If Pad Thai turned into chicken wings, THIS would be it. These crunchy Thai Tamarind Chicken Wings glisten in a sticky tamarind sauce and get tossed in crunchy peanuts, golden garlic crisps, and sweet fried shallots! They’re bold and deliciously chaotic – without the deep frying mess.
Chicken Pad Thai is one of my faveeee Thai dishes & I thought, what if I transformed it into crispy chicken wings?! Grab the flavors you LOVE from Pad Thai, collab them with my sticky Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings using tangy Tamarind Paste and BOOM! You got bright, zesty wings with subtle notes of caramel & crunchy textures galore! Crunchy crushed peanuts, crispy morsels of garlic, & sweet fried shallots!
Annnnnd these are oven baked! So no oily mess to clean up or going back & forth to your air fryer like an unhealthy high school romance to cook your wings in batches. Just bake all your wings at once, make the sauce real quick, toss them together – then FEAST TIME!
These chicken wings are an Asian Fusion recipe designed for easy entertaining!
🎥 Video: Watch How to Make the Recipe
🥘 Ingredient Tips
- Tamarind Paste: This is the star of the chicken wing sauce! Find it at your local Asian market, or buy the tamarind concentrate & quickly make it in minutes by adding boiling water. I walk through the steps in my Tamarind Paste recipe! (pssst, if you make extra, you can also use it to make Chicken Pad Thai too)!
- Fish Sauce: This adds saltiness & umami! Squid fish sauce is my fave brand my family’s been using for years. No mystery ingredients here!
- Fresh Lime Juice: Repeat after me – FRESH. Lime. Juice. ONLY. Skip the bottled stuff! If you’re not in the mood to squeeze fresh limes, white vinegar also works (and you probably already have it)!
- Baking Powder: This is what helps dry up the chicken skin to crisp up & turn beautifully golden brown! Note that this is different from baking soda – you’ll be in for a devastating surprise if you grab the wrong one!
- Fried Shallots: I buy a bottle of fried shallots from the grocery store to save time! The golden fried shallots add a subtle sweetness & extra crunch!
For full ingredient list & measurements, see recipe card below.
🔪 How to Make Crispy Tamarind Chicken Wings
Step 1: Bake Wings at Low Temperature
Pat dry chicken wings VERY well, then toss together with baking soda, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper until well combined. Transfer chicken to a wire rack on a baking sheet.
If you have the extra time, place them in the fridge uncovered for at least 8 hours, up to 24 hours. The chicken skin will dry up & get even crispier when baked, but this is optional!
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F then bake chicken wings on the middle rack for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Make Tamarind Sauce
In the meantime, make the tamarind sauce! In a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, and fresh lime juice until the sugar dissolves.
Heat a small saucepot on medium-low with a couple tablespoons of oil. Add minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until lightly golden & crispy (they’ll continue to turn deeper golden & crispy while cooling). Don’t step away because they can quickly burn!
Drain garlic crisps & save garlic oil.
Add garlic oil back to the saucepot & toss in Thai chilies. Cook for a few seconds, until they’re soft, then whisk in tamarind sauce. Increase heat to medium, then once it starts boiling, reduce back to medium-low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the sugar doesn’t burn.
You’ll know it’s done when it’s a thick syrupy glaze & you can make a line with the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat, stir in butter until it melts, then cover to keep warm until the wings are ready.
Step 3: Bake Wings at High Temperature & Toss in Sauce
Remove chicken from the oven & increase heat to 425 degrees F. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken is crispy & cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the wings.
Transfer wings to a large bowl & toss in the tamarind sauce. Sprinkle in the crushed peanuts, garlic crisps, & fried shallots. Give it a final few tosses until they’re well coated, then transfer to a serving plate. If you’re feeling fancy, garnish with more crushed peanuts, chopped cilantro, & lime wedges. Enjoy immediately!
👩🏽🍳 Key Tips
- Pat Dry Wings VERY Well: This is crucial if you want your wings crispy! If they’re wet when baking, they’ll end up steaming and turn soggy.
- Don’t Step Away When Cooking Garlic: Garlic can quickly go from beautifully golden to burnt to a crisp! It’s also very bitter and unforgiving, so if it burns, you’ll have to start over because there’s no masking it in the garlic oil! So watch that garlic like a hawk!
- Avoid Overly Salty Sauce & Wings: The wings are already salted, so the tamarind wing sauce shouldn’t be overly salty too! If the sauce reduces too much & becomes too salty, just add a splash of water.
🍗 Craving More Chicken Wings?
Same. The more accurate question would be, when are we not??
I gotchu. Here are my Chicken Recipes to spice up your chicken wang repertoire, including my spicy Korean Fried Chicken that my husband always requests for his birthday! My Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken is a non-spicy version. If you want to go the non-deep-fried route, my Soy Sauce Wings are lighter & air fried, just like my Sweet Chili Wings!
And while Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken and Chicken Karaage are technically not chicken wings, they’re just as satisfying to pop these golden nuggets in your mouth! And ofc I made air fried versions like my Air Fried Popcorn Chicken and Air Fried Karaage!
🥗 More Easy Asian Fusion Recipes You’ll Love!
Let’s get cooking!
Get into my secret stash of Goody-Packed Newsletters with meals planned for you & time-saving tips! Want step-by-step videos of how to make my recipes too? I gotchu over at my youtube channel. Aight, enough chatting, more eating!
Crunchy Thai Tamarind Chicken Wings
Watch How to Make It!
Ingredients
SEASONINGS
- 1 ½ tablespoon baking powder NOT baking soda; ideally aluminum free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 pounds chicken wings pat dry VERY well
TAMARIND SAUCE
- 4 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons water
- 10 garlic cloves minced
- 1-3 Thai chilies thinly sliced, adjust to your spice level
- ½ tablespoon butter
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tablespoons unsalted peanuts roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons fried shallots
Instructions
BAKE AT LOW TEMP
- In a large bowl, mix together the seasonings – baking powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Pat dry wings VERY well, then toss in seasoning until well coated. Transfer to a wire rack on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Optional: If you have the extra time – For extra crispy skin, place in the fridge uncovered to dry out for 8 hours, up to 24 hours for extra crispy skin.
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes.
MAKE TAMARIND SAUCE
- Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, and lime juice until smooth, then set aside.
- Heat a small saucepan on medium-low heat with about 2 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic & cook for 1-2 minutes, or until lightly golden brown, then quickly drain garlic crisps & keep the garlic oil. They’ll continue to brown & crisp as they cool.
- Add garlic oil back to the saucepan on medium-low heat, cook Thai chilies for a few seconds until soft and fragrant, then slowly and carefully whisk in tamarind sauce. Increase heat to medium, then once boiling, reduce back to medium-low & simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the sugars don’t burn. You’ll know it’s done when it thickens to a thick syrupy glaze that coats a spoon & leaves a line with the swipe of your finger – be careful though because it’s HOT. Taste & adjust if needed – if it’s too salty or thickened too much, add a tiny splash of water; if it’s not salty enough, keep in mind the wings are also salted so you don’t want them to be too salty when coated in the sauce.
- Turn off heat, add butter, & stir until melted. Cover to keep warm.
BAKE AT HIGH TEMP & TOSS IN SAUCE
- Remove chicken from oven, increase heat to 425 F. Once oven reaches temp, bake in the middle rack for 30-45 minutes, or until 95% cooked through (internal temperature of 150-160 F or no longer pink near the bone). Cooking time may vary slightly depending on the size of your chicken wings.
- Move chicken to the top rack & broil both sides for a final blast of heat for extra crispy skin! They’re ready when they’re extra golden brown & crispy. Every oven works differently, so keep a close eye on the wings so they don’t burn!
- Transfer chicken wings to a large bowl to toss in sauce, chopped peanuts (reserving a little for garnish), fried crispy garlic, & crispy shallots until well coated. Transfer to a serving plate, & if you’re feeling fancy, garnish with remaining chopped peanuts, cilantro, and chilies. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Baking Powder: This is NOT baking soda – you’ll be devastated if you accidently swap the two! Baking powder dries out the chicken skin to crisp up while baking.
- Tamarind Paste: Find Thai tamarind paste (not the Indian variety that’s much darker) at local Asian markets or make it easily at home using 2 ingredients in my tamarind paste recipe!
- Fresh Lime Juice: No bottled stuff! Easy swap is white vinegar.
- Thai Chilies: These are small but mighty! Adjust to your tastebuds.
- Fried Shallots: I buy these from the store to save time!
Nutrition
Exact calculations may vary. For the most accurate nutritional information, use your preferred nutrition calculator, actual ingredients, and quantities used for the recipe. Please consult with your physician or registered dietitian if more precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
