Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

Sweet and Spicy! Brown sugar and Louisiana Hot Sauce with smoky chipotle make the perfect oven roasted chicken wings.

Forget Buffalo! Try Our Tucson Style Sweet and Spicy Chicken Recipe!

Just in time for Game Day or any day!- a Southwest twist on the New York state classic. Hey! Why should Buffalo have all the fun?!  Make a whole pile of these for the super bowl and you will get rave reviews!

My sister took a traditional Buffalo wing recipe and gave it a sweet and spicy chipotle twist - making these yummy wings more like my home town (Tucson) than upstate New York!

This hot wing recipe is baked, not fried for a healthier bite. You can also use Air Fryer Boneless Wings and toss them in her sweet and spicy wing sauce for a healthy, but more crispy chicken wing.

The smokiness of the chipotle gives these wings an amazing flavor, perfect with the Tabasco and brown sugar. If you want extra smoky flavor but don't want extra heat from chipotle, start with these Smoked Chicken Legs but use our Tucson Sweet a nd Spicy Sauce instead of BBQ sauce.

For extra juicy wings, try starting with citrus brined chicken wings. Just be sure to pat them dry before baking.

I love the Sweet and Spicy flavor of a hot chicken wing but, not everyone in my family does. So, I cook some of the chicken wings without the sauce and they turn out like these Southern Oven Fried Chicken Drumsticks.

How to Make Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings Recipe

So fast and easy you will have time to enjoy your party!

• First, Make the sauce. Mix the Louisiana Hot Sauce, Brown Sugar and Chipotle together in a small bowl, set aside.
• Next, whisk the cornstarch and salt together and place on a dinner plate or shallow dish.
• Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. If you have brined your chicken, it will have extra moisture so, be sure to dry the surface very well.
• Roll the wings in the cornstarch mixture and coat well. Shake off the excess.
• Dip or toss the chicken wings in the sweet and spicy sauce.

How to Make Oven Roasted Chicken Wings

• Preheat oven to 405 degrees. Prepare wire rack and sheet pan by spraying with Cooking oil spray (or Pam).
• After dipping the chicken wings in sauce, place them on a wire rack over a sheet pan.
• Turn the oven to broil and cook the chicken wings close to the broiler (about 8 inches) for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch them carefully so the sauce does not burn.
• Remove from oven and turn the wings over. Brush with remaining sauce mixture, if desired.
• Return the wings to the oven and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes or until dune.
• Caution! The brown sugar in the sauce will make them easy to burn. If the wings cook too quickly, lower the pan in the oven and cover loosely with tin foil.

Food Safety Tip for Hot Wing Sauce

• Stop! If you have leftover sauce that you would like to serve with the chicken wings, STOP, proceed with caution!
• Make sure you bring the sauce up to temperature! That's over 165 degrees for chicken.
• Remember, raw chicken has been dipped in the sauce so the sauce needs to be heated to 165 to 170 degrees in order to be safe to serve.
• I put my sauce in the microwave or very small pan and test the sauce with an instant read thermometer.
• No thermometer? No problem. Just bring the sauce to a boil or to the steaming stage. Use a little water to thin the sauce if necessary. Boiling is actually a higher temperature than is necessary but, you want to be safe.

TUCSON WINGS

1 cup Frank's Louisiana hot sauce
(or other favorite cayenne pepper sauce)
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder
1 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
18 chicken drumettes (about 3 pounds)

TUCSON WINGS

Mix hot sauce, brown sugar and chipotle powder in a small bowl. Mix cornstarch and salt together and then spread on a small plate. Dredge chicken in cornstarch mixture until evenly coated, tapping off excess.

Dip chicken in sauce mixture until well coated.

Place chicken on a broiling pan. Broil about 6 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes, watching closely so as not to burn. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush with remaining sauce mixture.

Return to oven and broil another 5 to 8 minutes, watching closely. Serve with a favorite cool dip, or a little sour cream mixed with cumin.

Other wings worth checking out:
Unfried Buffalo Wings, Food Mayhem
Siracha Peach Wings, What We're Eating
Inside Out Buffalo Hot Wings, A Dash of Sass

-- posted by Donna