Cooking Marinated Chicken Wings In The Oven
As far as I’m concerned, cooking chicken wings in the oven is, hands down, the best way to cook chicken wings. It’s quick and easy, healthier than frying and, if you do it the right way, it’s easy to clean up.
There are so many options out there when it comes to choosing a marinade for your chicken wings and, luckily, it’s hard to get it wrong! A good marinade for chicken wings could include any of the following types of ingredients: honey, brown sugar, fruit juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chili, lemon juice, salt and pepper….the list goes on.
Store bought marinades are quick and easy and certainly a good option if you’re in a hurry. But, they will usually contain preservatives and additives that you may not want in your food so, if you have the time, and the ingredients, you might prefer to mix up your own marinade.
The Easiest Marinade For Chicken Wings
For an incredibly quick and easy marinade, I simply mix together roughly
- 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons of Honey
- 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
- and a big splash (1-2 Tablespoons) of Sweet Chilli Sauce
Those are very approximate measurements as I always just do it by sight and feel (sorry!).I use this simple marinade often on chicken breasts or wings – it’s a firm family favorite.
However, if you’ve got a bit more time up your sleeve, you might like to experiment with this latest marinade I’ve been dabbling with. You may have already read about the new cookbook of American Restaurant Recipes I’ve been enjoying. The following marinade is inspired by one of the recipes from that collection. It’s not the exact recipe – I changed a couple of things around to suit the ingredients I had (and those I did not!).
Anyway, here is my new chicken wing marinade, inspired by the recipe for TGI Friday’s Jack Daniels Grill Glaze.
We begin by oven roasting some garlic – I told you you need to have a bit of time up your sleeve for this marinade!
Place some peeled garlic cloves onto a piece of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap them up.
Then, into the oven it goes for about 30 minutes at 350℉ or 180℃
Once your garlic is soft and roasted, chop it up finely. I’m lucky enough to have a mezzaluna chopper and board for this but, if you don’t have one of these, a regular cutting board and knife should work fine too.
In a medium sized saucepan, combine water, teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, soy sauce and brown sugar.
Stir this over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, add remaining ingredients and stir.
Add the chopped, roasted garlic.
Then it needs to simmer for 35-45 minutes or until it has reduced by half.
The mixture should reduce down to about 1 cup worth of liquid which should be quite thick and syrupy. Allow the marinade to cool completely before pouring onto chicken.
Meanwhile, prepare your chicken wings. I like to separate the wings into smaller pieces to make them easier to cook and eat. But, you could leave them as whole wings if you prefer.
It’s best to marinate them overnight if possible, so, all of the above, should be done on the day before you want to eat the wings. If you don’t have that much time, a couple of hours would do, but overnight is best.
It’s always best to marinate your food in plastic or glass as acidic food (often found in marinades) can react with metal.
Place your wings (separated or whole) into a bowl, tray or container where they will be able to spread out and have all surfaces of chicken touching the marinade.
Pour over the marinade and stir to make sure every piece of chicken is coated.
Cover and allow them to marinate in the fridge overnight (or at least a couple of hours).
When you’re ready to start cooking your wings, follow this procedure for the best way to cook chicken wings in the oven.
For the brief version, put your marinated chicken wings onto a greased baking rack sitting in a half sheet pan which has been lined with aluminum foil.
Cook at 400℉ or 200℃ for 40-45 minutes or until cooked.
Enjoy!
Recipe For Marinade For Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Cooking Marinated Chicken Wings In The Oven
Ingredients
- 3 cloves of garlic peeled
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅔ cup of water
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup teriyaki sauce
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- A dash of onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon whiskey
- 1 Tablespoon crushed pineapple
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ or 180℃
- Put garlic cloves onto a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and wrap up in the foil.
- Bake foil parcel for 30-45 minutes until the garlic is soft.
- Chop the roasted garlic finely and set aside for later.
- In a medium saucepan combine water, teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar.
- Stir over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir.
- Add the chopped roasted garlic and stir it through.
- Simmer for 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced by half.
- The resulting mixture should be thick and syrupy.
- Allow to cool completely before using as a marinade.
So, there you have it – two marinades perfect for chicken wings – one simple, one slightly more complex. Cooking marinated chicken wings in the oven is easy if you know the right way to do it. All you need is a large baking pan lined with aluminum foil and a greased baking/cooling rack to sit inside it.
For full step by step instructions of the best way to cook chicken wings in the oven click here. If you’d like more information about the inspiration for this recipe, check out the amazing copycat recipe book here.
