Cinco De Mayo Glazed Chicken Wings

looneytunesfan's Note:

Green chilies and taco seasoning add the piquant flavor but it is the lemon-lime carbonated beverage that adds the sweetness to these chicken wings. A Pillsbury Bake-Off® finalist recipe.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 5

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 ½ lbs chicken wings , cut apart at joints, wing tips discarded
• 2 medium green onions , thinly sliced including tops (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 (12 ounce) cans carbonated lemon-lime beverage
• 1 (4 ½ ounce) can old el paso chopped green chilies , drained
• 1 (1 ¼ ounce) package old el paso taco seasoning mix
• 10 lettuce leaves , if desired

Directions:

1. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken wings and onions; sprinkle with pepper flakes. Cook uncovered 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned; drain.
3. Stir in carbonated beverage, green chiles and taco seasoning mix. Increase heat to high; cook uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken wings are completely glazed, small amount of glaze remains in skillet and juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (180°F).
5. To serve, line serving plate with lettuce; arrange chicken wings over lettuce. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[Mareesme]

I did not have the Old El Paso Brand items, but if the flavors were different, these were still very good. As the other reviewer said, I thought the addition of 7-Up was the key to making this different from other chicken wing appetizers. I'm glad I doubled the recipe so I could freeze the remaining wings to pass around on Cinco de Mayo!

[melazycook]

My hubby said give it a 4 or 4 1/2, so I'm giving this a 5, since I deviated from the original recipe and made it a main dish instead of an appetizer! In honor of the 1st of May I decided to make this to get ready for Cinco de Mayo, but only had boneless skinless chicken breasts. Because of this, I'm sure it was not nearly as good as using wings and took longer to make. Adding the lemon-lime soda was the thing that made this a step above other spicy wings. I'd go easier on the sprinkled red pepper flakes next time (I didn't measure!) and would add the green onion halfway through the browning phase, so they wouldn't crisp up. As a main course, we really liked putting some leftover sauce on the rice I made using chicken broth. On Cinco de Mayo I'm going to use what I was supposed to use (chicken wings) and will bring to a party as an appetizer which I'm sure people will find differemnt and tasty...