Negroni Glazed Wings
If you love the bitter flavors of a negroni like I do, you will LOVE these negroni glazed wings! I sweetened it up a bit so it wouldn’t be as crushingly bitter, and so it would get sticky and cling to the wings like any good wing sauce should! Since orange is usually the ganish of a negroni, I made candied orange peel to serve with these.
The inspiration for this recipe
My favorite cocktail by far is a negroni. I was trying to think of ways to incorporate the flavors of a negroni into a recipe and my first thought was a bbq sauce. I got worried that the flavors would get lost in a full-on bbq sauce. Then I realized I could probably just cook down the actual drink into a glaze for chicken wings. The negroni glazed wings came out awesome, with a good amount of bitterness from the drink, but a more balanced flavor and sweetness from cooking it down and adding some sugar, honey, and other things I like on wings.
Making Candied Orange Peel
If you have never made candied orange peel before, it isn’t very hard, but it can be a little tedious at times.
Blanch the peels in some plain boiling water first, then boil them in some sugar water. The first blanching will pull back the bitterness slightly. The tedious part I mentioned above is when you have to transfer them one by one from the water to the sugar so they don’t clump together.
Make the negroni glaze
For the glaze I basically made a really big negroni and simmered it with some honey, vinegar, seasonings, and chili flakes until it reduced into a sticky syrup, then tossed the cooked wings in it.
Things I added to the negroni base – sugar, fresh squeezed orange juice, cider vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, gochugaru chili flakes, and honey.
Add the wings to the negroni glaze
I have been loving this wing recipe. I let the wings it overnight in the fridge to dry out, coated in some salt and baking powder. Then add an extremely light coat of flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar, and cajun seasoning. You can cook these in the air fryer or oven!
I loved the flavor of these negroni glazed wings! I topped them with candied orange peel because orange is normally the negroni garnish but I didn’t want to just use raw orange peel.
Twists on this recipe
This is the recipe I used as a guide when I made my candied orange peels. If you have never made a negroni before, here are some great tips to go above and beyond the three equal part basic version.
For more great wing recipes, check out my cajun pickle wings, or these mango lassi wings!
Negroni Glazed Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
Candied Orange Peel
- 3 oranges (for peel and glaze)
- water
- 2 cups sugar
Wings
- 20 wing segments
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
Glaze
- 1/2 cup gin
- 1/2 cup campari or simmilar amaro
- 1/2 cup sweet vermouth
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon gochugaru chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Candied orange peel
- Peel the oranges. You want pieces with a little white, but not much! Cut into small matchstick pieces, about an inch long. Reserve the orange juice for the glaze.
- Bring pot with a few cups of water to a simmer. blanch the peels in the water for about 2 minutes. Strain.
- Add 2 cups of fresh water to a pot and add in 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add in the orange peels and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes at a medium simmer.
- Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar on a plate and one by one take an orange peel from the hot sugar water and place it onto the plate of sugar. Once the plate is somewhat full, shake the peels around so they are fully coated with sugar and transfer them to another plate or paper towel or wire rack to cool more. Repeat the process until you do all the peels.
Make the wings
- Dry the wings and add them to a bowl. Sprinkle on the salt and baking powder and toss the wings to fully coat. Line the wings on a wire rack over a baking sheet and place them into the fridge uncovered to dry out for at least 12 hours if not 24.
- Mix the cornstarch, flour, powdered sugar, and cajun spice in a bowl and add it to a mesh strainer. Tap over the wings to very lightly coat. Flip the wings and repeat.
- Preheat an air fryer to 425 or a convection oven to 475. Add the wings in a single later and cook for about 10 minutes with the skin up, then 10 with it down, then a final 10 with the skin up again.
Glaze
- Add all the glaze ingredients to a large frying pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer and let cook and reduce for about 20 minutes.
- Allow the glaze to cool a few minutes to thicken before tossing the wings in. Toss the wings to fully coat and serve immediately. Top with the candied orange peel.