Winger’s Sticky Fingers
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Now you can make famous Winger’s sticky fingers right at home anytime you get a craving. Three easy steps will put these saucy baked chicken strips on the table in just 30 minutes!
Want more appetizers? Try my Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, Instant Pot Chicken Taquitos, and Quinoa Chicken Nuggets next!
I can’t tell you how sad I am that the local Winger’s closed its doors and left town. There are some rumors floating around that say there was some structural damage to the building foundation and that’s why they left.
It happened last year and no one else has moved in so I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed that the Winger’s owner people decide to fix whatever the problem is and move back in.
It can’t have anything to do with going out of business and a lack of profit because I swear that place was always packed. How can anyone resist that inevitable sticky finger temptation??
Not possible.
And can I just say that I am a fan of any restaurant that serves free popcorn for an appetizer? Peanuts, meh, I could do without. Bread, I actually quite like – especially Texas Roadhouse (the best rolls on the planet) and Lonestar (that dark pumpernickel bread, gahhhh) and Iggy’s with the chili dipping sauce!
Woah. Mental carb loading right now.
But popcorn. That’s where it’s at. How can you not have a good meal when it starts with popcorn?? And a nice bonus is the fact that you can get through the whole bucket of popcorn and still have room for your dinner. As much as I love bread (LOVE bread) I rarely have room for even half of my dinner after snarfing down a loaf of honey-buttered french bread.
Is it just me, or is it basically impossible to leave uneaten free bread on the table when you’re waiting for what seems like an eternity for your meal to arrive? You know what I’m talking about. It’s almost unethical. You’ve gotta eat the bread.
I’ve eaten at Winger’s seven hundred times (or somewhere around there, I’ve lost track) and I always get the sticky fingers. I’ve tried bites of a few other things when friends or family ordered something else, and they were good, but I always come back to those dang sticky fingers. They’re so addicting!
But now that we don’t have a Winger’s close by anymore, I’ve had to find a way to get my sticky-finger-fix without going on a road trip and this recipe is the answer people. It’s so so easy and only takes 30 minutes to whip these babies up.
The other day I went a little crazy and dipped them in all sorts of sauces including blue cheese, honey mustard, and green goddess dressing, but I always come back to that classic combo: sticky fingers + ranch.
Plus these are baked, not fried, so they’re healthier than the restaurant version and you can feed the whole family on this meal for a fraction of the price it costs to take everyone out. Do you need any more convincing?? MAKE THESE! You shall thank me later.
What people are saying about Winger’s Sticky Fingers
“Holly COW!! Just made these and they were to DIE for!! Seriously sooooo delicious! My mom broke her diet over these!! Beware! They are the best! Thanks for sharing!!” -Evelyn
“These were delicious. We made them with the Buffalo sauce and they were to die for! I would definitely make them again in a heart beat. We doubled the batch and made potato wedges with it. AMAZING!” – Shelby
“Made this tonight! One of the best dinners we have ever had! Thank you so much for sharing!!! We all loved it.” – Kathy
“I made these last night and two words describe them…YUM-MEEE!!!!! They were fast to make and delicious! I only had blue cheese and they were great with that. A definite repeat!” – Lisa
“These are freaking delicious! One piece of advice: 1.5x’s the sauce! Extra sticky.” – Josh
“I just made these for dinner. I am so happy I have some leftover because they were THAT good, Thanks so much for sharing! ” – Sarah
Winger’s Sticky Fingers
Ingredients
- 3-4 chicken breasts, pounded to ½ inch thickness
- ½ cup flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
Sticky Finger Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- ⅓ cup Frank’s hot sauce , (it can be original or buffalo flavor)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 and grease a baking sheet with cooking spray. Slice chicken breasts into strips. Add chicken strips and flour to a large ziplock bag. Seal and toss to coat chicken in flour.
- Place panko crumbs in a bowl. In another bowl whisk together eggs and water. Dip flour-coated chicken strips into egg mixture, then toss in panko crumbs to coat.
- Place coated chicken pieces on greased baking sheet and spray heavily with cooking spray. Bake 15-20 minutes until chicken is browned and cooked through.
- While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and hot sauce and stir over medium-high heat until melted and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in garlic powder and water until smooth.
- When chicken strips are done cooking, toss in sauce. Serve warm with ranch dressing if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m in Australia and was wondering what you classify “hot sauce”
Is it a BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce or something entirely different.
Hope someone can help me. Thanks
It is entirely different than both of those. It is more so a spicy sauce here.
Here is a link for a homemade version of hot sauce from a google search-
https://www.food.com/recipe/copycat-franks-red-hot-sauce-494182
I Tried it and its so delicious. So interesting reading through this post, I really do enjoy visiting your blog for content such as this. Keep the good work going.
I made these tonight and they were absolutely delicious!!! Thank you!!
I worked with a guy years ago that was a cook at Wingers. He said both the sauce and batter recipe were crazy easy. The batter was corn starch with some Frank’s added in for liquid. The sauce was made in a pot with Frank’s and a ton of dark brown sugar until it tasted right. I’ve made this at least a dozen times and it’s spot on. I miss Wingers and their popcorn here in North Ogden.
Thanks for your feedback!! Good ole Wingers 😉
This recipe is amazing. I had Wingers a few times when I lived in Utah, and the sauce tastes just like I remember it. Thank you for letting me relive fond memories!
You’re so welcome! 😉
Slap Yourself silly Good!
I sneak in 1/2 Tbs of chipotle tabasco in with the frank’s, as I like a little smokiness.
I even cheat a little further sometimes, and buy the already made, fried chicken tenders from our local grocery store deli, when they are on sale. Winner, winner, chicken dinner1
The chicken strips were so good. Saw the recipe yesterday and went shopping and made these delicious chicken strips. My husband does not like chicken and does not eat chicken. Guess what, he loved them! Great recipe and oh so sticky.
So delicious!
thank you! The miracle of this recipe is the chicken. I have tried many different ways to make chicken strips and none have come out this fantastic. I’ve used other recipes to make the sauce before, but this is the one I will use again and again. my sister, mom and husband loved it. 🙂
This is the best sticky fingers copycat!! A huge family favorite that we have made so many times. I love that moSt of the ingredients are things that i usually have on hand too. So glad that i fouNd this killer recipe!!
So glad you enjoy this recipe!
2 thumbs up! My husband said definitely a keeper. My son said good enough to serve in a restaurant. 😆 Everyone loved them. Question: any way I can use less brown sugar or a low calorie substitute?