Keto Chili-Lime Crispy Chicken Wings

These keto chicken wings are the perfect food for parties and family gatherings. You won't need a deep fryer to make extra crispy chicken wings any more. I found an excellent and completely foolproof oven-baked method in Cook's Illustrated Meat Book. Once you try it, you will never go back to deep frying!

To get extra crispy chicken wings, you just need baking powder (I used gluten-free), salt and some melted ghee or duck fat. Tossing the wings in a mixture of baking powder and salt helps the skin dry out and break down the proteins, helping the it get crisp and browned.

Tips for the Perfect Chicken Wings

Making chicken wings is easy but there are a few tips that will take your wing game to the next level:

• Remove any moisture from the chicken wings by pat drying them with a paper towel
• Use gluten-free baking powder mixed with salt for extra crispiness. The recipe from Cook's Illustrated Meat Book uses 2 tablespoons of baking powder per 4 pounds of chicken wings. I also tested this recipe with only 1 tablespoon and in my opinion, the results were very similar. Just make sure you do NOT use baking soda as a replacement for baking powder. It won't work and will make the wings unpalatable!
• Use a rack during cooking to allow all the juices to drip.
• Bake the wings twice, first on low to render the fat and then on high to crisp them up.
• Use my chili-lime sauce as a dip. If you coat the wings in the sauce, they will lose their crispiness faster.
• Apart from chili-lime sauce, you can try the wings with Easy Keto Ranch Dressing, Aioli or Chocolate BBQ Sauce.
• 4-6 wingettes should be enough as an appetizer, and 8-12 wingettes for a complete meal (served with a side).

Note that this recipe originally included an IMO-based syrup which I no longer recommend for keto as most people react to it and get a blood sugar spike. Instead, you can use Allulose syrup or granulated Allulose (best results), Erythritol or Sukrin Gold (may get a bit gritty).

Step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C/ 250 °F (fan assisted), or 140 °C/ 285 °F (conventional). Set the oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions. Use a baking tray deep enough to gather the fat as the chicken wings bake. Line the tray with baking foil to make it easy to clean. Place a rack on top of the foil.

2. Use a sharp knife or meat scissors and cut the wings at joints - you will end up with three pieces per wing. Pat dry all the pieces using a paper towel.
   Note: You will need 20-24 chicken wings which is about 2 kg (4.4 lbs). This amount will yield about 50% meat. Macronutrients are calculated from edible parts only.

   

3. Store the wingtips in the freezer to make bone broth or chicken stock (they are not used in this recipe). Place the remaining wing pieces in a large ziplock bag or a bowl. Add the baking powder and salt. Toss to coat from all sides.

   

4. Place the wings on the rack skin side up and spread in a single layer. Brush each piece with melted ghee and bake the wings on the lower-middle rack for 30 minutes.

   

5. Then, move the wings to the upper-middle rack, increase the temperature to 200 °C/ 400 °F (fan assisted), or 220 °C/ 425 °F (conventional), and bake for another 40-50 minutes. Rotate the tray halfway to ensure even cooking. When done, remove the tray from the oven and let the wings rest for 5 minutes before serving.

   

6. While the wings are baking, prepare the chili-lime sticky sauce. Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan: the syrup, lime juice, minced garlic, grated ginger, Sriracha, coconut aminos and fish sauce. Combine well and slowly bring to a boil over a medium-low heat. Cook for 7-10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
   Note: This recipe originally included an IMO-based syrup which I no longer recommend for keto as most people react to it and experience a blood sugar spike. Instead, you can use Allulose syrup or granulated Allulose (best results), Erythritol or Sukrin Gold (may get a bit gritty).

   

7. Serve the sauce with the crispy chicken wings. If not serving immediately, do not cover the wings in the sauce or they won't stay crispy. Enjoy!

   

Recipe

Keto Chili-Lime Crispy Chicken Wings

★★★★★4.9 (229 ratings)

Crunchy chicken wings dipped in sweet low-carb chili-lime sauce. The best method for ultra crispy chicken ...

Hands on

20m

Overall

1h 30m

Servings

8

3.3 g

Net carbs

21.8 g

Protein

19.6 g

Fat

284

kcal

1 serving2 servings3 servings4 servings5 servings6 servings7 servings8 servings9 servings10 servings11 servings12 servings16 servings24 servings32 servings

US + metricMetricUS

PrintPinRate

Ingredients makes 8 servings

• Crispy wings:
• 20-24 chicken wings, cut at joints (~ 2 kg/ 4.4 lbs), freeze the wingtips for later to make chicken stock or bone broth
• 2 tbsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
• 2 tbsp ghee or duck fat, melted (30 ml)
• Chili-lime sticky sauce:
• ¹/₄ cup Allulose syrup (60 ml/ 2 fl oz) - see tips for alternatives above
• ¹/₄ cup fresh lime juice (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 1 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce you can make your own or 1 small chili pepper, finely chopped
• ¹/₄ cup coconut aminos (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (15 ml)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C/ 250 °F (fan assisted), or 140 °C/ 285 °F (conventional). Set the oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions. Use a baking tray deep enough to gather the fat as the chicken wings bake. Line the tray with baking foil to make it easy to clean. Place a rack on top of the foil.

2. Use a sharp knife or meat scissors and cut the wings at joints - you will end up with three pieces per wing. Pat dry all the pieces using a paper towel.
   Note: You will need 20-24 chicken wings which is about 2 kg (4.4 lbs). This amount will yield about 50% meat. Macronutrients are calculated from edible parts only.

3. Store the wingtips in the freezer to make bone broth or chicken stock (they are not used in this recipe). Place the remaining wing pieces in a large ziplock bag or a bowl. Add the baking powder and salt. Toss to coat from all sides.

4. Place the wings on the rack skin side up and spread in a single layer. Brush each piece with melted ghee and bake the wings on the lower-middle rack for 30 minutes.

5. Then, move the wings to the upper-middle rack, increase the temperature to 200 °C/ 400 °F (fan assisted), or 220 °C/ 425 °F (conventional), and bake for another 40-50 minutes. Rotate the tray halfway to ensure even cooking. When done, remove the tray from the oven and let the wings rest for 5 minutes before serving.

6. While the wings are baking, prepare the chili-lime sticky sauce. Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan: the syrup, lime juice, minced garlic, grated ginger, Sriracha, coconut aminos and fish sauce. Combine well and slowly bring to a boil over a medium-low heat. Cook for 7-10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
   Note: This recipe originally included an IMO-based syrup which I no longer recommend for keto as most people react to it and experience a blood sugar spike. Instead, you can use Allulose syrup or granulated Allulose (best results), Erythritol or Sukrin Gold (may get a bit gritty).

7. Serve the sauce with the crispy chicken wings. If not serving immediately, do not cover the wings in the sauce or they won't stay crispy. Enjoy!

Nutrition per serving, 4-6 wingettes

Carbs 5%Protein 31%Fat 64% of calories

Net carbs

3.3 g

Total carbs

8.4 g

Fiber

0.1 g

Sugars

0.4 g

Protein

21.8 g

Fat

19.6 g

Saturated fat

6.6 g

Calories

284 kcal

Sodium

1,076 mg · 46.8% RDA

Magnesium

28 mg · 6.94% RDA

Potassium

291 mg · 14.5% EMR

Nutrition by ingredient

Per 4-6 wingettes	Net carbs	Protein	Fat	kcal
Chicken wings, raw with skin	0 g	21.5 g	15.7 g	234
Baking powder, gluten-free	0.8 g	0 g	0 g	4
Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Ghee	0 g	0 g	3.8 g	34
Allulose syrup, natural low-carb sweetener	0.7 g	0 g	0 g	3
Lime juice, fresh	0.6 g	0 g	0 g	2
Garlic, fresh	0.5 g	0.1 g	0 g	2
Ginger root, fresh	0.1 g	0 g	0 g	1
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, homemade (KetoDiet blog)	0.2 g	0 g	0.1 g	2
Coconut aminos (substitute to soy sauce)	0.4 g	0 g	0 g	2
Fish sauce	0.1 g	0.1 g	0 g	1
Total	3.3 g	21.8 g	19.6 g	284

Serving size 4-6 wingettes

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Nut free
• Pork free
• Avocado free
• Coconut free
• Shellfish free
• Beef free