How to make Grilled Chicken Wings Healthier

Storytime:

We once drove to Buffalo NY to the HOME of the Chicken Wing.

Yes, I’m serious.  It was 2010. Chris surprised me with a weekend trip to NYC for my birthday. We stayed in Times Square, took a rickshaw through Central Park, saw Wicked on Broadway, AND made the 45 min trek to Buffalo so my Chicken-Wing-loving-man could taste Chicken Wings in their natural habitat, Buffalo NY.

Upon arrival, however, we rethought our decision.  The home of the Buffalo Wing is in what some might call a “savory” part of town.  I told him to order take out. He told me he was turning the car around. Moral of the story?  Who needs Buffalo when you can make AMAZING chicken wings at home?

My hubs is a self-proclaimed “Chicken Wing Connoisseur.” The dude loves wings. But he also loves when his pants fit. SO we started scheming.  What if we could “healthify” one of his favorite foods just a little bit? The following is our collaborative effort-our “give-and-take” if you will.  

While this recipe is MUCH healthier (and WAAAY better tasting I might add) than your average run-of-the-mill basket o’ restaurant wings, they still can’t be considered “light.” BUT, that being said, they’re not deep fried or breaded so I’d say cut your losses and enjoy on occasion.

OK, quick! Chris just walked out of the room, while I have your attention, to “healthy up” this recipe even more, you could play with eliminating the butter and going for a lower sodium hot sauce like this and a reduced sugar BBQ like this, there are lots of Paleo recipes out there that would do the trick. You could also try going “sauceless” but I realize that even typing that is close to sacrilegious for some so experiment at your own….and now he JUST walked back into the room so let’s rock and roll out this recipe: 😀

Wings, not your thing? We’ve got lots of other healthy ideas here!

Healthier Grilled Chicken Wings: Buffalo Style

12 Wings

Serves 1-2

Sauce:

• ½ Stick Organic Butter

• 5 oz Frank’s Red Hot (Check out this MASSIVE bottle. You will never run out.)

• 1 ½ C Just Sweet ‘Nuff BBQ Sauce OR

• 1 C Open Pit & ¼ C Organic Ketchup (our Favorite is the Aldi brand)

*Sound weird? Trust the process 😉

Melt Butter on low. Add Red Hot. Add BBQ Sauce or BBQ Sauce & Ketchup combo

Cook in a small saucepan on Medium Heat until it just begins to bubble.   Reduce to a simmer and stir and keep on low until wings are ready. Stir occasionally.

Wings:

• Olive Oil

• Onion Powder

• Garlic Powder

• Poultry Seasoning

• Paprika

• Sea Salt

• Pepper

• Pinch of Cayenne

Drizzle wings with a little Olive Oil and season liberally with all spices except Cayenne.  Go easy on the Cayenne kids. You’ll be getting plenty of heat from the sauce.

Grilling:

Heat Grill on Medium High for 10 min. Grill Wings for 4 min on one side. Flip and grill 4 minutes on the other side. Continue cooking and flipping to preference. Each grill is different but 8-12 minutes total grilling time is usually the sweet spot.

Dressing Wings:

When wings are done cooking, place them in a bowl and drizzle sauce over the wings tossing as you go.

You are now ready to consume all the wings. Or share! Because portion control.

You never have to feel victimized by the food options surrounding you.  There’s always a way to make little and big tweaks to a recipe in order to amp up the health factor for your No Small Life.  Food should taste good AND food should help your body feel and run better, not worse.

So the next time a “Wings Craving” strikes, try a batch of these babies.

Here’s to grilling season and making the foods you love a littttllleee bit healthier 😉

Until next time,

Chris & Meg

These wings could help you get UNSTUCK in the food department. Want help getting UNSTUCK in other areas of your life? We got chu. We wrote you a free ebook. It’s not very long and could be really really helpful. Subscribe to future posts AND get the free ebook all by clicking the image below. 

Pin this recipe for later!

*No Small Life posts may use Affiliate Links & Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. What’s that mean? Basically, if you make a purchase through one of our links it doesn’t cost you a penny more, BUT does give us a tiny commission which we funnel back into the non-profit general fund.  You get your shop on and we keep the lights on. Thanks for your support!