Boneless Buffalo Wings

It was something about the crispy, perfect, crunchy breading on the outside with the tender chicken inside and the insanely delicious Buffalo sauce. I’ve tried off-and-on over the years to figure out how they did it, but I’ve finally come up with something that’s close enough that I feel confident putting it on this blog.

Serve them up with celery sticks, homemade Blue Cheese Dressing (below) or Ranch (for the unsophisticated heathens, also below), and an ice cold IPA.

You Will Need

1. A 12″ Cast Iron Skillet or other skillet suitable for shallow-frying
2. A medium mixing bowl
3. 2 shallow baking dishes or pie dishes, for dredging

Ingredients

1. 2lbs (about 4-6 total) Chicken breasts, sliced in half longwise to make 2-3 strips per breast, for 12-18 chicken strips. Alternatively, buy a pack of tenders; I’ve done both
2. ½ cup flour
3. Generous, three-finger pinch Kosher Salt
4. A few healthy grinds Black Pepper
5. Pinch Paprika
6. 3 Eggs
7. 3 tablespoons vodka (alcohol is a binding agent)
8. 3 tablespoons buttermilk (or half-and-half, or cream, or water)
9. 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
10. ¼ cup parmesan cheese
11. 1-2 cups or so vegetable oil, ghee or any other high smoke-point fat: enough to get about 1½ inches deep in a cast iron or other suitable pan for frying

Prep

1. Set up your dredging station.  You’ll need two, wide shallow dishes and one medium sized bowl.
2. Put the flour in one of the wide, shallow dishes.  Season aggressively with salt and pepper; add paprika and mix until seasoning is well distributed.
3. In the second wide, shallow dish add Panko Bread Crumbs and Parmesan Cheese. Whisk together until well mixed.
4. Crack three eggs into the medium sized bowl; add vodka and heavy cream/half-and-half/buttermilk, or water.  Whisk together until slightly foamy.
5. Set everything up in this order:  Flour mixture, egg wash, bread crumb mixture
6. Dredge a chicken strip first in the flour mixture (shaking of excess), then dip into the egg wash, and then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, rolling and pressing firmly to adhere to each side and flipping a few times as needed.
7. Transfer to a baking sheet.
8. Repeat this process with all the chicken strips. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes, and up to 4 hours
9. Preheat oven to the lowest temperature it will go, probably like 170°F but 200°F is fine. Use the convection setting if you have it.

Cook

1. Fill a A 12″ Cast Iron Skillet about 1½ – 2 inches deep with a high smoke-point fat (I like to use vegetable oil and maybe ¼ cup of duck fat or ghee for a little extra flavor)
2. Heat oil to 375°F as measured with an Instant Read Thermometer.
   • Safety Notes:
     • You’ve got super hot oil in a skillet that probably has a handle. Point that handle toward the rear of the stove, angled away from the edges of the stove where it could accidentally be knocked
     • Keep kids/pets and things you can trip over out of the kitchen during this time
3. Carefully lay a few of the breaded chicken strips into the hot oil – you can probably do 5 or 6 at a time, for about three batches total.
   • A few important notes here:
     • Lay the strips away from you so if there’s any splashing it doesn’t go in your direction
     • Lay strips in oil slowly – don’t be afraid of it; dropping things in quickly will lead to more spattering/splashing. If you’re nervous, use tongs.
     • Do not overcrowd – you don’t want to drop the oil temperature too much
     • IMPORTANT: Right when you lay the strips in the oil, they’ll sink to the bottom, so use tongs to gently wiggle each cutlet to ensure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan
     • It’s okay if the strips aren’t fully submerged – you’re going to turn them over once in a while anyway (see next step)
4. Cook until deeply golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally, around 5-6 minutes (approximately 3 minutes per side)
5. Once strips are beautiful, golden, stiff, and crunchy, transfer them to a Rimmed Baking with oven safe wire rack
6. Repeat with remaining cutlets, and transfer to 170°F oven to keep warm while you make the sauces

Wing Sauces (These are super easy)

For Buffalo Wings

Note: You can actually skip the whole darn thing and just buy Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo WING Sauce (premade) – it’s really good and will save you some time. Or make your own as follows:

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane, or pressed
3. 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce* (see note)
4. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
5. 1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar (or any vinegar in a pinch)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until well combined – alternatively, microwave for 2-3 minutes until butter is melted and foamy, and then stir well to combine
2. Allow to cool to room temperature before using
3. Toss wings in sauce
4. Sauce can be made 2 days in advance and then refrigerated if stored in an airtight container

For Garlic-Parmesan Wings

Ingredients

1. 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2. Pinch kosher salt
3. 2 cloves garlic, grated on a Microplane
4. 1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese
   
   Note: Go for the refrigerated stuff if you can get it, not the room temp stuff in the jar with the green lid. Also, do use the pre-grated… in this case you want the cornstarch on there that keeps it from clumping, because it will also keep your wings from becoming a stringy, saucy mess!)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe container
2. Nuke until butter is melted
3. Whisk to combine
4. Toss wings in sauce

For Sriracha Hot Wings (Think Buffalo with an Asian Twist!)

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane or pressed
3. 1 cup Sriracha hot sauce
4. 2 tablespoons honey
5. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
6. 1/2 teaspoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
7. zest and juice of 1 lime
8. 2 more limes, halved
9. diced green onions for garnish

Cook

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat until foaming and completely melted; swirling or stirring to keep it from burning. You can use the microwave here too.
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute
3. Add remaining ingredients whisk constantly until ingredients are homogeneous and sauce has thickened slightly
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Use right away or transfer to refrigerator. Sauce can be made 2 days in advance

For Honey BBQ Wings

1. 2 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane or pressed
3. 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
4. 1/4 cup honey
5. Pinch Kosher Salt
6. 1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar (or any vinegar in a pinch)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe container
2. Nuke until butter is melted
3. Whisk to combine
4. Toss wings in sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients

1. 1 cup mayonnaise (use Kewpie if you can get it!)
2. 4 tablespoons sour cream
3. 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
4. juice of 1 lemon
5. pinch kosher salt
6. 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles, or to taste

Cook

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes – the longer, the better. Can be made two days in advance.

For uncultured heathens who prefer Ranch Dressing:

Ingredients:

1. ½ cup buttermilk
2. ½ cup mayonnaise (use Kewpie if you can get it!)
3. ½ cup sour cream
4. 1 tablepsoon finely chopepd fresh parsley
5. 1 teaspoon minced chives
6. ½ teaspoon finely chopped minced dill
7. 1 tablespoon lemon juice
8. 1 tablepsoon Dijon mustard
9. ½ teaspoon onion powder
10. ½ teaspoon garlic powder
11. ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
12. ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes – the longer, the better. Can be made two days in advance.