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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!
Why you’ve got to try Gordon Ramsay’s Spicy Chicken Wings
- Perfect texture and flavor – meaty, not fatty, with just the right amount of smoke and spice
- Easy way for home cooks to up their wing game
- The pan-searing method creates a lollipop-style handle that is easy to hold
- Chef-tested technique that works great and is used in Ramsay’s restaurants around the world
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
Watch on YouTube
Want to watch along? Watch the whole recipe on YouTube. If you like this recipe – please press the “Subscribe button” on the video below (you won’t leave this page)
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
Do you need to separate the wings before cooking?
Although you can cook whole wings, they’re easier to cook (and eat) if you separate them into drums and wings. I remove the tips since they dry out so quickly and have so little meat.
What kind of sauce does Gordon Ramsay use for chicken wings?
Based on Gordon’s recipe, he usually uses a mixture of hot sauce and butter plus the wing drippings from the pan. You can really use any hot sauce or wing sauce you like.
How do you make chicken wings like Gordon Ramsay?
Ramsay’s method involves pan-searing the wings first then baking them in the oven. This method works great, but doesn’t include any smoke. This version starts with pan-searing, but then finishes the chicken in the smoker to get that BBQ flavor.
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 ?
Gordon Ramsay’s Viral Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Chicken Wings separated
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 TBSP avocado oil
- 8 tbsp butter unsalted
- Hot Sauce to taste
- 2 tbsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 225F
- In a bowl, add Garlic Powder, Smoked Paprika, and Salt to the wings and mix well to cover evenly
- Add oil to a pan and let it get hot, but not to the point that it smokes
- Add seasoned wings and allow to get a sear on one side, add black pepper
- Sear on opposite side then remove from heat and put entire pan into smoker
- After 10 minutes flip wings to ensure even smoke flavor
- Raise temperature to 350F
- Remove wings from pan and add to wire rack or directly on the smoker
- Cook for about 5-10 minutes until desired crispiness has been reached
- Remove from grill and in a bowl with the wings add 4 TBSP butter, 1/2C of juice from the pan and hot sauce to taste
- Garnish with fresh parsley (optional)
- Mix well and serve hot
2 Comments
Love good wings! Just need a smoker to make these..
You could do them in the oven as well!