Just as chocolate milk doesn’t come from chocolate cows (despite what your four-year-old believes), a boneless chicken wing is not a wing part at all. Made with whole-muscle breast meat that’s breaded and deep-fried, usually dredged or tossed in sauce, and served with extra or a second sauce on the side, boneless chicken wings are the hottest thing in the chicken category.
All wings sold as appetizers or snacks on the menu—not as part of a bucket of chicken—owe their popularity to Buffalo wings, which the Anchor Bar and Restaurant in Buffalo, New York, takes credit for introducing to Americans “at 10 after midnight on Saturday, March 4, 1964.”
Another yarn identifies manufacturer Pierce Foods (now Pierce Chicken and part of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation in Pittsburg, Texas) as the progenitor of Buffalo wings. The company’s original owner, the late Wendell Hester, conceived a recipe that worked well in the new deep-fat fryers for potatoes. Hester envisioned great profit potential in selling wings because they cost mere pennies per pound, a throwaway item that until then had been ground up for pet food and used for soup stocks. Pierce Foods hatched Wing Dings from Hester’s dream and sold them through a frozen-food distributor in Buffalo, according to company lore. Whatever sparked the idea, there’s little dispute that the birthplace of wings was Buffalo, nearly 44 years ago.
Fast-track to the present, when wings (both bone-in and boneless) reign as the most frequently mentioned appetizer on chain-restaurant menus, surpassing popular standbys such as nachos, shrimp, appetizer samplers, and chicken tenders. According to Food Beat Inc., a menu-database company based in Wheaton, Illinois, at the top 200 multiunit restaurant companies in the U.S., mentions of wings on appetizer menus increased 35 percent from 2004 to 2006.
Hot in More Ways Than One
Mentions of hot or spicy wings outpace mentions of mild or medium three to one, Food Beat notes. A bold offering is Boneless Shanghai Wings—crispy breaded chicken breast tossed in ginger-citrus sauce and topped with sesame seeds—served with wasabi ranch dressing at Dallas-based Chili’s Grill & Bar. It shares the menu with boneless Buffalo wings and Boneless Blazin’ Wings tossed with spicy habanero sauce and served with mango dipping sauce. At Atlanta-based Don Pablo’s, Mezcal Wings come to the table bone-in or boneless after being tossed in a proprietary sweet, smoky, and spicy sauce made with chipotle chiles and tequila. The wings are served with contrastingly cool avocado cream.
Wings Drive Demand
Even boneless, breaded chicken items that aren’t billed as wings are benefiting from what leading foodservice suppliers of chicken products identify as demand for boneless chicken wings among Americans. Recent successful launches include Spicy Chicken Bites from San Diego–based Jack In The Box in March and Popcorn Chicken Shakers from Atlanta-based Arby’s in June.
Jack In The Box simultaneously introduced Spicy Chicken Bites, a snack item sold à la carte as small (seven piece) or large (16 piece) orders consisting of chicken-breast chunks with a spicy, crunchy coating, with the new Sampler Trio featuring three stuffed jalapeños, three mozzarella cheese sticks, and seven Spicy Chicken Bites served with buttermilk-ranch and marinara dipping sauces. “Research shows that Americans are snacking more between meals, especially in the late afternoon and after dinner,” says Teka O’Rourke, director of menu marketing and promotions. “Our new Sampler Trio is ideal as a snack or for sharing. It’s also portable and easy to eat while on the go.”