Crispy chicken wings are a treat for dinner.
Baked or broiled, grilled or deep fried, chicken wings are flavorful, messy to eat and not a challenge to prepare, even for novice cooks. However, chicken wings do not make a full meal, so add some food that goes with chicken wings to round out the supper. Always prepare more wings than you think you'll need. If there are any leftovers, they make a good lunch or appetizer.
Vegetables
The traditional pairings for spicy hot chicken wings are celery and carrot sticks to cool down the heat. Raw vegetables provide a satisfying crunch. Since you're eating the chicken wings with your fingers anyway, cut the vegetables into chunks or sticks to dunk in a dip or the chicken-wing sauce on your plate. Serve snap peas and radishes with teriyaki chicken wings; cooked corn on the cob with barbecue wings; and cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices with honey-mustard wings.
Sauces and Dips
Part of the enjoyment of eating chicken wings is dipping them into sauces. Bleu cheese and ranch are classic dips for wings. Save some of the marinade before you add the and use that as a base for your dipping sauce. You might try a Mexican marinade of lime juice, cumin, garlic and red-pepper flakes. Add honey to the reserved marinade for dipping. Ketchup is rather plain and ordinary. Zip it up by adding brown sugar, caramelized onions and beer. Put it in the blender for dipping.
Potatoes
Chicken wings are finger foods and so are French fries and oven fries. Both are good for dipping in sauces with wings as well. The mild flavor of the potatoes offsets the spiciness of hot wings. Try baked baby potatoes still in their skins if you're offering ranch dip with the wings. And speaking of baked potatoes, they work well too. Potato skins are classic appetizers at bars and pubs. Bake the skins instead of deep frying them and fill them with some of the potatoes you removed from the skins, mixed with chicken broth instead of butter.
Salads
A crunchy salad offers textural contrast with the slightly sticky chicken wings. Coordinate the salad with the type of wings you're serving. Echo the flavors of the wings in the dressing. For example, honey-mustard wings would go well with a salad dressing of honey mustard and lemon. If you're not serving potatoes or bread with the wings, add pasta to the salad for a bit more sustenance.
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