Super bowl is right around the corner! YIPPEE! Impress your friends this Super Bowl with fancy Pomegranate Glazed Chicken Wings with a Honey Goat Cheese Dipping Sauce! The pomegranate glaze is sticky, spicy, and sweet which pairs nicely with the tart flavor of goat cheese that’s subtly sweetened with a kiss of honey.
Speaking of the super bowl, for the first time in my adult life, I have no idea what’s going on this season. Not that I’ve ever been savvy on team stats but I generally have an idea how the teams are ranked every year. This year? Not so much. I’ve paid enough attention to know my team, The Chicago Bears, still suck balls but that’s about it.
I “guess” I’m suppose to start supporting the Seattle Seahawks since I live in Portland, but it feels dirty, wrong….like I’m cheating on the Chicago Bears. Of course in my defense…the Chicago Bears ARE shitty, so it would feel good to cheat….like reeeeeaally good. Ugh, temptation #amirite
Kieran is originally from Rhode Island, so his family are New England Patriot fans (I sleep better knowing I married into a winning team) so when the Chicago Bears don’t make the playoffs (like every year…cough) I switch gears and cheer for the Patriots. The only other team I care to follow are the Green Bay Packers, I always cheer for whichever team is playing AGAINST them. As long as the Packers lose, I’m a happy girl! Seriously, I fucking hate those guys. I mean, I’m originally from Chicago… it’s only right.
But seriously, I’ve actually forgotten about football since moving to Portland. The main reason, is because we don’t have cable, so the Bears game is hard to get in Oregon.
At the beginning of the season, I Googled if any bars showed the Bear’s game in our area. I found one bar located on the other side of town, curious, Kieran and I took a drive over to see what the bar was like. Upon arrival, we emerged into an room with a sea of people wearing dark blue and orange (Chicago Bear signature colors). I almost shed a tear as I gazed upon one Urlacher jersey after another.
“Ahhhhhh“, I thought to myself, “I found my people.”
We were promptly told to see the woman who organized the game being shown at the bar. In a thick Chicago accent a man pointed to the woman, “See that lady over by dere? She’s got football pools going if yous wanna sign up for a cuppa too-tree.”
We smiled, nodded, but opted for the bar instead. Being on the west coast the Bears game is shown earlier, at 10am, but that doesn’t stop hard core Bear’s fan from drinking that early in the morning (it’s noon somewhere, right?). We noticed each table around the room was littered with empty Miller Lite or MGD beer cans. I ordered a Bloody Mary with a Miller Lite chaser… when in Rome!
We watched 2 quarter’s of the game, and per usual, the Bears were getting their asses handed to them, so Kieran and I left before halftime and sadly, we haven’t been back to the bar since. Mostly because I can’t sit at a bar and drink for 3 hours a day, I’m too much of a lightweight, I get too tired. Plus, drinking and eating at a bar for 3 hours is expensive. I’d rather buy a 12 pack and watch the game in the comfort of my own home.
Another reason we haven’t been watching football lately, is because the call of the outdoors has been too strong. Kieran and I have the hiking and snowshoeing itch. We’re trying to hike or snowshoe twice a month, leaving other weekends to handle household responsibilities like clean or lounge around. Yes, lounging around IS a responsibility in his house…one we take seriously. So.. speaking of lounging around and watching football… since football season is not yet over, I was inspired to fire up some Pomegranate glaze and slap that deliciousness on top of crispy baked chicken wings, YUMMSIES!!!
Holy hell these wings are LEGIT.
I’m a huge fan of buffalo and BBQ sauce but now I’ll be adding this Pomegranate glaze into my wing-ly repertoire.
I don’t know what my deal is with pomegranate juice this month, but I can’t get enough of it. After drinking a cup of it, I feel wonderful a half hour later. It’s like once the nutrition of the juice kicks in, I feel energized and motivated to conquer the world!
Or….maybe….just conquer these wings….with my mouth. Hmmm, things just got weird. Moving on…
I love the pomegranate glaze for these wings tho. It’s sticky, sweet, with a kick of spice. Then you slap the glaze on yer wings and dunk them delicious bad boys into a pool of honey goat cheese dipping sauce! Homer mutha fucking Drool son!
You know what’s weird?
A. That’s the first time I’ve ever said, “Homer mutha fucking Drool son!” in a sentence. You’re welcome.
B. I’m normally not a fan of goat cheese (gasps).
BUT pomegranate and goat cheese pair well together so I really enjoyed the combo of flavors. The zing of the goat cheese cuts through the sweet and spicy pomegranate glaze, leaving your mouth elated.
Oh, be warned, I made 2lbs of chicken wings but still had a TON of goat cheese dipping sauce left over. If you’re making these wings for your super bowl party, unless you guzzle down sauce like a fiend, you’ll have a substantial amount of dipping sauce left over. So feel free to double the amount of chicken wings you make in this recipe, you’ll have plenty of dipping sauce.
Another note, if you have a tried and true way of baking chicken wings, use your favorite method instead of mine, when your wings are cooked, just toss them with the glaze to coat. I’ve seen many recipes call for flour when baking wings. I prefer cornstarch. I feel like cornstarch crisps up better in the oven making the taste comparable to fried chicken wings, which is what I’m going for.
If you’re looking for a new sauce for your chicken wings this super bowl (or in general) give this pomegranate glaze a try! It’s finger licking and mouth watering good!
Thanks for stopping by,
Christina
Baked Chicken Wings with Pomegranate Glaze
Ingredients
Wings:
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Salt and pepper
Pomegranate Glaze:
- 2 cups 100% (no sugar added) pomegranate juice
- ¾ cups honey
- ⅛ -1/2 cup hot sauce (depending on how hot you like it)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Dipping Sauce:
- 5.3 oz plain Greek yogurt
- 2 oz goat cheese (more if you're a goat cheese fan)
- 1½ tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon mayo (optional)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish (optional):
- Sesame seeds
- Pomegranate seeds
- Jalapeño slices
- Green onion
- Chopped parsley
- Carrots
- Celery
- Lime
Instructions
Dipping Sauce:
- Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Pomegranate Glaze:
- Whisk all the ingredients into a small sauce pot until well combined. Turn the heat on your stove to high, and bring the glaze to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, whisk for a coupe of minutes, then turn the heat to low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the glaze is at your desired thickness. I like mine the thickness of a BBQ sauce. Keep warm on low until the wings are cooked.
Wings:
- Preheat oven to 475
- In a large bowl combine the wings, cornstarch, and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the wings until well combined and until the wings have a thin coating of cornstarch on them (add more if needed).
- Place a baking rack on a cookie sheet, covered with tin foil. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray. Place the chicken wings on the rack, making sure they are close to each other, but not touching. Give the ones another sprinkle of salt and pepper (optional). Spritz the chicken wings lightly with cooking spray.
- Put the chicken wings in the oven, and immediately turn down the heat to 450. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn down the oven, once again, to 400, and continue to roast the chicken until they are no longer pink in the middle, approx another 20-25 minutes.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked, take them out of the oven. With a pair of tongs, take the wings off the rack, and add them to the glaze. Toss the wings until they are fully coated with the pomegranate glaze.
- Place the wings on a serving plate, top with sesame seeds, and whatever garnish you like, along with the honey goat cheese dipping sauce.
Notes
Calorie Breakdown
The calorie breakdown was difficult for me because of the glaze and dipping sauce. We had a good portion of both the glaze and dipping sauce left over, so I’m not sure how to calculate that into my calories. However, I listed the amounts of calories found in the foods I included in the recipe. This will hopefully give you a sense of how many calories you’re consuming.
Wings:
2 lbs chicken wings….1143 (depending on the size of the wing, mine were medium/small -ish)
2 tablespoons cornstarch….61
Salt and pepper…..0
Total: 1,204
Per wing (my package had 13 wings)…92
Pomegranate Glaze:
2 cups 100% (no sugar added) pomegranate juice…..300
3/4 cups honey…..110
1/8 cup hot sauce…0
2 tablespoons soy sauce… 20
1 garlic clove….4
1/2 teaspoon onion powder…0
Total: 434
Dipping Sauce:
5.3 oz plain Greek yogurt…. 130
2 oz goat cheese… 152
1 1/2 tablespoons honey….32
2 tablespoons mayo (optional)… 198
1 garlic clove, minced…..4
1/4 cup chopped parsley….5
Pinch of red pepper flakes….0
Salt and pepper to taste….0
Total: 521
*Note, I am not a nutritionist, nor am I pretending to be. I found the calorie counts by reading the nutrition labels on the food I purchased, searching Google, and using my Lose It! app on my phone.