The Soft Drink To Add To Your Chicken Wing Glaze For Next-Level Flavor

Adding soda to your next chicken wing glaze is an unexpected twist that delivers delicious results. To find the perfect pop pairing, Food Republic contacted Matt Ensero, Co-Founder and Brand President of Wing It On!. His secret tip: use orange soda. He explains, "Orange soda excels in a chicken wing glaze due to a trio of factors: sweetness, acidity, and carbonation." So, if you're looking to seriously elevate your homemade chicken wings, it's time to rely on the fizzy, orange-hued, and flavored soda variety. The first component that comes from adding orange soda is the sweetness. Ensero divulges, "The sweetness — primarily from sugar — caramelizes when heated, forming a sticky, glossy coating that balances the savory richness of the wings." The sugary taste is perfect for the other undertones of saltiness in the chicken. 

Ensero continues to explain that, "Beyond sweetness, the acidity (from citric acid) adds brightness, cutting through the fattiness of the chicken and preventing the glaze from feeling heavy." This is especially true with the deep-fried varieties of wings (which at times feel heavy), but the orange provides that necessary pop of fresh flavor, which has you coming back for more. The final heavy hitter he speaks on is carbonation. Ensero says, "The carbonation plays a subtler role: if you marinate the wings in the soda before glazing, the bubbles can tenderize the meat slightly by breaking down proteins, though this effect is minimal compared to the flavor contributions."

Imagine succulent bites, juicy, tender meat coated in a rich, slightly zesty sauce, all due to the flick of a pop can. Making the glaze involves slowly boiling orange soda with other ingredients like brown sugar, garlic, and cornstarch. While it simmers, the sugars thicken, creating a lush, flavorful glaze. As for cooking, there are many ways to cook your batch of wings (consider every way you can cook a chicken wing, ranked). 

Ensero explains how the caramelization process occurs while cooking. Ensero says, "This caramelization happens whether you bake, fry, or grill the wings, turning the glaze into a flavorful shell." For baking, you'll add the glaze a few minutes after they're done to help the sauce stick to the hot wings. When frying wings, you'll use the orange soda glaze once fully cooked. Toss the fried chicken in a bowl with a hefty serving of glaze to coat every section. 

Grilling requires basting the wings consistently throughout the cooking process (make sure to keep the sauce that's come in contact with raw chicken away from the glaze you use at the end), which provides a broiled, consistent flavor where the grill lines add crispiness, and the glaze gets more charred in specific spots, creating a crunchy set, gooey glaze texture that's delicious from start to finish. Don't forget to pair it with a dish of extra glaze or some dressing like this homemade ranch dressing for over-the-top sweet, savory, salty, and umami flavors.