Sweet and Spicy Baked Chicken Wings
Ever since I was a very young kid I enjoyed spicy food. I remember sitting at the table with my dad and brother over a Styrofoam container of wicked hot wings from the local pub. With our faces bright red, our noses running and sweat accumulating on our foreheads, we chowed until our lips burned like a wildfire.
Many years later, my love for all things spicy has not been tamed one bit. In fact, my condiment of choice is Sriracha, I’ll pretty much squirt it on anything that doesn’t contain sugar.
Since it’s Super Bowl week, I thought this would be the perfect time to share my favorite recipe for sweet and spicy chicken wings. You can definitely control the level of heat by simply backing off a bit of the cayenne and Sriracha. The honey adds amazing glaze factor that sends these wings over the edge! Serve these Sweet and Spice Chicken Wings with some homemade blue cheese or ranch dressing and a side of celery sticks and you’ll be all set for game night!
Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings
Yield: about 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds chicken wings and drums
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup honey, divided
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large jellyroll or broiler pan with foil and place a metal rack on top of the foil. Spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.
- Rinse the wings in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Arrange wings on metal rack and season with pepper.
- Place wings in oven and set timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the wings from the oven and brush the wings with ½ cup honey. Be sure to glaze both side of the wings, using metal tongs to turn.
- Place wings back into the oven, set the timer for 30 minutes, and prepare the sauce.
- In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, remaining 1/2 cup of honey, Frank’s Red Hot, Sriracha, cayenne, and garlic powder; whisk to combine.
- While the wings are baking, periodically baste both sides of the wings with the sauce (about every ten minutes). Once the timer goes off, crank the heat up to 400 degrees F and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Notes:
- Lining your pan with foil will save you a lot of work, trust me, you don’t want to skip this step. Baked honey and a pan equals a hot mess!
- Control the level of heat by increasing or decreasing the amount of amount of cayenne and Sriracha.
- Things may get a little smoky during the last 15 minutes of cooking, so be sure to turn your ventilation system on.
- Sriracha is typically found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store.
We LOVE chicken wings! I like that you added honey for sweetness :)
Hmmmm – these not only look perfect for the big game but for any other day of the year!
Seriously, how amazing do those look! Thinking we might need to do wings now for the super bowl!
I can’t believe they are baked! They look sooo yummy! I am going to make them. Thanks!
Wings fanatic here. I love them hot, sweet or a combination of the two like this. Yum, there I said it.
Wow love the sweeet and savory of the chicken wing I can’t believe you roasted them in the oven….
These chicken wings look amazing!!! Perfect for the Super Bowl. Thanks for sharing!
Um, yeah, time to get messy with some wings! I love the way you coated these!
Want want want! Who needs the super bowl? I want these for dinner.
This recipe sounds wonderful but I have never heard of the spice Sriracha, Is this available in your neighborhood grocery store? Is it a powder or paste where would I look for this spice? http://www.pastrybakingschools.com
Marjorie-
Sriracha is typically found in the ethnic foods aisle of any grocery store. Thanks for stopping by!
-Jamie
FYI my Walmart on Long Island has it the cheapest I’ve ever seen it. If you get desperate amazon always has it but for about double the Walmart price!
Thank you so much for posting this… I have been looking for a good recipe, and I totally trust yours!!! :)
Those look finger licking good! YUM!
Awesome! I’d take a plate of these over most game day food anytime. Thanks for including the celery, now I don’t fee as guilty about eating the whole plate!
I wish I could say I love my food spicy, but I’m afraid I’m a wimp and I can’t take the heat :-) I’m always impressed with those who can.
I love spicy food too! This looks like a great superbowl snack!
I featured this on my blog today–looks DELISH!
Gotta love the runny nose from the spicy foods! Love the wings!
I love the fact that these are baked! They sound like a crowd pleaser!
I am always looking for good chicken wing recipes, and spicy definitely keeps me coming back.
I love sweet and spicy things; I might try this recipe with tempeh or tofu! Btw, this is the wrong post, but I thought I should tell you your last two recipes for cupcakes…and your peanut butter torte…are sooooooo sooo good looking! I’m literally salivating on my keyboard! Love your blog:)
I just realized I had better get my rear end to the store and pick up some wings! My boys will love these. I love glazing chicken with honey!
Yum! These wings look fabulous… I always love the sweet and spicy combo!
this recipe sounds really delicious! i cant wait to try this out. thank you for sharing this post.
I found your chococolate chip recipe on foodgawker and made them tonight. Amazing. I am putting an adapted recipe on my blog and linking yours!!! I also am a new follower!!!
I Love wings!!!
This wing recipe was easy to follow and they were awsome! My kids really enjoyed them.
Dennis-
Woo-Hoo! I am so glad you enjoyed these! They are a family favorite around here!
-Jamie
I have made these twice so far and they are AWESOME! The best part is that my kiddos love them, and they are the pickiest of eaters. I did tone down the spice a bit for them and they are still wonderful!!
Hi Jamie,
Wandered over here from…hmmm. Maybe Pioneer Woman?
My husband and oldest son LOVE wings. My hubby isn’t a big fan of sweet on them, though…he wants ’em straight spicy. If I decided to leave out the honey, would I need to change any of the other ingredients or reduce the cooking time?
Thanks!
Lori
Lori-
Thanks so much for stopping by from PW! Ya know, that is a very good question. I have made these wings many times, but never left out the honey. It imparts that sticky slightly sweet texture and taste that I wouldn’t want to be without! Sorry I can’t be of more help here, but if you do give it a shot, please let me know how it works out!
-Jamie
Made these tonight for dinner and they were amazing! Perfect amount of spicy and sweet! Will definitely make again!
I just made these toady and they were very good. JUST the right amount of sweetness and spice! The only thing I would change is the amount of butter I use next time. Next time might be by the end of the week! I am so glad I found this! Thanks so much!
I am so glad I found your blog! This is the very recipe I have been trying to find. I am hosting a 70th surprise birthday get-together tomorrow for my mother, who is a lover of all things sweet & spicy. She is going to love these!! Thank you for posting this recipe. I tried a mini-batch last night and, wow… so yummmmm! My hubby & boys gobbled them up, even after a day full of Thanksgiving feast.
You have saved me many a trial and error by going it alone. I will definitely be a regular follower.
What would be your thoughts about making these a day ahead of time? We are going to the SunBowl this Saturday but then have a New Years Eve Party to attend shortly after, was wondering if I could make these Friday to save myself some time since they take about an hour in the oven. Thanks for the advice!
This recipe was really good. Even my 5 and 3yr old boys loved it. Thanks for the foil tip. And my kitchen smelled sweet and spicy. mmmm.mmm..good!
Van-
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe – thanks for reporting back on your experience with it! Have a great day.
-Jamie
Made these today for our office Hallo-Wing party and tied for first place! Used 1/4 tsp cayenne! Everyone loved them!
Nicky-
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the wings – thank so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback! Woo-Hoo to first place! Have a great day.
-Jamie
looks great! Thanks for posting.
Paula,
You’re very welcome! Thank you for following MBA and have a great day!
Jamie
First, I’d like to say that these wings were very good. I doubled the sauce recipe as we enjoy a saucy wing. It was the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. That said, if you are looking for a crispy wing, this may not be for you. Though they look crispy, and can get a nice texture, they are not “crispy”
Yum! These sound delicious. I love the touch of honey. I recently posted a recipe for baked sweet and spicy wings too but my secret weapons are ketchup and soy sauce! http://www.behindtheplates.com/simplesweetspicywings/
I made these the other day… Most of my family didn’t get to try them because I was inhaling them… OMGSH they were great. Thank you so much for this recipe.
These look great! Question – what metal rack do you use? I’m always on the lookout for one!
Mia-
I use a generic one that came with a roasting pan – no clue which brand. Sorry I am not more of a help.
-Jamie
I’m dying to try this…..but afraid it’s to hot…..I love sweet and spicy, but having a get together and some don’t like it hot. can you give me an idea on the scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the hotest, how hot these are. i think she can take some heat but not tons of it. thanks, Carol
Carol-
You can adjust the heat by adding a little less cayenne and Sriracha. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Made these tonight for football, delicious. They were a great balance of sweet and spicy, definitely will be making these again.
Chrisie-
I’m glad you tried them and liked them. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
Do they come out crispy? I like my wings crispy. These look great thanks for sharing with all of us.
YES! I hate non-crispy wings! :) Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Made these yesterday. We smoked the wings first and then tossed in the sauce and broiled. So unbelievably delicious. Only change I made was to sub brown sugar for honey. That sauce was the perfect blend of sweet and savory. I will never put anything else on wings. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Barbara! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!