Paleo Buffalo Wings are an easy dish for lunch or dinner.
- Carbohydrate 0.966114375465371 g
- Cholesterol 174.63306245 mg
- Fat 36.2926582445 g
- Fiber 0.273275005475768 g
- Protein 41.7740744605205 g
- Saturated Fat 10.172439088 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (230g)
- Sodium 184.360920779221 mg
- Sugar 0.692839369989603 g
- Trans Fat 3.97736823750001 g
- Calories 508 calories
Step-by-step
- Put a large saucepot with 1 inch of water in the bottom and a steamer basket over high heat. Cover, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium, put your chicken wings in the steamer basket and steam for 20 minutes. Stir the wings around halfway through so they get evenly steamed.
- Remove wings from the basket, lay them out evenly (not crowded) on a cooling rack set on a baking sheet, and place the sheet+rack+wings in the refrigerator for an hour to chill (this is essential for achieving crispy oven fried skin)
- Preheat the oven to 450 F. Put the sheet+rack+wings in the oven, and roast for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and roast for 20 more minutes. *While the chicken is roasting, melt the ghee/coconut oil/butter, then whisk in hot sauce, garlic powder, paprika, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a bowl large enough to hold all the chicken wings.
- Remove the wings from the oven, and toss with the sauce in the large bowl.
- Serve with some paleo ranch and celery sticks!
Limited counter space and a standard oven mean deep-frying is usually off the table, forcing home cooks to seek alternative ways to render skin safely without splattering grease. Steaming poultry pieces for 20 minutes initiates the melting of subcutaneous fat before the wings ever touch dry heat, safely drawing out moisture through gentle vapor pressure.
Dryness is the ultimate enemy of crispiness. Chilling the steamed wings uncovered on a wire rack inside a refrigerator for one hour pulls residual surface water away from the skin via convection, dehydrating the exterior layer so it blisters instantly in a 450 degree oven. Roasting the chicken for 40 total minutes, flipped halfway through, allows the remaining rendered fat to fry the skin in place.
Acidity cuts through the heavy fat content of poultry skin and melted lipids. Whisking lemon juice and apple cider vinegar into hot sauce creates a stable emulsion with the melted ghee or grassfed butter, anchoring the volatile capsaicin compounds to the protein surface rather than letting them pool at the bottom of the mixing bowl. Celery sticks and a rich ranch dressing offer a cooling contrast to the sharp, acidic heat of the pepper sauce.
