The NFL playoffs have begun and the Super Bowl is right around the corner. If you want to save money catering for the big game, I can show you how to cook tender wings for the Super Bowl.
This will be the first in a series of Super Bowl recipes. I’ll be sharing more party food ideas, with a big emphasis on appetizers!
How To Cook Tender Wings
Most chicken wings are fried. If you’ve ever tried frying them, you may have noticed they are a little tough. My first tip is going to help with that problem.
While I do fry my wings, I first cook them in a pressure cooker. By doing so, they become fall off the bone tender. After a quick turn in the pressure cooker, I finish the wings in the fryer to get them crispy.
You have to be careful about overcooking the wings in the pressure cooker. We do want them to be fall off the bone tender, but we want the chicken falling off the bone while we eat it, and not in the pressure cooker!
The wings need to be cooked for approximately 10 minutes in the pressure cooker if they are fresh. Frozen wings would need 15 or more. I personally am not a fan of cooking frozen chicken, despite multiple products promoting such an ability these days.
Once the chicken is cooked to your desired tenderness in the pressure cooker, they are going to be quite moist. Pat dry them before moving on to the next step. Set your fryer to 350 degrees. Make sure you don’t overload the fryer, or the oil temperature will drop too low and you won’t get crispy wings.
Fry the wings to your desired level of crispness. Now we have to talk about sauces!
Chicken Wing Sauces
There are a ton of great options when it comes to chicken wing sauces. My personal favorite is buffalo wings. You can find plenty of great options at the supermarket, such as Sweet Baby Ray’s, Franks, you name it.
If you are looking to make your homemade buffalo sauce, the recipe couldn’t be simpler. You only need 2 ingredients: butter and hot sauce. Melt some butter in a saucepan, whisk in your favorite hot sauce, and you have buffalo sauce.
BBQ sauce makes another great wing topping. Check out my post on the Top 5 BBQ Sauces You Can Find In Any Supermarket!
You can make some amazing Asian-inspired sticky wings with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. These are a great alternative to the traditional buffalo wing.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
If you are looking to avoid deep frying, you could always go for air fryer chicken wings! I’d still recommend cooking in the pressure cooker first to get that extra tenderness. Once they are done in the pressure cooker, spray them with some oil spray and bake in the air fryer at 400 until they reach your desired level of crispness.
For healthier wings, you can bypass the fatty sauces and go for some delicious dry rub finishes. Lemon pepper wings are always a hit. Jamaican jerk seasoning is a flashy alternative that is sure to turn heads. You can’t go wrong with Creole and Cajun-inspired versions either.
Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong with this delicious big-game snack. Be sure to check back for more Super Bowl-inspired recipes!
