Low Carb Keto BBQ Chicken Wings (Baked or Air Fryer)
Keto Sticky BBQ Chicken Wings are the perfect finger food entree to enjoy with a crowd for a party! Whether you’re on a keto diet, low-carb diet or not, each serving of these crispy wings is just 5 grams net carbs!
Best Crispy Keto Chicken Wings
Chicken wings just got a makeover! This Keto Chicken wing recipe with homemade sugar free barbecue sauce is so tasty!
Made with a keto-friendly homemade marinade you can ensure there’s no nasty preservatives or refined sugars in these bad boys!
Perfect for the whole family on a rainy day for snuggling up on the couch with Netflix! You will want to make this easy recipe the next time you have a BBQ party or for football season or any game day event, like the Super Bowl.
These Keto Sticky BBQ Chicken Wings are baked rather than fried but air fryer instructions are also included below.
You can also place under the gas grill or broil at high heat at the end for a couple of minutes if you want them even crispier!
How to Serve these Party Wings
For my keto lifestyle, I try to keep meals pretty simple. My favorite way to serve these bbq wings is simply with a good dollop of mayonnaise on the side and a fresh salad.
My favorite salads are the Avocado, Tomato and Cucumber Salad or my Summer Confetti Salad.
Cauliflower rice would also be a great option if you want more of a sit down type meal at the kitchen table.
But If you’re taste buds are craving indulgence, try my Cauliflower Tots as another finger food side to enjoy with these bbq keto wings.
Sugar Free BBQ Sauce and Marinade
The key to making these sticky BBQ chicken wings as authentic as the kind lathered with sugary BBQ sauce, is in this special sugar free marinade. Smoky, spicy, and sweet special ingredients make for a pretty fabulous flavor that will explode your tastebuds in one bite!
Store Bought Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce Options
Your local grocery store should have plenty of selections of different kinds of sugar free barbecue sauce, but often the ingredients aren’t the best or ones I would ingest.
I don’t use any inflammatory oils like soybean oil or canola oil. I also don’t ingest artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Apartame or Sucralose.
The brand with the cleanest ingredients that I recommend is Primal Kitchen BBQ sauces.
They also have amazing dressings for dipping and delicious mayonnaise made with avocado oil!
If you have time, try my recipes below:
Keto Blue Cheese Dressing with Iceberg Wedge Salad
How to Make Crispy Chicken Wings in the Air Fryer
I have an extra large air fryer, but even with that size, I still need to place some of the wings upright along the sides of the air fryer basket. In my large basket, I can easily fit about 3 pounds of chicken wings.
The best part of air frying is that you can cut your cook time down. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your wings and how packed your air fryer is.
Set the air fryer to 400 degrees F. Follow the directions below for the marinade sauce recipe then instead of baking in the oven place in air fryer.
Arrange as many wings as you can standing upright around the edges of the air fryer basket. You may have to do this in two batches.
Then arrange the others standing upright against the ones on the edges until all the wings are standing upright in the air fryer. (This arrangement helps to crisp the wings evenly, as 3 pounds of wins is a lot for an air fryer.) If you do not have a large air fryer, you will need to cook the wings in batches.
Set the air fryer to cook for 15- 20 minutes. Check the wings for crispness. After you cover with the keto BBQ marinade, place back in the air fryer for another 5-10 minutes until sticky.
More Low Carb Chicken Wings Recipes
Best Keto Buffalo Wings recipe with Homemade Buffalo Sauce is in my cookbook Naturally Keto
Keto Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Wings
KETO STICKY BBQ CHICKEN WINGS
Low Carb Keto BBQ Chicken Wings (Baked or Air Fryer)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings or 18 whole wing pieces
- 1 large red bell pepper or 5.8 ounces/164 grams
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
- 1 small yellow onion or 2.5 ounces/70grams
- 1 garlic clove, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup tomato puree or 4.4ounces/125grams
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika smoky or regular
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup Lakanto brown sugar subtitute
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C / 180C fan.
- Slice the pepper in half, remove the seeds and stalk and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet pan. Rub in 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning half way to ensure even cooking.
- Heat a non stick frying pan or cast iron skillet and sear the raw wings for 2 – 3 minutes per side. (You may need to add a little oil to the pan if using a cast iron skillet so the wings don’t stick.)
- Place the seared chicken wings in a single layer onto a parchment lined large baking sheet pan and cook for about 30 minutes in the oven until almost crisp.
- When the pepper is cooked, and still hot, place in a zip lock bag and leave for 5 minutes. This will make the skin easy to peel off. Remove the skin and discard. Chop the pepper into cubes.
- Place 1 tablespoon of butter, ghee or coconut oil in a pan and sauté the onion on a medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes until soft.
- Add the garlic for 30 seconds then add the pepper, tomato puree, apple cider vinegar, paprika, chilli, coconut aminos, dijon mustard, sweetener, seasoning and water. Simmer on low heat for 5 – 10 minutes until thick. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
- Allow to cool so not hot and use an immersion hand blender to blitz until smooth. Alternatively you can try using a smoothie blender though you may need to make a larger batch.
- Rub the BBQ sauce over the hot wings and place back in the oven for about 15 minutes until you have sticky bbq wings. Feel free to broil for 1-2 minutes to get crispy skin.
Air Fryer Instructions
- Set the air fryer to 400 degrees F. Follow the directions for the marinade sauce recipe then instead of baking in the oven place in air fryer.
- Arrange as many wings as you can standing upright around the edges of the air fryer basket. You may have to do this in two batches.
- Then arrange the others standing upright against the ones on the edges until all the wings are standing upright in the air fryer. (This arrangement helps to crisp the wings evenly, as 3 pounds of wins is a lot for an air fryer.) If you do not have a large air fryer, you will need to cook the wings in batches.
- Set the air fryer to cook for 15- 20 minutes. Check the wings for crispness. Remove and spread wings with the keto BBQ marinade, place back in the air fryer for another 5-10 minutes until sticky.
Storage
- Best served fresh or in the fridge for 2 days. Can also be frozen and
reheated.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Just a little confused about the brown sweetener, recipe states half a teaspoon but the video shows a bowlful?
Thanks for catching that, it was a typo and it is correct in the video, 1/2 cup not 1/2 teaspoon.
Thank you, hoping to try this recipe this weekend
Soooo good!! My husband said they were the best wins he’d ever had!! I used aminos. I also used the leftover sauce for my meatloaf topping!!
Nice Work! Keep it up 🙂 Organic Tea Shop