader Joe's brand, AKA Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce
- TuttoCalabria's crushed Calabrian chili peppers (see my Amazon picks above)
Finally, a wire rack is helpful for allowing air to get underneath the wings while they dry out in the refrigerator. They'll simply dry better. Dry wings before baking means crispier wings later on.
What to serve with them
My favorite accompaniments for these sweet and spicy Calabrian Chili Wings are homemade blue cheese dressing and thinly sliced green bell peppers. This homemade blue cheese recipe is so simple and FLAVORFUL. It's to die for.
Blue cheese dressing adds creaminess while the green bell peppers add a fresh, earthy bite.
Other recipes using Calabrian Chili Peppers
Recipe
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Calabrian Chili Wings
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 wings 1x
- Category: meat, appetizers, spicy food
- Method: Baked Chicken Wings
- Cuisine: Italian, American
Description
Sweet, spicy, sticky baked chicken wings in an ultra flavorful Calabrian Chili- based Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken wings
- 1 Tb Calabrian Chili Peppers/ Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce
- 2 Tb honey
- The juice and zest of half a lemon
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, stems removed
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- ½ tsp baking soda
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare wings by cutting them apart at the joints to separate the drumettes from the flats. You can also remove the wing tips and use them to make stock later.
- Combine the salt, pepper, and baking soda in a small bowl then dust the wings with this mixture.
- Arrange wings on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Place wings in the refrigerator (don't cover them!) for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 12.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil, arrange wings on the baking sheet, and bake wings on 450F for 30 minutes, rotating once half way through.
- While the wings are baking, make the Calabrian chili sauce. In a large bowl, place Calabrian chilis, honey, lemon juice and zest, rosemary, and garlic. Whisk to combine.
- Remove wings from baking sheet. If they're slightly stuck, use a fish spatula to help get them off without tearing them! Switch oven to broil.
- Toss wings in the sauce and return them to the baking sheet. Broil for 3 minutes, or until slightly blackened.
Keywords: Calabrian Chili Wings, Sweet and Spicy Baked Chicken Wings
Gianna Nebbia says
the honey adds the perfect sweetness without being too sweet.