This is a throwback recipe if there ever was one. It had to be late middle school or early high school when my adolescent brain created these wings. They were inspired by a popular freezer wing flavor-Caribbean Lime. My parents were obsessed with it, I came round eventually and also grew obsessed. Wings, however, have always been on the expensive side in my lifetime. Trying to think of a way to get more bang for a buck, I wanted to get one of those huge freezer bags of raw chicken wings and duplicate the sauce.
Is this an exact replica of Caribbean Lime sauce? No sir. I did not know what jerk seasoning was back in the day. I was a nine year old suburban Caucasian female who's favorite food was Top Ramen (chicken flavor only please 🙏). Thinking back to the inspirational Caribbean Lime wings, I can almost guarantee they had jerk seasoning and that's why they were so freaking addictive.
Let's ask the real question on everyone's mind though...
Did my Honey Garlic Lime sauce become my go-to when we had home-made Wings? Yes siree Bob!
The recipe is simple and in my household we almost always have all the ingredients on hand...well almost. Frozen chicken wings are not a staple of my household. But, Aldi always comes through with massive wings for under $13!
Now I'm not sure if all of you hopped on that 2020 airfryer trend, but I did and have used it about 3 times since. 😳 Which is why I was so happy to get some guidance from my bestie on how to cook wings in it! I had to adjust the time a bit from her go-to recipe because my sauce had honey in it. I found out in my trial run that you don't want to put wings back in the airfryer after saucing them up-they will turn into candied or burnt wings. Now that I have the recipe and timing down, I have to say this or deep frying are the only ways I will be cooking wings from now on. The crispiness is something you cannot achieve by broiling. I'm not sure how often you watch your food cook in the oven, but I'm insane and sit on the floor with my oven light on watching my food slowly cook. If you check your chicken at the 10 minute mark at the same temperature 390 degrees oven vs airfryer there will be a tremendous difference. The oven will have that "it's cooking away" getting whiter and definitely still moist appearance. Airfryer chicken will look like it is already crispy. It's kind of insane. The first run-through I thought my temperature was too high because of how fast it crisped up! 😅 But I trusted the process and these wings didn't burn!!!
I figured out with trial and error that my airfryer cooks perfect wings at 390 degrees for 46 minutes. I flip them about every 10-15 minutes and switch the top and bottom trays once through the cooking process. That way all of the wings get perfect crispy.
While the wings are in the airfryer, it's time to make a quick stovetop sauce. If you're feeling lazy or don't have access to a stove, the sauce tastes just as good not heated. The benefit of making it on stovetop is thickening the sauce. The honey heats up while there is a reduction of lime juice, the garlic has a chance to sauté and let the aromatic oils out. Basically it just refines everything and makes it better. But by just mixing everything together you still get a darn good sauce.
Start out by mincing some garlic and throwing it in a pan on low heat with some butter.
Then zest and juice two limes. Mix 1/2c honey with the lime juice.
Pro tip: coat your 1/2c with oil before pouring honey in it. That way the honey will just glide out of the measuring cup.
Once the garlic is aromatic, add the lime zest, juice and honey to the pan. On medium low heat, cook until the mixture forms foamy bubbles. It'll look like the video below.
Once the sauce is bubbly, take it off the burner and transfer to a large, heat proof, bowl. When the wings are finished (temperature should be a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit internally) add them to the bowl with the sauce, toss everything together and serve!
Airfryer Honey Garlic Lime Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
Frozen Raw Chicken Wings
2 Limes (zested and juiced)
2 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 Cup of Honey
1/2 a Stick of Butter
Directions:
Set airfryer to 390 Degrees for 46 minutes. When it gets up to temperature put your frozen wings in. Turn every 10-15 minutes to ensure they all cook uniformly. While the chicken cooks, mince the garlic and zest and juice the two limes. Add the minced garlic and butter to a sauce pan or pot on medium low heat. When the garlic becomes aromatic, add the zest, juice, and honey. Occasionally stir, and cook until a bubbly foam forms. Once the bubbly foam appears, take off the burner and transfer to a large heat-proof bowl. When the chicken wings reach and internal temperature of at least 165 degrees and are nice and crispy, take them out of the airfryer and into the sauce bowl. Toss thoroughly and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
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