What Are Ranch Chicken Wings?

Ranch chicken wings are chicken wings served with a ranch dip or coated in ranch dressing. Most recipes for ranch chicken wings suggest that chefs put a mixture of black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder on the chicken wings before cooking to enhance flavor. Ranch dressing is a mixture of mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. This mixture can either be poured over the chicken wings prior to serving or served on the side as a dip.

Chicken wings are made up of the bones and muscle tissue which support the wings of the chicken. They are usually cooked in the oven or on a barbecue, and often are served with a dipping sauce to enhance their flavor. Ranch chicken wings are basically chicken wings served with a ranch sauce or dip. Many people also like to coat the chicken wings in a rub of dry seasoning or a marinade prior to cooking to increase their flavor.

Many recipes for ranch chicken wings suggest that chefs add a seasoning mixture to the wings or marinade them prior to serving. This means that the ranch sauce is usually used as a complementary flavor as opposed to a primary one. Marinades suggested by different recipes often include a vinegar-based ingredient along with other additions such as hot sauce. The addition of a vinegar-based ingredient adds an acid to the mixture, which is effective at loosening muscle tissue and therefore creating more tender meat.

Dry rubs of seasoning are suggested by most recipes for ranch chicken wings. The seasoning is applied to the chicken wings prior to cooking in order to enhance their flavor. Most mixes of seasoning suggested for ranch chicken wings include black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder. This coats the chicken skin to infuse flavor into the meat before the ranch sauce is added. Chefs should add this mixture in the preparation stage, before the chicken wings are placed in the oven or added to the grill.

Ranch sauce is either used to coat the wings or to dip them in when serving. It is basically a salad dressing, and it can be bought premade or made from scratch. The ingredients used by most chefs to create a ranch sauce are mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper, and chives. This sauce is served in a small pot alongside the chicken wings so that guests can dip the wings themselves. Alternatively, the wings can be coated in the ranch sauce prior to serving, creating a messier dish but ultimately covering the wings in ranch more efficiently.