Oh yes, these pickle brined chicken wings are seriously crispy and seriously delicious. A fantastic keto wing recipe for your snacking pleasure. With instructions for both air fryer and oven!
As you may already know, I am a chicken wing fanatic. Severely fanatical, to be exact. And I am ever so thankful that there are so many great ways to make keto chicken wings. Take, for example, my Old Bay Wings with browned butter. Totally swoon-worthy! Or my crispy Garlic Parmesan Wings, a favorite with everyone who tries them.
Well, I decided it was time for a new wing recipe and this time I went with pickle brine chicken. Yes, you heard that right. I brined my wings in pickle juice. Then I tossed them in seasonings and air fried them to crispy perfection. Absolutely amazing!
I will be the first to admit that brining chicken in pickle juice was not my idea. I can’t remember where I first heard of pickle brine chicken but I’ve seen it on multiple sites since. It’s often breaded and fried, so it’s not exactly keto friendly.
Brining Chicken Wings in Pickle Juice
Brining chicken in pickle juice strikes me as both smart and delicious. Salt brines are a great way to increase the juiciness of any chicken. Especially oven-baked chicken, as it can get rather dry during the cooking process. Pickle juice is really just a brine with added flavors like dill and garlic, so how can you go wrong with that?
I do want to give a nod to this recipe from Macheesmo, as I used it as a guide on how exactly to brine the wings. But I wanted to play up those dill pickle flavors, so I created a different spice rub with garlic and fresh dill.
I also brined my wings for longer, to really lock in the juices and get more flavor. And I cooked my wings in the air fryer to get super crispy skin. You can also use an oven and I’ve provided instructions for that as well.
How to make Pickle Brine Chicken Wings
There’s no magic or voodoo here, as this recipe is really quite simple. But I do have some tips for you.
- Save the brine from any large jar of dill pickles. Or several jars, if need be. You want the wings to be full submerged in the juices so you need at least 3 cups. I had my husband save the brine from one of my jars of homemade Spicy Refrigerator Pickles. They are our favorite pickles and I make huge batches of them every summer.
As an aside, my kids love drinking pickle juice and I had to fend them off the brine to make the wings. So if you have weird kids like mine, be sure to tell them the brine is not to be touched!
- Combine the pickle juice and the wings. You can do this in a ziplock bag or in a large bowl. Just make sure that all of the wings are full submerged in the brine.
- Brine for at least one hour and up to 4 hours. This allows the brine to penetrate the skin of the chicken and enter the flesh. The salt helps attract moisture and locks in the juices.
- Drain the wings and dry really well. I like to take a couple of big rags and set them on a work space, then pat the wings until they are thoroughly dry. If they are wet at all, even a little, the skin won’t crisp up as well. And you really want that crispy delicious skin.
- Toss lightly with a neutral oil, such as avocado oil, as this helps the seasonings stick to the skin. I used more dill and garlic, to help bring out the dill pickle flavors of these wings. Plus a little chili powder for a tiny kick of heat. Feel free to adjust to your liking.
- Always flip your wings halfway through. Whether you bake in the oven or in an air fryer, the bottoms of the wings tend not get crispy if you don’t flip them. I like to start my wings skin side down and then flip them skin side up to finish them off. It’s an extra step but it’s worth it.
- Bake until crispy! This will depend on what you bake them in and how long. I tend to like my wings a bit dried out so I always bake them longer than specified.
What to serve with your Pickle Brine Chicken
Oh the possibilities! I whipped up a simple dill pickle mayo dip. But you could do any dip you like. Ranch would be great since it also contains dill and garlic. I’d worry that bleu cheese would overpower the dill pickle flavor of the wings. They are so good on their own, you can skip the dip altogether if you’d prefer.
Celery sticks and cucumber slices go great with these wings too, and are delicious with the dill pickle mayonnaise dip.
The pickle brined wings can also be an appetizer or the full meal. They are so low carb, you could pair them with a big salad and call it dinner. That’s what I like to do!
Want more delicious dill pickle flavored recipes?
Keto Pickle Brine Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Pickle Brine Wings
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 3 cups dill pickle juice
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
Dill Pickle Mayo: (optional)
- ¼ cup avocado oil mayo
- 3 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickles
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large ziploc bag, combine the chicken wings and the pickle juice. Massage to combine well and lay flat in the fridge for 3 hours. Tip: if you're worried the bag might leak, lay it flat in a large baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine the chopped dill, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and chili powder.
- Once the wings have marinated, drain in a colander and pat VERY dry with rags or paper towels.
- In a large bowl, toss the wings with the avocado oil until coated, then sprinkle the seasoning over and toss again to coat.
To Cook: (Air Fryer or Oven)
- Air Fryer: Place the wings skin side down first on the air fryer rack and cook at 400F for 10 minutes. Flip them over and cook again for another 10 to 15, until the skin is crispy.
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 425F and set a metal rack above a large rimmed baking sheet. Brush or spray the rack with oil. Place the wings skin side down on the rack and bake 20 minutes.
- Flip the wings over and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until the skin is crispy.
Dill Pickle Mayo:
- Whisk together the mayo and chopped pickles. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on the side for dipping.
Video
Notes
Terri Joy says
These wings are the absolute best! My husband specifically requests these wings all the time. They don’t taste “pickely”; rather the pickle juice tenderizes the meat and simply brightens the flavor. I even use this method/recipe for chicken legs. I also cook them in the air fryer. Less messy, even more crispy!
Most definitely a keeper. Highest recomendations!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Kim Johnson says
Carolyn that recipe is next for my wings! Question – Can you recommend a recipe to make brine rather than waiting for the pickles to be eaten up? Thanks a million! Kim
Carolyn says
Here’s my old recipe for refrigerator pickles. I can’t see why you can’t make it and let it cool, all without the cucumbers! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/spicy-dill-refrigerator-pickles-secret-recipe-club/
Lisa says
Delicious! My husband and my new favorite chicken wing recipe! Now what am I going to do with all the extra pickles?!????
Sharon says
Omg these are the BOMB! Made them several times without adjusting the recipe as it’s perfect just the way it is, also dill pickle mayo throws this right outta da park! Thank you for your dedication and hard work on all of your recipes.
Carrie l Degan says
A Stellar recipe!!!!! I followed this recipe and even added extra dill…as we love it. The wings were so moist . Hubby likes his a bit more dried out than I do,so I removed mine after the allotted time and left his in the oven for a bit longer. The Dipping sauce did seem a little salty, as I added a bit of pickle juice to it & the pickles were home made…however, a dash of lemon juice & 2 tablespoons of sour cream fixed that. It was over the top amazing!!!
Thank you for this great recipe….I will be making this over and over again. 🙂
Shirley says
Made these today. They were amazing, juicy, tender, and very tasty. The only thing that we had to do different was us canola oil because we didn’t have avocado oil in the house and I had to marinate the wings overnight. The person that I was cooking the wings for was not home so I had to cook them the next day. It was extremely easy to make.
Will says
Hi Carolyn! This recipe looks awesome – really happy to have found your blog! I was just wondering, how many wings do you get out of this recipe (2 pounds)? If the serving size is 1/8, and there are only 6-8 wings in a pound (according to my online research) that would only leave you with about 1 1/2 wings.
Carolyn says
Well, I just looked at my top down photo and counted 18 wings (a few underneath the ones on top), so that’s about 2 wings per serving. But keep in mind that this is an “appetizer serving”, not a meal. If you want to make a meal out of it, go for it! And keep in mind that it does depend on what kind of wings you purchase. I got these ones at my local farmers market and they aren’t the enhanced, caged chicken kind but the good pasture raised kind. Much smaller but better for you and very tasty.
Billy says
Thanks for this recipe, looks so good! Looking forward to making this one at home!
Carolyn says
And I am sure Bubbies brine would be delicious.
Oase Eggleton says
Fill pickle brine is now a fast food place, Chic-fil-la. Then in their breading mix is powdered sugar. Their sandwiches are so good.
Erica B says
Hi Carolyn, is this a wing recipe that would benefit from some baking powder for extra-crisp skin? I’m trying to decide which of your wing recipes to try this week. We don’t have an air-fryer, so I’m looking forward to trying the baking powder technique.
Carolyn says
I think you’d want to brine them first, drain them well, pat them very dry, and then try the baking powder trick.
Erica B says
Thank you! Hope you have a pleasant week.
Erica B says
Just want to provide a little info for anyone who had the same question about using baking powder on these wings to promote crispness. In her post for Garlic Parmesan Wings, Carolyn links to Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats as a source for the baking powder method. I read some of Nagi’s comments about baking powder on brined wings: she doesn’t recommend it, and says it doesn’t work on brined skin like it does on dry.
Lori K. says
We loved these! My husband loves pickles and takes one with him everyday for lunch. I just happened to finish off a very large jar and was getting ready to throw the juice out when you posted this recipe.
I actually just took the wings and put them in the jar and back in the fridge for about 5 hours.
My husband said that when I showed it to him it looked like some kind of crazy science experiment!
The flavor is amazing, I am always trying to find some way to change up flavors for wings and these will for sure be going in our rotation!
Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Carolyn says
Brilliant, just popping the wings in the jar… as long as the jar is big enough!
Kathy says
Awesome idea! Thanks!
Alli says
Everyone adored these! The flavor was awesome and they are keto so even better!
Krissy Allori says
Yum! I love the pickle juice in this!
Jessica says
Okay these were amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kimberly says
As a dill pickle love this is right up my alley – deeeeelicious!
Katie says
Such a unique twist on chicken wings, but we loved it!
Isis says
They served “pickle sickles” (a tiny cup of frozen pickle juice with a stick in it) at a roller rink I went to as a kid. Doesn’t appeal to me now, but I thought they were great back then, haha.
Marla says
I’m not a pickle juice drinker BUT have been saving my pickle juice. I don’t have any legs or wings but I do have 3 nice big juicy thighs so thought I’d try this recipe tonight! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Tracy says
Will be saving my pickle juice from now on. Wings are my favorite. I’m a Pisces also. Do you love the water like I do? I can’t go a week without getting into a pool.
Barbara says
I can not rate this recipe as I poured out my pickle juice last night ! What bad timing !
By the way what is the meaning of the carp on your upper arm . I was so surprised to see that !
Carolyn says
It’s a salmon. It’s Haida from the NW coast, made in the style of a famous Canadian First Nations painter named Bill Reid. My undergraduate degree is Anthropology from UBC and I’ve always loved Haida art. Also, I am a pisces. And the salmon totem symbolizes rebirth and renewal.