Boneless Chicken Wings with an unbelievable Crunchy breading and coated in your favorite Wing Sauce. These Boneless Chicken Wings are marinated, breaded and sauced just the same as Breaded Wings. With such a beautiful breading and crunchy dense bits throughout the breading. They hold up very well to any sauce they are tossed in.
Boneless Chicken Wings vs Chicken Nuggets
Why are they even called Boneless Chicken Wings and not just Chicken Nuggets? The key distinction is that Chicken Nuggets are of uniform size and shape, breaded and deep-fried to be served with a dipping sauce, like McDonald’s, or the boxed Chicken Nuggets you get at the store. Chicken Nuggets can also be made with dark meat and often is processed, using ground chicken meat. There are Chicken Nuggets made with breast meat and not processed, but again these are deep-fried and served with a dipping sauce and the same shape as the processed Nuggets. The breading on them is different from that of Boneless Chicken Wings.
On the other hand, Boneless Chicken Wings are processed the same as wings and always made with breast meat. Marinated and breaded in a Wing Breading, before being deep-fried and tossed in a Wing Sauce, mimicking traditional Bone-in Wings. True Boneless Chicken Wings are in fact Wings with the bones removed.
Boneless Chicken Wings Ingredients
Chicken Breast, Marinade (Water, Bouillon Cube, Egg, Salt, MSG, Baking Powder, Potato Starch), Breading (Cornstarch, Flour, White Pepper), Oil for Deep Frying.
Serving Size for Boneless Chicken Wings
Boneless Chicken Wings by themselves as a meal contains about 15+ pieces or 1 Chicken Breast per serving. If serving with a side this can be stretched out by reducing the serving size by half with about 7-8 pieces a serving for a total of 4 servings that can be made twice or to create 8 servings.
How to slice Boneless Chicken Wings
Chicken Breast vary in size, but can all be sliced the same way. With the below cut for Boneless Chicken Wings, you will end up with 15 or more pieces, depending on how big the breast are or how big or small you want your chicken pieces.
- Tenderloin: Remove the Tenderloin by slicing it away from the breast and slice into 3 equal parts. These can also be saved for other recipes like Chicken Fingers, Wraps, or Chicken Fried Rice. The tenderloin pieces is the bottom 3 pieces in the image below.
- Strips: Slice across the width of the breast about 1 inch wide to get 4 or more strips, depending on how big the breast is.
- Angle Cut: Then slice each strip into 3-4 roughly equal size portions, depending on how long the strips are. Slice at a 45-degree angle so that each piece is tapered, instead of being diced. As you get towards the end where the meat narrows off, this will be 3 pieces per strip, then 1 or 2 pieces on the tail end if that section is narrow.
The tapering of the Boneless Chicken Wings also helps to crisp up, since these are much smaller or thinner and will really crisp up in the fryer.
Boneless Chicken Wing Marinade
The Marinade adds flavor to the Chicken and tenderizes it a bit. It’s made thin, like the consistency of Buttermilk, to allow the breading to adhere. From the marinade, it goes straight to breading. The longer it marinades, the more flavor gets into the meat. This can be anywhere from 1 to 4 hours, or even overnight. Give it a mix before you start breading, as the potato starch will settle at the bottom.
Boneless Chicken Wing Breading
The breading is a remarkable breading that is also used for Breaded Chicken Wings. It produces crunchy bits throughout the breading and holds up exceptionally well in any sauces. This breading is just about enough to do 2 lbs worth of Chicken Breast or 4 Chicken Breast, as suppose to about 3 lbs of bone-in Chicken Wings.
How to Bread Boneless Chicken Wings
Toss each piece into the breading while shaking the bowl with the other hand. Once you have a serving (about 15 pieces), toss the Chicken around to ensure good coating. Then set aside each piece on a baking sheet, tapping against the bowl to get rid of any excess breading.
Deep Frying Boneless Chicken Wings
Just like the Breaded Bone-in Wings, the Boneless Chicken Wings will be deep-fried twice to really ensure crispiness. Although Boneless Wings take about half the time.
Deep-fry the Boneless Chicken Wings in batches (a serving of about 15 pieces) for 5 minutes at 350F – 375F. The Oil will drop in temp and then slowly raise again. Ideally, you want to deep-fry at 375F and the oil dropping no less than 325F. With a steady increase in oil temp so that it reaches 375F or just about, by the time you are ready to take the wings out and do the next batch.
Then scoop them out and set aside. Once the Oil reaches temp again, deep-fry the entire batch for 1-2 minutes, until all the Boneless Chicken Wings are done. Scoop them out and toss in sauce.
Deep Fryer
A Deep Fryer is the most easiest method as you do not need a thermometer or spider to scoop out the Wings and there is no risk of overheating the oil. Although with a deep fryer you get a slight less cook or browning.
- Heat the fryer up to max heat, usually around 350F to 375F.
- Place 15 pieces into each basket and Deep Fry for 5 minutes, give the basket a shake.
- Lift the baskets and shake any excess oil off. Empty them out and set aside while you fry up the second batch. Empty those out and rest 2 minutes or more or until the fryer hits max temp again.
- Place all the wings into the baskets and deep fry again for 2 minutes or deep fry a serving of 15 pieces per basket, shake off excess oil and immediately sauce them. Then repeat for the second batch.
Wok Frying
Using a Wok to Deep Fry: Deep fryers usually hit at about 350F or slightly more and take a while to come back to temp so you will get a slightly less cook. It’s perfectly fine, but using a wok produces better results, because of the higher heat at about 375F. Follow the steps below to fry the Boneless Chicken Wings in a Wok.
- Fill the Wok halfway or slightly less with Oil. Heat the Oil over max heat until it reaches 325F, fitted with a thermometer. Then lower the heat to medium and wait until it reaches 375F.
- Add about 15 pieces and fry for 5 minutes. The Oil will drop intially and gradually climb back up again.
- Scoop out with a spider and repeat frying in batches. Waiting until the oil hits 375F before frying another batch.
- Once all the Chicken Wings are fried up, set them aside to rest for 2 minutes or so. Ensure you are at 375F, and add them all back in to fry for another 1-2 minutes or add a serving of 15 pieces to fry 1–2 minutes, remove and sauce. Repeat for each serving.
Wok Frying Adjustments
If the Oil gets too hot, carefully remove the wok from the burner. If it’s not hot enough, wait until it reaches 375F before frying another batch. In the case where the Oil temp drops below 325F with the Chicken Wings in the Oil for the first fry, set the heat to medium high, just until it starts to climb and turn back down to medium heat.
I know this sounds like alot and It does take a bit more attention deep frying stove top, but the main idea is to fry the Chicken Wings at 375F and not let it drop below 325F. This gives you a main cook at about 350F. By the time you are done frying a batch, the oil temp should have climbed back up to 375F or close to it. So adjust your heat accordingly and always use a Thermometer you can keep submerge and keep an eye on the temp.
Boneless Chicken Wing Sauce
Any Wing sauce can be used to toss the Boneless Chicken Wings in. Check out our collection of Wing recipes for some ideas. The one pictured below is the Red Marvel or the copycat version of it with much less heat and it’s a seriously addictive one. It’s Boneless Chicken Wings tossed in Korean Yangnyeom Sauce.
Wing sides
Either Fries or Rice are the main go-to for a Wing side dish. It can also include your classic Carrot & Celery Sticks or a Salad, including Coleslaw or Mac Salad. You can also double down on the fried food with a side of Onion Rings, Mozza Sticks, or Tempura Vegetables. Pickled Vegetables are also good to include.
Adding sides is an excellent way of stretching out the Boneless Chicken Wings and can yield a total of 8 servings. Although sometimes, nothing beats just a big plate of Saucy Boneless Chicken Wings.
Fries
If serving with Fries, deep-fry the fries first, until almost done and set them aside on a baking sheet or a stainless steel bowl. After all the Wings have gone through their second fry and are sauced. Drop the Fries back in just to heat through and crisp up, about 1 minute or so. This ensures everything is served up hot and at the same time. Whenever serving with Fries you can drop the serving size for the Boneless Chicken Wings to about 7-8 per serving.
Rice
If serving with rice, prepare and start cooking the rice first, which will take about 35 minutes. During which, you can start deep-frying boneless Chicken Wings, at about the same time the rice will be done. You can also opt for plain steamed rice or steamed rice bowls. These are wonderful with Boneless Chicken Wings in a Sweet & Sour Sauce, Honey Garlic, Orange Sauce, Lemon Sauce, Korean Red Sauce, etc… and whenever serving with rice, you can drop the serving down to about 7-8 pieces of Boneless Chicken Wings a serving.
Equipment
- 1 Deep Fryer Dual Basket
- 1 Marinating Bowl
- 1 Breading Bowl
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 Tong
Ingredients
- 4 Whole Chicken Breast
- As Needed Oil - for Deep Frying
Marinade
- 1 C Water
- 1 Cube Maggi Chicken Bouillon
- 4 tsp Potato Starch & Baking Powder - each
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 tsp Sea Salt & MSG
Breading
- 1 1/4 C Cornstarch
- 3 Tbl Flour
- 1/2 Tbl White Pepper
Instructions
- Marinade: Place half of the water into a pot over max heat with the bouillon cube and mash it until completely dissolved and empty into the marinating bowl. Add the other half of very cold water along with the remaining ingredients for the marinade, whisk well. Add the Chicken to toss well, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to an overnight marinade.
- Heating the Oil: Heat the deep fryer to max, about 350F -375F.
- Breading: Combine the breading together in another bowl and whisk well. Add the Chicken one at a time, while shaking the bowl, for a total of 15 pieces. Toss the Chicken to coat them well and take each piece, tapping against the bowl to get rid of any excess breading, before placing on the baking tray. Repeat for all the Chicken.
- Deep Frying: Once the fryer is ready, place about 15 pieces into each basket. Lower the basket into the hot oil and give them a shake. Deep Fry for 5 minutes. Empty into a stainless steel bowl and repeat for the remaining Chicken. Once all the Chicken Wings have been deep-fried for the initial 5 minutes and rested for 2 minutes or more. Add all of them in the fryer basket to deep-fry for 2 minutes. Or fry up a serving of 15 pieces for 2 minutes. Lift the basket up and shake off any excess oil to go straight to a saucing bowl. Repeat for each batch.