We shared how to boil chicken legs with you before, now we are on to boiled chicken wings. Cooked to enjoy or make your drumettes and wingettes crispy in an air fryer or oven with our dry rub makes a delicious appetizer or fun dinner finger food.
These take a lot less time than How to Boil a Whole Chicken as they are smaller and done in no time. A protein packed healthy snack for some and others lather with sauce and enjoy as a complete meal. Either way you’ll love boiling chicken wings. (affiliate links present)
How Long to Boil Chicken Wings
Timing is less than How Long to Boil Chicken Thighs because of their smaller size of course. Now with that said you can’t say exactly the cook time because every piece and batch varies. Organic will always be smaller so keep your eyes open and pay attention near the end.
Typically I wouldn’t recommend submerging any food in hot water since it tends to leach a lot of the flavor out. If you use broth though, or season your liquid you can actually add quite a bit of punch. Up to you depending on what you are making with them and your desired outcome.
When we make Boiled Fish it is nice to add a bit of heat in there that somewhat marinates the meat as it cooks and the result is super tender meat with a punch.
Chicken Wing Boil
Quesion; Can You Boil Frozen Chicken? Yes you can!! Actually it doesn’t take much longer if they are straight out of the freezer or fresh. You will get a bit more ick on the top but you can spoon that off and discard along the way. Typically if rock hard to begin with once done it will fall off the bone and won’t stay in tact, just FYI.
The best thing to do with them once done if you want to enjoy them right out of the pot, drained, is to toss or drizzle with a sauce like our Honey Lemon Pepper Wings. Use homemade sauces, bottled, bbq is great, or Franks Red Hot gives you some spicy heat!
- 8-10 chicken wings
- or however many you can fit with pot being no more than half full
- fresh is best but you can use frozen chicken wings if that is all you have
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Paprika
- Bay leaves
- 1/2 onion sliced
This is just for the first step by step directions for cooking the meat in a large pot on the stovetop. There are several choices beyond that for crisping below for you too. Buffalo sauce or barbecue are most common for adding flavor at the end or a sprinkle of Dry Rub for Chicken Wings works too.
How to Make Chicken Wings Crispy
Once done you may want to make crispy chicken skin to enjoy, I get it. I like to pat dry, lay inside a sprayed basket so they don’t stick and brush on a sauce or sprinkle seasonings all over like our Dry Rub Air Fryer Wings. I mean yes as is there is flavor in the meat but most want MORE.
If you wanted to add breading to the outside you would instead of boiling in water you would instead submerge in a pot of hot oil. We show you How to Deep Fry Chicken Wings here that then you can toss with a sauce for added yum.
Boiled Wings
If making Boiled Chicken for Dogs you would ONLY use water and nothing else during the heating process. Either way you start by putting the wingettes and drumettes in a saucepan.
If making your dinner yourself, then add the onion cut into pieces, bay leaf, salt and any spices. The difference between the two is the drums look like legs with more meat on them on one end and chunkier. Wing portion is the skinnier piece that has meat all the way across. Use one or a mix of both.
- Cover the wings with water or broth (to cover 1/2 inch) and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes to 15 minutes after the water boils.
- whole chicken wings will be closer to 15, small may be 8-10
- Cover the saucepan with a lid while cooking. Done when meat is tender, pulling away from the bone and white in color, 165 degrees F internal temperature.
- Remove the boiled wings from the broth. The broth can be strained and used in soups, sauces, or stew. If you want to crisp the skin lay on paper towels to absorb the moisture on the skin first.
- To make the wings browned and crispy, you can fry them over high heat in a pan with a bit of oil for 2-3 minutes on each side.
Or put into a preheated air fryer at 400 F. Arrange in a single layer with a spray of olive oil on top, or brush of sauce on top if you’d rather. Fry for 5 minutes or until crispy as you’d like. Step by step instructions are below in our printable recipe card you can keep handy too if you’d like.
Boiled Chicken Wings
Equipment
- 1 pot
Ingredients
- 8-10 chicken wings
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- olive oil spray, is air frying later
Instructions
- Put the wingettes and drumettes in a saucepan, add the onion cut into pieces, bay leaf, salt and any spices.
- Cover the wings with water or broth (to cover 1/2 inch) and cook for 10-15 minutes after the water boils. Cover the saucepan with a lid while cooking. Done when meat is tender, pulling away from the bone and white in color, 165 degrees F.
- Remove the boiled wings from the broth. The broth can be strained and used in soups, sauces, or stew. If you want to crisp the skin lay on paper towels to absorb the moisture on the skin first.
- To make the wings browned and crispy, you can fry them over high heat in a pan with a bit of oil for 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Or put into a preheated air fryer at 400 F. Arrange in a single layer with a spray of olive oil on top, or brush of sauce on top if you'd rather. Fry for 5 minutes or until crispy as you'd like.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
