Baked Thai Basil Chicken Wings

Thai basil chicken wings are a delicious and aromatic way to get your white meat.  A few weeks ago my wife brought home some beautiful images of these chicken wings with basil on them.  I told her I wanted to try them and she retorted that they are fried.  I reminded her we have done baked wings before and it would be fine.

Restaurant Thai Basil Chicken Wings

Making Chicken Wings Healthier

In addition to being fried, chicken wings tend to have a sugary coating on them.   That is also surprisingly easy to fix.  I had to be creative to get a similar look and it still didn't turn out exactly like the restaurant's version.  But hey, theirs is fried and ours is baked so it's not a half-baked recipe, it's fully baked.  🙂

Chicken wings are also white meat.  The chicken doesn't use it's wings much as they are mostly flightless so it contains less myoglobin.  If you are kind of nerdy like me and want to know why there is a short article here.  Basically, it says that because of the lack of fat in the wings and higher protein content chicken wings and breasts are healthier.

They are more expensive too with this added desirability but less flavorful.  You would think society would help out and keep costs down.  I wish I knew a good way to do this recipe easily taking the skin off but don't know how.  Use the comment section below if you know how.

For the sauce, I used a healthier version of a Thai sweet chili sauce I came up with that you can make at the same time.  It has less sodium and sugar than the typical sweet chili sauce by a good amount and you have the benefit of knowing what's in it.   When it comes to staying healthy the devil is in the details.

You can make the sauce before you start the wings like I did and if they are still cold you can let the chicken sit in the sauce for a while to soak up some flavor and thaw.  Of course, if you do this you will want to boil the sauce again to avoid cross-contamination.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs raw chicken wings
• 1 large bundle of regular or Thai basil
• Thai Basil Oil Spray, or just a healthy unsaturated oil like canola oil or olive oil
• For the sweet chili sauce click the link for ingredients and instructions

Instructions:

1. Cook the sauce per instructions in the clickable link above.
2.   Once the sauce is made place some in a bowl for dipping and you can use the rest to marinate the wings in or brush them with being careful not to contaminate the sauce used for dipping with the raw chicken.
   

   Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Marinade for Chicken Wings

3. Heat oven to 450 degrees in baking mode.
4.  Spray or just cover a cookie sheet with a healthy oil.
5.  Place the wings on the cookie sheet with room between each so they don't stick together.
6.   Spray or brush the wings with a healthy oil.
7.   Wrap the wings with the basil leaves both on top and bottom.
   

   Adding Basil to Chicken Wings for Thai Basil Chicken Wings

8.   Spray again so the basil sticks better.
9.   Cook for 55 minutes or until done checking on them occasionally as different variables can change the time it takes.  If you want to be thorough make sure the internal temperature of the meat is 145 with a food thermometer.
10. Enjoy!  You won't have the sweet, sugary sauce under the wings but the point of our blog is doing it healthier.  If you wanted you could pour the sauce over it afterward.  Just make sure you boil it again if you soaked the raw chicken in it.

You can see the difference in ours and the restaurant version below.

Healthy Thai Recipes Baked Thai Basil and Sweet Chili Chicken Wings

Restaurant Thai Basil Chicken Wing

We got pretty close to what theirs looks like didn't we?  🙂 Comment and give me ideas if you have them in the comments section below.

For the printable recipe scroll to the bottom of this page

If you like this recipe you might also dig one of these!

Buffalo Wild Wings Copycat Thai Curry Wings

Turmeric Grilled Chicken Tenders

Grilled Chicken Satay

As always, Please, please, please let us know your thoughts and ideas for improvement in the comments.  Also, subscribe to email list and follow and share us on social media so we can keep spreading a healthier mindset.  🙂

Thai Basil Chicken Wings Pinterest Image