I have a complicated relationship with wings. They tend to betray me when I eat them in public. Shortly after I started my first real job, a partner knocked on my door to invite me out to lunch. I had just gotten back from this place across the street and was digging into a styrofoam container of particularly good bbq wings when he opened the door. Now when I say “digging into,” I don’t mean some kind of very appropriate, lady-like nibble, I mean shoes-kicked-off, sauce-at-the-side-of-my-lips, GETTIN-MY-GRUB-ON type of “digging in.” I was mortified. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. And yet, I could not put the wings down. I just sort of stared at him. And then back down at the wings. And then back up at him. “It’s fine,” he said quietly as he closed the door. “I can see you are busy.” D’oh!
This is very minimally adapted from Nom Nom Paleo’s Chile Lime Chicken Wings and you will surely want to eat these in total privacy because Jesus Christ himself could knock on your door and you STILL would not be able to put these wings down. The first time I made these, we just stood at the stove eating. They did not even make it out of the kitchen.
These wings are just soooo good! Michelle of Nom Nom Paleo makes hers on the grill and uses soy substitutes to make the recipe paleo-compliant, but my version is made in the oven and uses traditional soy-based ingredients.
Gather:
- 3 pounds Chicken Wings
- ½ medium Onion, roughly chopped
- 2 Jalapeno Peppers, seeds removed
- 3 Garlic cloves, peeled
- Zest and Juice from 2 Limes
- ½ bunch Cilantro
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
Put 3 pounds of wings in a big ziploc bag.
Coarsely chop half an onion, de-seed 2 jalapeno peppers, pull out 3 cloves of garlic, zest and juice 2 limes, and break 1/2 a bunch of cilantro into smaller pieces.
Combine salt and pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce and oil in a blender.
Toss in your onion, jalapeno, garlic, lime zest and juice, and cilantro.
Blend until it’s all mixed into a smooth puree.
Pour the mix over your chicken.
Close the bag, and squish the chicken around so each piece is coated with the marinade.
Let marinate for 30 minutes.
Use this time to preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the wings from the bag and place on a wire rack. If you don’t have a wire rack, put the wings right on the foil. They won’t be as crispy as if they were on a rack, but they will still taste delicious.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Flip them over. You can use any extra marinade to baste the wings once you’ve turned them over.
Bake for another 30 minutes and serve. We like ours with sriracha and ranch dressing (pictured below).
- 3 pounds Chicken Wings
- ½ medium Onion, roughly chopped
- 2 Jalapeno Peppers, seeds removed
- 3 Garlic cloves, peeled
- Zest and Juice from 2 Limes
- ½ bunch Cilantro
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- Put 3 pounds of wings in a big ziploc bag.
- Coarsely chop half an onion, de-seed 2 jalapeno peppers, pull out 3 cloves of garlic, zest and juice 2 limes, and break ½ a bunch of cilantro into smaller pieces.
- Combine salt and pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce and oil in a blender.
- Toss in your onion, jalapeno, garlic, lime zest and juice, and cilantro.
- Blend until it's all mixed into a smooth puree.
- Pour the mix over your chicken, close the bag, and squish the chicken around so each piece is coated with the marinade.
- Let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Use this time to preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the wings from the bag and place on a wire rack. If you don't have a wire rack, put the wings right on the foil. They won't be as crispy as if they were on a rack, but they will still taste delicious.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Flip them over. You can use any extra marinade to baste the wings once you've turned them over.
- Bake for another 30 minutes and serve.
I love the presentation. It appears clean and appealing to the eyes. I also love the two sauces. Having the opportunity to try different sauces appeal to me. We will definitely try this recipe. Another fantastic work of art Tekesha! By the way, great story. We can easily visualize the moment and relate to the outcome.
Thanks!
Hi Tekesha
I really would like to try this recipe but I see it calls for “fish sauce”…my husband is allergic to seafood. Is there something else that I could use besides the “fish sauce” or is this sauce really important for this recipe?
Thanks
Hi, Kelly! I haven’t tried it, but Cooks Illustrated suggests a combination of soy sauce and mushroom broth as a good swap. Really the fish sauce just adds a background earthiness to the dish. So if you have mushroom broth, I would add a tablespoon of that to the blender since the recipe already calls for soy sauce. If not, it’s fine to leave it out entirely. They will taste slightly different, but not in a super noticeable way, especially as the other ingredients are so strong. 😀
Okay great!!! I will hold off on making this recipe tonight since I just saw something else on your website that I would love to try tonight 🙂