Like countless others, I am resting in anticipation of the upcoming Super Bowl. However, I am not a fan of either team that will be playing. Luckily, for non-football fans who may not be interested in rooting for either team—like me, as my favorite team claims one of the worst rankings in the NFL—you can still comfortably support the food that accompanies this sporting event.
I think we can all agree that the Super Bowl is not just a time for the athletes and halftime performers to shine, or Taylor Swift to leave her fans guessing about the hidden meaning of the Chiefs merchandise she sports for the evening. It is a time to get creative and assemble a random, convenient and experimental batch of food to satisfy stressed football fans.
For this, I have chosen one of the most ubiquitous Super Bowl meals out there: wings—everyone loves them. The variety of sauces combined with fried chicken so soft it can fall off the bone makes for the perfect addition to the Super Bowl buffet. For this week on I Made it So You Don’t Have To, I tried out two different types of wings. Both recipes use sauce and a different method of frying. So, for those that are afraid to throw wings into a pan full of inch-deep hot oil, do not worry, because we air fried. For those that do not have an air fryer, do not worry, we also have the inch-deep hot oil.
The first recipe of deep-fried wings was inspired by the TikTok cook Boyd Brown III (@ chef_boydbrownthe3rd). The second recipe is from another TikTok cook @ThatSavageKitchen. Follow along with those videos, or with this article. Now, let’s get to the recipes.
Deep Fried Wings — Lemon Pepper:
First, add about three pounds of cut chicken wings to a bowl. By cut, I mean you need to separate the drumstick from the wingette (the flat part next to the drumstick). Add olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, paprika and lemon pepper seasoning. Mix those together and then add two tablespoons of corn starch, which gives it the crispy edge.
Set up a frying pan with about an inch deep amount of oil. This will vary upon pan, but you want to make sure the oil will cover all the wings when you add them, so they cook evenly and do not burn by touching the bottom too much. Plus, floating is an indication of when the wings are done.
Add in the wings once the oil has heated up (test by throwing a tiny piece of chicken skin or seasoning). Leave for 10 to 12 minutes to cook as a baseline. If they need more time and do not have the color you want, let it cook for 14 minutes and no longer.
For the sauce, melt a stick and a half of unsalted butter into a bowl. Zest and juice an entire lemon into there. Then add two teaspoons of lemon-pepper seasoning and one tablespoon of honey. Toss the wings in the sauce and you have your first gameday meal.
Air Fried Wings — Garlic Parmesan:
First, start by chopping the wings like the previous recipe. Instead of three pounds, this recipe used one and a half pounds of wings. Add them to a bowl along with the olive oil, baking powder, and Dan-O’s Cheesoning. If you do not have that, which I also did not, just grate about a tablespoon worth of parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt with that. Add those to a 365 degrees Fahrenheit air fryer for about 30-35 minutes, leaning closer to 35 minutes.
To work on the sauce, melt salted butter in a bowl. Add a tablespoon of chopped garlic, a teaspoon of grated parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley if you want to add color, although it is not entirely necessary for flavor, because the garlic is strong already.
Toss the wings in your sauce and you have your second batch of wings.
I liked both of these recipes in taste, simplicity and presentation. For the lemon-pepper wings, the one and a half sticks of butter were not entirely necessary. One stick will do just fine. I am sorry for the fans of buffalo and teriyaki wings for not making or testing them out, but you can use whichever fry/prep methods as presented in the recipes and just make an alternative sauce.
Bring these wings on gameday and they will be the items consumed first on the buffet table. Knowing how to make them quickly and easily will hopefully put your nerves at ease. They will comfortably feed four people, so double or triple the recipe for your larger parties. These are the type of wings where the flavor is not so exotic that picky eaters will be deterred, so all can enjoy them.
Will the Eagles win? Will the Chiefs win? Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift? Make your biggest certainty on Super Bowl Sunday the fact that your wings will be the best thing available to your guests with either of these recipes. Happy cooking.
Ingredients:
Lemon-Pepper
Three lbs of cut chicken wings
One tbsp olive oil
One tsp garlic powder
One tsp onion powder
One tsp salt
One tsp pepper
One tsp paprika
One tsp lemon pepper seasoning
Two tbsp corn starch
Frying oil
Sauce
One and a half sticks of unsalted butter
Lemon zest and juice of one lemon
Two tsp of lemon pepper seasoning
One tbsp of honey
Garlic Parmesan
One tbsp olive oil
One and a half lb of chicken wings
Two tsp of baking powder
One tbsp parmesan cheese
Salt/Pepper pinches
Sauce
Three tbsp butter
One tbsp garlic
Grated parmesan
Rating: 4/5
Price: $35.19
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