Sous Vide Chicken Wings
on Mar 11, 2023, Updated Nov 21, 2023
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You’ll be amazed at just how perfect Sous Vide Chicken Wings are! It eliminates the mess and oil of deep fried chicken wings while creating the delicious game day snack! Cooking them sous vide means these Buffalo chicken wings come out perfectly tender, juicy, and are loaded with flavor.
Serve these sous vide chicken wings with carrots, celery sticks, blue cheese dip or ranch dressing, and they’ll be the first thing gone at your party!
When it comes to great game day food, there’s one quintessential dish that everyone loves – buffalo wings!
Hot wings are pretty much a game day staple, and they are sticky, crispy, tender, and juicy. So addictive!
To start, these sous vide chicken wings are tossed with a homemade spice rub and sous vide cooked to tender perfection, then they are finished with a homemade buffalo sauce and broiled to crisp the outside and caramelize the sauce.
If you’re new to sous vide, I recommend reading my guide for What is Sous Vide Cooking. It has everything you need to get started.
I love a crispy chicken wing recipe but don’t like the deep fried version with the smell and mess that oil leaves. I find cooking them in the sous vide water bath is so much easier and healthier than the traditional method. They are cooked to a precise temperature with the perfect texture edge-to-edge!
Buffalo chicken wings are typically served with a dip for added flavor or to cool your mouth from the spice. My favorite dips include blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, and buffalo sauce.
Key ingredients:
- Chicken Wings: Both fresh and frozen chicken wings work for this recipe. You can use chicken drumettes if you’d like to have more meat. If you use full wings, make sure to remove tips, and separate drumettes and flats (wingettes).
- Seasonings: Season chicken wings with a dry rub made with salt, garlic powder, paprika and ground black pepper.
- Sauce: I used a homemade buffalo sauce, which is my favorite finishing touch for these chicken wings. You can also use the store-bought buffalo sauce or your preferred sauce, such as BBQ sauce, honey garlic, or teriyaki sauce.
How to make sous vide chicken wings
- Preheat your sous vide machine to 165°F (74°C).
- Add chicken wings to zip-lock bags (I used two bags), and season with spice rub generously. If you use frozen wings, you can still rub the spice around the chicken even it doesn’t stick as well. The spice will be kept in the bag and add flavors to the chicken during the cooking process.
- Arrange chicken wings in single layer and vacuum seal the bag using the water displacement technique (see recipe for detailed instruction).
- Cook the chicken wings in the sous vide water bath for 1.5 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the wings from the bag and pat dry with paper towels.
- Brush them with half the buffalo sauce.
- Broil chicken wings until skin is crispy. This step is optional, but it make the skin crispy on the outside.
- You can use the remaining buffalo sauce as a dipping sauce or brush it over the chicken wings.
Homemade buffalo sauce
This buffalo sauce is delicious, smooth, and it coats the wings really well. Just whisk together hot sauce, garlic powder, honey, and melted butter.
The honey and butter help to balance out the heat from the hot sauce, and the garlic powder adds extra flavor to the sauce.
Temperature and time
I recommend cooking the chicken wings to the internal temperature of 165°F. At this temperature, it will take 1.5 hours to sous vide the chicken. The texture is very tender and juicy.
If you prefer a softer texture, you can cook them at 160°F (71°C) for 2.5 hours. It’s best not go below this temperature.
You can leave them in the water bath for as long as 4 hours, but cooking them too long might cause the mushy texture.
If you notice that there are some pink hues, especially around the bones, it’s completely normal when cooking the chicken wings sous vide. It’s safe to eat as long as the internal temperature reaches 165°F, according to USDA.
How long to sous vide frozen chicken wings?
If your chicken is frozen, you need to separate the pieces first so that they are not frozen together. This helps them cook evenly.
Then follow the same instructions as cooking fresh chicken wings, and add 30 more minutes of cooking time in the sous vide water bath.
More Sous Vide Chicken Recipes
- Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- Sous Vide Chicken Breast
- Sous Vide Fried Chicken
- Sous Vide Chicken Drumsticks
Sous Vide Chicken Wings Recipe (Fresh or Frozen)
Ingredients
For the Chicken Wings
- 3 pounds chicken wings
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 ground black pepper
For the Buffalo Sauce
- 1 cup hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 165°F (74°C).
- In a small bowl, mix together salt, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper.
- Place chicken wings in zip-top bags (I used two bags), and season with the spice rub.
- Arrange them in a single layer, and seal the bag using the “water displacement” technique or a vacuum sealer. (Just seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in cold water, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.)
- Place the bag in the sous vide warm water bath. Make sure the chicken wings are fully submerged while the seams of the bag are above water. You can add heavy kitchen items to weigh the bag down if necessary.
- For Fresh Wings: Cook for 1.5 hours.
- For Frozen Wings: Cook for 2 hours.
- Once the timer goes off, remove chicken wings from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. (Make sure to dry the surface properly.)
- Whisk together hot sauce, butter, honey, and garlic powder.
- Use half of the buffalo sauce to brush the cooked chicken wings.
- (Optional) Place the chicken wings on a broiler pan (or baking sheet), and broil under high heat for 3-5 minutes per side until the skin is crispy. (Place the chicken about 2-3 inches below the broiler for the best result.) Watch the chicken very closely so that they are not burned.
- Serve immediately with your favorite dips or brush the wings with the remaining buffalo sauce.
Notes
- If you notice that there are some pink hues, it’s safe to eat as long as the internal temperature reaches 165°F, according to USDA.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
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Hey, thanks for sharing! Can I ask what hot sauce you use for your buffalo sauce please?
Frank’s RedHot is the basic Buffalo wing pepper sauce