Honey Chipotle Wings with Herb-Roasted Yukon Golds and Roasted Vegetables
Crispy oven-baked wings tossed in a sticky, smoky honey-chipotle glaze, with crispy herb-roasted potatoes and a big pan of colorful roasted vegetables. Game-day food, made with real ingredients and no fryer.
Yield: 4-6 servings · Active: 40 min · Total: 1 hr 45 min (plus 12-24 hours to dry brine) · Year-round, peak summer for the vegetables · Best eaten: Sunday supper, weeknight, or game-day feast
Complete Menu
Honey Chipotle Wings
Herb-Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Your Game Plan
The day before: Dry brine the wings.
About 1 hr 45 min out: Pull the wings from the fridge and heat the oven to 250°F.
About 1 hr 30 min out: Wings go in at 250°F. Parboil the potatoes while they render.
About 1 hr out: Turn the oven to 425°F. Potatoes go in on the lower rack.
About 40 min out: Flip the wings and potatoes, and add the garlic and herbs to the potatoes. Vegetables go in alongside (or slide in as soon as the potatoes come out, if your oven is small).
About 20 min out: Make the glaze, and add the cherry tomatoes to the vegetables.
Last 5 min: Toss the wings in the glaze, finish the vegetables, and plate.
Recipe 1 — Honey Chipotle Wings
Yield: 4-6 servings · Active: 25 min · Total: 1 hr 45 min (plus 12-24 hours to dry brine)
Ingredients
Wings
3 lb pasture-raised chicken wings, split into flats and drumettes (save the tips for bone broth)
1 tbsp aluminum-free baking powder
1½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Honey chipotle glaze
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely minced (homemade, below, or from a jar)
2 tbsp adobo sauce
⅓ cup honey
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (optional, adds depth)
1 tsp smoked paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
3 tbsp grass-fed butter (for a silky glaze)
To finish
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
Fresh lime wedges
Optional: crumbled queso fresco or fresh goat chèvre
Optional: a dollop of raw A2 yogurt or crème fraîche, for a cool contrast
Flaky sea salt
Method
Dry brine (12-24 hours ahead; it's the secret to crispy wings)
Dry the wings. Pat them completely dry with paper towels. Don't skip this; moisture is the enemy of crispy skin.
Season. In a large bowl, toss the wings with the baking powder, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Refrigerate uncovered. Spread the wings on a wire rack set over a sheet pan and refrigerate uncovered 12-24 hours. The baking powder raises the skin's pH, and the cold fridge air dries the surface, which together give you wings that shatter when you bite them.
Bake the wings
Take the chill off. Pull the wings from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.
Render low and slow. Heat the oven to 250°F. Bake the wings on the wire rack over a parchment-lined sheet pan for 30 minutes. This gently renders the fat under the skin without browning it.
Crisp them hot. Turn the oven up to 425°F and bake another 40-50 minutes, flipping once, until the wings are deeply golden and crisp. This two-stage method gives you far crispier wings than a single temperature.
Make the honey chipotle glaze (while the wings bake)
Simmer. In a small saucepan, combine the chipotles, adobo sauce, honey, lime juice and zest, garlic, vinegar, optional Dijon, smoked paprika, cumin, and salt.
Reduce. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and cook 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and glossy.
Add the butter. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the butter until glossy.
Toss and finish
Toss. Tip the hot wings into a large bowl, pour the glaze over, and toss gently to coat every wing. You want the glaze clinging, not pooling.
Plate. Pile the wings on a warm platter and scatter with cilantro, green onions, flaky salt, and optional queso fresco. Serve with lime wedges and an optional bowl of cool yogurt for dipping.
Homemade chipotle in adobo
Most canned and jarred chipotles in adobo contain sugar and soybean oil, so homemade is the gold standard, and it's easy. Chipotles are smoked, dried jalapeños, and adobo is the tangy tomato-vinegar sauce they're simmered in.
6 dried chipotle chiles (morita or meco), stems removed
1 cup water
½ cup tomato passata
¼ small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
¼ tsp ground cumin
Pinch of dried Mexican oregano
Simmer everything in a small saucepan, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until the chiles are soft and the sauce has thickened. Keep the chiles whole or chop them. It keeps in the fridge up to 2 weeks. Freeze leftover chiles with a little sauce in an ice cube tray for future recipes.
Recipe 2 — Herb-Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
Yield: 4-6 servings · Active: 10 min · Total: 45 min
Bistro-style Yukon Gold potatoes roasted with olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs until deeply golden. Simple, and so satisfying.
Ingredients
2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ¾-inch wedges or cubes
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, smashed
3 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp fresh oregano (or fresh sage)
1½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Zest of ½ lemon
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for finishing)
Flaky sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment.
Parboil (optional, but worth it). Boil the potatoes in salted water 5-6 minutes, until just tender at the edges. Drain well and let them steam-dry 5 minutes.
Toss. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and optional red pepper flakes.
Roast. Spread them cut-side down in a single layer and roast 20 minutes.
Add the aromatics. Flip the potatoes and scatter the garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and lemon zest over them. Adding them now keeps them fragrant instead of burnt. Roast another 10-15 minutes until deeply golden and tender.
Finish with parsley and flaky salt.
Why parboil? A quick boil softens the outside of each potato into a fluffy, starchy edge, steam-drying gets rid of surface moisture, and the oven then turns that fluffy edge into a shatter-crisp crust while the inside stays creamy. Skip it and you'll get good potatoes; do it and you'll get great ones.
Recipe 3 — Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Yield: 4-6 servings · Active: 15 min · Total: 40 min
Ingredients
1 red bell pepper, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into ¾-inch wedges
1 medium zucchini, cut into ¾-inch half-moons
1 small head broccoli, cut into medium florets (about 3 cups)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, whole or halved (mixed colors are beautiful)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano (Mexican oregano echoes the chipotle beautifully)
1½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, torn (peak summer)
Optional: 2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
Flaky sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment.
Toss the heartier vegetables. Toss the bell peppers, onion, zucchini, and broccoli with 3 tbsp olive oil, the salt, pepper, and optional red pepper flakes.
Roast in a single layer for 15 minutes.
Add the aromatics. Toss the vegetables and scatter the garlic, thyme, rosemary, and oregano over them. Roast 5 minutes more.
Add the tomatoes. Toss the cherry tomatoes with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt, scatter them over the pan, and roast another 10-12 minutes, until everything is tender-crisp and caramelized at the edges and the tomatoes are blistered and starting to burst.
Finish. Tip everything into a warm bowl and toss with the lemon zest and juice, parsley, basil, optional pumpkin seeds, and flaky salt.
Make it seasonal:
Summer: The base recipe, with bell peppers, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.
Autumn: Swap the zucchini for halved Brussels sprouts and cubed butternut squash, and add fresh sage.
Winter: Swap in rainbow carrots, parsnips, and Brussels sprouts, skip the tomatoes, and go heavy on the thyme and rosemary.
Spring: Swap in asparagus, snap peas, and radishes, and finish with fresh dill and mint.
Plating the Complete Meal
Pile the glossy honey-chipotle wings on a warm platter, with the herb-roasted potatoes and the colorful roasted vegetables alongside. Add lime wedges, extra cilantro, and flaky salt, and set out the cool yogurt and crumbled queso fresco at the table. It's a true celebration plate: amber-glazed wings, golden crispy potatoes, and a rainbow of roasted vegetables.
Sourcing
For the wings
Pasture-raised chicken wings — from a local farm raising birds on pasture, or White Oak Pastures. Save the wingtips for bone broth
Aluminum-free baking powder — Rumford
For the honey chipotle glaze
Chipotle in adobo — homemade (above) is the gold standard. If buying, read the label carefully; many brands add sugar and soybean oil
Dried chipotle chiles (for homemade) — organic morita or meco chipotles, from a Mexican grocer or spice shop
Tomato passata (for homemade) — organic, in glass, with no added sugar
Honey — local and unfiltered (it's simmered here, so any good local honey works)
Smoked paprika — Pimentón de la Vera DOP, such as La Chinata
Fresh limes — organic (you're using the zest)
Raw apple cider vinegar — with the mother (Bragg)
Dijon mustard (optional) — Edmond Fallot, stone-ground in Burgundy by a family mill since 1840, with no sugar
Grass-fed butter — cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows, or raw butter from a local dairy
For the vegetables
Yukon Gold potatoes — organic, firm, with no green spots
Bell peppers, red onion, zucchini, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes — organic, from a farmers' market in peak season
Fresh garlic — organic hardneck varieties
Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, cilantro, sage) — organic
Fresh lemons — organic (you're using the zest)
For the pantry
Spices (cumin, red pepper flakes, black peppercorns, dried Mexican oregano) — organic and non-irradiated; buy whole and grind fresh when you can
Single-estate extra virgin olive oil — harvest-dated within the past year, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt for cooking; fleur de sel de Guérande or Maldon for finishing
For the optional finishes
Cilantro and green onions — organic
Queso fresco or goat chèvre — fresh farmstead cheese from a local dairy, or a French raw-milk AOP chèvre such as Sainte-Maure de Touraine
Raw A2 yogurt or crème fraîche — raw sheep's or goat's milk yogurt from a local farm, Kalona SuperNatural whole milk yogurt, or Bellwether Farms crème fraîche
Pumpkin seeds — organic, raw or sprouted
Storage
Cooked honey chipotle wings: Refrigerated up to 3 days. Reheat at 425°F for 8-10 minutes to recrisp, though they're best fresh
Honey chipotle glaze (before tossing): Refrigerated up to 2 weeks in a sealed jar. It's also excellent as a glaze for grilled chicken or salmon
Homemade chipotle in adobo: Refrigerated up to 2 weeks, or frozen in ice cube trays
Herb-roasted Yukon Gold potatoes: Refrigerated up to 4 days. Reheat at 400°F for 5-6 minutes to recrisp
Roasted mixed vegetables: Refrigerated up to 4 days. Reheat at 400°F for 5 minutes
Dry-brined wings (before cooking): Refrigerated up to 48 hours
Leftover transformations: Shred cold wing meat over greens with lime and cilantro for a next-day lunch bowl; toss leftover potatoes and vegetables with pastured eggs for a hearty breakfast hash; stir leftover chipotle glaze into bone broth for a smoky soup base; wrap leftover wings, potatoes, and vegetables in grain-free tortillas or lettuce cups for lunch tacos.
Nourishment Notes
Pasture-raised chicken wings — B12, choline, complete protein, and iron, plus extra collagen and glycine from all that skin and connective tissue.
Chipotle in adobo — capsaicin from the smoked jalapeños, lycopene from the tomato base, and deep smoky flavor from a traditional Mexican way of preserving chiles.
Honey — trace minerals and a gentler sweetness than refined sugar. Local honey is also traditionally used to help the body adapt to local pollens.
Smoked paprika (Pimentón de la Vera) — capsanthin and other carotenoids, plus its signature oak-smoked depth.
Ground cumin — cuminaldehyde and traditional digestive support across Middle Eastern and Mexican cooking.
Fresh lime — d-limonene, hesperidin, and vitamin C. Concentrated in the zest, d-limonene supports Phase 2 liver detoxification.
Raw apple cider vinegar — acetic acid for blood-sugar balance.
Fresh garlic — allicin and organosulfur compounds.
Yukon Gold potatoes — potassium, vitamin C, and B6. Cooled and reheated potatoes form resistant starch, which feeds your gut bacteria.
Fresh rosemary — rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid.
Fresh thyme and oregano — thymol and carvacrol. Mexican oregano is a different plant from Mediterranean oregano, with a citrusy, earthy flavor that's lovely with chipotle.
Bell peppers — exceptional vitamin C (one red or yellow pepper delivers more than a full day's worth), plus beta-carotene, lutein, and other carotenoids.
Red onion — quercetin (concentrated in the outer layers and purple flesh), organosulfur compounds, and prebiotic fibers.
Zucchini — potassium, vitamin C, and gentle hydration.
Broccoli — glucosinolates (the precursors to sulforaphane and DIM), vitamin K, folate, and vitamin C.
Cherry tomatoes — lycopene (fat-soluble, so roasting in olive oil helps you absorb it), vitamin C, and potassium.
Fresh parsley, basil, and cilantro — vitamin K, chlorophyll, folate, apigenin (parsley), and eugenol (basil).
Fresh green onions — quercetin and gentle allium support.
Grass-fed butter — CLA, K2, butyrate, and beta-carotene.
Extra virgin olive oil — oleic acid, hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, and oleocanthal.
Optional queso fresco or goat chèvre — calcium, K2, and, in goat's milk, A2-type casein.
Optional raw A2 yogurt or crème fraîche — live cultures, calcium, and K2, plus a cool contrast to the chipotle heat.
Optional pumpkin seeds — magnesium, zinc, and vitamin E.
Baja Gold sea salt — over 90 trace minerals.
— Anna aka Food Marshall