Family favorite, crave-worthy, finger-licking, sweet and spicy, Copycat Wingers Wings can be made low-carb at home with only 3-5 ingredients! Try ’em today!
Wingers is a restaurant franchise located in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. They are most famous for their Wingers Original Amazing Sauce and their Asphalt Pie.
Winger’s covers their hand-battered wings, naked wings, and sticky fingers in their Winger’s Original Amazing Sauce. If you’ve never tried them, they are similar to sweetened buffalo wings. They are absolutely addicting! If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself craving the sweet and spicy sticky fingers often!
Just because you may be eating a low-carb diet doesn’t mean you still can’t indulge in your favorite foods. Thankfully, the original Wingers recipe is easy to make low-carb!
In this post, I am providing three different low-carb cooking methods to replicate the hand-battered wings, the naked wings, and the sticky fingers.
Low-Carb Copycat Wingers Wings Ingredients
Depending on the preparation method used, this recipe only calls for 3-5 ingredients! Essentially, you will need need:
- Chicken (wings or unbreaded tenders)
- Low-carb brown sugar substitute
- Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce
By making these low-carb, per serving, you are eating about 300 fewer calories than the original. Additionally, you are eating about 1 g of net carbs as opposed to 50 g of net carbs. Those are huge savings!
Chicken (wings or unbreaded tenders)
Wings
This recipe can be successfully made with fresh or frozen chicken wings. If using the crispy wing cooking method below, I recommend using fresh (or thawed) chicken wings.
TIP: To thaw frozen wings, place wings in the refrigerator in a food-safe container or plastic bag. For every pound of chicken, allow the chicken to defrost for 5 hours.
Recently, I discovered this 4 lb bag of Great Value Frozen Wing Sections at Walmart for under $10! Conveniently, the wings are already portioned. So, no prep work is required to break down the wing section into drumettes, wingettes, and tips.
Tenders
If you are looking for a low-carb, unbreaded, boneless option, I recommend using Tyson® Blackened Chicken Breast Strips. My local Costco carries them on-and-off, but you may be able to find them in the freezer section of your local grocery store.
These chicken strips are absolutely delicious, and there is about 1 g of carbs per serving.
Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce
For this recipe, Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce provides the signature, spicy flavor to our copycat Winger’s Original Amazing Sauce. I have read many forums and other recipes that are all adamant Winger’s uses Frank’s. And I agree! No other hot sauce will taste the same unless you use Frank’s!
In general, hot sauce is naturally low-carb. Specifically, Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce is made with aged cayenne red peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic powder, salt, and water. It has 0 calories and 0 carbs, and it adds a lot of flavor!
Low-Carb Brown Sugar Substitute
The key to making this recipe low-carb is using a low-carb brown sugar substitute.
You could buy commercially prepared brown sugar substitutes like Swerve Brown Sugar Replacement or Lanakto Monkfruit Sweetener Golden.
Although, save yourself some money and some aggravation by making it yourself with my low-carb brown sugar substitute recipe! My recipe only requires two ingredients and can be made in about five minutes.
Low-Carb Copycat Wingers Wings Cooking Methods
To keep the whole meal low-carb, serve the wings like Wingers does with a side of celery sticks and ranch!
Crispy Wings
Wingers coats their hand-battered wings in an all-purpose, flour-based batter. While delicious, they can be calorie-dense and carb-laden.
Instead, we will be making extra crispy wings using the same method used in my Low-Carb Crispy Garlic Butter Parmesan Wings recipe. I love using this method because I don’t have to fry the wings to get them really crispy!
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Next, dredge wings in a baking powder, salt, and pepper mixture.
TIP: Baking powder is the secret ingredient used to make extra crispy wings; it helps dry out the skin. Do not substitute baking soda for baking powder!
Place the wings on a baking rack set inside a aluminium-foil lined, half-sized baking sheet. Next, bake wings for 20 minutes. Then, increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Afterward, continue to cook the wings for an additional 30 minutes.
Naked Wings
Winger’s naked wings are what they sound like–naked! They are not coated in a batter which makes them a great low-carb option. If you are using frozen wings, this is my preferred cooking method.
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and evenly distribute chicken wings (fresh or frozen) on an aluminum foil lined large baking sheet .
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until crispy, flipping the wings after 30 minutes.
Air Fryer Instructions
Place wings in a single, even layer in the air fryer.
For thawed wings: cook chicken at 400 degrees for about 16 minutes, flipping chicken wings half way through.
For frozen wings: cook chicken at 360 degrees for about 35 minutes, flipping chicken wings every 10 minutes.
Chicken Tenders
Winger’s Sticky Fingers are made with breaded chicken breasts. To keep the total number of carbs low, use seasoned, unbreaded, chicken tenders.
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and evenly distribute chicken strips on a large baking sheet. Bake chicken strips for 18-22 minutes until heated through.
Air Fryer Instructions
Place chicken strips in an single, even layer in the air fryer. Cook chicken at 350 degrees for about 16 minutes, flipping chicken strips half way through.
Coating the Low-Carb Wings with Copycat Original Amazing Sauce
To make the sauce, add the low-carb brown sugar substitute and Franks Red Hot Original sauce in small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes.
TIP: The copycat Wingers Original Amazing sauce can be very spicy. To achieve the right spice-level in the sauce, start with 1/4 cup of hot sauce. Taste the sauce for spiciness, and add additional hot sauce or sweetener to taste.
For best coating results, cook the sauce 15-20 minutes before chicken is done cooking. This will allow you enough time to cook and cool the sauce.
Finally, place the cooked wings in a large resealable container. Top the chicken with Wingers sauce. Close the container and shake until everything is fully coated.
Want More Appetizers or Copycat Recipes?
These Low-Carb Copycat Wingers Wings are absolutely delicious, and I know you will love them like I do!
If you like this recipe, give my Low-Carb Crispy Garlic Butter Parmesan Wings recipe a try!
Also be sure to check out my full collection of copycat recipes, here.
Additionally, find all my appetizer recipes, here.
Thank you for reading, and be sure to save the recipe for later!
Low-Carb Copycat Wingers Wings
Ingredients
Crispy Wings*
- 1 1/2 lb Chicken Wings
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder**
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
Naked Wings*
- 1 1/2 lb Chicken Wings
Boneless Chicken Tenders*
- 20 oz Tyson® Blackened Chicken Breast Strips
Copycat Low-Carb Wingers Original Amazing Sauce
- 1 cup Low-Carb Brown Sugar Substitute
- 1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Original Sauce
Instructions
Crispy Baked Wings*
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
- Line a half-sized baking sheet (13 x 18 x 1 inch) with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on the baking sheet, and spray the wire rack with cooking spray.
- If needed, break down wings into drumettes, wingettes, and tips. (Discard tips or save and freeze for chicken stock).
- Dry wings with a paper towel and place wings in a resealable bag. Add baking powder, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of pepper. Close bag and shake until wings are evenly coated.
- Lay wings in an even layer on a baking rack on a baking sheet.
- Cook wings in the oven for 20 minutes at 250 degrees. With the wings still in the oven, turn the heat up to 450 degrees and cook for an additional 30 minutes until browned and crispy.
Naked Wings*
- Baking Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and evenly distribute chicken wings (fresh or frozen) on a large baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until crispy, flipping the wings after 30 minutes.
- Air Fryer Instructions: Place wings in a single, even layer in the air fryer. For thawed wings: cook chicken at 400 degrees for about 16 minutes, flipping chicken wings half way through. For frozen wings: cook chicken at 360 degrees for about 35 minutes, flipping chicken wings every 10 minutes.
Boneless Chicken Tenders*
- Baking Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and evenly distribute chicken strips on a large baking sheet. Bake chicken strips for 18-22 minutes until heated through.
- Air Fryer Instructions: Place chicken strips in an single, even layer in the air fryer. Cook chicken at 350 degrees for about 16 minutes, flipping chicken strips half way through.
Copycat Low-Carb Wingers Original Amazing Sauce
- During the last 20 minutes of the chicken cooking: Add low-carb brown sugar substitute and Franks Red Hot Original sauce in small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, and taste sauce adding additional sweetener or hot sauce to taste. Allow sauce to cook for 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat to cool and thicken sauce.
- Place the cooked wings in a large resealable container. Top the chicken with Wingers sauce. Close the container and shake until everything is fully coated.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
