Crockpot Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings

I've never made chicken wings in my life. I'm really more of a Buffalo Cauliflower Bites gal. I like wings just fine; I have them maybe once or twice a year. But I'm not a wing fiend, like so many people seem to be. My brother-in-law is one of those people. He and his family recently moved and we offered to bring some food so I figured I should finally try my hand at wings!

I was inspired by this recipe for Sriracha Honey Wings made in the slow cooker. The idea of using a CrockPot blew my mind! I know pub wings are usually done in the deep fryer; I don't do anything in the deep fryer, it's too messy and, well, frightening to me. I'm a wuss like that. But tossing the wings in a slow cooker with some sauce and just letting them cook away...that is up my alley. Big time.

The Slow Roasted Italian's recipe served as inspiration but I made some changes. I opted for balsamic vinegar instead of lime juice—limes are crazy expensive right now and I'd just received a nice bottle from Pompeian. I also wanted to incorporate some more Asian flavors, so I tossed in soy sauce, ginger and garlic. 

Ingredients

serves 4-6

• 2 Tbl butter (coconut oil or ghee would also work well)
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup sriracha
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 24-30 chicken wing pieces, drumettes and tips (about 3.5 pounds)
• sesame seeds and thinly-sliced scallion greens, to garnish (optional)

Set your slow cooker to high and put in everything except the chicken. Once the butter is melted, stir all the ingredients together. Then add the wings and toss, making sure they are all coated in the sauce. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.

Carefully remove the wings (they will be super tender and falling off the bone!) from the CrockPot and place on a large, foil-lined sheet pan. Pour the sauce from the slow cooker into a small pan on your stovetop and boil to reduce it; you might need to skim the fat if you intend to reduce it a lot. I used my little silicone brush to baste my wings a few times while the sauce was reducing. Once the sauce has reached the consistency you'd like, brush your wings with it. Put the sheet of wings under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are well caramelized.

Serve with sesame seeds and scallions.

NOTE: For the record, these have a little kick but are not super spicy. My husband poured additional sriracha right on top of his wings, because he pours some sort of hot sauce on pretty much everything he eats. If you want your wings to be hot, you might want to baste the chicken with some straight sriracha before you put the wings under the broiler.

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