This healthy wing recipe has delicious Asian inspired flavors for sweet and sticky sesame ginger wings. Gluten free, dairy free, paleo, and Whole30, they're a perfect healthy Whole30 appetizer for game day or a simple weeknight meal.
Sesame Chicken Wings
Lately I’ve been on a wings kick. I’m not sure why I don’t make them more often. They’re so easy to make, inexpensive, flavorful, and you can spice them several different ways without putting a ton of effort into it. Even though these sesame ginger wings were originally meant to be a big game day appetizer recipe, I can’t help but put them into our weeknight rotation in some way.
They actually make a perfect weeknight meal because it's a really hands-off meal. All the time is spent baking while only about 5-10 minutes is meant for making the sauce and measuring ingredients.
This healthy recipe for ginger sesame chicken wings is my personal favorite wing flavor, but you could also bake them the same way and toss them with a little bit of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce for a traditional wing dinner.
Whole30 Appetizers
A lot of the recipes out there for Asian style wings have added sugar or are filled with ingredients that aren’t particularly migraine safe. In fact, these wings fit the Whole30 and Paleo diet if you’re looking for something healthy but indulgent.
Coconut aminos, not to be confused with liquid aminos, is naturally on the sweeter side, so I find added sugar isn’t even necessary. If you're new to a migraine diet, coconut aminos are still questionable, but they're a preferred option to soy or liquid aminos. Many find they can tolerate them quite well.
Other fun migraine-friendly appetizers include:
Caramelized Shallot Dip
Queso
Artichoke Hummus
Strawberry Endive Boats
Buffalo Cauliflower
Creamy Crab Dip
Sesame Ginger Wing Sauce
This sauce should thicken up by simmering a few minutes and then letting it cool. If you find yours is still quite thin, don't worry. Stirring in about ¼ teaspoon of arrowroot starch or any gluten free starch should help to thicken it enough to coat the wings.
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To make life a little bit easier, you can add pre-toasted sesame seeds rather than toasting your own on the stovetop.
Cooking Times for Sesame Ginger Wings
The only downside of chicken wings when they're homemade? These do have to cook in the oven for a while - forty minutes approximately. But most of the time is really hands off which makes them still perfect for a weeknight meal.
If you like yours a little more browned and crispy (which I do), I like to turn my broiler on high at the end of the cooking time and place the sheet pan on an upper rack, at least 6-10 inches away. This allows for them to get a little more browned on the edges, but it's entirely optional. Either way is delicious.
Enjoy!
Ginger Sesame Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh chicken wingettes or drumettes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Ginger Sesame Sauce
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon dried ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1-2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place an oven safe cooling rack over a baking sheet covered with tin foil. Either spray or rub a little bit of oil on top of the rack (olive oil is fine). Place fresh wing pieces on top of the cooling rack and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip wings and bake another 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the sauce by placing all the ingredients except the sesame seeds and green onion in a small pan. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
- Once the wings are cooked, remove them from the rack and toss them with the sauce, toasted sesame seeds, and green onion. Serve immediately!
Notes
- If you prefer your wings a little more brown and crispy, broil on high for another 2-3 minutes on each side before tossing in the sauce.
I LOVE the taco wings from the cookbook, but they’re too time consuming for my wing making husband. However, after trying these, they’re a close second…and definitely easy to make.
I also used chicken thighs for this recipe! I really thought it was great! And my husband even liked it! For years I have been trying to cook cleanly because of my headaches and he hasn't liked anything I ever cooked. But he liked this and other recipes of yours that I have tried!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO. YOU ARE APPRECIATED!!!
You're very kind. Thank you, Wenda! I'm so happy this turned out great with chicken thighs too!
Another winning recipe. I found these really easy to make. I didn't have any HYH safe vinegar so I subbed cranberry juice in and they turned out delicious!
My sister and I made this recipe tonight and it came out absolutely delicious. I have made some dishes as I found a recipe for a homemade “soysauce" using molasses a while back.I still get stunned that this has even happened to me. its such a superb looking delicious.
So I only used the sauce recipe from this and made my wings the way I normally do (Instant pot, then finish off in Air Fryer or Broiler). It was great! I loved it enough that I actually kinda wanna use the sauce for a stir-fry.
Also, coconut aminos is amazing. It's a seriously close dupe for soy sauce. I find it sliiightly sweeter and slightly less salty than soy sauce but in recipes it's nearly identical. Don't be afraid to try it! I've found I actually prefer it now.
I made these once and since then they've become a week night dinner favourite in my household. Very easy to make and super tasty!! Thanks for posting these migraine friendly recipes Alicia. I had my first VM episode nearly 2 years ago and the experience shook me to my core - some days I still get stunned that this has even happened to me (I thought think I could map my life but it turns out life doesn't work like that). Your website has helped me in many ways and slowly am getting better days. Keep up the fab work!
Delicious! An abundance of flavor!
Hi Alicia, I was so happy to discover your website!!!! 🙂 You are amazing!! Thank you for all you do!! I have been following the HYH diet for a few years now and have been muddling along on my own tweeking recipes as I go. I have mostly avoided Asian cooking (even though I really enjoy it) due to the fact that most of them contain soy sauce or an aged or fermented ingredient, like fish sauce or hoisin sauce. I have made some dishes as I found a recipe for a homemade "soy" sauce using molasses a while back. I had also avoided coconut aminos as I noticed that the ingredients include "aged" coconut tree sap. Is there a certain kind that isn't "aged"? If there is where can I find this? On a side note, I recently made clam chowder, which uses clam juice as an ingredient, and was wondering if one could substitute it for fish sauce in a recipe? It probably wouldn't taste the exact same but it might not be bad!!
Hey Veronica! I had thought about clam juice too, although I just don't think it has that same umami flavor. If you try it let me know! I'll probably test it out one of these days.
Although coconut aminos are aged, many find that they can tolerate them well (especially if further along in the diet like yourself). There is a brand that is not fermented - Bragg's. However, it does have apple cider vinegar as the last ingredient. If aged items really bother you, but you can tolerate a little bit of ACV, it could be a good one to try. 🙂
Another winner from Alicia! My husband and I made this recipe tonight (we subbed chicken thighs for chicken wings) and it came out absolutely delicious. I can't wait to buy your cookbook when it comes out!
Thank you, Katie! What a fabulous idea to do chicken thighs!
These were perfect for a busy weeknight. I couldn't believe how easy they were! I made the sauce again to put on a different chicken dish because it was so good.