These Baked Korean-Inspired Chicken Wings are a healthier way to enjoy your favourite pub food, served with a delicious cucumber salad!
Ingredients and substitutions
Cucumber salad
- Cucumber – make this salad with another spiralized veggie like zucchini, carrots or radishes.
- Sesame oil – you can use olive oil or avocado oil, but the salad will have a milder flavour.
- Rice vinegar – swap out for white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar if you don’t have any rice vinegar on hand.
- Chili garlic hot sauce – Sambal Oelek or harissa sauce would also work.
- Salt – to taste.
Chicken wings
- Chicken wings – skinless wings are a healthier option. You can also use this wing sauce on pork!
- Green onions – scallions would also be good.
- Sesame seeds – black or white sesame seeds can be used.
Wing sauce
- Sweet chili sauce – hot sauce mixed with a bit of honey will provide a similar flavour.
- Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes here.
- Ketchup – use tomato paste mixed with a bit of maple syrup and apple cider vinegar instead.
- Sriracha hot sauce – swap out for another hot sauce like Sambal Oelek.
- Honey – agave or maple syrup would also add a bit of sweetness to the sauce.
- Sesame oil – or a neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
How to make Korean chicken wings
- Prepare the marinade.
- Marinate the chicken wings.
- Make the cucumber salad.
- Bake the wings for 10 minutes per side.
- Toss the wings in the remaining sauce.
- Serve with cucumber salad and enjoy!
How long should you marinate the wings?
Chicken wings only need about 30 minutes to marinate. The acid in the marinade will break down the proteins in the chicken to infuse it with flavour and keep it nice and moist.
Chicken is not as dense as beef, so it doesn’t take as long to marinate. You need to find a balance for the amount of time to marinate chicken. Let it sit long enough for the flavour to fully penetrate the meat, but not so long that it gets tough.
Wings only need about 30 minutes. If you choose to use thighs instead, an hour is preferable. Any cut of chicken with skin will need about 1-2 hours and chicken never needs to marinate overnight, which makes it great for quick weeknight dinners.
Frequently Asked Questions
These Korean chicken wings offer the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. The sweetness comes from the ketchup and honey while the spiciness comes from the sriracha hot sauce and sweet chili sauce.
While traditional wings are served in a BBQ of buffalo sauce, these wings are unique thanks to the Korean-inspired sauce. My recipe is also a lot healthier than your traditional Korean chicken wings because they're baked instead of fried.
I actually like my Korean chicken wings nice and saucy, so after they’ve come out of the oven, I toss them in extra wing sauce. If you prefer yours on the crispier side, skip the extra sauce. You can even try cooking them in the air fryer instead of baking them in the oven!
Storing and reheating
These cooked chicken wings will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Transfer the leftovers into airtight glass containers – you can even store them with the cucumber salad for a delicious meal prep lunch!
The best way to reheat wings is to pan fry them or put them back in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit. If you’re in a hurry, you can use the microwave, but keep in mind that the wings might get soggy.
Can you freeze chicken wings?
Yes, you can! After the wings have cooked, put them on a tray and freeze them for about an hour before transferring them to a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or airtight glass container. This will prevent them from sticking together. Once frozen, they’ll last for up to 3 months. Defrost them in the fridge overnight then reheat them in a pan or in the oven.
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More Korean-inspired recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Order some chili garlic sauce for the cucumber salad.
- Order some sweet chili sauce for the chicken wings.
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into leftovers.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
Baked Korean-Inspired Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Cucumber Salad
- 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp chili garlic hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
Chicken Wings
- 1.5 lb chicken wings
- 2 green onions, sliced (for garnish)
- sesame seeds (for garnish)
Wing Sauce
- 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix together chicken wing marinade and pour half of it into a Ziploc bag with wings. Let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice cucumber very thinly and toss with sesame oil, vinegar, chili sauce and salt. Set aside.
- Once wings are done marinating, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes per side. Once finished, switch oven to broil and broil wings for 2-3 minutes until crispy, watching closely so they don't burn.
- While wings are cooking, microwave the remainder of wing sauce for 3 minutes, making sure to cover it so sauce doesn't splatter.
- Toss chicken wings in wing sauce straight from the oven and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve with cucumber salad and enjoy!
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