Chook Me! - Chicken wings = healthy?

Chicken wings = healthy?

So I've always heard bad things about chicken wings from restaurants, but me, I make them myself. I don't deepfry them, douse them in butter, etc. I thaw them, spice them, bake 'em for an hour, but some hot sauce on them, good to go. Are these fattening? Any other cooking tips?

Public Comments

Sounds good! Here is another chicken recipe and a link to a site dedicated to chicken recipes... Tarragon Chicken and Mushroom Recipe Per person for this dish, you will require: 1 skinned, free range chicken breast fillet 1 onion (peeled and sliced) 1 garlic clove (very finely chopped) 2 large closed-cup mushrooms (thickly sliced) Olive oil Generous pinch of dried tarragon Salt/freshly ground black pepper Put oven on to preheat to 200 degrees centigrade. Arrange the onion and mushroom slices intermittently on the bottom of a round casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over about one third of the chopped garlic and some tarragon. Place the chicken breasts on top, with the remaining garlic on top of them and a further sprinkling of tarragon. Season with salt and black pepper and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Put the lid on the dish and cook in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, depending upon the size of the fillet. Take the dish from the oven and with a metal skewer, check the chicken juices are running clear and that the meat is properly cooked. Serve on a bed of fresh rocket leaves.
Think of the skin on them.. It doesn't matter how you cook them, the skin is still there and that's what's unhealthy.
Chicken wings are fairly lean. Probably not as healthy as skinless chicken breasts. Serve them with a salad, baked potatoes and steamed veggies.
not frying the wings helps in the fat content, but the wings and thighs are dark meat, which are more fattening than the white meat sections. I like to toss mine in a honey BBQ sauce and bake in the oven on a high heat setting. I like to use a disposable pan so that when the sauce burns, I can just throw the pan out.
well, you are getting protien. But the skin is terrible for you whether fried or not because that is where the fat is on a chicken under the skin... Plus when you spice it Im sure you add salt, which elevates your sodium, and then the hot sauce has more sodium, and preservatives... So they probably arent the worse you could do, but they arent the healthiest food you could be eating.. Everything in moderation, if you eat them once in a while as a treat or snack then there isnt really a problem.
Your version is probably less fattening than most versions, but chicken skin is very high in fat and calories if you're concerned about that.
The skin is typically thought of as fatty, but if you are cooking them for an hour then most of the fat is cooked out of them. Yes there is still some there...But I think yours sounds great, and similar to Buffalo Wings....delicious while watching a good game of Sports on the one-eyed idiot box....Go for it..... My way of cooking them is to chop up fine about 5 whole cloves of garlic...not individual cloves...Mix that with a bit of salt and pepper, brown sugar and Soy Sauce, and enough Dark Rum to make enough marinade to coat the wings. I put it all together and turn them every now and then until they absorb the brown color pretty well...(usually 2 hours in the fridge in a ziplock bag..or best if overnight) Then lay them puppies on a sprayed baking sheet and bake them until crunchy...1 hr and 5-15 min. I turn them half way so both sides get crunchy. These are my personal favorite....Be creative with the sauce...it makes cooking lots of fun....and one big experiment.
Wings are definitely not as healthy as say, a boneless skinless chicken breast, but the way you make them are a FAR CRY healthier than restaraunt versions!! As you mentioned, restaraunts deep fry theirs and then cook them in butter and hot sauce. If you like boneless wings (my fave!) here is an AWESOME low-fat recipe you can try. I've made them for folks at work and even the non-"heatlhy eaters" loved them! Chicken: 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cut into finger-sized pieces 1/4 c all-purpose flour 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c Japanese panko-style bread crumbs (these give the wings an amazing "fried" look!!) 2 egg whites, beaten 1 T Frank's Original Hot Sauce (don't use Frank's Buffalo Sauce -- it's not all that good) Sauce: 1/4 c margarine (I like Smart Balance Light) 1/2 c Frank's Hot Sauce 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with a nonstick spray. 2. In a bag, mix together flour, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. On a plate, mix the bread crumbs with the rest of the garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. 3. Shake the chicken pieces with the seasoned flour. Beat egg whites with 1 tablespoon water, and place egg mixture in a shallow dish or bowl. Dip seasoned chicken in egg mixture, then roll in the seasoned bread crumb mixture. Place on prepared baking sheet. 4. Bake for about 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Use tongs to turn pieces over. Bake 8 minutes longer, or until chicken juices run clear. 5. Melt butter in a microwave-safe dish. Stir in Frank's hot sauce and pour mixture over the wings. Serve immediately. Notes: - tsp = teaspoon; T = tablespoon - Recipe yields 8 servings at only 3 g fat and 97 calories per serving!! WOW! - You can make up a big batch of the chicken and freeze before adding the sauce. - This produces a pretty spicy sauce. Adding more butter will make it milder. I hope you give my recipe a try (and I hope you love it as much as I do!!). But even if you don't, I'd say your method of baking chicken wings is just fine!
Unfortunately no matter how "healthy" you make them they are the most fattening part of a chicken. They're all skin and that's where all of your calories come from.
Baked wings aren't terribly high in fat if they aren't dipped in high-cal sauces, & if you eat a reasonable number of them..
no