Ina Garten Rejects a ‘Dangerous’ Method of Cooking Buffalo Wings in Favor of Her Perfectly Crispy Version

Ina Garten has found a way to make delicious chicken wings that aren’t fried but still have that satisfying crispy texture you love. The Barefoot Contessa star shares her tips and tricks for spicy Buffalo chicken wings and a cool blue cheese dip.

Ina Garten makes crispy chicken wings without frying them

While demonstrating how to make her Buffalo chicken wings recipe, Garten shared that she was pairing the dish with a salad to balance the spicy flavors. She spread the chicken wings on a sheet pan and prepared them for broiling, rather than frying them. “Usually buffalo chicken wings are fried but I hate dealing with a big pot of boiling oil,” she explained. “Never mind how dangerous it is.”

“What I’m going to do is I’m going to brush these with really spicy butter and then broil them,” Garten noted. “And I think they’re just delicious.”

The sauce comes together quickly but is full of flavor. Garten melted butter and added hot sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper, mixing it together before brushing it on the chicken wings.

“So I’m serving really spicy chicken wings with a really cool blue cheese dressing as a dip,” she explained. “And it’s always traditionally served with celery, which is sort of cool and crunchy. It’s such a great combination.”

She broiled the wings for 8 minutes, turned them over, brushed them with more spicy butter, and broiled the wings for another 4 minutes.

Ina Garten pairs the chicken wings with a cool blue cheese dip

Chicken wings are often paired with blue cheese dip to provide a cool balance to the spicy kick of the wing sauce.

Garten made the easy dip in a food processor, adding crumbled gorgonzola cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and blending the ingredients together.

“This is a great dip, not just for buffalo chicken wings, but also for fresh vegetables,” she shared. “It’s wonderful. Great blue cheese flavor and the Worcestershire sauce does a lot for it.”

You can find the recipe on the Barefoot Contessa website.

Garten serves the hot wings with a Caesar salad

Garten mentioned that the wings would be the main course, served with her Caesar salad with pancetta. The salad is easy to assemble and has a flavorful dressing.

Garten cuts the pancetta into small cubes and cooks it in a skillet over medium-low heat, draining it on paper towels after it cooks. For extra flavor, she roasts the cherry tomatoes for the salad, placing them on a baking sheet and drizzling them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. She roasts the tomatoes in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

For the dressing, the Barefoot Contessa star blends egg yolks, mustard, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a food processor, then slowly pours in olive oil, processing until the dressing thickens. She adds parmesan cheese and pulses it a few times to incorporate everything.

To assemble the salad, Garten chops romaine lettuce into slices and adds it to a big bowl, then coats it with the dressing, adds parmesan cheese, and tosses everything together. After plating the salad, she tops each serving with tomatoes and pancetta.

You can find the full recipe on the Food Network website.