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My oh my. I had no idea how fantastic these would be when I first came across this recipe for crab boil-brined wings. I thought, what if the crab boil is too strong? And what? A mayonnaise-based wing sauce? Isn’t that illegal? Well, color me wrong on both accounts because these wings were incredible. The crab boil flavor (one of my favorite tastes) is there, but it’s sort of just hanging around in the background. Very pleasant. The creamy mayonnaise basting and dipping sauce is truly outrageously great. It reminds me of the dressing for crab salad in a way.
If you aren’t a fan of crab boil, you’ll still want to make these wings. You don’t want to deprive yourself of something this fantastic.
It’d be ok to cut back on it a bit, but don’t leave out the crab boil. And if you’re like me, don’t be afraid to add more because my original worries about it being too strong were definitely unfounded. These crab boil-brined wings are something special.
I store my leftover homemade sauces in squeeze bottles. If refrigerated, I set them out an hour before using so they come to room temperature. You don’t want to put cold sauce on hot wings!
My bandit wings are also marinated overnight to give them a big flavor punch!
Crab Boil-Brined Wings
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips discarded or saved for making chicken broth
- 5 cups water ice cold
- 4 tablespoons liquid crab boil
- 2 green onions chopped, for garnish
For the sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes
- 2 green onions sliced thin
Instructions
- Place wings in a large resealable container.
- Add the water and liquid crab boil. Seal and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Cook wings as desired. Click here for our guide on cooking wings in a grill, smoker, deep fryer, oven, or a Char-Broil Big Easy.. If possible, baste the wings with the sauce the last 10 minutes of cooking. If not (cooking in a deep-fryer, for example), just brush the wings with the sauce before serving and while the wings are still hot.
- Garnish wings with the onions and serve with remaining sauce for dipping.
For the sauce (double or triple the recipe below if you also wish to use the sauce for dipping)
- Whisk together all ingredients.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
