Hosting a playoff party or planning your spread for Superbowl Sunday? These crisp and juicy Paleo-friendly and Whole30 compliant Crispy Orange Harissa Chicken Wings are just what you need piled high on your healthy game day table. These wings are crisped to perfection in an oven or air fryer, drenched in a homemade fiery North African inspired wing sauce and served alongside a creamy dairy-free ranch tahini dressing. These wings are easy to make, ridiculously tasty and the best wings you'll ever make! Hot damn, they're good!
This one's for chicken wing lovers! Come on and raise up! Take your sh... okay, I'll stop. My fellow Petey Pablo fans will get that reference, and if you don't -I can asuure you, it's not important. The important discussion at hand is these incredible Crispy Orange Harissa Chicken Wings with Ranch Tahini Dressing. You guys, I love chicken wings -like I really, really, really love chicken wings, so I'm actually kind of disappointed in myself for only posting one either wing recipe thus far (the first one being these Whole30 Asian Chili Chicken Wings).
My undying love for chicken wings began in high school. If any of my high school girlfriends are reading this, let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? Every Wednesday night we'd layer on our cutest Abercrombie & Fitch screen tees, apply way too much eyeliner, pile into my 96' Toyota Camry and hit up 10 cent wing night at a restaurant called Hard Times Cafe. Back then, nothing brought me more joy then cramming into a booth with my best girlfriends, ordering 100 wings with 10 different sauces and a round of waters and the bill adding up to about 10 bucks. What a time to be alive. It's a wonder why that place went out of business.
Flash forward a decade or so and my wing obsession is still alive and well. Chris claims he's never known anyone that loves wings as much as I do. I'm honored.
Jump to:
The great thing about making chicken wings at home is that they can be easily customized to your flavor and dietary preferences. For these wings, we're making a crunchy, sweet and spicy wing perfect for dunking into a homemade dairy-free ranch. These wings are truly the perfect game day food, but enough of the jibber, jabber!
Let's make some wings!
First and foremost, the wings need to be prepped. The prep work is the same for both the oven instructions and the air fryer instructions. It's very simple. You're going to need about 2 pounds of chicken wing pieces for this recipe. Of course you could use the whole wing, but for me -it's just not the same. To me, a traditional buffalo wing is divided at the joint into drumettes and flats.
Anywho, make sure you begin by patting the wings dry with a paper towel. Next, add the wings to a large mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of tapioca starch and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
*If you're not on a strict Paleo diet or a round of Whole30, feel free to swap the tapioca starch for baking powder. Both ingredients are a game changer when it comes to creating super crispy wings in the oven or air fryer.
How to Make Crisp & Juicy Chicken Wings in the Oven
These wings are so simple and so delicious, you'll never reach for deep-fried take out wings ever again! Here's how it's done!
- While you're prepping the wings, go ahead and get your oven preheated to 250 degrees.
- Next, line a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top of the baking sheet. Arrange the prepped wings in a single layer onto the wire rack. You don't want to crowd the wings. Depending on the size of your baking sheet/wire rack, you may need to use two. Bake the wings in your preheated oven for 30 minutes, and then crank up the heat to 500 degrees and continue to cook for an additional 40 minutes.
- Remove the wings from the oven, leaving them to cool for about 5 minutes before saucing. I can almost hear the the crunch of these wings through the picture below.
If you're opting for the air fryer method, it's really quite simple.
- Line the basket with foil (easier clean up) and preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees. Once preheated, place prepped wings in the air fryer basket without overcrowding. They don't necessarily have to be arranged in a single-layer, but I wouldn't fill the basket more than half way up with wings. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to work in batches.
- "Fry" the wings for 30 minutes, giving the basket a gentle toss every 10 minutes. Let the wings rest for about 5 minutes before saucing.
What is Harissa?
Harissa is the condiment you never knew you needed (until now). Recipes for this stuff vary from different regions, but it's essentially a paste made of peppers, paprika and olive oil. Keep in mind that not all store-bought harissa is created equal. Some are far more spicy than others. I recommend finding one that uses roasted red peppers over chili peppers as the main ingredient. I love the one from Trader Joes! It has the perfect amount of heat without setting your mouth on fire! Another good one is a brand called Mina, which I've spotted in most grocery stores in the Asian food aisle.
How to Make the Orange Harissa Wing Sauce
While you could certainly stop following my instructions from here on out and sauce the wings with whatever sauce your heart desires, I can't urge you enough to give my Orange Harissa Sauce a shot! It calls for minimal ingredients and is super simple to throw together.
For the sauce you'll need:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Fresh Garlic
- Harissa
- Ghee or Butter (not Whole30 compliant)
- Juice and Zest from ½ of an Orange
- Chicken Broth
- Yellow Curry Powder
- Salt & Pepper
To make the sauce:
- Heat the EVOO in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant (about a minute). Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the saucepan, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Keep the sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally until ready to use.
- Once the wings are crisped to perfection, simply toss them in a large mixing bowl with the warm sauce until evenly coated. Done and done.
How to Make Dairy-Free Tahini Ranch Dressing:
I make this ranch dressing once a week to have on hand to dunk just about everything in. I haven't had much luck with dairy-free ranch recipes, but this one is thick, super creamy and has the perfect amount of tangy, herby ranch flavor. You're definitely gong to want to double this recipe to have plenty of leftovers in the fridge. Trust me.
You'll need:
- Tahini (Ground Sesame Seed Paste)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Dried Dill
- Dried Parsley
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Salt & Pepper
- Juice and Zest from 1 Lemon
You're not going to believe how easy this is. All you have to do is add all of the dressing ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend over low speed while slowly pouring in a ¼ cup of water. Continue to blend until the thick and creamy consistency of ranch dressing that we all know and love is reached. This dressing will keep well in the fridge for up to a week, but if you're anything like me, it won't last longer than a few days. I'm not exaggerating when I say I dunk EVERYTHING in it!
These wings definitely aren't for the faint of heart, but the Tahini Ranch helps cool things off a bit. It's the perfect accompaniment to these fiery wings!
Everything about these wings is Keto-friendly, Paleo-friendly and Whole30 compliant. What more could you ask for in a wing? And the greatest part, no one will even know the difference between these and their deep fried, significantly less healthy counterpart. Serve these wings at your next game day fiesta and watch them vanish. Your guests will adore you for it!
Did you make these wings? That's so awesome! Let me know all about it in the comments, and be sure to tag me in your gorgeous food photos on Instagram using the hashtag #paleoishkristaeats!
Pin Now! Cook Later!
Looking for more Paleoish recipes to add to your Sunday spread? Check out the recipes below!
- Prosciutto Wrapped Pear Skewers with Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Spicy Thai Chili Roasted Cashews
- Dairy-Free Broccoli & "Cheese" Stuffed Mushrooms
- Paleo Pumpkin Jalapeno Poppers
- Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Air Fryer Onion Rings
- Whole30 Asian Chili Chicken Wings
📖 Recipe
Crispy Orange Harissa Chicken Wings with Tahini Ranch Dressing | Oven and Air Fryer Instructions
Ingredients
For the Wings
- 2 pounds chicken wings drums and flats divided
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch or baking powder (not Whole30)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
For the Orange Harissa Sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic about 2 tablespoons
- ¼ cup harissa
- 1 ½ tablespoons ghee or butter (not Whole30)
- ½ orange juice and zest
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon yellow curry powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For the Tahini Ranch Dressing
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 lemon juice and zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
Wing Prep Instructions
- Pat wings dry with a paper towel.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss wings with extra virgin olive oil, tapioca starch (or baking powder), salt and pepper.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack onto the baking sheet. Arrange prepped wings in a single-layer onto the rack. Roast wings in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, leaving the wings in the oven, raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Continue roasting for 40 more minutes.
- Remove wings from the oven. Let rest for 5 minutes before saucing.
- In a large bowl, toss wings until evenly coated in Orange Harissa Sauce (see instructions below). Serve alongside Tahini Ranch Dressing (see instructions below).
Air Fryer Instructions
- Line basket with foil. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. Place prepped wings in the air fryer being careful not to overcrowd the basket. Depending on the size of the air fryer, you may need to work in batches.
- Air fry for 30 minutes, removing the basket and tossing the wings every 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before saucing.
- In a large bowl, toss wings until evenly coated in Orange Harissa Sauce (see instructions below). Serve alongside Tahini Ranch Dressing (see instructions below).
For the Orange Harissa Sauce
- In a small saucepan, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant (about a minute). Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the saucepan and heat through. Keep warm over low heat, stirring occasionally until ready to use.
For the Tahini Ranch Dressing
- Place all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor.
- Blend on low speed while slowly pouring in ¼ cup of water. Continue blending over low speed until smooth and desired consistency is reached.
Notes
- Feel free to follow the crispy wing instructions and then sauce the wings in whatever sauce suits your fancy!
- Baking powder and butter can be used in place of the tapioca starch and ghee in this recipe. Just keep in mind that if you make either of these swaps the recipe will no longer be Whole30 compliant.
- As is, the Tahini Ranch recipe yields about ¾ cups of dressing. I recommend doubling the recipe if you'd like leftovers to have on hand.
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