Asian Inspired Sweet and Tangy Baked Wings

When I was in high school I worked at a popular steak and salad bar restaurant and I loved it. I worked on the salad bar and I enjoyed preparing the foods that the restaurant served, especially the chicken wings. It was in the salad bar kitchen that I learned chicken wings could either be fried or baked, which was news to me as a 16 year old with limited cooking skills. Today, I rarely ever eat meat, especially wings, but my husband and son really enjoy them so I started buying the large bag of plain frozen chicken wings from Costco. My son’s eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw all those wings. I am making a conscious effort to make healthier food choices for my family, so I knew I did not want to fry the wings. Instead, I used the baked wing method I had learned at the restaurant over 20 years ago. Also, because my daughter does not like spicy foods or barbecue sauce, I put this wing recipe together using some of our favorite flavors and it was a huge hit!

The sauce on these wings is sweet and tangy but there is not much of a kick at all, which makes these wings kid-friendly. They have a nice flavor as well so everyone in the family should enjoy them. Baking the wings reduces the calories, but the sauce has butter in it so these are in no way low calorie.

Asian-Inspired Sweet and Tangy Baked Wings

Ingredients

• 18 frozen wings
• 6 tbs butter, melted
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs orange juice
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place frozen wings onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
3. Using tongs or a spatula, flip wings over and cook for another 30 minutes.
4. While wings are cooking, prepare the sauce by combining all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Blend well.
5. When the wings are finished cooking, cool them slightly and place them into the bowl of warm sauce and toss until wings are covered.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy.

A couple of pointers. For easier clean-up, line baking sheet with foil (I don’t do this but my awesome baking sheets clean pretty easily). Also, ovens vary so please make sure you cook your chicken completely.

Both of my kiddos love this recipe but my son still prefers spicy barbecue wings. One great thing about chicken wings is that you can cook a ton of them and then toss them in however many sauces you want, creating many choices for your family or party guests.

I hope your family enjoys these wings!