There was this one time in college when I went out on a date with a guy. Well, it wasn’t really a date… My roommates and I called him “Bad Matt” because he was the kind of guy who got into trouble all the time — and quite frankly, I was way out of his league. Anyway! I got weaseled into going out with him for hot wings after class one day because it was cold, he had a jeep, and I didn’t want to walk up hill, both ways, in the snow, to get back to my JMU dorm room. Of course he didn’t pay. He was too “bad” for that.

After that “date” I swore off hot wings forever. When I got back to my dorm I was 50 shades of red - and not just out of embarrassment. I had hot sauce all over my face. SERIOUSLY?! I’m really lucky I ever found a man who would marry this hot mess.

I went home for Easter that same year. My dearest friend Cait invited me to her house for wings. I explained why I swore them off and she said “Oh girl, I will teach you how to eat them with one hand and not get a drop of sauce on you!”

Challenge accepted.

Hot wings soon became “our thing.” Whenever I was home, Cait and I would meet at her house for a bucket of Great Bridge’s famous Mr. Jim’s hot wings. I ate the drums. She ate the wings. {For the record, I still hate the wings and prefer the drums - hands down, any day of the week.}

I’m not sure why, but I have been beyond craving hot wings for the last few months. I had no clue that {prior to the whole30} I could get them at B-Dubs {aka Buffalo Wild Wings - we abbrev everything at JMU} and they were gluten free! {They are not whole30 approved though because of the sauces!} My spirits were crushed when Michael told me we couldn’t eat at B-Dubs due to their gun policies. I pondered sneaking in there without him - since “Thou shall not dine in an anti-gun establishment” was not in our wedding vows… but then my Whole30 started. {Actually a Whole60, but who’s really counting anyway. 52 more days. Wink wink!}

With football season upon us {I could really care less about football, I just love wings} I figured it was about time for me to create a Paleo, Whole30 Hot Wing recipe that would hit the spot and stop the cravings.

With that, I bring you my Whole30 Hot Wings:

Whole30 Approved Hot Wings

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Author: Susan {2 cats & chloe.}

Recipe type: Paleo, Whole30, Gluten Free

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 15-20 Chicken Wings/Drums
• ½ cup of Franks Original Hot Sauce (make sure it is the original without sugar!)
• ¾ cup of heavy coconut cream
• ½ tsp Roasted Granulated Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp Smoked Paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F - cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil - place a greased cooling rack on the cookie sheet so that the wings cook up on the rack.
2. Rinse and pat dry chicken wings
3. In a skillet, blend hot sauce, heavy coconut cream, garlic powder and smoked paprika - allow the coconut cream to melt into the hot sauce, making the hot sauce look creamier.
4. Set aside ¼-ish cup of the sauce for later
5. Lay a few wings at a time in the hot sauce, covering them thoroughly with the sauce. When they are covered in the sauce, place them on the cooling rack (that is on top of the cookie sheet.) Cover all wings with sauce and lay all of them on the cooling rack with a little bit of space between each.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes - flipping the wings half way through. Before you put them back in the oven drizzle the remaining hot sauce on the wings.
7. I wanted to crisp my wings up just a tad so when they were done baking, I flipped the oven to broil for 2 minutes.
8. These pair well with the Whole30 Homemade Ranch and Celery!

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As I said in the recipe section - be sure to cover the hot wings completely in the creamy hot sauce. You then want to lay them out on a rack for baking. I simply put a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet for this. Be sure to put aluminum foil down on the cookie sheet for easy cleanup.

To make these Whole30 Approved Hot Wings here are some things you may need:

Cookie Sheets // Cooling Rack (these are the ones I have and LOVE them) // Aluminum Foil // Chicken Wings // Frank’s Original Hot Sauce (it’s sugar free and can be found in almost all grocery stores) // Granulated Garlic Powder // Smoked Paprika // Heavy Coconut Cream (SO much less expensive in the store!)

But seriously - what are hot wings without ranch and celery?! Rubbish and nonsense! That’s what!

No really - ranch goes with wings like peanut butter goes with jelly. So I decided to try my luck at the recipe the Whole30 folks have given us for DIY Homemade Ranch Dressing. You can find their recipe {and tons of other sauces} here! You want to scroll down about midway for their “Basic Ranch” recipe. I used the hand blender that Santa brought me for Christmas - if you don’t have one, you could use a food processor or regular blender and just pulse it very, very slowly. This ranch was AMAZING. I don’t know why I waited for my fifth whole30 to make it!

So what do you think? Does it sound easy enough? Personally - I don’t think I will ever go out for wings again. These are clean, paleo, sugar free and gluten free {i.e. Whole30 Approved!} and I found them to be really easy. Something I could totally do for a potluck or my parent’s Super Bowl Party!

Since Michael doesn’t like spicy things, I promised him that I would try these with an Asian flavored base next time… so stay tuned!