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Whether you’re looking for a festive but different appetizer for a holiday party, or some new and delicious game day munchies….these Cranberry Buffalo Wings are just the thing to add to your menu!
We’ve taken a classic, spicy Buffalo wings recipe – but added a sweet-tart twist with the addition of in-season cranberries and cranberry juice to the sauce. The flavor combination is absolutely fantastic, and you and your guests will keep going back for more.
Jack and I were inspired to create this recipe after seeing Cranberry Buffalo Wings on the menu of a local restaurant near where we live. We tried and loved them – and immediately set out to recreate the recipe at home.
The sauce on these Cranberry Buffalo Wings is so delicious – we think it would be great slathered on larger, bone-in pieces of roasted chicken as well. Enjoy and don’t forget the napkins!
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Cranberry Buffalo Wings
Ingredients
- 18 fresh chicken wings
- 2 cups cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail
Dipping sauce
- 1 12–ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 cup Franks hot sauce (use more or less of this as your tastes dictate)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail
- 1/4 cup honey
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Remove wing tips and freeze for stock. Separate wing portion from drum portion.
- Place wing pieces in a zip lock bag and pour in the two cups of cranberry juice. Seal and refrigerate overnight.
- In a medium sauce pan, place cranberries, sugar, butter, Frank’s hot sauce, cumin, the cinnamon stick, the ¼ cup of cranberry juice and honey. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and refrigerate until needed.
- The next day, drain off marinade and pat wings dry with paper towels. Must be dry so they won’t splatter in the hot oil.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven about half filled with oil. Heat to 350 degrees F using a candy thermometer.
- Heat oven to 250 degrees F to keep batches warm between frying.
- Cook wing pieces in three batches by placing in hot oil and frying for 8 minutes. Try to maintain the oil at 350 degrees F.
- Reheat dipping sauce until it is a liquid again.
- Using a spider or other type of strainer, remove cooked wings to a large bowl and ladle in one quarter of the dipping sauce then toss in the bowl. Pour out onto a sheet pan and hold in the warm oven.
- Repeat for the second and third batches then pour out onto a serving platter.
- Take the remaining one quarter of the dipping sauce and serve on the side with the wings.
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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
You may also like:
Honey Mustard Soy Glazed Chicken Wings
Little Red Smokehouse in Carver? I do quite a bit of freshwater fishing in the area and LRS is always a stop at the end of the day!
Actually – New World Tavern in Plymouth! 🙂 Now we’ve got to check out the Little Red Smokehouse version! Thanks for emailing us!
Being a Buffalo gal, I cannot wait to try these! I feel like sending this recipe to the Anchor Bar or better still, Duff’s to make at their wing restaurants. My husband appreciates the Frank’s Red Hot sauce, he is an ADDICT. It’ produced locally and we love supporting them too for that reason!!! But for anyone heading to Buffalo to get wings…the ONLY place to go is Bar Bill in East Aurora, but shhhhhh. Keep it a secret. Best. Wings. Ever!!!
Hope you like the recipe Laura! I used to travel to Buffalo quite a bit for work (before blogging) but haven’t been in years – you have me thinking about a road trip to get the authentic version! 🙂