Chicken wings coated with a tangy and sweet sauce made with California French (Catalina) dressing.
Everybody Loves Wings
Who doesn’t love a good chicken wing?
The great thing about wings is that one can be totally different from the other and there are literally thousands of ways to make them. Some get their flavor from marinating and some get their flavor from a sauce or coating. These wings fall into the latter category.
Cooking Your Wings
The wings are coated with the sauce after they are cooked. Since it’s the sauce that’s responsible for the flavor, the method of cooking the wings is up to you.
Now that the weather is nice, I chose to use my gas grill to cook them. Grilling them, either by gas or by charcoal imparts a great “BBQ” flavor in addition to the sauce flavor. If you make them this summer, do try to do them on your outside grill.
They may also be baked, deep fried or cooked in the slow cooker. As big as I am on using my slow cooker, that is the method I recommend least for wings–of any kind. The wings tend to overcook and have a “steamed” flavor. They also don’t grab onto any sauce as well as if cooked by alternate methods.
The Prep
What I do to prepare the wings is toss them with a bit of olive oil, and if you have garlic-infused oil, that’s even better. Naturally, I don’t do this if I’m deep frying them (or doing it in the slow cooker), but if I’m grilling or baking I always do. If you choose to bake them, use a non-stick pan or spray your pan very well with non-stick spray. Otherwise, they may stick to the pan–even when they are tossed with oil.
The sauce takes advantage of the tangy flavor of California French dressing; that’s what it’s called generically. “Catalina” is a trade name of Kraft. You can also use regular French dressing, but I highly recommend the California style. The sauce is made with the dressing and some common pantry ingredients. It’s simple but highly flavorful!
Have plenty of napkins on hand because these are pretty sticky and messy to eat–but well worth it!
The Recipe
- 3-4 lbs chicken wings, wing tip removed and disjointed (see NOTES)
- 2-3 tbs olive oil (only use if you grill or bake the wings)
- Sauce:
- ¾ cup California French (Catalina) dressing - OR- regular French dressing
- 3 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tbs ketchup
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp pepper
- In a small saucepan, mix all the sauce ingredients. Bring to boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Toss the wings with the 2-3 tbs olive oil if grilling or baking.
- Cook wings either by grilling, baking, deep frying or slow cooking. I grilled mine on my gas grill and cooked them over medium-low heat for 40 minutes, turning once. Same time would apply to baking at 350 degrees F. Deep frying cook at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes. Slow cooking 4-6 hours on low.
- Place cooked wings in a large bowl, pour sauce over them and toss to coat.
Yum
