Bourbon Cider Boneless Wings

The ultimate boneless wings, marinated in buttermilk, fried until crispy, and tossed in a mouthwatering spicy bourbon apple cider sauce!

Great Fall flavors are front and center in these bourbon cider boneless wings!  The bourbon cider glaze will absolutely make your mouth water, and I guarantee you won’t be able to eat just one piece!!

A while back, I was out to dinner with the family at T.G.I. Friday’s, and spotted a new flavor in their boneless wings section.  It was an apple cider bourbon glaze. I’ve been wanting to make my own version of that glaze ever since!

The secret to making these boneless wings incredibly juicy, is that they take a little soak in some creamy buttermilk beforehand.  I like to let my chicken soak for about 2 hours if at all possible, but even 30 minutes will help!

After their buttermilk bath, the chicken goes directly into the breading.  I like to use a flour/panko mix, to make the boneless wings extra crunchy!  For even MORE crunch, feel free to take the chicken from the breading, back to the buttermilk, then to the breading again, for a double breading coating.

This recipe calls for frying, since that’s the way to get the maximum crunchiness… but if you absolutely can’t stand frying, I would try THIS breading method, then use this bourbon cider sauce 🙂

If you want to speed up the cooking time for these boneless wings, you can totally whip up the spicy bourbon cider sauce ahead of time.  Just make sure to keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

If you want to, you can adjust the spiciness by using more or less red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper.  You could also omit them completely, but I really like the bit of spice to counter the apple and bourbon!

One thing I really like to do, to make the boneless wings ultra crispy and sticky, is place the glazed chicken on a baking sheet and broil for a few minutes.

This step is optional, but something I think you should try at least once.  The glaze reduces down further and seeps into every nook and cranny of the chicken, leaving you with an irresistibly finger-lickin’ sauce!

Not only are these boneless wings great for the Fall, they’re perfect for any game-day celebrations!  I hope you give them a try soon!!

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

Bourbon Cider Boneless Wings

5 from 1 vote

Author: The Chunky Chef

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 6 -8 servings

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The ultimate boneless wings, marinated in buttermilk, fried until crispy, and tossed in a mouthwatering spicy bourbon apple cider sauce!

Ingredients

• ▢ CHICKEN:
• ▢ 2 lbs . boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into 1/2" - 1" pieces
• ▢ cups Buttermilk enough to cover chicken (about 2 )
• ▢ Kosher salt
• ▢ Black pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
• ▢ Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• ▢ 2-3 Tbsp buttermilk
• ▢ Peanut oil for frying (vegetable, sunflower, or canola work as well)
• ▢ BOURBON CIDER SAUCE:
• ▢ 12 oz apple cider (or apple juice concentrate thawed)
• ▢ 1 cup bourbon
• ▢ 1/2 cup soy sauce
• ▢ 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic grated finely
• ▢ 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• ▢ 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper adjust to your tastes or omit completely

Instructions

• MAKE THE SAUCE:
• Add all sauce ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil over HIGH heat, then reduce heat to LOW and simmer for 35 minutes, until sauce has reduced and thickened.
• Set aside to cool.
  
• MAKE THE CHICKEN:
• Place diced chicken in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme, and cover with buttermilk. Stir chicken to ensure all chicken is coated in the buttermilk.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to several hours.
• Add oil to large, heavy bottomed pot. Heat over MED heat, until shimmering and about 350 degrees F. To test if it's ready, add a piece of bread to the hot oil. If it sizzles, it's ready.
• To a large resealable plastic bag, add flour, panko, salt and pepper. Seal bag and shake gently side to side to combine breading ingredients. Add in 2-3 Tbsp buttermilk and stir around with a spoon, until breading mixture is clumpy.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken from buttermilk mixture into the plastic bag.
• Seal bag and toss to coat chicken in breading mixture.
• Add chicken, about 8 pieces at a time, to the hot oil, and fry about 4-5 minutes, flipping over halfway through. Chicken should be golden and crispy.
• Transfer chicken to a wire cooling rack set over several paper towels. This allows the chicken to rest but stay nice and crispy while you cook the remaining chicken.
• Repeat frying process with remaining chicken.
• Add fried chicken to large bowl and toss with bourbon cider sauce.
• OPTIONAL: Place glazed chicken on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes, until extra sticky.
• Serve with sliced green onions and apple slices.
• Any extra sauce can be served alongside to drizzle over the chicken.

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Chef Tips

1. For a non-fried version of these boneless wings, use this method, then use this bourbon cider sauce.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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