Chicken Wings are one of my all-time favorite bar foods. So it makes sense that I am always working to elevate my version of Buffalo Wings to be among the best. To make the Best Buffalo Wings, I also have to make the Best Buffalo Wing Sauce. I always have some of my Homemade Buffalo Sauce in the fridge ready for when my craving hits.

At home I tend to eat wings when I just want something quick. There’s nothing better than enjoying a chicken wing with a fantastic crunch and then dipping in your favorite sauce. It doesn’t matter whether your favorite sauce is a Buffalo Sauce, a Sweet Heat Thai Sauce, a Korean Spicy Gochujang Sauce, or any sauce variation that you can creatively come up with. Enjoying a batch of crispy chicken wings can be the perfect hand-held main meal or snack.

How We Get the Perfect Crunch

For me, it’s all about the crunch. We are adding two specific ingredients to achieve the perfect crunch; Cornstarch and baking powder. Cornstarch helps create a crispy outer crust by absorbing surface moisture and providing a light coating, while baking powder raises the pH level of the chicken skin, allowing it to crisp up more effectively during cooking, resulting in extra crunchy wings.

**Wings on the left are my Crispy Chicken Wings tossed in my Buffalo Sauce. The Wings on the right are my “naked” wings that are just crispy Air Fried.**

Cooking our wings at a higher heat also is good for the crunch. Cooking at a high temperature (400°) will help to render the fat in the wing quicker, thereby resulting in crisper skin.

What About the Sauce?

Franks Red Hot Sauce is always a quick go-to if you need a good buffalo sauce. Add some butter to a small sauce pot filled with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce over a low heat and you are good to go. Check it out!

However, I think our sauce recipe is pretty damn good that your family will love! You can adjust the heat to your family’s specific spice tolerance and start dipping! Remember that fresh peppers are just that; fresh. This means “heat” can range from hot to really hot! There are plenty of dried versions of red chiles that you can soften up in water on the stove and then blend and strain to liven up your sauce.

And don’t forget to put on gloves when you are working with hot peppers. There is nothing worse than working with hot peppers and then rubbing your eyes or other parts of your body (as I say with a grin remembering my uneducated younger days). Please keep that in mind!

If you like the idea of a Thai-based Sweet-Spicy sauce, check out my recipe here. It is similar to a Mae Ploy sauce.

Added Surprise: If you have taken the time to read through the whole recipe blog then you will see that I also have provided my recipe for a Korean Fried Chicken Sauce. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy your Buffalo Wings while watching your favorite sports event or when you have a craving that cannot be denied. Please use the comment section below and let me know what your thoughts are and leave me any questions you might have. As always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

Best Buffalo Chicken Wings and Sauce

Recipe by David Frank – Spending Time In My Kitchen

Wings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

2 lb Chicken Wings
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cornstarch
2 tsp Salt /Seasoning
Buffalo Sauce
20 Fresh or Dry Red Peppers (arbols, cayenne, fresno)
2 Cup White Vinegar
4 Tbl Butter unsalted
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Paprika
1 Tbl Cayenne pepper powder to taste
Salt to taste
Garnish for Buffalo Chicken Wings
Blue cheese or Ranch Dressing
Carrot, Celery sticks
Korean Sweet Spicy Sauce
2 Tbl Ketchup
2 Tbl Gochugaru pepper flakes
2 Tbl Honey
2 Tbl Brown sugar
2 Tbl Tamari (Similar to soy sauce)
2 tsp Ginger, minced
2 tsp Garlic, minced
1 Tbl Onion Powder
1 Tbl Sesame oil
Garnish for Korean Fried Chicken
Green onion
Toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Cut your carrots and celery into sticks. Set aside to serve when wings are done cooking.
Pat dry your chicken wings. Add chicken wings to a large bowl. Add baking powder, salt, and cornstarch to the bowl and toss. Ensure that the wings are completely covered. Place wings on a baking tray with a screen. Shake off any excess seasoning mixture so the wings form a more even coating.
Set Air Fryer to 400°. Set time for 10 minutes.
After cooking for 10 minutes, flip them and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Total cook in the air fryer should be 20 to 25 minutes. If cooking in the oven, you may need to double the cooking time.
Note: If you have large drumettes, you may need to cook them 5 to 10 additional minutes on each side.
Test your wings to see if they are completely cooked. They will be done cooking when the wings reach an internal temperature of 165°. Pull them out of the air fryer when done cooking and serve while hot.
Place your wings in a large bowl and toss with your homemade Buffalo Sauce!
Time to Plate! Organize your Buffalo Sauce, your Dipping Dressing, and your carrot and celery sticks. Enjoy!!
Making the Buffalo Sauce
Optional step: Place the dried chiles in a 14-inch skillet to lightly toast the chiles. Toast the chiles over a low heat and cook for a few minutes on each side until fragrant.
If using dry arbol, japones, or any other dry chile, place about 20 of them in a large pot. Fill with water and set over a stove set to medium hot in order to rehydrate them.
Once toasted and rehydrated, place chiles in a blender. Add enough water to cover the chiles. Blend the chiles at medium speed to finely blend and achieve as smooth a sauce as possible. Strain your sauce to achieve a completely smooth sauce. (You can use the water that you softened and hydrated your chiles with. Be sure to taste the chile water to determine if the spice is appropriate for your Buffalo sauce and not too overwhelming.)
Strain your sauce using a fine screen strainer
Add remaining sauce ingredients and whisk to combine. Add additional water if your sauce is too thin.
Add 4 Tablespoons of butter for every two cups of sauce to a sauce pot. Whisk butter into sauce till it is nicely emulsified. Cook under low heat for 10 minutes. Pull off the heat and set aside. Don’t feel you need to put butter in your whole batch of sauce. Use only the amount of butter you need for the sauce you are using to make the wings. You will have extra sauce. Save the extra to use where you would normally use a store-bought hot sauce.
Garnish
Place your favorite wing dip in a ramekin; blue cheese or ranch
Make 4 inch sticks of celery and carrots