These Fresno Chili Hot Wings are delicious and perfect to serve as appetizers. These crispy wings are coated with fresh hot sauce, topped with crisp green onions, and served with a side of Crème Fraîche Ranch. These Fresno Chili Hot wings are great to eat while watching sports and will pair excellently with an ice-cold beer.
Fresno Chili Hot Sauce
One of the reasons why these wings are so flavorful is we made the hot sauce from scratch. Making the hot sauce yourself allows you to control the heat and the flavor. In this recipe, we used Fresno Chilies which are sweet, very spicy, and have a crimson red hue which makes the most beautiful hot sauce. The aromatics of rosemary and fresh bay leaf make the sauce bright in flavor, and the garlic provides richness. We use vinegar to give it acidity and incorporate the salty brine to provide seasoning. Both liquids helps turns the consistency of the blended chilies into a velvety liquid.
Air Fry
When testing this recipe I tried frying the wings in hot oil and baking the wings in the oven on 400. However, I saw the best results from cooking the wings in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 10 minutes on each side. The air fryer cooked the wings until golden brown, were so crispy, and not overly oily. I highly recommend using an air fryer for the Fresno Chili Hot Wings.
Fresno Chili Hot Wings
Ingredients
Fresno Chili Hot Wings
- 2 lbs party wings
- 1 cup Fresno Chili Hot Sauce – see ingredients below
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- Essential Salt to taste
- Garlic and Shallot Blend to taste
- Pepper to taste
- green onion finely chopped
Fresno Chili Hot Sauce
- 2 lbs Fresno Chilies
- 5 cups filtered water
- 2/3 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 fresh bay leaf
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry your wings with a paper towel. Drizzle the wings with avocado oil, then season with Essential Salt, Garlic & Shallot Blend, and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Cut the Fresno Chilies in half and remove the seeds. Place the Fresno Chilies into a large pot and cover with water. Add salt, rosemary, garlic, and the bay leaf and boil until tender.
- Strain the chilies, but reserve the brine. Remove any large sprigs of rosemary and the bay leaf. Transfer the chilies into a blender, add the brine, white vinegar, and blend until the chilies turn into liquid.
- Pour the liquid into a mesh strainer and use a spoon to extract the liquid.
- Place the wings into an air fryer and allow them to cook for 10 minutes on each side at 400 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the Fresno Chili Hot Sauce, and honey, then whisk to combine to make the sauce.
- Transfer the wings into a large bowl, drizzle the sauce over the wings, and toss. Make sure each wing is coated with the sauce.
- Top with minced green onions and serve with Crème Fraîche Ranch.
