How Long to Deep Fry Frozen Chicken Wings?

Frozen chicken wings are perfect for the deep fryer. When cooked correctly, they have crispy skin and tender meat. But it is important to deep fry frozen chicken wings for the right amount of time. How long to deep fry frozen chicken wings?

Deep fry frozen chicken wings for 10-12 minutes in oil that is 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you use a skillet, insert a thermometer into the oil to know when it reaches 350 F. If you use a deep fryer, set the temperature to 350 F.

The three simple steps for deep frying frozen chicken wings are as follows:

  1. Heat oil in a deep fryer or skillet.
  2. Add the frozen wings into the hot oil and let them fry for about 10-12 minutes.
  3. Transfer the fried wings to paper towel.

The time it takes to fry chicken wings will vary depending on how many wings and how hot your oil is. A dozen frozen chicken wings will take about 10-12 minutes to deep fry in oil that is 350 degrees F.

Read on to learn more about how long to deep fry frozen chicken wings, as well as some delicious deep-fried recipes.

How Long to Deep Fry Frozen Chicken Wings?

Deep-frying frozen chicken wings is an efficient and effective cooking method. It will ensure that the inner portions of the wings reach the right temperature while browning their outsides to a nice crispiness.

Deep frying is also a process that will not require too much cooking experience from you. However, make sure to wear an apron and cover your fryer with a splatter guard while cooking your food.

You can deep fry frozen chicken wings safely for 10 to 12 minutes, but make sure to follow a few general guidelines. You can skip the step of thawing out frozen wings. Deep frying frozen chicken wings make them fully cooked, safe to eat, and delicious.

Moreover, make sure your chicken wings are frozen the right way. The pieces should not be in a cluster, rock-hard, or frozen together. You should also be able to spread the individual pieces out on your skillet or in the fryer.

If you use a deep fryer, the time it takes to heat the oil will depend on your deep fryer appliance. Remember to read the instructions to see what the manufacturer recommends. Many deep fryers have a recommendation for cooking different foods such as frozen chicken wings.

If you are using a skillet or pan with oil, use a thermometer to test the temperature of the oil. Once you see it comes to 350 F, and the oil is hot enough, carefully add the wings, one by one.

Let the wings fry for 10-12 minutes. Then transfer the wings to a plate lined with a paper towel. Or transfer them onto a raised rack above paper towels. This allows the excess grease to transfer to the paper towel.

How to Deep Fry Frozen Chicken Wings

Here’s how you can make your frozen chicken wings crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

1. Heat Oil in a Deep Fryer or Skillet

Pour enough vegetable oil into your deep fryer or large skillet. The typical amount you need is around two quarts. However, it will still vary depending on the size of your fryer or skillet, as well as how many frozen wings you’ll fry.

Heat the vegetable oil until a thermometer (or your deep fryer appliance) reaches a temperature of 350 F.

2. Add the Frozen Wings into the Hot Oil

Put the frozen chicken wings slowly into the hot oil. Make sure to be careful so that hot oil will not splash around.

Lee the chicken wings fry for about 10-12 minutes. After 10-12 minutes, they will be crispy and golden-brown.

3. Transfer the Fried Wings to Paper Towel

Once you’re done deep-frying the frozen chicken wings, remove them from your deep fryer or skillet. Line a plate or bowl with some paper towel, and then lay the wings on top to absorb any excess oil.

Turn the heat off and let the vegetable oil cool off and then dispose of it properly. Your delicious wings are now ready for everyone to enjoy. Now is a good time to season them with spices or pour a sauce over them for additional flavor.

Additional deep-frying tips:

  • When using a skillet, fill it with oil roughly three inches deep. For deep-fryers, read the manufacturer’s manual first and make sure to follow the recommendations for the amount of oil you need to use.
  • Deep-fryers usually have settings for temperature, but when using your skillet, you can determine when the oil reaches the right temperature by using a cooking thermometer.
  • Get rid of any excess ice from your frozen wings before frying them by shaking them. You can also lay the fried chicken wings out on paper towels and blot to remove the unwanted ice.
  • The coldness of the wings may lower the oil’s temperature and may not properly cook the wings, so make sure to deep-fry in moderate amounts at a time.

How to Deep Fry Safely

It’s important before you start frying to be very careful. Frying can be quite dangerous when you’re not careful. If you’ve used a deep-fryer before or fried in a skillet of hot oil, then you’re most likely aware of the dangers it can pose.

You should never be careless when you’re around boiling oil because if it splashes on your skin, it can create a serious burn. This is especially true in a restricted area like your kitchen. 

When it comes to deep-frying, one rule that you need to remember always is that water and oil don’t mix well. Oil is lighter than water, which means the latter will sink.

Your deep-fryer is extremely hot, so the water will boil as it sinks under the oil and turns into steam. As this steam develops, it will rise and create bubbles, which in turn causes hot oil to splatter across your kitchen.

Safety Reminders

Here are a few key safety tips to keep in mind before deep-frying your frozen wings:

  • Read the owner’s manual for the directions and warnings on how to operate your deep fryer before using it.
  • If you are planning on using a pan or skillet to fry the chicken wings, make sure the pan or skillet is wide and fairly deep in size.
  • Prepare all your ingredients beforehand. 
  • Have a fire extinguisher nearby in your kitchen just to be even more prepared in the event of an emergency.
  • Before filling your deep fryer with oil, ensure that it’s wiped dry, not turned on, and away from any water source.

When it comes to deep-frying any type of food, frozen or not, you must always be careful and vigilant to prevent any unnecessary accidents from happening.

Best Deep-fried Frozen Chicken Wing Recipes

If you love chicken wings and you have a stock of them frozen in your freezer, here’s a delicious list of quick and easy deep fry frozen chicken wing recipes you can try today. Each recipe is quick and easy, taking only about 10 to 12 minutes for the wings to fry to perfection.

1. Brown Sugar Chicken Wings

deep fried frozen wings in 10 minutes
Brown sugar fried chicken wings

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 frozen chicken wings
  • Oil for frying
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • Chopped green onion

Steps:

  • Prepare your fryer and deep fry the frozen wings as necessary. It should take about 10-12 minutes for the frozen wings to cook to perfection.
  • When they are cooked to perfection, lay the chicken wings out on paper towels to remove excess oil. Let cool for a bit.
  • In a bowl, mix the sugar, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and allspice.
  • Put the deep-fried wings in a ziplock bag, and then add half of the mixture into the ziplock bag, and then shake it well ensuring the wings are well-incorporated with the mixture. 
  • Pour the remaining mixture in and shake again. 
  • Place the chicken wings on a serving platter and garnish with chopped green onion. Serve and enjoy!

2. Hot Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 frozen chicken wings
  • Oil for frying
  • A stick of butter
  • One 12 ounce bottle of cayenne hot pepper sauce
  • 1/4 tsp of hot sauce 
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Celery sticks (optional)
  • Blue cheese dip (optional)

Steps:

  • Deep-fry the frozen chicken wings, as usual, about 10-12 minutes long, and drain excess oil using paper towels
  • In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat together with the cayenne sauce. Make sure not to burn the butter. 
  • Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce. Once it bubbles up, turn off the heat.
  • Put the chicken wings on the pan with the sauce and toss it until all the wings are covered with the sauce. 
  • Serve with the classic combination of blue cheese dip, as well as some celery sticks on the side.

3. Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 frozen chicken wings
  • Oil for frying
  • 1/4 c butter
  • 1/4 c hot sauce
  • 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Steps:

  • In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour with salt, cayenne pepper, paprika.
  • Place the frozen chicken wings in a larger bowl, and sprinkle them with over with the mixture until every piece is coated evenly. Placed in the fridge for 60 to 90 minutes to marinate.
  • Heat your deep fryer with oil to 375 F. Make sure that the oil can completely cover the wings. 
  • Slowly and carefully lay the wings one by one in the hot oil. Deep-fry for 10-12 minutes. When done, place them in a bowl with paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
  • Combine butter, black pepper, garlic powder, and hot sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir the sauce together until the butter melts and the mixture is well-incorporated. Remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit.
  • Remove the paper towel from the serving bowl of the fried chicken wings, and then add the buffalo wings sauce. Toss using a spatula until all wings are covered with the sauce.
  • Serve and enjoy!

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Difference Between Deep-frying Frozen and Fresh Chicken Wings

Thawing frozen wings in your fridge before deep-frying them is a good idea. However, if you’re like most busy people, you probably go the fastest route of dumping them in the sink with warm water.

Although this may help in speeding up the process of thawing, it will also pre-cook your chicken. The meat will also stretch out before you throw it in your fryer. It will have a crispy outer texture, but the meat will be chewy and over-cooked.

Frozen chicken wings are okay in themselves, but what will affect their quality and taste is your freezing method. When chicken wings are frozen, the bones of the wings may crack because of the blood. Chicken wings have thin bones that tend to break when you freeze them.

Freezing your chicken wings is perfectly healthy when you do it the right way. When packaging them for your freezer, it’s vital to protect the meat from air exposure. So wrap the wings very tightly using parchment paper or plastic wrap. Press the wrapping right on the chicken’s surface, and then wrap it around with aluminum foil or place it inside a zip-lock freezer bag.

Conclusion – How Long to Deep Fry Frozen Chicken Wings?

Deep fry frozen chicken wings for about 10-12 minutes. Follow these steps: 1. Heat oil in a deep fryer or skillet to 350 degrees F. 2. Add the frozen wings into the hot oil and let them fry for 10-12 minutes. 3. Transfer the fried wings onto a paper towel.

This is the ideal cooking time to achieve the right crispiness and juiciness from frozen chicken wings.

This time it takes to fry frozen chicken wings will vary based on the recommendations of the manufacturer of your deep fryer. So give a read-through of the manual to see what the manufacturer recommends before you begin frying. If you use a skillet, this time can vary based on the size of your skillet as well the temperature of the oil, and how much oil you use.

Also, do not forget to be careful when deep-frying and remember the safety precautions we’ve listed here to prevent any untoward incidents from happening. 

Your deep-fryer has benefits over other cooking methods. Deep-fryers use plenty of heat during the cooking process, which will cook your chicken thoroughly. This fast cooking is important to achieve a very crispy outside and tender and moist chicken inside.

It’s quite a tricky thing to find the right combination of cooking time and temperature. However, once you’ve mastered the deep-frying method, you’ll have perfectly cooked frozen wings each time. And the great thing about it? It’ll crisp up your chicken wings perfectly.

All these factors will have a massive difference in the feel, look, and taste of your deep-fried frozen chicken wings. While the first time you deep fry frozen chicken wings may not give you restaurant-quality results, with practice, you can make them just as good.

Read next:

Can You Use Vegetable Oil Instead of Olive Oil?

Can You Defrost Chicken in Hot Water?