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.
I never comment on anything, but I just had to say – this is the first pinterest recipe ever that has lived up to the picture!!! These were seriously amazing. My husband said this is his favorite chicken I have ever made – and we eat chicken every night. Thank you!!!
Thanks so much Kristy!! We honestly love this recipe so much – my husband asks for it all the time!! Glad you enjoyed it too! 🙂
I just made these for dinner. I am so happy I have some leftover because they were THAT good, Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
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!!
Haha! Well I’m sorry-not-sorry about the diet breaking because they are soooo worth it 😉
Looking at these on Pintrest and I couldn’t resist!!!!
I have never been or heard of Wingers but if I ever see one I am going. I made these tonight and they were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!! The sauce is amazing and they were very crispy.
Thanks for posting!!!!!
Oh my, if you loved this recipe you HAVE to go to a Wingers. Except wait… don’t, you’ll be addicted. Proceed with caution!!! 😉
I will be making them for dinner soon. Would they be good with blue cheese too? Instead of ranch
Definitely! I often eat them with blue cheese dressing!!
Well I made them and delicious. Didn’t even need the blue cheese 😀
Hi Tiffany! I found your recipe on Pinterest and just made it for dinner. My husband said it’s his second favorite meal I’ve ever made. Wow…obviously a big hit! 🙂 Just one question…mine weren’t particularly sticky. The sauce was absolutely delicious, but it seemed a little thin. Should I have let it cool for a while after I removed it from the heat? Also…some of my Panko was sliding off when I was tossing the chicken in the sauce. Any tips would be much appreciated…I want this to be PERFECT next time! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
Hi Nicole! Yes, after removing it from the heat it should thicken as it cools. Also I’m not sure what would cause the panko to slide off of the chicken, I’ve never had that happen before!
These were so good! The kids and husband devoured them. I cheated a little bit by using frozen panko chicken tenders, but the sauce was so yummy! Just the right amount of heat and sweet. All my husband kept saying was Wow! Definitely a keeper in the dinner rotation. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I made this for my friends…it was a hit. Totally easy and delicious!!!! Thank you.
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed this!!! 🙂 🙂
Making this tonight, any suggestion for a side??
We love serving it with fries or salad!
Your pictures look wonderful. It’s always fun to have a restaurant experience at home.
Wow. I am always looking for new recipes to change up dinner at my house. I stumbled across these on pinterest and made them last night. I changed around a few ingredients to make these gluten free using almond flour, palm sugar, olive oil and gf bread crumbs but followed exactly other then that. WOW! The whole recipe was amazing, but that sauce was literally a game changer. My boyfriend could not get enough! Cannot wait to make this again, one of the best new recipes I have found in a long time! If I could rate this, I would give it 5 stars!
These are freaking delicious!
One piece of advice: 1.5x’s the sauce! Extra sticky.
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!
This turned out really good. I well definitely make this again.
Made this tonight! One of the best dinners we have ever had! Thank you so much for sharing!!! We all loved it(: