Everybody loves a good sticky wing! These baked Honey Soy wings are a copycat of the popular pre-marinated chicken wings sold at the shops. All you need is honey, soy, vinegar and garlic. Serve with fried rice or Vermicelli Noodle Salad for a great easy midweek meal.
For Honey Soy drumsticks and bone in thighs, use this recipe. For boneless thigh and breast, use this recipe.
Honey Soy Wings
I’m generally a fan of any food you can eat with your hands and wings are pretty high up on my list. Add the word “sticky” and I’m all in!
The key to making these really sticky in the oven without fussing with sauce reduction on the stove or cornflour slurries is to drain off the watery chicken juices partway through baking before adding the honey soy sauce. It’s the excess juices that prevents the sauce from reducing down into a syrup to glaze the wings.
Worried about throwing away free flavour? You needn’t. Wings are fatty and juicy. There’s plenty still inside!
What you need for Honey Soy Wings
Here’s what you need for the Honey Soy Marinade:
Honey – I know, it’s a surprise ingredient in Honey Soy Wings… 😂 Honey plays 3 roles here: it is the sweetness, it thickens the sauce so it coats the wings better and it makes the sauce syrupy when it reduces in the oven so it can be used to glaze the wings.
Light soy and dark soy sauce – Dark soy sauce adds flavour as well as making the wings a glorious bronze colour. Light soy adds saltiness without staining the wings. I like to use a combination of both to achieve my desired colour and flavour.
Substitute – Dark soy sauce can be substituted with light soy sauce but the wings will be a paler colour and slightly less flavour. Light soy sauce can be substituted with all purpose soy sauce. You could also substitute the light soy sauce with more dark soy sauce but the wings do come out a very dark almost charcoal colour so it’s best to use less. See the recipe notes for adjustment quantity.
Apple cider vinegar – To balance out the flavours. Doesn’t make the wings tangy. Substitute with rice wine vinegar, white wine or red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar or even plain white vinegar.
Garlic – Can’t go wrong with a touch of tasty garlicky goodness here!
Oil – Just 1/2 a tablespoon to help the wings brown more evenly.
The chicken wings (& other cuts)
As for the wings, I like to use wingettes and drumettes (sometimes sold as chicken “nibbles”). I buy them pre-cut, like pictured below. You can also cut whole wings up yourself (see here) or just make this recipe using whole wings.
Other chicken cuts: For drumsticks and bone in thighs, use this recipe (larger pieces = no need to drain juices like for wings). For boneless skinless thigh and breast, use this recipe (no skin = sauce best for saucy finish).
How to make Honey Soy Wings
I feel like there’s far more step photos than justified for such a simple recipe! I promise it’s not a hard recipe. 😇
Marinade – Mix the ingredients in a bowl then pour it over the wings in a ziplock bag. A ziplock bag is best because it keeps the sauce snug up around the wings. If you prefer to use a bowl, toss the wings regularly.
Marinade the wings for 30 minutes. You can do overnight but I found it didn’t really add much extra flavour into the flesh.
Handy freezer option
Once you pour the marinade over the wings, pop the bag straight into the freezer. Thaw then cook per recipe. The wings will marinade as the wings freeze, then thaw. How handy it that!!
Bake (no sauce) – Place the wings on a foil + paper lined tray (you’ll thank me later). Bake for 30 minutes at 200°C/400°F (180°C).
Reserve the marinade – we will pour it over later. If you add it at the beginning, it gets all watery from the chicken juices and never thickens into a glaze.
Remove wings from the oven.
Drain the juices and discard. Don’t worry, we’re adding flavour back in the next step – and remember how juicy chicken wings are, there’s still plenty of juiciness inside the wings!
Pour the reserved marinade over the wings. Squidge the wings around to coat in the sauce (it won’t stick because it’s runny).
Bake for another 30 minutes at a slightly lower temperature, 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), so the sweet sauce doesn’t burn.
Baste every 10 minutes (ie at the 10 minute and 20 minute mark, then when you pull it out at 30 minutes).
Rearrange wings as needed if they are cooking unevenly (most ovens have hot spots!). You can even turn them upside down if the skin side is brown enough partway through cooking.
Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion, if desired, and prepare yourself for very sticky fingers! 🙌🏻
This is what the wings look like, straight out of the oven:
And an up-close-and-personal look at the juicy insides (and very sticky fingers!).
You’ll get sauce smeared around your mouth and you’ll need plenty of napkins for your hands. But one thing you won’t be able to wipe off is the grin on your face.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Honey Soy Wings
Ingredients
- 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb chicken wings (wingettes/drumettes), or cut up whole wings (Note 1 for whole wings)
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds
- 1 green onion stem , finely sliced
Honey soy marinade:
- 4 tbsp honey
- 5 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or other clear vinegar)
- 1 large garlic clove , crushed using garlic press (or finely minced or grated)
- 1/2 tbsp canola oil
Instructions
- Mix marinade in a bowl until honey is dissolved. Pour over the wings in a ziplock bag. (Note 3)
- Marinade for 30 minutes. You can do overnight but it doesn't noticeably improve flavour in the flesh.
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan). Line a large tray with foil then paper.
- Bake – Spread wings out on the tray, skin side up. Reserve marinade. Bake 30 minutes.
- Drain off juices on the tray and discard. (Key step to ensure sauce thickens).
- Sauce – Pour reserved marinade over wings. Toss to coat then spread the wings out, skin side up.
- Bake & baste – Turn oven down to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Bake wings for 30 minutes, basting with tray juices every 10 minutes (3 times). Rearrange wings as needed if cooking unevenly, you can even turn them upside down if they brown too quickly. Sauce should be syrupy by the end so you can glaze well. (Note 4 if sauce still watery).
- Serve – Transfer wings into a serving bowl. Pour over syrup on tray, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
If you look up the definition of “wishful thinking”, this is what you will see:
Thanks for the “sticky” rather than the “saucy” version.
My own twist was to use garlic ginger paste.
I’d never thought of using vinegar and as I don’t have apple cider vinegar I used a dash of Chinese Chinkiang black vinegar that went perfectly.
I only ever use V wings with the useless wingtip removed.
delicious! i had already put my wings in the oven naked and was looking around for a sauce recipe, and found this. i decided to just cook it down on the stovetop and then toss the crispy baked wings in the sauce–worked perfectly! very delicious, we licked the sauce off our plates!
Love this recipe
Big hit in our family
These were so easy and delicious. Everyone loved them. I’ll be making these over and over again!
Nagi, I love all your recipes and I’ve tried so many of them with great success. My only concern with this recipe is reusing the marinade on the cooked chicken – since the marinade was used on the raw chicken, is 30 minutes at 180 enough to make sure it is safe to eat? Just want to make sure as I’ve had a sketchy past with chicken. Thanks!
Made these yesterday and they were so delicious. Will make double batch next time. Thank you Nagi for aways bringing us the best.
Hi have been making these for years but use lemon juice instead of vinegar. They have always been a family favourite.
All the best for 2023
Love your site and precious Dozer. I always look forward to your email and recipes.
I’ve just made this recipe. Like everyone else, it’s the best I’ve eaten. Cause I didn’t buy any honey I had some Ketchup Manis And used this instead. Due to that, it is not as thick. I Evaporated nearly all the liquid to end up with a thick paste to bast the wings. Also, I use a bit of Palm Sugar just to add that bit of sweetness missing from the honey not being added. Isn’t cooking all about improvising, or experimenting?
めっちゃ美味しかったです〜
I tried some of your recipes of yours, and all of them were fantastic 😋 my friends also loved them❤️
Will be trying these with the kids over the holidays.
Love your website and use it all the time.
Just got your cookbook yesterday. It’s amazing love it and have next weeks menu planned and shopping list done.
Working on Christmas next. Well done on the cook book.
Excellen post
Best Honey Soy wings I’ve ever had!! Tried so many different recipes but this is it! My husband couldn’t stop raving on about them. Flavour was really intense and the meat was juicy and falling off the bone!!
Bloody delicious
Thank you so much for the recipe for Honey Soy Wings, they were absolutely delicious!
Gidday Nagi,
MOTH made these babies the other night. We had wings in the freezer and the rest of the ingredients in the pantry (which we love about your recipes)
They were awesome, sticky and so delicious. He was so proud of himself but let’s face, nobody could stuff up your recipes.
Served on a bed of rice, life doesn’t get much better.
You ripper.
The best honey soy wings I have had!!
Nagi is the cross contamination concerns using reserved raw marinade over half cooked wings? I’m keen to try this but worry about this being an issue?
Perfection! My man and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this recipe! I nearly cried when I ate my last wing and contemplated stealing one from Dear Heart but I value my life. Thank you for a scrumptious recipe!
Thanks for all your recipes. Have you ever tried an air fryer and if so, which make would you suggest?
I use a Ninja airfryer/toaster oven – it has a large flat fry basket for more servings. Also use it for toast, baking, pizzas, etc. Multipurpose pays for the countertop space!
Did you change anything about the temperature or just go with the fan temp recommendation? Planning to make these in my air fryer too 🙂
WOW!! That’s some cake Dozer is eyeing, GORGEOUS!