Mild Buffalo Wing Sauce

Julesong's Note:

Our favorite commercial wing sauce is "Wing-Time" sauce, but it can be a bit difficult to find in stores. My husband likes the hot version (as opposed to the "very hot" - he says it has more flavor, even though he likes extremely spicy food), and I like the mild version. Unfortunately, the mild version is almost impossible to find, so I needed to create my own recipe. And believe me, this recipe makes a nice, tangy, flavorful mild wing sauce! I use this recipe as the basis for buffalo sauce recipes, and then if my husband wants it spicier he simply can add his own favorite hot sauces over top the cooked food. Delicious!

• Total Time: 5 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 0.75 cup, ap ...

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup frank's hot sauce
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a pan over low heat, melt the butter. You can allow it to brown slightly if you like, it's up to you (slightly browning it gives it a nice flavor), but be careful that it doesn't brown too much or burn.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together well.
3. Simmer for only 3-5 minutes, whisking occasionally - if you do it for longer then the garlic powder will begin to cook and the sauce will separate a bit. If you're going to use the sauce for cooking other ingredients in (such as pouring over wings and baking), that's fine because that's what will happen anyhow, but if you're going to use it for dipping then you'll probably not want to heat it for long. As with any non-commercial butter/hotsauce sauce, the butter *will* separate a bit, that's normal.
4. Note: I plan to experiment with ways to keep the butter from separating from the sauce, so that I can make up batches and keep it in the refrigerator, so stay tuned!
5. Re the ancho chile powder: ancho is pretty mild, and the main flavor point you're looking for is smokiness. If you don't have ancho chile powder, you shouldn't substitute it with cayenne or regular chile powder because it won't taste the same. Cayenne will add a lot of heat, as will regular chile powder, and there's plenty of heat already in the Frank's Hot Sauce. If you don't have ancho, you can try smoked spanish paprika. Or if you really feel up to experimentation, you can try a couple drops of Liquid Smoke and regular mild (not hot) paprika or a little chile powder, making sure that you taste it as they're added gradually to get the amount of heat and smokiness you prefer.

Reviews

[mums the word]

Loved this wing sauce Julesong! The kids still found it a bit spicy but DH and I thought it was perfect. I did omit the ancho chile powder as I don't normally have that on hand. I will definitely make this again. Thx for sharing!

[georgeweezie_8318418]

Are you up for standing in your kitchen doing a taste test and "yummmmmm"-ing and humming in pure divine mild buffalo wings bliss with sauce dripping down your chin and looking a mess when your family comes in to find out what's going on? And are you ready for everyone to dig in and forget all about gathering around the table and rather standing over the sink and the counter and eating a whole batch of wings without conversation except "these are soooooo gooooood, mom..."? cuz that's what happened here!! My high school graduate decided she wanted BWW on her grad party menu and I decided it was finally time to learn how to make our own wings and sauce. This was my very first sauce experiment and WE JUST LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Yes we've eaten wings 4 times over the last 2 weeks and she made her final proclamation "These are all way better than anything I ever tasted there...thanks, mom!"

[partysweets]

This wing sauce is amazing, thank you so so much for this recipe. It was mild enough for our kids and we could add more heat for adults if we wanted, such a perfect sauce!