Spice Rubbed Steakhouse Style Chicken Wings in Your Pressure Cooker
When my husband and I go to Outback Steakhouse (aka: his favorite restaurant in the world) we have a long standing tradition of ordering only appetizers. Like... three or four appetizers, as our entire meal! We start with the house salad, both getting the tangy tomato dressing (I don’t know what’s in there, but it’s a little bit of spicy love!) and then hopefully they offer the loaded baked potato soup. It’s the best I’ve ever had, hands down! We might even decide to split a shrimp appetizer or a “Bloomin’ Onion”, but it’s really not necessary since we are looking most forward to the wings! If you’ve never had Outback’s Kookaburra Wings before, trust me when I say... you have been missing out. This is coming from an upstate New Yorker‘s perspective (home of the original buffalo chicken wing). Anchor Bar, Duff’s, Din-o-saur Barbecue… you’ve got nothing on the Outback secret spice mix! They put it on nearly everything. Heck, if they don’t already rim the Bloody Mary glasses with it, I’m shocked! (And I’m suggesting it!)
It’s got all the usual suspects: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper but also some surprising superstars like cheese powder and cloves. The combination is magical! I came across a recipe for it in a Restaurant Recipe Secrets Cookbook, and my husband swears it’s nearly identical! The only substitution I made is to use cornstarch instead of all purpose flour, to make it gluten free. Layering it with your favorite wing sauce before broiling is where the genius happens!
Ingredients:
- approximately 3 pounds chicken wings, separated at the joints & tips discarded
- 1/4 cup your favorite wing sauce
Spice Mix Ingredients:
- 4 Tablespoons flour or cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons cheese powder (such as Molly McButter)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the spice mixture and whisk together. Set aside.
In your Insta-pot or pressure cooker, place the steamer basket in the bottom and one cup of water. Layer all the chicken wings as evenly as you can into the basket and close the lid, with the release lever set to “pressure”. Cook the wings for 6 minutes (or 10 minutes for frozen wings) and manually release the pressure, carefully with a kitchen towel or oven mitt. Once the pressure has been released, take the cooked wings out of the pot and place them in a large bowl. Toss them together with the wing sauce and about 2 tablespoons of water. Once they are coated, sprinkle them with a good amount of the spice mixture, maybe 1/4 cup, or to your liking. It should resemble a wet paste. (You will have a lot leftover... enough for another batch!)
Next, line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil. Please each wing on the sheet, try not to touch the other wing next to it. Sprinkle with a bit of additional spice mix on one side. Place your oven rack at the top position, and broil for approximately five minutes. The chicken skin will start to bubble, crackle and blacken just a bit. At that time, take the tray out and flip every wing over, sprinkling with more spice mix. Broil another five minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer all the wings onto a serving dish. I like to serve it along with a few celery sticks and ramekins of blue cheese, but other people like to eat them with ranch dressing. The flavor is delicious, but really it’s just a cooling effect from the heat and the spices. Try not to burn your face off as you inhale every one!
Many thanks to my good friend, Sara, for taking the first couple photos. Apparently I only make my chicken wings after the sun goes down and have yet been able to take a decent shot of them! She also taught me the secret to Pressure Cooker Chicken Wings, and tested my recipe on her family... numerous times!
