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Chicken wings cooked buffalo style in a dish, view from atop.

Sous Vide Chicken Wings Recipe: The PERFECT Wings

Rishi
3 steps to the perfect sous vide chicken wings. There's no better way to prepare chicken wings. Juicy meat, crispy skin—perfection.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Inactive Cook Time 10 hours
Total Time 10 hours 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 470 kcal

Equipment

  • Sous vide machine
  • Deep pot or wok
  • Wire rack & baking sheet

Ingredients
  

Chicken Wings

  • 4 lbs chicken wings
  • Kosher salt
  • Peanut oil or canola oil or corn oil

Buffalo Sauce

  • 1 cup Frank's RedHot Wing Sauce or Frank's RedHot Sauce + 1 stick of butter
  • 4 tbsp butter (half a stick)
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions
 

Chicken Wings

  • Set your sous vide machine to 160°F
  • Bag the chicken wings in a single layer. Use a vacuum sealer or water displacement method to void the bag of air. Drop the bag into the sous vide bath for 2 hours when it reaches temp.
    Chicken wings in a sous vide bath.
  • Remove wings from the bag(s), wipe off gelatin and pat dry. Set wings on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and salt. Place uncovered in fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours.
    Chicken wings on a wire rack with salt being sprinkled on them.
  • Just before serving, heat Frank's, butter, garlic powder and pepper in a small saucepan. Use medium-low heat. Stir occasionally. The sauce is ready when the butter has completely melted.
    hot sauce being stirred in pot
  • Fry the wings in small batches in 400°F oil in a deep pot. Do your best to keep the oil at 400°F by adjusting the heat. Move the wings around occasionally with a skimmer or spider strainer to ensure all sides are cooked evenly. You're looking for a golden brown color, which should take 3-4 minutes. If it takes longer, your oil isn't hot enough.
    Chicken wings being fried in a wok with a spider strainer moving a wing.
  • Dry the wings on a paper towel. Add them to a bowl along with the hot sauce and toss to coat.
    Chicken wings being tossed with tongs in buffalo sauce.

Notes

You may need to portion the wings into more than one bag for cooking sous vide.
For springier wings, cook at 165°F for one hour.
You can sous vide frozen wings. Just add half an hour to the sous vide time.
Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing, celery and carrots.
You can finish the wings another way rather than frying if you prefer. See below for what works for the various methods of finishing chicken wings from our experience.
Sous Vide Chicken Wing Finishing Time and Temp By Method
Method
Temperature
Time
Notes
Deep fry
400°F
3-4 minutes
PREFERRED METHOD
Air fryer
400°F
10-12 minutes
flip halfway through
Oven
475°F
10-12 minutes
flip halfway through
Grill
as hot as it gets
6-10 minutes
flip halfway through
Smoker
225°F
2 hours
crank the heat up at the end
You can skip the dry brining step if you need to save time. If you do, salt before you cook the chicken wings sous vide. Make sure you pat the wings dry before finishing, unless you are smoking the chicken wings to finish.
Keyword Appetizers, Chicken Wings, Football Food, Keto