My own creative hybrid of combining two of my favorite indulgences, Chick-fil-A and Nashville Hot sauce, has just become my go-to of all go-to’s, snack-attack, lunch, and dinner, party-in-your-mouth FAVE! WOW!! What a fantastic combination, with a special dip to boot, that’s sure to become your everything-anytime go-to, as well! Definitely worthy of the Super Bowl!
These, friends, are SERIOUSLY good. I mean….serious to the max, good! And I have to admit, if you don’t mind, even better than, *gasp*, I can’t believe I’m actually going to admit this,…better than Buffalo Wings!! Whoooooooaaa. I know.
There are several parts to these amazing babies, but you can pick ‘n choose if you’d like. But, believe me, making it all is a breeze! And simply a must for the whole, shockingly-good, wing-a-palooza experience!
And, yo, BONUS! You can bread the chicken the day before, and just pop the rack of them right into the fridge, without even covering them, and fry them the next day! YEP. (I thought you’d like that!)
You can’t make the true Nashville Hot Basting Sauce beforehand though, (*unless you sub melted butter.) You actually use the hot oil that you fried the chicken wings in for that. But, no worries, it’s a cinch to make, too.
The last part to the wings, because I’m a greedy li’l bugger, is a simple dill pickle dip that I made up to compliment them.
Instead of just serving them with pickle slices, I thought that it would be more fun if there was a nice, creamy dip to help cool the palate!
And you can totally play with this! Add the relish to suit your taste, and adjust the sour cream and mayos, as well. But this is also kind of a must if you’re a bit of a wimp like me!
These babies are a bit hot, as they’re supposed to be, and I really NEEDED this, the same way you pretty much need the blue cheese dip to cool the fire, with a FIRE HOSE, when enjoying those original Buffalo Wings!!
So, to make these, I just add all of the flour and seasonings for the wings into a doubled brown paper lunch bag, twist the top closed, shake, shake, shake, and drop the wings in, a few at a time, and shake again.
Shake off excess, coat in beaten egg, and coat with flour again.
Place them onto a rack over a baking sheet as you go along and let them rest.
This is a good time to catch up the mess and heat up the oil!
(*You can also do this the night before, and pop them into the fridge, UNcovered, and they’re ready to fry the next day! PERFECT do-ahead step for parties!!)
**Until the pandemic is over, OVER-over, I do not suggest having parties at this time, though. Stay. SAFE!
Then just fry them in batches, so as to not overcrowd the pan. They stay hot for a good amount of time, but you can always pop them into a warm over to keep them hot longer, or just get more than one pan going at once.
I used a medium-sized pan and just did 6 for testing, but you can fit more in a large frying pan.
They always come out SO PRETTY!!!
And you can leave them as-is for those who don’t prefer the Nashville Hot-style! Just serve with the pickle dip, or put out some Homemade Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing!
When you put it all together, with a side of my (*coming soon!), Easy Stovetop Mac ‘n Cheese, I mean, it REALLY makes for a nice meal, doesn’t it?!! Simple is, is simply GOOD!
But for those of us adventure seekers, go for the Nash!! You can make it from “Mild” to “REAPER” hot! The burn is up to you!
I wimped out and only added a just a teaspoon and a half to ours, and man! I suppose they’d be considered “medium”, but they truly had some badass HEAT behind them!
So be very careful when adding the cayenne! Start with ONE teaspoon. Then you can add to your own heat tolerance.
I simply served this with my Mac ‘n Cheese (above and below), stovetop version (*coming soon!), but you could certainly serve them with my Copycat 5 GUYS FRIES, Old fashioned Mustard Potato Salad, Sweet Southern Cole Slaw, Creamy Macaroni Salad, Blue Ribbon Baked Beans, or a nice cool side such as my Cherry Fluff Salad or Watergate Salad.
Just think of something creamy and/or cool to help with that deliciously addicting, fiery dragon breath that makes these SO much fun!! Seriously, they truly ARE off-the-charts GOOD!!
So, what’s YOUR favorite? The drumettes?
Mine are the “flats”!! LOVE those thighs as they seem to have more meat! Again, greedy li’l me!!
And, of course, GOBS of DIP!!
Are you a dip hogette, too? To me, it’s all part of the wing experience!
Just look how the meat pulls clean from the bone, and yet is still extremely juicy and tender!!
That’s due to my method of cooking them!!
And….c’mon….if you don’t make a total mess and use an entire stack of napkins, well, ya just ain’t doin’ it right!
All part of the wing party experience, too!!
So, if you’re tired of the same wings you’ve been making for years, and want something totally over-the-top new, my Nashville Hot Chick-fil-A-Style Wings are going to blow away the competition!!
Perfect for any lunch, dinner, special occasion, get-together, social event, and a sure GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN for the upcoming Super Bowl!!!
Hope you all enjoy!! Wear those masks, STAY SAFE, and WING ON!!
Nashville Hot Chick-fil-A-Style Wings
with Cool Dill Pickle Dip
Makes 12 – 16 large wings, more if they’re small
Ingredients:
For Wings:
12 large chicken wings
For Egg Bath:
1 egg
1/8 cup whole milk
For Seasoned Flour:
2 cups flour
3 Tbl. garlic powder
2 Tbl. powdered sugar
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbl. + 1 tsp. regular table salt
2 tsp. regular black pepper
1 tsp. each: onion powder, ground rosemary powder, Slap Ya mama Cajun Seasoning
1/2 tsp. each: cayenne powder, celery seeds, dried dill weed, dried basil, dried sage, dried thyme
2 tsp. beet powder, optional, for a little extra color
For Nashville Hot Basting Sauce:
1/2 cup oil from frying pan after cooking chicken
1 tsp. – 1 Tbl. cayenne pepper, to heat preference, I wimped out and used just 1 tsp. and that worked perfectly for us, so start with just 1 tsp. and increase to preference
1 Tbl. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. regular black pepper
For Cool Dill Pickle Dip:
1/2 cup thick sour cream such as Daisy
2 Tbl. heavy mayo such as Dukes or Hellmann’s
1 Tbl. Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/4 cup sweet dill pickle relish, with juice (don’t drain)
1 tsp. dried minced onions
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/16 tsp. salt
1/16 tsp. garlic powder
Directions:
In bowl or ziplock baggies, marinate chicken pieces in lemon water while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
In pie dish, beat eggs, beat in milk until well combined.
In doubled brown paper lunch bags, add flour and seasonings, twist top closed and shake vigorously until well combined.
In large deep frying pan, heat oil to about 350º F.
Drop each piece, 2 – 3 at a time, into seasoned flour mixture, twist top closed, and shake coating well. Shake off excess flour.
Dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, coating both sides well and letting excess drip off. Then coat again well in flour mixture. Place each as you go along onto a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet, sprinkle with a little more of the flour mixture, and let rest while you heat up the oil to 350º F. in frying pan over medium heat. This can also be done ahead of time and placed in refrigerator overnight, uncovered.
Place chicken pieces, pretty side down into hot oil over Medium-Low heat and fry until golden on bottom, about 5 minutes, with lid OFF. Turn pieces over, COVER with tight fitting lid, reduce heat to LOW immediately, and fry for 5 minutes. Remove lid, turn pieces over, RECOVER and fry 5 minutes more. Remove lid again, turn pieces back over, return heat to Medium-Low, and fry 5 more minutes with lid OFF. *20 minutes total. (*Or until done, and inside of chicken pieces reach 165º F.) *Total time will depend on the size of your chicken wings.*
*Do not overcrowd your pan. Fry in 2 batches if necessary, or heat up 2 pans of oil (with lids) to fry all at once.
Place cooked pieces onto paper towel-lined (clean) cooling rack placed over a baking sheet to absorb any excess oil. Move pieces several times while frying second batch to make sure all excess oil is absorbed. Move off of paper towel and place directly onto rack. Baste pieces, all over, with Nashville Hot Basting Sauce. Serve with Cool Dill Pickle Dip.
For Nashville Hot Basting Sauce:
In small bowl, add all ingredients except melted butter or hot oil. Slowly stream in melted butter or oil whisking constantly. It will end up separated. Just whisk again while basting as needed. It works, so don’t worry.
For Cool Dill Pickle Dip:
In small bowl, add all ingredients and whisk until creamy. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour to meld and chill. *Can be made the day before.
