Better Than Gordon Ramsay's Chicken Wings (Viral Recipe)

Are Gordon Ramsay's chicken wings the best wings ever? Perhaps, but that’s not a debate happening on this page! Chef Ramsay shared his go-to recipe for spicy wings on TikTok and I had to try them out. I've adapted his restaurant method for home cooks and think you'll love it! 

The culinary man, the myth, the legend. Gordon Ramsay is arguably one of the most popular and acclaimed celebrity chefs that’s ever lived. With multiple smash hit TV shows, 17 Michelin Stars across all of his restaurants, and from it all, fame that most people aspire to. 

Ramsay put his chicken wing recipe on social media and did a walk through of how he cooks them. They are a super simple recipe of basic spices to season, then pan searing, and finishing in the oven.

While this is a typical restaurant recipe and cooking format, I wanted to adapt it to something that the home and backyard cook could enjoy and take to another level of flavor. That’s exactly what I did.

If you like cooking in the yard, you're probably a chicken wing fanatic like me. After you give this recipe a try, check out these Spicy Orange Chicken Wings tossed in a killer fresh orange and hot honey glaze.

My family also loves these Chicken Bacon Ranch Buffalo Wings with their updated yet classic flavor profile. You really can't go wrong with either!

Equipment

To make Gordon Ramsay's chicken wings, you’ll need:

• Large skillet (He usually uses a large oven-proof saute pan since he bakes the wings after cooking on the stovetop, but we're using the smoker, so you can use whichever pan you prefer.)
• Mixing bowls
• Smoker
• Wire rack

Ingredients

• Chicken wings - Separate the whole wings into drums and wings and remove any tips (or buy them prepped from the store). 
• Seasonings - You'll start by seasoning with garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt. Part way through the cooking time, add the black pepper to keep it from burning.
• Avocado oil
• Unsalted butter
• Hot sauce

How to Make Chicken Wings like Gordon Ramsay

There are a few steps in this cooking process, which makes it look complicated, but I promise, it's not. We're going to start by seasoning the wings, searing them on the stovetop, then smoking them for all that smoke flavor, and tossing them in a super simple sauce. It's really that simple. 

Prepare the wings

• If needed, separate your chicken wings removing and discarding the tips, then separating the drums from the flappers. 
• Combine the salt, smoked paprika, and garlic powder in a large bowl. 
• Coat the wings until each one is well-covered to ensure even flavor.  

Pan-sear the wings

• Once your chicken wings are seasoned and coated well, it’s time to get some oil in a pan and begin to sear the chicken wings. Add a few knobs of butter to help start building the layers of flavor. A crust will begin to form and the heat will force water out of the chicken wings to help them shrink up some. This causes the meat on the chicken wings to pull up from the bottom on the drumsticks leaving you with a lollipop look where the bone is sticking out of the bottom giving you a nice clean handle to grab onto as you eat.
• Add black pepper halfway through to avoid burning.  

Start smoking

• Once the chicken wings are done in the pan, it’s time for my recipe to kick in.  Put your chicken wings on a wire rack and move them to a preheated smoker.  Continuing to add layers of flavor to this recipe is what it’s all about.  to make moving them on and off the smoker much easier.
• Lay your chicken wings out on a wire rack.  Additionally if you’re cooking a large amount of chicken wings, this will make cooking more even and predictable.  With enough wings you could be looking at an additional 5 minutes of cooking time by moving wings one at a time.  Make it easier for yourself!

Make the sauce and toss

Once your chicken wings have reached a temperature between 180F – 200F and they’ve got a nice golden color on them it’s time to remove from the smoker and sauce with Ramsay’s sauce recipe (listed below).  

It’s a very basic sauce recipe, consisting of your favorite hot/wing sauce and some butter along with the drippings from the pan that you seared in. This will have boiled out any bacteria or germs from the initial cooking, so all that’s left is flavor!

Storing Suggestions

Once cooked, store any leftover wings in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. To reheat, it's honestly best to bake them in the air fryer or oven for a few minutes to warm them through, but you can also get by popping them in the microwave. 

Tips & Variations

• Use your favorite wing sauce. Gordon Ramsay (and I) like to make a very simple sauce out of hot sauce, butter, and pan drippings. You are more than welcome to use whichever sauce you prefer. 
• Save some time. To speed up the process, buy your wings already prepped and separated from the store.

How to Serve

Serve these chicken wings with your favorite dipping sauce. I prefer either ranch or blue cheese to balance out the spices in the wings.  If you’ve tried this – or are going to – please leave me a comment below and tell me what you think.

FAQs

More Chicken Recipes

If you're all about spice and want some more smoking hot recipes to try, give these a go:

• Sweet and Spicy Chicken Skewers
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Pickle Poppers
• Buffalo Chicken Bombs
• Chicken Fried Jalapeno Poppers

The perfect shirt to go along with this recipe in my shop: Time & Temp ?