Salt and vinegar wings are a popular appetizer, often ordered at restaurants. These wings offer a delightful combination of salty and tangy flavors. However, restaurant versions are frequently fried in unhealthy vegetable oils. This recipe provides a healthier alternative, delivering the same great taste without the guilt. These keto-friendly baked Salt and Vinegar Wings are super crispy and loaded with flavor.
Why Make Salt and Vinegar Wings at Home?
Making chicken wings at home means you won’t have to feel the least bit guilty about eating them. These chicken wings only need a few minutes of preparation and their texture and flavor compete with wings you would get from restaurants! These wings have the same great taste as if they were deep fried but without all the added vegetable oil and grease. Once you start making them at home, you will never think about ordering chicken wings from restaurants ever again.
Health Benefits and Versatility
This recipe is great as it is high in protein while being low in carbs, but it is also very satisfying and delicious. These wings are perfect to serve as an appetizer especially for when you’re watching the Super Bowl or even if you are having a casual movie night between friends. You can also easily serve them as a snack for the whole family as they are much healthier than having a huge bowl of chips and they are actually filling. These wings can also be served for a quick and simple lunch.
To make a full meal with these low carb salt and vinegar chicken wings, you can easily pair them with a green salad or even roasted vegetables such as brussels sprouts, mushrooms or green beans. If you require sauce for dipping the wings, we recommend an avocado mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing,or sugar free bbq sauce as they are both considered to be keto friendly.
Ingredients
- Chicken wings (fresh or frozen)
- Olive oil (or avocado oil, melted coconut oil)
- Salt (red Himalayan salt recommended)
- Pepper
- Apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, malt vinegar)
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder (optional)
- Baking powder (optional, for extra crispiness)
Essential Steps for Crispy Wings
The key to super crispy baked wings is all in the preparation.
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- Pat dry: First thing you should do is pat the wings dry to remove all the excess moisture. Getting excess moisture out of the wings before they bake is critical for crispy wings.
- Baking Powder: Some people like to add baking powder or baking soda to help crisp up their keto vinegar chicken wings.
How to Make Keto Salt and Vinegar Wings
Oven-Baked Method
- Preheat the oven: Place an oven rack in the middle-lower position and another rack in the middle-upper position. Preheat the oven to 250°F.
- Prepare the wings: If necessary, separate wings into drumettes and wingettes, discarding wing tips. I used fresh wings to make these salt and vinegar wings. Although we used fresh wings, you can use frozen wings for this recipe.
- Season the wings: Toss wings in olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss together chicken wings, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and ½ teaspoon salt in medium bowl until chicken is evenly coated in seasonings.
- Bake: Place on wire rack over a baking sheet. This will allow for air distribution under the chicken wings to ensure crisping at all angles. Spread the wings in a single layer across the cooling rack. Bake for 30 minutes. Flip pieces and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until chicken is brown and crispy and cooked through.
- Prepare the salt and vinegar marinade: In a small bowl, combine apple cider vinegar, salt and garlic powder. In a mixing bowl, combine the distilled white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, erythritol, black pepper, and cayenne.
- Coat the wings: Remove wings from the oven and toss in salt and vinegar marinade until coated. Once wings are fully cooked, toss them in the vinegar mixture to coat.
- Broil (optional): Place vinegar coated wings back on the tray and broil on high for 1 to 2 minutes. Broiling the chicken wings on high for 1-2 minutes after adding the salt and vinegar coating helps to make the skin crispier.
- Marinate (optional): If you have more time, the wings can be marinated in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours before cooking to soak the flavor into the meat before cooking instead of doing it after.
Air Fryer Method
If you are looking for an air fryer chicken wing recipe, this will definitely work. Cooking wings in the air fryer is even quicker than if you were to bake them in the oven so make sure to watch the time. Wings cooked in the air fryer will still get the same crispiness, so no need to worry about that!
- Preheat air fryer: Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Prepare the wings: Follow steps 2 and 3 from the oven-baked method.
- Air fry: Place wings in the air fryer basket and cook for about 10 minutes. Arrange as many wings as you can standing upright around the edges of the air fryer basket. Then arrange the others standing upright against the ones on the edges until all the wings are standing upright in the air fryer. (This arrangement helps to crisp the wings evenly, as 3 pounds of wins is a lot for an air fryer.) If you do not have a large air fryer, you will need to cook the wings in batches. Set the air fryer to cook for 20 minutes.
- Coat the wings: Follow step 6 from the oven-baked method.
- Check for crispness: Check the wings for crispness.
Making Salt and Vinegar Seasoning
Salt and vinegar seasoning can be made in various ways. In this recipe we mix and combine salt, vinegar and garlic powder. The vinegar makes it a wet seasoning mix, making it resemble marinade.
Choosing the Right Vinegar
This recipe uses apple cider vinegar but white vinegar also works well for chicken wings. Apple cider vinegar has health benefits and it may also give the party wings a slightly different color. You can also try experimenting with white wine vinegar or rice vinegar. Restaurants typically use malt vinegar. However, you can use whichever you prefer or have at hand at the time.
What are Party Wings?
Party wings can be either drumettes or wingettes. Drumettes start from the part of the wing that is attached to the main part of the chicken. Drumettes typically have one main bone in the middle and some joints and cartilage on both ends. The meat on drumettes is dark, but it is closer to white meat and drumettes have a lot of meat compared to skin. On the other hand, wingettes are the middle part of the wing. They are flat in shape and have two thin bones rather than one big bone. The bones go all the way down the length of the wingette.
Serving Suggestions
Ever had salt and vinegar wings? No? Well, it’s right about time you try them out! Serve with a dipping sauce and garnish with parsley or chopped green onions. We usually eat them with a blue cheese dressing, but we’ve had them with ranch and it was also really tasty.
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Variations and Substitutions
- Oil: While olive oil adds a nice flavor, you can substitute it with avocado oil or melted coconut oil if you prefer.
- Vinegar: You can use coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar for this recipe - it’s a preference thing, really.
- Sweetness: Can’t do honey? Omit it from the recipe entirely. Use coconut aminos instead, it will aslo bring a nice sweetness to the sauce that complements tangy vinegar.
Keto Salt and Vinegar Wings: FAQs
Can I use a different type of oil for the wings?
Absolutely! While olive oil adds a nice flavor, you can substitute it with avocado oil or melted coconut oil if you prefer.
What can I serve with these wings?
These wings pair wonderfully with a side of celery sticks and a low-carb dipping sauce, like ranch or blue cheese, to complement the tangy flavor.
How do I store leftover wings?
You can store leftover wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Just reheat them in the oven for a few minutes to regain their crispiness!
Are these wings suitable for meal prep?
Yes! These wings are great for meal prep. Just bake them in advance and store them in the fridge. You can easily reheat them for a quick meal or snack.
Can I make these wings in an air fryer?
Yes, you can!
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Are these wings Whole30 compliant?
They sure can be! To make this the perfect Whole30 appetizer recipe, simply omit the erythritol. The wings will still turn out as delicious as ever and you can keep marching right through your Whole30 with a new wing recipe in your back pocket.
More Keto Chicken Recipes to Try
Still in the mood for easy chicken recipes, but not sure if salt and vinegar chicken wings will hit the spot?
- Keto Chicken Parmesan: Rich and flavorful, these Italian-inspired dish will take your taste buds straight to Europe! With only 35 minutes of total cooking and prep time, you can enjoy these golden brown chicken breasts even during your busiest weeknights.
- Keto Butter Chicken: Simple, yet authentic in flavor, you can make this dinner dish in under 30 minutes total! Just thinking of all the turmeric and ginger makes me salivate (plus, both are anti-inflammatory). One serving? Only 385 calories and 6g of net carbs.
- Keto Cashew Chicken: Since we’re doing a trip around the world here with all the flavors, maybe you’re in the mood for an Asian-inspired dish? Make it in only 25 minutes and serve over simple cauliflower rice.