It’s all very well sticking strictly to your Paleo or Primal diet, but there are times when you just want things to be how they used to. Glutenous sandwiches piled high with questionable deli meats and delicious vegetable oil-based mayo. Pizza, stacked with cheese and faux-meat to your heart’s content. A fresh glass of diabetes-inducing coca-cola, clinking merrily with cubes of ice and beading invitingly in the late afternoon sun.
Sorry, I lost my train of thought for a moment there. Sure, these things were delicious at the time, but the days (perhaps weeks) of post-dietary meltdown recovery really wasn’t worth it.
Luckily, this isn’t a black or white scenario. You can still revisit those gluttonous times of old while maintaining your impressive clean-eating record. We’ve already churned out heaps of recipes that have done just that, including Primal pancakes, Paleo banana-choc-chia cakelets, gluten-free Oreo cookie sandwiches, and a whole lot more. But there’s something super important missing from that list: chicken wings!
Just because you’ve gone Paleo, Primal or ancestral doesn’t mean you don’t watch the Superbowl every year. It doesn’t mean you pass on the opportunity to sit out on the patio with your mates and have a few “cold ones”. It doesn’t mean you’ve moved on from game nights or movie nights with your friends or loved ones. And what do all these things have in common? Why, they all go swimmingly with a big bowl of crispy, zesty, saucy chicken wings.
So, without further ado, here’s an awesome Paleo- and Primal-friendly wing recipe that will have you thinking you’d died and gone to heaven. Chicken wing heaven, that is.
Paleo recipe: BBQ chicken wings
What would a wing platter be without the quintessential BBQ sauce smothering those meaty chunks of glory? Personally, barbecue wings are my favorite, so I was more than happy to give this recipe a shot! If you don’t have all the ingredients available in your kitchen, feel free to mix and match – getting creative is half the fun!
1. BBQ Rub ingredients and instructions
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp rosemary (dried or fresh and finely diced)
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until evenly distributed. This will form your chicken rub in step three!
2. BBQ Sauce ingredients and instructions
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Himilayan pink salt or Celtic grey salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced or finely diced)
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 1/2 cups pure tomato sauce (NO additives allowed, aside from salt!)
- 1/2 cup tomato puree
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos or tamari soy sauce (make sure it’s gluten-free!)
- 10 drops tobasco sauce (you can add more if you’ve got a penchant for heat)
- 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
In a saucepan, melt the coconut oil over low-medium heat. Add in the diced onion, and cook until the onion has turned transparent or soft, around 5 minutes or so.
Add the minced or diced garlic to the saucepan, cook for a minute, then throw in the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for at least 10 minutes.
Once the sauce has reduced down to your desired thickness, remove from heat and set aside.
3. BBQ chicken wing ingredients and instructions
Finally, it’s time to create your culinary masterpiece!
- 18 free-range/pastured chicken wings
- BBQ rub (step 1)
- BBQ sauce (step 2)
Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. While the oven warms up, put some baking paper down on a couple of cookie sheets. Next, apply the BBQ rub to all the wings as evenly as possible. Don’t stress too much if thing’s are a bit uneven though – you’re going to smother them in BBQ sauce, after all!
Place the wings in the oven and leave for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn all the wings onto their opposite side, and cook for another 10 minutes.
Remove the wings from the oven again. Coat each wing liberally with the BBQ sauce you made in step two. A silicon brush makes applying the sauce easier, but you can always just use a spoon or anything handy. Once all the wings are coated, place them back in the oven for 3 minutes.
One last time, remove the wings from the oven, turn them all onto their opposite side, and return to the oven for 3 minutes. Keep an eye on the wings – if it looks like they’re starting to blacken or burn, whip them out of there ASAP! You can also leave them in for longer if you like your wings a bit crispier or charred. I’m not judging.
If you can resist, allow the wings to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a platter. If you’ve got any BBQ sauce left, put it in a small bowl for dipping. In lieu of blue cheese, which often has some of the nastiest ingredients imaginable, why not opt for some grass-fed sour cream? It tastes just as good, in my opinion, and soothes the mouth when things get a little on the spicy side. Also feel free to throw in a few celery sticks for good measure. Enjoy!
Tell us how your wings turned out! Did you make any slight adjustments, or did those BBQ wings taste dang near perfect? We’d also love to hear what your own favorite Paleo wing recipes are!