Winger’s Sticky Fingers
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
Thank you! We made these tonight and are huge wingers fans and have been craving these sticky fingers! The only adjustments I made was adding about 1/4 cup of good bbq sauce to your sauce mixture to replicate their Rebel Sauce..holy that was amazing. We added a tablespoon of corn starch to the sauce so it stuck well to the chicken. And as for cooking the chicken, we plain ol` fried em in hot oil. Thank you thank you
Yum, that bbq sauce sounds like an awesome flavor swap!! I definitely have to try that!!
I have made these several times since I have found the recipe. I made them for my kids who are married and took them to them for dinner! Rave reviews. I double the sauce and cut up green onions to sprinkle on. Really adds to them. I am not a big fan of Ranch Dressing for dipping, too thick and strong so I mixed a packet of Ranch seasoning packet with sour cream…perfect and a little lighter. I have to say that I crave this chicken sometimes.
Thanks for this simple recipe! It turned out great! We just ate this with fries and used ranch to dip in as suggested. It made a lot…I cut up 3 Costco chicken breasts and had probably 12 “fingers” total, so we invited bro and sis in law for dinner too. I got an A+ from my husband and we all loved it! Definitely will make this again!
Do you really spray the chicken with cooking spray? Or use pour a little olive oil over it? Thanks!
Hi Bethany, coating the chicken strips with some kind of oil helps to make them crispy. You can use olive oil spray or brush them with oil with a pastry brush.
Thanks so much!
Can you substutute for the buffalo sauce with barbeque
Yep you could do that! It will change the flavor quite a bit but I think it could still be very yummy 🙂
Dark brown sugar or light brown?
Light brown. 🙂
After the mixture come to a boil, do you put it in another bowl or keep it in the pan?
Hi Alyssa, if your pan is big enough to fit the chicken tenders in and toss then you can leave it there. Otherwise you can transfer it to a heat-safe bowl. Either way works!
Since finding this recipe about six weeks ago, it’s been on our dinner rotation at least once a week! My husband loves the “spicy chickens”. We went to Red Lobster and had the chicken fingers and both said, “the spicy chicken is WAY better”. This recipe is a definite winner.
Ha! The spicy chickens – I love it!!!
just curious… Have you ever used thighs instead of breasts for these?…
I actually haven’t, I always use chicken breasts.
Anyone concerned about spraying with cooking spray should try browning the Panko in skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil before coating the chicken. I did this and chicken was wonderfully crispy. Love this recipe and can’t wait to have again!!
I found your recipe thanks to Pinterest…and I have made them…twice. I am not sure what “Winger’s” was/is, but your recipe is on point! So freaking tasty!!! I did about 2lbs of chicken tenderloins, cut to size, and made almost a double batch of the sticky sauce. I have used this recipe twice and my family LOVES!!!!!! I read the concerns about the cooking spray, and I omit that step completely. I grease my sheets (hehe) with veggie oil and that’s it. I usually am NOT a fan of baked chicken, but this chicken? Ummm, yes please!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe 😀