Reading Time: 2 minutesIn the year 2006 B.W.L.C. (that’s “before Whole Life Challenge”) I had a bit of an issue with chicken wings.
(And if I’m honest, Trader Joe’s wine.)
I’d order a bunch of takeout wings, quaff a bottle of red, and generally descend into a buffalo sauce-driven coma. And then I’d pay for it, because Two Buck Chuck and sugar-filled wing sauce is the world’s most effective hangover recipe.
In an effort to re-live the bliss without the hangover, I began looking for some new personal wing-cooking tech, a way to get all that crispy delicious goodness without calling someone with a vegetable-oil-filled deep fryer.
Alas, there were some slight missteps in my journey, 80% solutions that I pretended were good enough (but really weren’t), usually a combination of slow cooking and broiling that led to too-soggy wings. And then came a wedding gift of Paleo Perfected, a book from America’s Test Kitchen, which changed everything.
I cribbed their technique of twice-baked chicken wings — and the result, these crispy paleo buffalo chicken wings, was stellar.
Crispy Paleo Buffalo Chicken Wings
These wings are easy to make, and work well for lunch, dinner, or a party.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken wings first and second wing sections
- 1/4 cup Kerrygold grass-fed butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- Kosher salt
Instructions
Stage 1: Preparation and First Bake
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Preheat your oven to 475 degrees.
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Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
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Place a wire rack on the baking sheet.
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Spread your chicken wings on the wire rack in a single layer.
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Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt.
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Bake for 30 minutes on the center oven rack.
Stage 2: Second Bake
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Remove wings from the oven, flip, and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt.
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Bake for an additional 25 minutes on the center oven rack.
Stage 3: Broil, Sauce, and Serve
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Turn off the “bake” function of your oven and turn your broiler on high.
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Broil wings for 3 minutes on the top oven rack.
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Remove wings from the oven and flip.
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Broil an additional 3 minutes.
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While wings are broiling the second time, create the sauce by whisking melted butter and RedHot together in a bowl that will hold all of your wings (I used a 3.5-liter bowl).
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Add about half the wings to the sauce bowl and coat, plate them, and then coat the rest.
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Serve a la carte or with your favorite WLC-compliant dip, carrots, and celery sticks.
Recipe Notes
Don't forget to make your dip: WLC-compliant Dump Ranch Dressing
Previously, he founded Again Faster Equipment, a functional fitness equipment company created to serve the CrossFit community. Established in 2006, Jon took the Company global in 2012, twice landing on the Inc. 500/5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies.
From 2007 to 2013, he served as a Senior Lecturer for CrossFit, Inc., training aspiring CrossFit trainers at over 100 seminars, including engagements in Iceland, Afghanistan, Moscow, Holland, the United States, and Canada. Jon also served on the CrossFit L1 Advisory Board, helping establish policy for the organization’s training efforts from 2011 to 2013.
He’s also done stints in state government, gym management, and consulting — and currently teaches classes at CrossFit City Line.
Jon graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2003, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in Psychology. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Finance and Control from the Harvard Extension School, 2006, and has completed coursework in data analytics.
