How to Fry Chicken Wings at Home

Go ahead and splurge. Deep fry those chicken wings. Here’s a handy guide showing you how.

Deep-frying is the standard way that wings are cooked in restaurants. While we stand by ourselves totally when we say our method for baking chicken wings is just as crispy and way easier, if you really want to go for it, you’ve gotta deep-fry restaurant-style.

It’s actually not very hard to do. If you already own a deep-fryer, well, I’m guessing you know how to use it. If not, you can get one like this or follow the instructions below for frying wings using your stove top, a large pot, some oil and a candy thermometer.

Here’s how to deep-fry chicken wings at home without a home deep-fryer:

Step#1

In a large pot, pour in 1 and 1/2 inches of vegetable or canola oil. Attach candy thermometer so it’s in the oil, but not touching the pot. Heat on medium to 350°F.

Step#2

Cut 4 wings into drummettes and flaps, if they aren’t already cut. Learn how to cut wings here. Then, once oil is heated, use tongs to lower wings carefully into the oil.

The oil may sputter and spatter. Be careful. The oil temperature will drop when the wings are added.

Step#3

Place a maximum of 8 wing pieces in oil at one time. Try to keep oil at 350-375°F or if temperature keeps rising, take off heat to a cool element for 1 minute. Monitor.

Step#4

Flip wings occasionally until well-browned and internal temperature as read on an instant read thermometer is at 165ºF, about 8-10 minutes.

Step#5

Use tongs to remove wings from oil. Transfer them to a plate with a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Step#6

Toss with sauce.

Step#7

Eat!

How to Fry Chicken Wings at Home

Go ahead and splurge. Deep fry those chicken wings. Here’s a handy guide showing you how.

• Author: Christine Pittman

Ingredients

• Vegetable or canola oil, enough to fill a pot by 1 and 1/2 inches
• 4 chicken wings
• Sauce (like Buffalo)

Instructions

1. In a large pot, pour in 1 and 1/2 inches of vegetable or canola oil. Attach candy thermometer so it’s in the oil, but not touching the pot. Heat on medium to 350°F.
2. Meanwhile, cut wings into two pieces each. Learn how here.
3. Use tongs to carefully lower the 8 wing pieces into the oil. The oil temperature may drop when the wings are added. Try to keep oil at 350-375°F. If it drops too low, increase heat. If temperature rises, reduce heat. If it keeps rising, take the pot off of heat and transfer to a cool element for 1 minute. Monitor.
4. Flip wings occasionally until well browned and the chicken’s internal temperature reaches 165° F on an instant-read thermometer, 8-10 minutes. Place on a plate with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
5. Toss with sauce. Serve immediately.

Video by Leigh Olson.

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This post originally appeared in January, 2016 and was revised and republished in March, 2017.

Christine Pittman

Christine is the Senior Editor and Owner of The Cookful, COOKtheSTORY and IsThisThatFood. Her sites reach over 1.5 million readers per month, which means that things can get a bit crazy. She's constantly writing, taking pictures, editing, managing contributors, and, oh yeah, cooking. To say that she wears many hats is an understatement - there are many hats, and also many shirts, shoes, pants, and even the odd cape!

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