Buffalo Feathers - Chicken Tenders with Wing Sauce

Grilled chicken tenderloins sauced like wings (similar to Wild Wing Cafe's) for all the fun and flavor of buffalo wings with half the work! 

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So we bought a new grill. Finally. And because I've been without one for so long (and because I know in a month or two it will be too hot to even LOOK at a grill) I've been grilling like a mad woman!

Seriously. It’s almost ridiculous. Deciding which vegetables to buy at the market comes down to one very simple question: can I grill it? The menu for the entire week will revolve around the grill.

I've been keeping chicken tenderloins on-hand to throw on there too because they’re quick and easy for the kids. If I’m grilling something for Husband and myself that I don’t think the onions will necessarily love (or appreciate), I’ll just throw some tenderloins on there for them and everybody’s happy! Because um… I don’t know about y’all but buying an 8-year old a 2-inch thick ribeye ain't really how I roll.

So anyway, I found a big family pack of tenders on sale and grabbed them up! Then I was wondering what in the world to do with that many because I’d never really thought of grilling chicken tenderloins by themselves. Like, just tenders with nothing else. And then I remembered the “buffalo feathers” at Wild Wing Café. They cook chicken tenderloins then sauce them like chicken wings and instead of calling them buffalo wings, they call them buffalo feathers. Ya know, because they’re kinda shaped like feathers?

Yes, I know buffalo don’t have feathers. You know what else they don’t have? Wings.

My usual wing sauce is basically equal parts hot sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar but I wanted to make these a little more like “buffalo wings”. Typical buffalo wing sauce is mostly equal parts melted butter and hot sauce. I sort of combined these two concepts and came up with the recipe below.

And I LOVED IT!! There’s just enough brown sugar in there to balance the acidic pepper sauce without being cloyingly sweet and the soy sauce gives it another layer of flavor. I think I might have found my new favorite wing sauce recipe! FOR REAL! So good!

I wouldn't consider these very spicy. My kids ate them without batting an eye. If I had to rate the heat, I’d say these were a 6 out of 10 on the spiciness scale.

I served these with the typical accoutrement of celery and bleu cheese dressing but also served cool, crisp simple wedge salads with bleu cheese dressing and it was just so perfectly perfect with the chicken! I can’t wait to make this meal again!

Hmmm… I wonder if Bi-Lo is still having that sale…

If you're looking for more fun and hearty appetizers, try some of these recipes too!

• Party Shrimp – Super easy shrimp appetizer recipe with just a few ingredients that cooks up quick in the oven. 
• Monte Cristo Party Sliders – Party sandwiches made with ham, turkey and cheese baked in a rich buttery topping dusted with powdered sugar. 
• Chipotle Shrimp Tostada Bites – Mini tostadas with chipotle glazed shrimp and guacamole sprinkled with a confetti of red onion and cilantro! 
• Original Sausage Balls – The original recipe for sausage balls using Bisquick, cheddar cheese and sausage. 
• Ham & Swiss Party Pinwheels – A super easy appetizer recipe using puff pastry, ham and cheese that's perfect for entertaining.
• Buffalo Chicken Dip – Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo chicken dip with ranch dressing

Recipe for Buffalo Feathers - Chicken Tenders with Wild Wing Sauce

Buffalo Feathers - Chicken Tenders with Wing Sauce

Yield: 14-15 Pieces

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 20 M

Grilled chicken tenderloins sauced like wings (similar to Wild Wing Cafe's) for all the fun and flavor of buffalo wings with half the work!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup hot sauce
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

1. Combine hot sauce, butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic in a small bowl then mix well to make the marinade and basting sauce.
2. Combine 1/2 cup sauce, salt and chicken tenderloins in a bowl. Using your hands or a rubber spatula, gently mix until tenderloins are coated with sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Set remaining sauce aside, at room temperature, to baste the chicken with later.
3. Grill chicken over medium-high heat, uncovered, until cooked through (it doesn't take long - don't overcook them!), basting 2-3 times on each side with remaining sauce. For saucier “feathers” toss with remaining sauce before serving.

Notes

• The melted butter will solidify a little when it hits the cold chicken and more so when it gets refrigerated while it's marinating. That is A-OK.
• You can also pan-fry these in a little vegetable oil then toss them in the sauce to serve.
• There are just too many variables when grilling to tell you how long to cook yours. I can tell you I cooked mine about 5 minutes on each side (on an open grill). The most important thing is to NOT overcook them. Because they’re somewhat opaque, it’s easy to tell how they’re cooking.
• I think it would be awesome to make a boat load of these and baste/serve them with various wing sauces like barbeque and teriyaki!
• I always always ALWAYS use Texas Pete Hot Sauce but if you can't get it where you live, try Cholula or Frank's RedHot.
• Use regular hot sauce. Not hot wing sauce or buffalo wing sauce or tabasco sauce. Just plain hot sauce.

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Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2015

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