popeyes ghost pepper wings sauce

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We tried Popeyes’ Ghost Pepper Wings to see how spicy they actually taste

The popular wings are made with ghost peppers, once known as the hottest pepper on earth.

A few weeks ago, Popeyes brought back its Ghost Pepper Wings nationwide for a limited time. An order of six wings ($4.99) comes with a fluffy biscuit and creamy buttermilk ranch dipping sauce to help tame the hot chili peppers once dubbed the hottest in the world. 

Our verdict: Forget about the Scoville scale. It’ll barely register. These wings are not spicy and you won’t need any help from the accoutrements to inhale the juicy, crispy bites of chicken.

We recently picked up an order from a Popeyes just steps from Times Square after hearing that the chain had reintroduced the wings, which debuted in 2014. According to the company, the wings are marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for at least 12 hours, hand battered and breaded.

Despite the lack of heat, the wings were delicious. The drumettes and tipless wings have a thin coating of breading that doesn’t distract from the meat. You’ll bite into succulent pieces of chicken that’s fried just right with a golden hue.

But where are the ghost peppers? The hit of heat does build up slightly after a few bites but even a dash of Tabasco would infinitely increase the spicy factor. You’ll have to be prepared for a letdown, especially when ghost peppers are known to be nearly 10 times hotter than jalapeno and habanero peppers—but you’d never as you take these wings out of their paper box.

We’d still order these wings. After all, Popeyes’ fried chicken is popular for good reason—and it’s not because they’re spicy.

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Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings

TSR Original

The Scoville heat rating of bhut jolokia, more commonly known as ghost pepper, is just over 1 million units, making it 200 times hotter than a jalapeno. But that didn’t stop Popeyes from creating an eye-watering breading for their scorching new crispy wings. Yes, these are seriously spicy wings, but they’re not so extreme as to be inedible, and the awesome flavor is guaranteed to tempt you back for more. Don't be scared.  

My recipe for Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings starts by brining the wing segments in a buttermilk and pepper sauce marinade. Salt, MSG, and cayenne pepper sauce will fill the wings with flavor, and the breading, with a decent amount of ground ghost pepper in it, will bring on the sting. Ghost pepper has been quickly growing in popularity over the last several years, and you should have no trouble finding ground ghost pepper online. Even brick-and-mortar grocery stores are stocking it.

Still, ghost pepper is crazy hot, so be careful with it. You may even want to use gloves when breading these wings. Especially if you’ll need clean fingers later for putting in a contact lens, holding a baby, or any other activity not favorable to ferociously spicy digits.    

Get my secret recipes for all your favorite Popeyes food here .

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup cayenne pepper sauce (Louisiana or Frank's RedHot)

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Olive Garden Lasagna Classico

Crafting an Olive Garden’s signature Lasagna Classico recipe became the perfect opportunity to create a beautiful multi-layered lasagna hack recipe that uses up the whole box of lasagna noodles and fills the baking pan all the way to the top. This Top Secret Recipe makes a lasagna that tips the scale at nearly 10 pounds and will feed hungry mouths for days, with every delicious layer copied directly from the carefully dissected Olive Garden original.

I found a few credible bits of intel in a video of an Olive Garden chef demonstrating what he claims is the real formula on a midday news show, but the recipe was abbreviated for TV and the chef left out some crucial information. One ingredient he conspicuously left out of the recipe is the secret layer of Cheddar cheese located near the middle of the stack. I wasn’t expecting to find Cheddar in lasagna, but when I carefully separated the layers from several servings of the original dish, there was the golden melted cheesy goodness in every slice.

This clone recipe will make enough for 8 big portions, but if you make slightly smaller slices this is easily enough food to fill twelve lasagna-loving bellies. If you like lasagna, you're going to love this version.

This recipe was our #2 most popular in 2020. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (#1), King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (#3), Pei Wei Better Orange Chicken (#4), Chipotle Mexican Grill Carnitas (#5).

Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce

Getting a table at the 123-year-old original Rao’s restaurant in New York City is next to impossible. The tables are “owned” by regulars who schedule their meals months in advance, so every table is full every night, and that’s the way it’s been for the last 38 years. The only way an outsider would get to taste the restaurant’s fresh marinara sauce is to be invited by a regular.

If that isn’t in the stars for you, you could buy a bottle of the sauce at your local market (if they even have it). It won't be fresh, and it's likely to be the most expensive sauce in the store, but it still has that great Rao's taste. An even better solution is to copy the Rao's Marinara sauce for yourself using this new and very easy recipe.

The current co-owner of Rao’s, Frank Pellegrino Jr., told  Bon Appetit in 2015 that the famous marinara sauce was created by his grandmother many years ago, and the sauce you buy in stores is the same recipe served in his restaurants. The ingredients are common, but correctly choosing the main ingredient—tomatoes—is important. Try to find San Marzano-style whole canned tomatoes, preferably from Italy. They are a little more expensive than typical canned tomatoes, but they will give you some great sauce.

After 30 minutes of cooking, you’ll end up with about the same amount of sauce as in a large jar of the real thing. Your version will likely be just a little bit brighter and better than the bottled stuff, thanks to the fresh ingredients. But now you can eat it anytime you want, with no reservations, at a table  you own.

This recipe was our #1 most popular in 2020. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year:  Olive Garden Lasagna Classico (#2),  King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (#3),  Pei Wei Better Orange Chicken (#4),  Chipotle Mexican Grill Carnitas (#5).

You might also like my #1 recipe of 2019,  Texas Roadhouse Rolls .

Panda Express Fried Rice

A popular staple of any Chinese chain is fried rice, so it better be good, and the version served at Panda Express most certainly is. Here's my easy Panda Express Fried Rice recipe for when you need a stress-free, low-cost side for your entrées. But I do suggest that you cook the white rice several hours or even a day or two before you plan to make the finished dish. I found that the cooked rice called for in this recipe works best when it's cold. 

As for a shortcut, bagged frozen peas and carrots will save you from the hassle of petite-dicing carrots since the carrots in those bags are the perfect size to produce an identical clone. And they're already cooked. 

This recipe was our #3 most popular in 2021. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Panda Express Chow Mein (#1), Qdoba 3-Cheese Queso (#2), Outback Baked Potato Soup (#4), Chipotle Carne Asada (#5).

Pei Wei Wei Better Orange Chicken

This 220-unit downscaled version of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro targets the lunch crowd with a smaller menu that features bento boxes, bowls, and small plates. Obviously, a clone is needed for this one, stat.

The name “Wei Better Orange Chicken” is a competitive callout to Panda Express's signature orange chicken , which is made with pre-breaded and frozen chicken. Pei Wei claims its orange chicken is prepared each day from scratch with chicken that is never frozen, so we’ll craft our clone the same way. But rather than assemble the dish in a wok over a high-flame fast stove like they do at the restaurant, we’ll prepare the sauce and chicken separately, then toss them with fresh orange wedges just before serving.

By the way, Pei Wei Better Orange Chicken goes very well with white or brown rice, so don’t forget to make some.

This recipe was our #4 most popular in 2020. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (#1), Olive Garden Lasagna Classico (#2), King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (#3), Chipotle Mexican Grill Carnitas (#5).

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

I never thought dinner rolls were something I could get excited about until I got my hand into the breadbasket at Texas Roadhouse. The rolls are fresh out of the oven and they hit the table when you do, so there’s no waiting to tear into a magnificently gooey sweet roll topped with soft cinnamon butter. The first bite you take will make you think of a fresh cinnamon roll, and then you can’t stop eating it. And when the first roll’s gone, you are powerless to resist grabbing for just one more. But it’s never just one more. It’s two or three more, plus a few extra to take home for tomorrow.

Discovering the secret to making rolls at home that taste as good as Texas Roadhouse Rolls involved making numerous batches of dough, each one sweeter than the last (sweetened with sugar, not honey—I checked), until a very sticky batch, proofed for 2 hours, produced exactly what I was looking for. You can make the dough with a stand mixer or a handheld one, the only difference being that you must knead the dough by hand without a stand mixer. When working with the dough add a little bit of flour at a time to keep it from sticking, and just know that the dough will be less sticky and more workable after the first rise.

Roll the dough out and measure it as specified here, and after a final proofing and a quick bake—plus a generous brushing of butter on the tops—you will produce dinner rolls that look and taste just like the best rolls I’ve had at any famous American dinner chain.

This recipe was our #1 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (#2), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4), Bush's Country Style Baked Beans (#5).

Bonchon Wings

Korean chicken is famous for its extra crispy coating, and Bonchon’s recipe—especially the wings—is one of the best in the world. That chain's famous formula is why there are now over 340 Bonchon outlets in nine countries, including over one hundred in the US and more planned to open here in the near future. 

The biggest challenge when creating my Bonchon chicken wings recipe was finding the perfect magical mixture for the batter that fries to a golden brown, and with tender crispiness that stays crunchy long after the wings have been brushed with the flavorful glaze.

I knew that a traditional double-frying technique would help create the crunchy coating we needed, but it would take some trial and error to determine the best time splits. The wings are par-fried, rested, and then fried again until done, but just how long to give each stage was yet to be determined since every recipe I found for Korean chicken used different times and temps. Some recipes even changed the temperature between frying steps, but I found those made the recipe too difficult to manage when frying multiple batches.

I eventually settled on 350 degrees F with most of the frying done up front in the par-fry stage. A three-ingredient batter is all that’s needed for crispy golden-brown wings, and the soy garlic sauce is a quick hack using your microwave oven. If you like your wings spicy like I do, it’s very easy to kick them up by adding Korean red chili paste (gochujang) and Korean red pepper powder (gochugaru) to the soy garlic recipe in the measurements listed below.

Click here for more delicious copycat appetizer recipes. 

Panda Express Chow Mein

I got lucky on the day I picked up a box of chow mein from this huge Chinese chain because they had just run out. This meant that I could watch from the sidelines as they whipped up a fresh batch in a giant wok over a high flame in the completely visible kitchen, and I was able to take plenty of mental notes. The whole dish took just a few minutes for the enthusiastic chef to prepare, and before I knew it I was out the door with a huge box of hot chow mein ready for hacking. 

Just like the real Panda Express Chow Mein, the beauty in this re-creation is its simplicity. There are only seven ingredients, and the prep work is low-impact. I used dry chow mein noodles (also called Chinese stir fry noodles) which are easy to find and cheap, and dark soy sauce to get that great caramel color. And if you don’t have a wok for this, a large skillet with sloped sides for tossing will work just fine.

This recipe was our #1 most popular in 2021. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Qdoba 3-Cheese Queso (#2), Panda Express Fried Rice (#3), Outback Baked Potato Soup (#4), Chipotle Carne Asada (#5).

You might also like my #1 recipe of 2020, Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce .

Qdoba 3-Cheese Queso

There are many acceptable ways to formulate good queso, but to make this specific queso the ingredients must be correct, and most copycat recipes seem to get it wrong. A few recipes get one of the peppers and two of the cheeses right, but pretty much every recipe out there is a bit of a mess that I will now save you from.

Quesos can be made with a variety of cheeses that include queso fresco, asadero, and Muenster, but this particular queso includes a cheese you probably didn’t expect: Swiss. That cheese is slow to melt, so we’ll shred it first, along with the Jack. And you won't need to gum up the queso with flour or cornstarch by making a roux because the white American cheese in the mix contains sodium citrate or sodium phosphate—additives that help the cheese melt smoothly and stay that way. 

Authors of recipes that call for tomatoes in this dish haven’t looked closely. Those are red bell peppers and they are roasted, peeled, and seeded along with the poblano and jalapeños before they are diced and added to the cheese sauce. The sauce cooks on low heat, never bubbling, so that it stays smooth and creamy.

When done, your queso might seem thin in the pan, but it will thicken as it cools to a perfect consistency for dipping tortilla chips, or as a topping for tacos and burrito bowls.

My Qdoba 3-cheese queso recipe was our #2 most popular in 2021. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Panda Express Chow Mein (#1), Panda Express Fried Rice (#3), Outback Baked Potato Soup (#4), Chipotle Carne Asada (#5).

Chipotle Carnitas

Braised and shredded pork shoulder is a staple of Mexican cuisine that Chipotle prepares with a simple blend of flavors, and a surprising ingredient you may not have expected: juniper berries. Once you track those down (they’re easy to find online), the berries are combined with thyme and bay leaves in a braising liquid that will transform your own pork roast into an easily shreddable thing of beauty in under 3 hours. Then you can use your Chipotle carnitas clone on tacos, in burritos, or in a bowl over rice and beans just like they do in the restaurant.

When picking your pork roast, try to find one without too much fat. If your roast has a thick cap of fat on it, trim off the excess. You want some fat in your braising liquid, but if the cap of fat is too thick, it may not fully render down and you’ll get chunks of fat in the shred.

It’s often assumed that the pork butt is from the rear end of the pig, even though cuts from the back region already have a name: ham. The pork butt, also known as a Boston butt, is cut from the other end, the upper shoulder of the pig. It’s called a “butt” because in pre-Revolutionary War New England the roasts were stored and transported in barrels called “butts”, and the confusing name stuck.

This recipe was our #5 most popular in 2020. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (#1), Olive Garden Lasagna Classico (#2), King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (#3), Pei Wei Better Orange Chicken (#4).

King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

A recipe for Portuguese sweet bread inspired the soft rolls that became a big hit at Robert Tiara's Bakery & Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii in the 1950s. It wasn’t long before Robert changed the name of his thriving business to King’s Hawaiian, and in 1977 the company opened its first bakery on the mainland, in Torrance, California, to make the now-famous island sweet rolls sold in stores across the U.S.

King’s Hawaiian Rolls are similar to Texas Roadhouse Rolls in that they are both pillowy, sweet white rolls, so it made sense to dig out my Texas Roadhouse Rolls clone recipe and use it as a starting point. These new rolls had to be slightly softer and sweeter, so I made some adjustments and added a little egg for color. And by baking the dough in a high-rimmed baking pan with 24 dough balls placed snugly together, I ended up with beautiful rolls that rose nicely to the occasion, forming a tear-apart loaf just like the original King's Hawaiian Rolls, but with clean ingredients, and without the dough conditioners found in the packaged rolls.

Use my King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls recipe for sandwiches, sliders, or simply warmed up and slathered with soft European butter.

This recipe was our #3 most popular in 2020. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (#1), Olive Garden Lasagna Classico (#2), Pei Wei Better Orange Chicken (#4), Chipotle Mexican Grill Carnitas (#5).

Chipotle Carne Asada

Chipotle’s popular limited offering is a good example of how straightforward and flavorful carne asada can be. It’s not overly mysterious since Chipotle is transparent about the ingredients used for the restaurant's entire menu—53 ingredients in all—but identifying those is only the beginning of the process. There was still plenty of work to do in establishing ratios and settling on an ideal preparation method.

Carne asada is almost always made with flank steak or skirt steak. A server at Chipotle told me they use skirt steak, which is surprising since that is the tougher of the two cuts. Perhaps she was wrong about that? Flank steak also has a better flavor than skirt steak, so I'm recommending flank here. Just be sure not to marinate it for more than 2 days or the acid in the marinade may toughen your steak and you certainly don't want that.

After you grill it, slice the meat across the grain and use it in burritos, tacos, bowls, or as a Southwest-style salad topper.

My Chipotle carne asada recipe was our #5 most popular in 2021. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Panda Express Chow Mein (#1), Qdoba 3-Cheese Queso (#2), Panda Express Fried Rice (#3), Outback Baked Potato Soup (#4).

Hattie B's Nashville Hot Chicken

It’s hard to say exactly when Nashville hot chicken was born, but most agree the Prince family of Prince’s Chicken in Nashville, Tennessee can take credit for the dish’s creation. Today there are over two dozen different hot chicken restaurants in Nashville and the popularity of the dish is still growing. The 70-year-old recipe from Prince’s may be the original, but the fastest-growing Nashville hot chicken chain in the country right now is a much newer concept called Hattie B’s.

Several years ago, Nick Bishop and his son, also Nick Bishop, observed the growth of Nashville hot chicken concepts and wanted a piece of the action. They opened the first Hattie B’s in Nashville in 2012, and business was good. Today there are six Hattie B’s in three southern states and one in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where I was able to get my hands on a fresh sample of the real thing without taking a round trip flight to Tennessee.    

At the Vegas Hattie B’s I sat at the food counter close to the fryer and watched the chicken being made, which provided some useful intel for my clone. I learned that the fried chicken drenched in the spicy oil paste is the “medium” heat level chicken. For the “hot” chicken an additional dry seasoning blend is sprinkled on the basted chicken.

The oily paste is what makes Nashville chicken special, so I made sure to obtain a sample of the sauce in a small cup for later study. Most of the ingredients were predictable—paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, sugar, and lots of cayenne—but the oil had an unusual taste to it. I recalled reading that the oil used for traditional Nashville hot chicken comes out of the fryer after several batches of chicken have been fried in it. When the chicken fries in the oil it contributes tasty flavors that make the fat a great base for the spicy baste.

So, to properly replicate Hattie B's Nashville Hot Chicken at home, wait for at least one batch of chicken to cook in the oil, then carefully remove a cup, let it cool a bit, and whisk the spices into it.

Now, what delicious side dishes are you going to make? Click here to see my recipes. 

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Nashville Hot Chicken

It was only a matter of time before the spicy fried chicken made famous in Nashville, Tennessee at shops like Prince's Hot Chicken Shack and Hattie B's would find its way into the mainstream. A dish this good is never contained forever, and KFC became the first fast food chain to give the recipe national exposure. A test run of the new spicy chicken in Pittsburgh was the most successful product test in KFC's recent history.

The original dish from Nashville is made with crispy fried chicken that's doused with a top-secret spicy chili sauce and served on sliced white bread with dill pickles on top. KFC's version is served with just pickles, no bread (a biscuit on the side instead), and is made by soaking the chain's Extra Crispy Fried Chicken with the oily chili sauce from a squirt bottle. Since there isn't any water in the sauce, just oil, the chicken stays crispy, regardless of how much sauce is applied.

To make a home version of KFC Nashville Hot Chicken, you first need to prepare the chicken, either using my KFC Extra Crispy Chicken recipe included below, or by baking or frying some of the pre-breaded chicken pieces you can find frozen in just about every grocery store. While the chicken is brining, make the sauce and pour it into a squirt bottle or spouted measuring cup. Apply it to your chicken when it's done (shake it or stir it first!), then top it with dill pickle slices.  

Popeyes Cajun (Dirty) Rice

Popeyes offers two sides with rice: the ultra-popular Red Beans and Rice, which I previously cloned here , and this rice made Cajun-style with ground beef and spices.

The real recipe at the chain most likely includes chicken gizzard, but that ingredient is not always easy to find outside of buying a whole uncooked chicken that includes a bag of giblets tucked inside. So I set out to design my Popeyes Cajun Rice copycat recipe without that ingredient, and the results were great.

The secret to the fabulous taste, after all, is not found in the gizzard, but in the flavors contributed by the “holy trinity” of green pepper, onion, and celery salt; accentuated by the ground thyme and oregano.

If you’re making rice tonight, bump it up to something special with just a little extra work for delicious results.

Can't get enough Popeyes? Find all of my recipes here . 

Cracker Barrel Meatloaf

The Southern-themed chain famous for its gift shops filled with made-in-America products and delicious homestyle food is also known to have a particularly good meatloaf. This dish ranks high in popularity, right up there with the Chicken ‘n Dumplins and the Hash Brown Casserole , so a good Cracker Barrel Meatloaf recipe is long overdue.

Making meatloaf is easy. What’s hard is making it taste like the meatloaf at Cracker Barrel which is tender and juicy, and flavored with onion, green pepper, and tomato. I sought to turn out a moist and tender loaf of meat, and one that’s not dry and tough, but my first attempts were much too dense. I wasn’t happy about that, but my dog was thrilled.

After playing around with the eggs-to-breadcrumbs-to-milk ratios and being careful to use gentle hands when combining everything and pressing it into the loaf pan, the final batch was a winner and I get to pass it along to you.    

It's best to use a meatloaf pan here which has an insert that lets the fat drip to the bottom, away from the meat. A regular loaf pan will still work, but you’ll want to pour off the fat in the pan before slicing. 

Satisfy your  Cracker Barrel cravings with more of my copycat recipes here .

Outback Steakhouse Baked Potato Soup

Menu Description : “Creamy potato soup topped with melted cheese, bacon, and green onions.”

It’s not called baked potato soup because the potatoes in it are baked. It’s called baked potato soup because it’s topped with shredded cheese, bacon, and green onion, and it tastes like a loaded baked potato. Other hacky hacks for this recipe miss that point and add over an hour to the preparation process by preheating an oven and baking the potatoes, all while hungry stomachs are growling on the sidelines. My version skips that part by adding the raw potatoes directly into the pot with the other ingredients, where they cook in 20 minutes, and the soup is ready to eat in less time than other recipes take just to get the potatoes done.

Also, other clones add way too much flour to thicken the soup—¾ cup! Sure, flour is good at thickening, but it doesn’t add any flavor, so I found a better way. For my Outback Baked Potato Soup copycat recipe, I ended up using just a little flour to make the roux, then later thickening the soup mostly with dehydrated potato flakes, which are used to make quick mashed potatoes. The flakes not only do a great job of thickening the soup, but they also add more delicious potato flavor to the pot, just like the original soup.

Top your finished soup with shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, and green onion, and every spoonful will taste like a fully decked-out baked potato.

This recipe was our #4 most popular in 2021. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Panda Express Chow Mein (#1), Qdoba 3-Cheese Queso (#2), Panda Express Fried Rice (#3), Chipotle Carne Asada (#5).

Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Breast

It’s not always on the menu at the huge Chinese take-out chain, but when this spicy special offering makes a limited-time-only appearance, I’m there. When it’s not on the menu, no problem, you can use my Panda Express Firecracker Chicken copycat recipe and make it at home in no time. 

This dish owes its great flavor to black bean paste, which is full of umami savoriness, just like soy sauce, so it enhances the taste of everything around it. You'll have a good laugh when you notice most recipes attempt to hack this dish with canned black beans. That's ridiculous, since black bean paste is a traditional Asian flavoring ingredient made with fermented soybeans , not with black beans like the kind you get in your burrito at Chipotle.

Plan ahead to brine your chicken breast for a couple of hours so that it's moist and flavorful. This is an important step for a spot-on hack.

Find more of my Panda Express copycat recipes here . 

It's Just Wings Smoked Wings & Sauces

To help fill the void left by a lack of dine-in customers when the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. in early 2020, restaurant operators had to get creative. That spring and summer we saw a surge in ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants where all the food was prepared for delivery only. Ghost kitchens are kitchens without seating and minimal, if any, signage. Virtual restaurants are delivery-only services where food is prepared in established restaurant kitchens.

It's Just Wings is a concept cooked up by Brinker, the team behind Chili’s and Maggiano’s, with a menu limited to wings in three styles—bone-in, boneless, and smoked—tossed in your choice of eight creative sauces or two dry rubs. Since I've already hacked a variety of traditional wings and boneless wings, I chose to clone It's Just Wings stand-out smoked wings which are prepared in the same pecan wood smoking ovens (called Combitherms) Chili’s uses to make baby back ribs. 

The secret is to brine the chicken first, then blot it dry and rub the skin with oil to help make it crispy while it smokes. If you don’t have a smoker, you can smoke the wings on your grill by heating one side of the grill and placing the wings on the other side. Set wood chips or pellets in foil over the heated side, then close the lid.   

Below you'll find my recipe for It's Just Wings Smoked Wings and three of their most notable sauces: Honey Sriracha, Honey Chipotle, and Truffle Hot Sauce. Pick one (or more), toss your wings in it, and dive in. Or maybe you just want to go naked? These wings also taste great without any sauce at all.

I've hacked a ton of famous fried chicken wings. See if I cloned your favorite here . 

KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (Improved)

To get their Extra Crispy Chicken so crispy, KFC breads the chicken two times. This double breading gives the chicken its ultra craggy exterior and extra crunch, which is a different texture than the less crispy original recipe fried chicken that’s breaded just once and pressure fried.

As with my KFC Original Fried Chicken recipe , we must first brine the chicken to give it flavor and moisture all the way through, like the real thing, then the chicken is double breaded and deep-fried until golden brown. KFC uses small chickens which cook faster, but small chickens can be hard to find. If your chicken parts are on the large side, they may not cook all the way through in the 12 to 15 minutes of frying I’m specifying here. To be sure your chicken is cooked, start frying with the thickest pieces, like the breasts, then park them in a 300-degree oven while you finish with the smaller pieces. This will keep the chicken warm and crispy, and more importantly, ensure that they are cooked perfectly all the way through.

On my CMT show Top Secret Recipe I chatted with Winston Shelton, a long-time friend of KFC founder Harland Sanders. Winston saw the Colonel's handwritten secret recipe for KFC Original Recipe chicken, and he told me one of the secret ingredients is Tellicherry black pepper. It's a more expensive, better-tasting black pepper that comes from the Malabar coast in India, and you should use it here if you can find it. Winston pulled me aside and whispered this secret to me when he thought we were off-camera, but our microphones and very alert cameramen caught the whole thing, and we aired it.

I first published my KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken recipe in Even More Top Secret Recipes ,  but recently applied some newly acquired secrets and tips to make this much-improved recipe of one of the most familiar fried chicken recipes in the world. 

My improved KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken copycat recipe below was our #2 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4), Bush's Country Style Baked Beans (#5).

Chick-fil-A Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich

This chain’s not-spicy original chicken sandwich which debuted in 1964 was the first chicken sandwich introduced to America by a fast food chain, and it put Chick-fil-A on the map. By diversifying the menu with new products such as this kicked-up version of the famous sandwich, the chain grew over the years to become the #1 chicken restaurant in the nation, and this sandwich is now one of the most popular picks on the menu board.

The secrets to a good clone of the Chick-fil-A Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich lie in the brine and the breading. I recently obtained some insider intel confirming the long-standing rumor that pickle juice is in the brine. I hadn’t called for it in my prior Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich copycat recipe because the listed ingredients for the sandwich didn’t include it. I’m not sure why that is, but my latest test versions with the pickle juice were noticeably better, so now it’s in there. You should also know that MSG is an important ingredient in both the brine and breading, so don’t leave that out if you want the best clone.

Use this special slicing trick to get three perfect sandwich-size cutlets out of each chicken breast, and then give the chicken a nice 4-hour brine. Your patience will be rewarded with one of the best Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich hacks to ever come out of a home kitchen. 

Now, check out my version of Chick-fil-A Mac and Cheese !

American Coney Island Chili Dogs (Detroit Coney Island Sauce)

Over a century ago, Detroit, Michigan became the Coney Island chili dog capital of the world, even though Coney Island is nowhere near there. Greek immigrants who entered the U.S. through Ellis Island adapted a recipe for the hot dogs they ate while visiting Coney Island, New York, on their way to the Midwest. When they settled in southern Michigan, many opened restaurants to sell their clones of the food they ate when they first got to America, turning New York-style Coney Dogs into a Midwest phenomenon.

Two of the most famous Coney Island restaurants in Detroit are Lafayette Coney Island and its next-door neighbor, American Coney Island. The two buildings were originally one building with a single restaurant inside, built by brothers Gus and Bill Keros in 1915. But somewhere along the way the brothers had a falling out and split the restaurant in half, right down the middle, and it stayed that way. Today, the two Coney Island restaurants are under different ownership, but they still remain next-door rivals.

I decided the best Coney dog to hack is from American Coney Island, not only because of the restaurant’s deep history, but also because I was able to order the chili dogs shipped to my house in a kit. That’s always good news, since shipped foods must list ingredients, and I get to see exactly what’s in the chili. Built the traditional way, a typical Detroit Coney Island chili dog features a natural-casing hot dog in a soft white bun, smothered in chili sauce, drizzled with mustard, and topped with a pile of diced sweet onion. The kit came with everything I needed, including the tub of chili with clearly-labeled ingredients that I was counting on.

With the help of that information, I was able to create my American Coney Island Chili sauce copycat recipe. A thick, flavorful chili sauce that you can use on your favorite hot dogs to build a clone of the famous Detroit chili dogs. Crushed soda crackers thicken the chili, and extra beef fat adds a smooth quality that mimics the famous 100-year-old American Coney Island chili recipe.

The chili must simmer for four hours to properly tenderize the meat, so plan your Coney dog cloning adventure accordingly.

Try making your other favorite condiments at home, like ketchup or mustard , with my copycat recipes here . 

Wendy's Seasoned Potatoes

Reviewers of Wendy’s tasty seasoned potatoes point out that the skin-on slices stay crispy even when cool. That tells us the breading is most likely made with a non-wheat flour blend, an assumption confirmed by the website ingredients list for the potatoes where nary a gram of wheat flour is included. Yep, these seasoned potatoes are gluten-free.

Wendy’s uses a blend of food starches plus rice flour for the breading on their version, but my tests confirmed that cornstarch is all you’ll need for a great clone of Wendy's seasoned potatoes. The secret process starts by coating the potato slices with the dry breading mix, which contains salt. The salt in the blend will draw water out of the potatoes, magically transforming the dry breading into a wet batter in about 20 minutes.

When all the breading is wet, the potatoes go into the oil for partial frying. After resting a bit, they get dropped in again until golden brown and crispy. And, thanks to the cornstarch, these potatoes will stay crispy, even when they’re completely cool. Pretty cool right? Give my Wendy's seasoned potatoes copycat recipe a try.

This recipe was our #3 most popular in 2022. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Traditional Meatballs (#1), Chipotle Pollo Asado (#2), Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken (#4), McDonald's Chicken McNuggets  (#5).

Find copycat recipes for more of your favorite Wendy's  dishes  here . 

Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos

Menu Description : “A deliciously different way to taco. Tangy grilled chicken, sweet Asian chile sauce and dumpling sauce stuffed into crispy wonton shells and topped with a crunchy slaw and cilantro mix.”

Re-creating Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos requires cloning four parts; none of which are difficult: grilled chicken, coleslaw, secret dumpling sauce, and the crispy wonton shell to hold it all together. For the chicken, we’ll grill a couple of thighs and chop them up. Then we’ll use bottled sweet chili sauce—usually found in your grocery store where Asian foods are parked—to punch up the flavor.

The coleslaw is easy with a dressing that has only five ingredients, and it’s best when it has some time to sit and marinate. You can slice the cabbage yourself, but a coleslaw kit that’s a combo of sliced cabbage and shredded carrots is a big time-saver. Just measure out 4 cups of the cabbage blend and mix it with the minced cilantro and dressing.  

Wonton taco shells are not a thing you can usually find in stores, so we’ll make our own using wonton wrappers and a skillet of hot oil. When the oil is hot, add a wonton wrapper and use tongs to fold it over diagonally as it fries until it’s crispy on both sides. It takes less than a minute to fry each wonton taco shell, and you’ll get better as you go. Just be sure to leave plenty of room in the shell for the delicious fillings to come.

Try my Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos recipe below, and find more copycat recipes from Applebee's here . 

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Chicken Pot Pie (Improved)

KFC's Chicken Pot Pie is a classic. It's packed with lots of shredded white and dark meat chicken, potatoes, peas, and carrots; all of it swimming in a delicious creamy gravy and topped with a tantalizing flakey crust. It seems more like homemade food than fast food. And now it can be made at home better than ever before with this improved hack of my original recipe (found  here ). The crust now has a better flavor (more butter!), and the gravy tastes closer to the original with the addition of more spices.

You can make my KFC Chicken Pot Pie recipe using ramekins or small oven-safe baking dishes, or get some recyclable aluminum pot pie pans you can find in many supermarkets. Those pans are the perfect size for four single servings, and they make cleanup easy after the feast.

Find more of my KFC copycat recipes here .

Chick-fil-A Chicken Tortilla Soup

For a great chicken tortilla soup that doesn’t skimp on chicken and comes packed with other goodies like two kinds of beans, corn, chilies, onion, celery, garlic, and cilantro you’ll want to make my recipe for Chick-fil-A’s hearty version. Their soup is not only surprisingly good for a fast food chain, but it could also stand up to tortilla soups from any full-service chain, and these preparation secrets will guide you through a spot-on at-home clone.

For the white beans look for canned navy beans or small white beans. Cannellini beans and Great Northern beans are too big for a perfect clone, but if that's all you can find they’ll still work.

The chicken is made the same way as in my Top Secret Recipe for Chick-fil-A Southwest Chicken Salad —it’s brined for four hours to infuse it with flavor before it gets grilled. Keep that extra prep time in mind when planning your soup.

Chick-fil-A uses natural roasted chicken flavor in their version, and we can do the same by using Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base found in many stores and online. That ingredient will give you the best clone, but if you can’t track it down you can also use large bouillon cubes.

Top your Chick-fil-A chicken tortilla soup with fried tortilla strips sold in bags or just crumble some of your favorite tortilla chips over the top and grab a spoon. 

Chick-fil-A makes amazing chicken sandwiches and mac & cheese . Find more of my recipes here .

Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno

Menu Description : “A baked blend of Italian cheeses, pasta, and our signature five-cheese marinara.”

Creating my Olive Garden’s famous baked ziti copycat recipe would not be possible without a perfect clone of the chain’s popular five-cheese marinara sauce. I started with my previous recipe of the plain marinara for Olive Garden’s Chicken Parmigiana and enhanced it with the addition of five kinds of Italian cheese and heavy cream.  

Determining which five types of cheese are in a prepared sauce is tough without some insider assistance, so before cooking I focused my efforts on convincing a server to ask the chef for the list…and I got it! The blend of cheese used here in the sauce comes straight from the kitchen of my local Olive Garden. When you taste it, you’ll know the intel was legit.

After the sauce is added to the pasta it’s topped with a cheese-and-breadcrumb mix called “ziti topping,” then it’s browned under a salamander (for the restaurant version) or a broiler (for your version). The result is a beautiful dish with great sauce and a cheesy topping that should satisfy even the pickiest baked ziti fanatics.

I've cloned a ton of dishes from Olive Garden. See if I hacked your favorite here .

Taco Bell Shredded Chicken Soft Taco

In November 2020, Taco Bell said “adios” to several classic items from their menu including Mexican Pizza —one of my long-time favorites—and anything with shredded chicken in it, including the chicken soft taco. But teary goodbyes from fans of the tasty spiced chicken can be avoided if we have a good (and easy) recipe to craft a duplicate at home. Since the fast Mexican chain announced the changes several months in advance, I had time to work up a good hack before the tacos were gone forever.

After cooking the chicken several ways, I settled on poaching the fillets in chicken broth, which kept them moist and added great umami flavor. When the chicken cooled, I shredded it, and added it to a sauce seasoned with spices and lime juice, and flavored with Knorr tomato chicken bouillon. 

As the sauce thickens it will reduce and infuse the chicken with flavor, just like the original Taco Bell shredded chicken, then it’s ready for you to use on tacos, burritos, salads, or whatever. And don't forget the hot sauce ! 

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Secret Recipe Fries

In the Summer of 2020, to the dismay of many fans, KFC stopped selling the famous potato wedges that had been on the menu for decades and replaced them with battered French fries.

Like the wedges, these fries are coated with a flavorful batter, but the seasoning used on the fries is a different blend than what was used on the wedges. Are these new fries better than the classic wedges? That depends. Some may prefer the rare treat of fast food skin-on wedges, while others may prefer the crispiness of these new fries. Some don’t care and just want a clone, so here you go.

My recipe for KFC Secret Fries is simplified by using par-fried French fries found in the freezer section of your store. After coating the fries with this clone of the seasoned breading, spray them with water, then fry them for 3 to 4 minutes. That’s it. Be sure to have a clean squirt bottle filled with water to transform the breading into a thin batter giving your finished product the same crispy coating as the original.

KFC’s new fries are coated with a blend that includes onion, celery, and carrot powder. It’s easy to find onion powder in most supermarkets, but I had to go online to find celery and carrot juice powders. The blend of vegetable powders adds great flavor, but if you want to omit the celery and carrot powders and just use onion powder, the recipe will still make delicious copycat fries.

Click here for my KFC Original Chicken recipe or search for your favorites here .

Outback Steakhouse Toowoomba Steak

Here’s a hack that might help when you feel like doing something special with those steaks in the fridge. Or maybe you have salmon fillets in there? Doesn’t matter, this recipe works great on both. And it also makes a great pasta sauce.

The secret Toowoomba sauce is a variation on alfredo sauce that Outback served over pasta at one time. These days the sauce is only used to top steak and salmon at the restaurant, but you can also use it on just about any type of pasta.

In my early batches of the sauce, I noticed that if the shrimp are added at the beginning they get too tough. To solve that problem, I sautéed the seasoned shrimp separately, then added them closer to the end, and they came out perfect.

Spoon your homemade Toowoomba sauce over grilled tenderloin filets (or salmon filets) for an easy way to elevate your entrée. My Outback Steakhouse Toowoomba sauce recipe will make enough for four servings.

If you love Outback Steakhouse , check out my other clone recipes here . 

Chipotle Pollo Asado

In 2022, for the first time in its 29-year history, Chipotle debuted a new style of grilled chicken, and it became an instant hit. At least it was at the Chipotle near me, where the Pollo Asado was ordered more than any other protein, according to servers there. But the new flavor is for a limited-time-only, and when it’s gone, my exclusive Chipotle Pollo Asado recipe may be the only way to satisfy your deep desire.

It appears that Chipotle’s new chicken is marinated in a vacuum meat tumbler similar to the way the Mexican chicken chain El Pollo Loco does it. I sure wish I had one of those awesome tumblers because they speed up and improve the marinating process, producing moist chicken packed with flavor all the way through. But those tumblers are expensive and bulky, and I have absolutely zero space left in my kitchen to store one. So, an overnight marinade, along with a bit of patience, must suffice. 

The next day, grill your marinated chicken, chop it up, toss it with the secret citrusy sauce hacked here, add some fresh cilantro and lime juice, then use it as you see fit on burritos, tacos, salads, and bowls.

Try my Chipotle Pollo Asado recipe below and find more of my Chipotle recipes here . 

This recipe was our #2 most popular in 2022. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Traditional Meatballs (#1), Wendy's Seasoned Potatoes (#3), Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken (#4), McDonald's Chicken McNuggets  (#5).

Qdoba Fiery Habanero Salsa

I’ve yet to taste a better habanero salsa at a quick-service Mexican chain than the one made daily at Qdoba Mexican Eats. Yes, it is very spicy, but the simple combo of fire-roasted habanero, tomatillo, and garlic is not as fiery as you might expect from a salsa that includes so much habanero in it.

And that’s exactly what makes Qdoba Fiery Habanero Salsa so good. Because the habanero peppers are roasted, and the seeds are removed, you can enjoy the complex flavor of the habanero without your taste buds being numbed by the heat. A good salsa should enhance your food, not upstage it.

For my Qdoba habanero salsa copycat recipe, you can roast the peppers in your oven or by holding them over the high flame of a gas stove with a skewer until the skins have charred to black. Resting the blackened peppers in a covered container for a few minutes will help to steam the skins, and they will wash off easily under cold water. 

How about using this salsa to spice up some Qdoba Grilled Chicken Adobo ? Get my recipe here . 

T.G.I. Friday's Cajun Shrimp and Chicken Pasta

Menu Description : “Sauteed chicken, shrimp, red bell peppers in a spicy Cajun Alfredo sauce, Parmesan-Romano and fettuccine. Served with a warm garlic breadstick.”  

In 1997, I published a clone recipe for T.G.I Friday’s Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta because it was one of the chain’s most popular dishes at the time. But as the years pass and menus get tweaked, old food favorites are decommissioned to make way for fresh, new ideas. Sometimes the new dishes are twists on old favorites, as is this improved version of the classic Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta, which now includes extra-large shrimp and a better spicy alfredo sauce.  

My T.G.I. Friday's Cajun Shrimp and Chicken Pasta recipe starts with a quick brine for moist, flavorful chicken. Prep the chicken and creamy sauce in one pan; the shrimp, bell pepper, and garlic in another.

When you’re ready to serve the dish, toss the sauce with the pasta, then plate it and top it with minced parsley and you've got a perfect restaurant-style hack.

There's a lot more T.G.I. Friday's clone recipes over here . 

Hooters 3 Mile Island Chicken Wings

It’s not the hottest sauce at the famous Florida-based chain. That honor goes to the sauce they call “911” with heat so hot it overwhelms the flavor. This thick red sauce is the second fieriest choice on the menu, and it delivers both big heat you can handle and great flavor you can taste.

Now you can make your own version of this super spicy secret sauce at home by cooking a combination of cayenne pepper sauce, jalapeño, Tabasco, and a couple of other ingredients until thick.

When your homemade Hooters wings are a crispy golden brown, toss them in the beautifully thickened sauce, and serve up your pile of wings with a stack of napkins and cold drinks on deck to help put out the fire.

Try my Hooters 3-Mile Island chicken wings recipe below, and try more of my Hooters copycat recipes here . 

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Butter Cake

Imagine a giant soft sugar cookie with sweetened cream cheese on top and served warm as if it just came out of the oven, and you have California Pizza Kitchen's Butter Cake, a delectable dessert described on the menu with five simple words: “Trust us…just try it.” 

This dessert is an easy one to prep in the restaurant since the cakes are made ahead of time and chilled until ordered. Once an order comes in the cake is zapped for a minute in the microwave, then topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and surrounded by dollops of whipped cream. I've designed my CPK Butter Cake recipe below the same way, so you can make your cakes in advance and then chill them until dessert time. Or, you can serve the cakes right after they come out of the oven. Either way works.

The construction is an easy one—you’ll need four 4-inch cake pans, ramekins, or anything you can bake in that is 4 inches across. To make the batter I used a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and it worked great, but a hand-held granny mixer also works fine.

You're gonna love this one. Trust me...just try it.

Find more amazing CPK copycat recipes here .

Wingstop Lemon Pepper Wings

The Wingstop menu offers nearly a dozen flavor variations of fried chicken wings, including original hot buffalo-style, Parmesan-garlic, and mango habanero, but it’s the lemon pepper wings that get the most raves. And even though they’re referred to as “dry rub” wings on the menu, the secret to a perfect Wingstop lemon pepper wings copycat recipe is in the wet baste that goes on first.

The lemon pepper won’t stick to the wings without making them wet, and that’s where the sauce, or baste, comes in. The baste is easy to make by clarifying butter and combining it with oil to prevent the butter from solidifying, then adding lemon pepper and salt.

I obtained a sample of Wingstop’s lemon pepper seasoning and took a few stabs at cloning the blend from scratch, but ultimately decided the task was a time-waster when pre-blended lemon pepper is so easy to find. I compared Wingstop’s lemon pepper with the blends from McCormick and Lawry’s—each is slightly different than what Wingstop uses. McCormick’s is lemonier than Wingstop’s blend, and Lawry’s version is chunkier and less lemony, but either blend is close enough to deliver a satisfying clone.

After the wings are fried, baste them with the sauce below and sprinkle them with your favorite lemon pepper. Now you've made homemade Wingstop's Lemon Pepper Wings like a pro.

Find my copycat recipes for Wingstop's original and Parmesan-garlic wings here . 

Wingstop Garlic Parmesan Wings

If you feel like diving into a pile of wings with big flavor and no heat, you'll love this Wngstop Garlic Parmesan Wings recipe. At the restaurant, these wings are deliciously doused with a buttery garlic Parmesan baste and then sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. A home clone is easy when you toss crispy wings in this hack of the top secret baste and top them with a snowfall of good Parmesan cheese. 

To duplicate the baste, you clarify a stick of butter, then add a little oil so that the butter doesn’t solidify. Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt are mixed in, then the sauce is set aside to cool and thicken.

Once the wings are fried to a golden brown, toss them with the baste in a bowl, then grab the grated Parm and make it snow.    

Check out my other Wingstop clone recipes here .  

Olive Garden Chicken Parmigiana

Menu Description: “Two lightly fried parmesan-breaded chicken breasts are smothered with Olive Garden’s homemade marinara sauce and melted Italian cheeses. We serve our Chicken Parmigiana with a side of spaghetti for dinner.”

Chicken parmigiana is a forever favorite, and it’s not a difficult dish to whip up at home. But for it to taste like the Olive Garden signature entree, we’ll need to take some very specific steps.

Olive Garden’s chicken is salty and moist all the way through, so we must first start by brining the chicken. Give yourself an extra hour for this important marinating step. The marinara sauce used on the chicken is an Olive Garden specialty and no bottled sauce compares, so we’ll make our own from scratch using canned crushed tomatoes and the formula below.

While the sauce cooks, filling your house with its intoxicating aroma, the chicken is breaded and browned. When the marinara is done, top the chicken with the sauce and mozzarella and stick it under your hot broiler until bubbling.

Hopefully, everyone at your house is hungry, because the Olive Garden dinner portion is two chicken fillets, and my Olive Garden Chicken Parmigiana recipe will yield a total of four 2-piece servings. Add a small serving of spaghetti on the side, topped with more of the delicious sauce, and you'll have a perfect match to the restaurant plate.

Can't get enough Olive Garden ? Click here for more of your favorite copycat recipes. 

Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese

Braised Beef Pasta Menu Description: “Slow-simmered meat sauce with tender braised beef and Italian sausage, tossed with ruffled pappardelle pasta and a touch of alfredo sauce—just like Nonna’s recipe.”

It’s a mistake to assume that a recipe posted to a restaurant chain’s website is the real recipe for the food served there. I’ve found this to be the case with many Olive Garden recipes, and this one is no exception. A widely circulated recipe that claims to duplicate the chain’s classic Bolognese actually originated on Olive Garden’s own website, and if you make that recipe you’ll be disappointed when the final product doesn’t even come close to the real deal. I won’t get into all the specifics of the things wrong with that recipe (too much wine, save some of that for drinking!), but at first glance it’s easy to see that a few important ingredients found in traditional Bolognese sauces are conspicuously missing, including milk, basil, lemon, and nutmeg.

I incorporated all those missing ingredients into my Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese copycat recipe, tweaked a few other things, and then tested several methods of braising the beef so that it comes out perfectly tender: covered, uncovered, and a combo. The technique I settled on was cooking the sauce covered for 2 hours, then uncovered for 1 additional hour so that the sauce reduces and the beef transforms into a fork-flakeable flavor bomb. Yes, it comes from Olive Garden, but this Bolognese is better than any I’ve had at restaurants that charge twice as much, like Rao’s where the meat is ground, not braised, and they hit you up for $30.  

As a side note, Olive Garden’s menu says the dish comes with ruffled pappardelle pasta, but it’s actually mafaldine, a narrower noodle with curly edges (shown in the top right corner of the photo). Pappardelle, which is the traditional pasta to serve with Bolognese, is a very wide noodle with straight edges, and it’s more familiar than mafaldine, so perhaps that’s why the menu fudges this fact. In the end, it doesn’t really matter which pasta you choose. Just know that a wide noodle works best. Even fettuccine is good here.

For the little bit of Alfredo sauce spooned into the middle of the dish, I went with a premade bottled sauce to save time. You can also make this from scratch if you like (I’ve got a great hack for Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce ), but it’s such a small amount that premade sauce in either a chilled tub from the deli section or in a bottle off the shelf works great here.

This recipe was our #3 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1) KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (#2), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4), Bush's Country Style Baked Beans (#5).

And browse my other Olive Garden clone recipes here .

Thomas' English Muffins

Samuel Bath Thomas immigrated from England to New York City and opened his first bakery there in 1880. That is where Thomas created skillet bread that would one day become the famous muffins known for their craggy texture when split in half. This hack for Thomas’ English Muffins uses a special kneading process to give the muffins the "nooks and crannies" they are famous for, making craters in the finished bread to better hold on to melted butter and jam.

I have seen several recipes that claim to re-create these muffins, but none produce the large air pockets that a proper Thomas' English Muffin recipe requires, in addition to great flavor and a perfectly cooked interior. To ensure proper nooks and crannies and muffins that are cooked all the way through, I've included some important steps.

The dough you'll make here is like a ciabatta dough in that it is very wet. So rather than kneading the dough, you stretch and fold it over several times on a well-oiled surface. Then, when the portioned-out dough has proofed on baking sheets for another 1½ to 2 hours, you par-bake the muffins.

After baking, the muffins are cooked on a griddle or in a pan until dark brown on both sides, then they must cool. This is the hardest part. The muffins will be too soft to open for at least four hours, and now you have to fight off the temptation to eat one. It’s hard, I know. The muffins smell great and you’ve waited all this time, but resist for now and your patience will be rewarded.

When the muffins have had their rest, split them with a fork and toast them as you would any English muffin.

Check out all my top secret recipes for famous bread here . 

Bush's Country Style Baked Beans

In the Bush’s Beans commercials, Duke, the family golden retriever, wants to sell the secret family recipe, but the Bush family always stops him. The dog is based on the Bush family’s real-life golden retriever, and the campaign, which began in 1995, made Bush’s the big dog of the canned baked beans market practically overnight. Their confidential baked beans formula is considered one of the top 10 biggest recipe secrets in the U.S.

Bush Brothers & Company had been canning a variety of fruits and vegetables for over 60 years when, in 1969, the company created canned baked beans using a cherished recipe from a family matriarch. Sales jumped from 10 thousand cases in the first year to over 100 thousand cases in 1970. And just one year later sales hit a million cases. Today Bush’s makes over 80 percent of the canned baked beans sold in the U.S., and the secret family recipe remains a top food secret, despite Duke’s attempts. A replica of the original recipe book—without the original recipe in it (drat!)—is on display at the company's visitor center in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee.

I chose to hack the “Country Style” version of Bush’s Beans because I don’t think the Original flavor has enough, uh, flavor. Country Style is similar to Original, but richer, with more brown sugar. My Bush's Country Style baked beans copycat recipe starts by soaking dry small white beans in a brine overnight. The salt in the water helps to soften the skins, but don’t soak them for more than 14 hours or the skins may begin to fall off. You can skip this step if you've got a fancy Instant Pot using my directions below. 

My first versions tasted great but lacked the deep brown color of the real Bush’s beans, which include caramel coloring—an ingredient that can be hard to find on its own. I eventually discovered that the “browning” sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, will add the dark caramel color needed to our home version of the beans so that they’ll look just like the real thing.

This recipe was our #5 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1) KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (#2), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4).

Rao's Traditional Meatballs

Tweaking a classic recipe with a few special prep tricks leaked to me by a server was the key to developing this spot-on hack for the famous meatballs from the iconic 125-year-old Italian dining room. With just two locations in the U.S. (Los Angeles and New York), sinking your fork into a fresh meatball at the restaurant requires quite a trip for most people, but my Rao's Traditional Meatballs recipe, refined through multiple batches, will make you a meatball master in your own kitchen, producing ten 5½-ounce meatballs that look and taste like the real thing.

Fortunately, I could squeeze in a reservation at the Las Vegas Rao’s location a few weeks before it closed its doors forever at Caesar’s Palace in late November 2021. While there, I made sure to ask my server for any information about the recipe, and was informed about the secret two-step process described in this hack to create giant meatballs that are cooked through, but so moist that they practically crumble when cut with a fork.

Rao’s has shared a meatball recipe in the past, but don’t be fooled. That recipe produces decent meatballs, but they are not the same as what’s served in the restaurant. If you want to make meatballs that taste like the classic original, use my Rao's meatballs recipe below.

And when they're done, top the meatballs with your favorite marinara or use my hack here to re-create Rao’s famous sauce .

This recipe was our #1 most popular in 2022. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Chipotle Pollo Asado (#2), Wendy's Seasoned Potatoes (#3), Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken (#4), McDonald's Chicken McNuggets  (#5).

You might also like my #1 recipe of 2021, Panda Express Chow Mein .

Shakey's Mojo Potatoes

Sherwood Johnson survived a case of malaria while serving in World War II, which left him with some residual nerve damage and a new nickname: Shakey. Despite his affliction, Shakey Johnson was still able to bang out toe-tapping Dixieland jazz on the piano night after night in the pizza parlor he opened in Sacramento in 1954, where live jazz accompanied the thin crust pizza and cold pitchers of beer.

Shakey’s became the first franchised pizza restaurant in the U.S., and by 1974 the chain had 500 stores across the U.S. The #1 dish is clearly the made-to-order pizza, but the chain’s trademarked crispy battered potato slices are a close runner-up and a perfect tasty subject to hack.

Recipes that claim complete pancake mix is the secret breading ingredient in Mojo Potatoes fail to observe that pancake mix contains sugar, and there is no noticeable sweetness in the breading of the Mojos. I also decided that dry breading wouldn't work since in my tests the paprika failed to bloom and give the coating a perfect hue like it does when the mixture is wet.

I eventually settled on a simple wet batter made with seasoned salt, flour, and little cornstarch for crunch to best match the flavor, crispiness, and red/orange tint of the real thing from America’s first pizza chain. Use this original technique, and these handy step photos, to make extra crispy potatoes the Shakey's way.

There's your appetizer, now what's for  dinner ? Find clones for some of your favorite famous entrées  here .

Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken

This popular chain wrangles a wide variety of dishes and cooking styles day after day with consistently high quality. From pasta to burgers to tacos, from salads to pancakes to beautiful cheesecakes for dessert, there is something for everyone at the Cheesecake Factory.

The diverse menu's Asia-inspired plates include Thai, Korean, and Chinese dishes, but one that consistently stands out is this excellent Mandarin-style spicy chicken entrée, served over your choice of white or brown rice.

The secret of the great flavor is the sauce, which has now been hacked for you in my Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew recipe below. Plus, I’ll walk you through the process of creating perfect crispy chicken from scratch using juicy chicken tenderloins.

Alternatively, if you’d like to save time, you can bake up some pre-cooked breaded chicken tenders and focus all your efforts on making the amazing sauce. Tips on that chicken shortcut can be found below in the Tidbits.

This recipe was our #4 most popular in 2022. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes for the year: Rao's Traditional Meatballs (#1), Chipotle Pollo Asado (#2), Wendy's Seasoned Potatoes (#3), McDonald's Chicken McNuggets  (#5).

Jack Link's Original Beef Jerky

Using his grandfather’s old recipes for sausage and smoked meats, Jack Link created his first kippered beef sticks in Wisconsin in 1986, and they quickly became a popular snack throughout the state. But that wasn’t enough for Jack, so he invested in a packaging machine to expand into other markets, and eventually—with the help of a successful Sasquatch-themed marketing campaign—Jack Link’s became the #1 jerky brand in the country.

Beef jerky is usually made in a dehydrator designed to circulate air around the food at a low temperature. The temperature for drying beef jerky in a dehydrator is typically 130 to 140 degrees, which is a lower temperature than you can reach with a conventional home oven. But that doesn’t mean we can’t use our home oven to make a perfectly acceptable beef jerky hack that tastes like Jack’s. And even though Jack uses a smoker for his beef jerky, you won’t need one to give your jerky a similar smoky flavor.

The pineapple juice in the marinade is an important part of the taste, but its primary contribution is a unique enzyme that helps break down the proteins in the tough cut of meat to tenderize it. Soy sauce and beef bouillon contribute to the umami savoriness of the jerky, and liquid hickory smoke is used in my Jack Link's Original Beef Jerky recipe as a quick way to add the smoky flavor.

The marinating takes 24 hours and the oven drying takes between 6 to 8 hours, so get the sliced beef into the bath in the morning, and you’ll be munching on homemade Jack Link's beef jerky by dinnertime the next day. And to help you out, I'm including step photos.

Find more cool recipes for your favorite snacks here .

Chipotle Queso Blanco

Social media shredded Chipotle’s first queso dip which debuted in 2017, calling it “gritty,” “bland,” “watered-down,” and “a crime against cheese.” Chipotle was in desperate need of a re-do.

In early 2020, after months and months of test-marketing an improved cheesy dip recipe in Dallas, Detroit, and San Diego, the Mexican chain introduced Queso Blanco to the entire U.S., and this time the reviews were much better.

Chipotle claims their new formula contains exactly 13 ingredients, including 2 kinds of cheese and 3 different chile peppers. With cornstarch as the thickening agent, the preparation starts by making a white sauce with milk and cream. When the cheese is fully melted and smooth, the veggies go in, and in about 10 minutes it’s ready to serve.

Use my Chipotle Queso Blanco copycat recipe as a dip with tortilla chips or as a topping on your copycat Chipotle carne asada or carnitas tacos and barbacoa burritos . Find all my Chipotle recipes here . 

Kobe Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse Shrimp (Yum Yum) Sauce

For years, I’ve been hearing about a delicious seafood dipping sauce at Japanese steakhouses called "shrimp sauce" or "yum yum sauce." Research revealed many independent Japanese steakhouses with "the best sauce," but it was the name of an 11-unit chain called Kobe Ichiban in Central Florida that came up most often.

When I next found myself in Orlando, Florida presenting some cooking demos at a home show, I dropped in on Kobe Ichiban for dinner and there it was: the light orange creamy dipping "yummy" sauce that everyone was raving about. It was sweet and sour and salty and creamy, and it tasted amazing on the shrimp—as well as on everything else.

I poured some into some small plastic storage bags I had with me (always come prepared!), then popped them into a cooler for the long trip back to Las Vegas. Back in the underground lab, I developed my Kobe shrimp yum yum sauce recipe below. Now, you can enjoy this much-requested delicious dipping sauce anytime.

Find more of my copycat recipes for famous sauces here .  

Pizza Hut Meaty Marinara Pasta

One of two pasta dishes currently on the pizza giant’s menu, the Meaty Marinara Pasta was first introduced in a 2008 April Fool’s publicity stunt when Pizza Hut claimed it was changing its name to “Pasta Hut.” No one fell for the prank but they did fall for the pasta, and that's why the Tuscani Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta and Meaty Marinara Pasta have been on the menu ever since. The sauce is the big secret here; it's simple and classic, but customized to produce a marinara with that distinct Pizza Hut taste. And the recipe will make more than enough pasta to go around.

My Pizza Hut Meaty Marinara Pasta recipe is an easy one. After browning the seasoned beef, you add it to the sauce, simmer the sauce until thick, then spread it over one pound of rotini pasta in a baking dish in two layers so that every bite is filled with flavor. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the top and melt it until golden brown under your broiler. Boom! No one can resist. You rule.

This simple and inexpensive meal will feed eight, and leftovers keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.

Find more of my Pizza Hut recipes here .  

Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

A requirement of any visit to Chicago is eating at least one slice of deep dish pizza in the city that perfected it. Deep dish pizza quickly became a Chicago staple after Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo opened the first Pizzeria Uno in 1943 and served a hearty new style of pizza constructed in a high-rimmed cake pan. The yeast crust was tender and flakey, like a pastry, and the cheese was layered under the sauce so that it wouldn’t burn in a hot oven for the long cooking time.

While researching a home hack of this now-iconic recipe, I discovered an unexpected technique that I hadn’t seen in other deep dish recipes. Employees told me the pizza crusts are partially cooked each morning to cut down on the wait time for customers. Before the restaurant opens each day, cooks press the dough into a pan and then sprinkle it with a little shredded cheese. The shells are then partially baked and set aside. Later, when an order comes in, the pizza is built into one of the par-baked crusts and finished off. This way customers get their food faster, and the tables turn over quicker.

Copying that delicious, flakey crust was the task that took me the longest. After two weeks of baking, I finally settled on a formula that was a mash-up of yeast dough and pie crust and made a perfectly tender deep dish crust, with great flavor that exactly mimicked the original. If you like Uno, you'll love this! 

Regarding the cheese: be sure your cheese is at room temperature, not cold, or it may not melt all the way through. Also, it’s best if you buy cheese by the block and shred it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese is dusted with cornstarch so that the shreds don’t stick together in the bag, and it won’t melt as smoothly as cheese you shred by hand.

My Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza copycat recipe will make enough sauce for two pizzas. I just thought you should know that in case you get the urge to make another deep dish after this one disappears.

This recipe was our #4 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1) KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (#2), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Bush's Country Style Baked Beans (#5).

For over 30 years I've been deconstructing America's most iconic brand-name foods to make the best original copycat recipes for you to use at home. Welcome to my lab.

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Popeyes Spicy Ghost Pepper Wings Are Back And They Are Not For The Faint-Hearted

These wings are no joke. 🔥

Sure, the spicy chicken sandwich from Popeyes may be your go-to order, but these chicken wings bring maximum heat if you're looking for even more spice. These wings aren't a new menu offering; they first appeared at the fast food chain in 2014, but they aren't a permanent staple this time around either.

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The wings are marinated in an exotic blend of peppers with the ghost pepper being the most prominent one in the bunch. Popeyes is known for how long and meticulously they marinate their chicken (for 12 hours, to be exact), so you can be sure these wings are spicy through and through. After being marinated in the pepper blend, the wings are battered, breaded, and fried so that they have that crunchy outside Popeyes fans know and love.

More From Delish

Orders of the ghost pepper chicken wings come in six-count boxes with buttermilk ranch dipping sauce and a biscuit. Whenever these wings return they don't stay for long, so treat them like any other limited-edition menu item and act fast. Rest assured they'll be back at some point, though, and hopefully by then your mouth will have recovered from the heat.

Alexis Morillo is the Associate Editor at Delish.com where she covers breaking food news and viral food trends.

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Popeye's Ghost Pepper Wings are the best thing Popeye's has ever put out

Here is all you need to know about Popeye’s Ghost Pepper Wings, which has returned to its menu for a limited time: I previously thought KFC was best-in-class in the fast food hot wings category. Not anymore. Popeye’s is our new leader.

If you’re the kind to enjoy Popeye’s, these drumettes and tipless wings essentially double the appealing Popeyeness of its fried chicken. Here the crunchy skin-to-meat ratio improves, tilting in favor that craggy, crackly, surface-of-Mars batter. The only knock is it comes labeled as “ghost pepper”—one of the hottest chilis in the world—but the spiciness level here won’t knock you on your ass.

That’s not a bad thing, though. It takes the piquancy level of Popeye’s standard spicy fried chicken and intensifies it by 50 percent. Pockets of furious-red chili paste can be found wedged inside that fried batter, tasting of a clean, balanced, lingering burn that’s more mellow spiciness than sharp. (The standard sauce pairing is buttermilk ranch, a tangy and cooling counterpart to the wings, though I’m a huge fan of its blackened ranch. Opt for that instead.)

So for spice fetishists who complain “fast food hot” is too meek, the Ghost Pepper Wings rectifies that, even if just with baby steps. At least now it’s food-lover’s-spicy, not PG-13-spicy. If one approaches these as simply “hot wings,” then you’ll come away thinking it’s the best thing on Popeye’s menu, if not outright the finest fast food fried chicken we have going.

MIAMI--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Popeyes ® is kicking off the new year with flavor, bringing Ghost Pepper Wings back to menus nationwide, available starting today for a limited time only. To celebrate the return of the fan-favorite menu item after three years, the brand is launching an incredible value offer you won’t want to miss: 6 Ghost Pepper Wings for $5 for a limited time only at participating US restaurants nationwide. Also available starting today, Popeyes is bringing the Blueberry Lemon Pie and a Strawberry Cheesecake cup back for those who crave a little sweetness.

Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings feature six crispy chicken wings, marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for at least 12 hours, then hand-battered and breaded and served with Popeyes buttermilk ranch. ​These wings balance the perfect level of kick making them a more approachable wing option for those who enjoy a little bit of heat and a whole lot of flavor.

“Our Ghost Pepper Wings have been a fan favorite amongst our guests, combining the perfect amount of spice and flavor for wing lovers,” said Sami Siddiqui, President of Popeyes North America. “The holiday season can be tough on everyone’s wallets, and we’re so excited to bring back Ghost Pepper Wings at an incredible value that can’t be beat.”

Popeyes is also offering delivery deals to make getting wings even more convenient with offers like 6 wings for $6 or 12 wings for $12 through the Popeyes App or website, that’s just $1 per wing*! ​To sweeten the deal even further, with every order of Ghost Pepper Wings, guests will receive 200 loyalty points, which is enough points for a free Apple Pie**.​

Those still looking for something to satisfy their sweet tooth after the holidays can enjoy Popeyes Blueberry Lemon Pie or a Strawberry Cheesecake cup. Popeyes Blueberry Lemon Pie features blueberries and cream cheese with a touch of lemon flavor in a flaky, turnover-style pastry. The Strawberry Cheesecake Cup features a thick and rich cheesecake filling mixed with strawberry puree, on a graham cracker crumb crust perfectly portioned in an individual cup.

The Ghost Pepper Wings, Blueberry Lemon Pie and Strawberry Cheesecake Cup are now available for a limited time at participating US Popeyes restaurants. For more information, please visit popeyes.com.

*Limited time at participating US restaurants. Price and participation vary. Terms apply. See popeyes.com/offer-terms

** Popeyes Rewards Members earn 200 Bonus Points with the purchase of Ghost Pepper Wings on the Popeyes App or popeyes.com. Points can be redeemed for a reward of 200 points or less. Popeyes Rewards challenges and offers are subject to Popeyes Rewards Terms and Conditions and are subject to change. See www.popeyes.com/rewards/details for details.

About Popeyes ® Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes ® has more than 50 years of history and culinary tradition. Popeyes ® distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, and other regional items. The chain's passion for its Louisiana heritage and flavorful authentic food has allowed Popeyes ® to become one of the world's largest chicken quick service restaurants with over 3,300 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world. To learn more about the brand, please visit the Popeyes ® brand website at www.popeyes.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Alison Brod Marketing + Communications [email protected]

Popeyes is serving wings made with super-spicy ghost peppers

Published on 12/29/2014 at 11:57 AM

Until now, if you were looking for spicy stuff at a fast-food joint, your best bet was either to go to Five Guys and get a burger with jalapeños , or go anywhere and bring some pure Trinidad Moruga Scorpion extract. But up until January 25th , Popeyes will be serving a brand-new menu item containing the world's third hottest pepper: GHOST PEPPER WINGS .

The chicken wings are first marinated in an "exotic blend of peppers" -- one of which, duh, is the bhut jolokia or "ghost pepper", which clocks in at 1,041,427 Scoville units (for reference, a jalapeño only has around 10,000) -- for 12 hours, and then go through the typical Popeyes crispy chicken treatment: being battered, breaded, and deep-fried.

They're available in orders of six with a biscuit and buttermilk ranch dipping sauce. Though if the pepper they're made with is any indication of their spiciness, you might need to bring a gallon of milk.

Adam Lapetina is a Food/Drink staff writer for Thrillist, and recommends eating these wings rather than trying a raw ghost pepper. Read his musings at @adamlapetina .

Popeyes/YouTube

Can you still get Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings? And how hot are they really?

We did more into the on-again, off-again popeyes offering one fan claimed was 'calling my name.'.

Posted on Sep 26, 2023   Updated on Sep 27, 2023, 6:25 pm CDT

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes has become one of the best-known and perhaps most notorious fried chicken chains in the United States—even before it decided to up the heat level with the introduction of Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings in 2014.

According to boilerplate language in its press releases , “Popeyes distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, and other regional items. The chain’s passion for its Louisiana heritage and flavorful authentic food has allowed Popeyes to become one of the world’s largest chicken quick service restaurants with over 3,300 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.”

There’s plenty to try on the Popeyes menu even if the ghost pepper wings aren’t on the menu—and there’s not always a guarantee that they are.

Sometimes, there’s a big announcement from Popeyes via press release or tweet that they’re returning for a limited time. In 2023, such announcements happened at the start of the calendar year and again in May.

Sometimes, you can only find a tweet from a Popeyes account from the Bahamas, like this one from Sept. 18, 2023.

Our FAMOUS Ghost Pepper Wings are back! Marinated in spicy Louisiana seasonings, including a touch of Ghost Pepper, each wing is battered & breaded in a Southern style crispy coating & fried up. Try 6 pieces today along with a buttermilk biscuit & signature side today. • . . pic.twitter.com/C9HZN5mqDp — Popeyes Bahamas (@popeyes242) September 18, 2023

We were able to get them and sample them on Sept. 20, 2023, however, eating them in an East Austin Popeyes with a Dixieland jazz soundtrack playing (and charged for an added jalapeño pepper that we did not get and indeed did not want).

What goes into the Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings?

Popeyes typically has wings on its menu, available in six-piece, 12-piece, 24-piece, 36-piece, 48-piece, and 60-piece boxes. According to the Popeyes site when we wrote this article, Ghost Pepper was one of two available wing flavors, with the wings checking in at 540 calories per serving. The site describes them as “crispy chicken wings hand battered and breaded, then tossed in your wing flavor choice.”

The restaurant’s press release on a wings redux, from Jan. 3, 2023 , admitted they were a little more tempered than the sort of hot wings people eat for challenges.

“Popeyes Ghost Pepper Wings feature six crispy chicken wings, marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for at least 12 hours, then hand-battered and breaded and served with Popeyes buttermilk ranch,” the release noted. “These wings balance the perfect level of kick making them a more approachable wing option for those who enjoy a little bit of heat and a whole lot of flavor.”

How hot is a Ghost Pepper?

A Ghost Pepper is really hot; in fact, one of the hottest peppers on the planet. The famed Scoville scale, which arrives at how hot a pepper is based on “their pungency and their capsaicin content” in Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

There are a number of varieties of ghost peppers that range in the 600,000 to 1,041,427 SHU range, which is impressive. It’s not quite the record-setting Carolina Reaper at 2.3 million SHUs, but it’s hotter than the hottest habanero variety at 300,000 to 500,000 SHUs and much hotter than a jalapeño, at 2,500 to 8,000 SHUs.

How hot are Popeyes Ghost Pepper wings?

In the taste test I did, the wings were straight out of the fryer, and obviously glistening a bit with a tinge of ghost pepper. But they weren’t especially hot.

(Note that I’ve done another hot wings challenge in the past with legitimately hot wings that left me reeling for about 12 hours afterward. I’ve also tasted a 2 million-plus SHU hot sauce so hot the vendor put a single drop on a toothpick; I had a ringing-in-my-eats sensation and stumbled off to find ice cream, which worked to quench the fire.)

These wings were … not that. I got a little ripple of heat with a couple of the wings on the back end, and had a little bit of a discernible tingle on my lips and tongue after working through my six-wing order. But nothing about the experience was at all alarming or arresting or made me think, “I’ve just been through the culinary fire.”

What do others think about the Ghost Pepper Wings from Popeyes?

Some online disagree, though. If you search “ ghost pepper wings ” on X (formerly Twitter), you’ll find reactions along the lines of “those ghost pepper wings did a number on me” and “those ghost pepper wings from Popeyes go crazy ngl.”

They also have a number of fans, including one who claimed “ghost pepper wings calling my name.”

And a reviewer from Spicy Food Reviews wrote, “At first, the heat from these wings does not seem to be much different than the spicy version of Popeyes regular fried chicken. But after a couple of wings you really start to notice some burn. By about the third wing, that heat has kicked up to the medium level and your lips are tingling.” That reviewer put it somewhere between medium and hot on their scale, which might be a little bit of an overestimation of its kick, but not unwarranted.

Phil West is a veteran professional writer and editor, and the author of two books on soccer, ‘The United States of Soccer,’ and ‘I Believe That We Will Win,’ both from The Overlook Press. His work has appeared most recently in The Striker (where he served as managing editor), MLSSoccer.com, Next City, and Texas Highways. Based in Austin, he is also a lecturer in the Writing Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings Made A Triumphant Return For 2023

You might even want more spice.

Popeyes is coming in hot this new year with the return of Ghost Pepper Wings and wing deals (um yes, please!). No disrespect to the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich, but wings just hit different, and wings with a bit of heat are a spot-hitter like none other. You might recognize the Ghost Pepper Wings as a menu item of the past, and they’re back for the first time in free years. Here’s what to know about how much you can expect to pay for your Ghost Pepper Wings and how much heat you should expect.

The Ghost Pepper Wings might’ve disappeared, er, ghosted, from the menu in September 2020, but the chicken wings are finally back for January 2023. The fan-favorite wings launched in 2015 and were last seen in 2020 — until now. Ghost Pepper Wings might have spice-lovers ready to bring the heat, but the name is actually a little misleading. According to Popeyes’ Jan. 3 press release, this is a more approachable wing that’s about “little bit of heat and a whole lot of flavor.” The flavors come from being “marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for at least 12 hours,” per the press release. Then, the wings are “hand-battered and breaded” before being fried until perfectly crispy and served with Popeyes buttermilk ranch.

Sounds like a perfect wing experience — ranch and crispy chicken — but is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Ghost Pepper Wings Review

Elite Daily editor Collette Reitz tried the Ghost Pepper Wings, and if you’re looking for a super spicy bite that could make it onto Hot Ones , you might be a little let down. Ghost peppers are one of the world’s hottest chili peppers , but you wouldn’t know it wihen you bite in. “The Ghost Pepper Wings live up to the ‘little bit of heat’ promise,” Reitz says. However, she had to go “searching for spice” even when she tried the wing on its own without any dip.

“On the heat front, I found the wings to be lacking — there was no residual lip tingling or anything kicking to the back of your throat — but the wings were tasty,” she shares. “Mine were fresh from the fryer and had all the flavor you expect from Popeyes chicken, with just a slight hint of spice.”

If you can handle your spice, Reitz recommends dipping them in a hotter sauce, “like Bayou Buffalo or Sweet Heat, to really bring the spice.”

Ghost Pepper Wings Price

Popeyes is celebrating the return of Ghost Pepper Wings with deals that are so fire. As of Jan. 3, the wings are $5 for six wings (that’s less than $1 each) on the Popeyes app or online for ordering ahead for in-store pickup only.

If you want to snack on wings from your couch, get them delivered to you in six or 12-piece packs for $1 per wing by ordering on the Popeyes app or online .

Free Apple Pie With Rewards Points

As a sweet bonus, Popeyes Rewards members will receive 200 loyalty points for every order of Ghost Pepper Wings, which is enough points to redeem a free Apple Pie.

How Long Are The Ghost Pepper Wings Available For?

The Ghost Pepper Wings came back on Jan. 3 and will be available “a limited time only”, per the press release . There’s no telling when the wings will “ghost” again, so make sure you try them before they’re gone.

Some Claim Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings Aren't as Spicy as Advertised

How spicy are Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings? The popular fast food chain recently released a spicy new item that will allegedly set your mouth on fire.

Sep. 16 2020, Updated 2:51 p.m. ET

Most of us consider the infamous ghost pepper to be one of the hottest ones out there, but is it really as hot as we think it is? Popular Louisiana-based fast food chicken chain Popeyes recently released a brand-new menu item called Ghost Pepper Hot Wings, and although it sounds undeniably intimidating (and seriously tasty!), many seem to be shockingly underwhelmed by the Ghost Pepper Wing's level of hotness.

For a rundown on just how spicy Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings are, we've done a little market research. Stay tuned for everything we know regarding the restaurant's latest and greatest chicken wing offering.

Here's the rundown on the highly intimidating ghost pepper:

The ghost pepper, or the Bhut Jolokia, is regarded as a super-fiery pepper that boasts between 855,000 and 1,041,427 Scoville Units (which — if you're a Hot Ones fan — you know is very spicy!). According to Pepper Scale , it's apparently regarded as one of the hottest peppers in the world, and although it isn't quite as hot as the Carolina Reaper, it's apparently up to 417 times as hot as the jalapeño, for a reference point.

With that in mind, spice enthusiasts and fried chicken fans across the globe had expected Popeyes' Ghost Pepper wings to be fiery, to quite literally exude smoke, and to set our mouths aflame, however, it seems as though that hasn't exactly been the case. Those who have tried the intimidating new menu item have complained that it simply isn't hot enough, and that Popeyes needs to stop catering to its wimpy, spice-sensitive customers. Check out what fans have been saying about it below. 

But if you want to try Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings, you'll have to act fast.

Apparently, this isn't the first time Popeyes has offered Ghost Pepper Wings. According to Delish, they first appeared on Popeyes' menus in 2014 , but were only around for a limited time. And although their return was warmly welcomed by fans nationwide, they're only back for a limited time, with no specific end date in sight... aka, you'll want to order some and prove your spice-eating abilities before they leave menus unexpectedly.

The chain's Ghost Pepper Wings are marinated for up to 12 hours in a "blend of peppers" — which apparently includes the ghost pepper — before getting battered, breaded, and fried. You can snag a six-count box, a 12-count box, or an "Ultimate Bundle," and each comes with buttermilk ranch on the side and a biscuit (because really, we wouldn't have it any other way). You can probably ask for extra spicy if you're feeling zealous, but you may just be handed an extra packet of hot sauce.

Although Popeyes' Ghost Pepper Wings may not be quite as hot as advertised, we're guessing they're tasty nonetheless. Seriously, if they're anything like the chain's fried chicken sandwiches, we already know they're going to be delicious, and either way, we're ready for that highly anticipated crunch.

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Spicy Food Reviews (and Recipes)

Where Fire Meets Flavor: Covering Foods That Bring the Heat!

Winging It: Ghost Pepper Wings from Popeyes

Bottom Line: The Ghost Pepper Wings from Popeyes are tasty little bites of chicken that bring a nice kick of heat.

Popeyes is known for its fried chicken with a kick, and its spicy chicken sandwich is one of the best available in the drive thru these days. But apparently they know that consumers are really going for the spicy stuff lately, and they are kicking things up by bringing back their Ghost Pepper Wings. Those were last available in the drive thru three years ago, and I seem to recall that they came and went at my local Popeyes so quickly that I never got a chance to try them. They are back now, but only for that dreaded limited time only.

Take note that these are not wings drenched in sauce. Instead, they are marinated in a signature ghost pepper spice blend for 12 hours then hand-battered and breaded then tossed in the deep fryer. So they may not be what you typically think of as wings, but they are still worth trying.

At first bite, they taste like the usual good fried chicken from Popeyes. The meat is plenty tender and flavorful, and the wings have a flaky, crumbly crust that has good crunch. They are not greasy at all and the meat pulls right off the bone. They are also not too salty while still delivering a good kick of Cajun seasoning. The promised Ranch dressing was left off my order, but I have never been a huge fan of that condiment and the wings don’t need it. A little packet of honey drizzled over these might take them to the next level, though, and I may try that the next time. (Don’t pull these off the menu too quickly, Popeyes!)

At first, the heat from these wings does not seem to be much different than the spicy version of Popeyes regular fried chicken. But after a couple of wings you really start to notice some burn. By about the third wing, that heat has kicked up to the Medium level and your lips are tingling. And by the time you are through six of these, that heat has risen even higher. I wouldn’t call them Ghost Pepper hot, but still hotter than the Popeyes spicy blend and they get somewhere between Medium and Hot on my scale . I’d actually like it if they added the Ghost Pepper seasoning to their regular chicken pieces instead of just these smaller wing bits.

At 670 calories for a six-piece order, that may not seem too bad for the drive thru. But you know that you are going to get that combo which adds on another 200 calories for the biscuit and 270 cals for the cajun fries. Be sure to get the unsweet iced tea, otherwise you will be breaking the calorie bank with your combo order.

And let’s talk inflation. The price for the combo on the drive thru menu was $7.99, but by the time I got to the window they charged me $8.59! What would have happened if I drove around the building one more time?!

The Ghost Pepper Wings will be heading back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville before too long, probably after the Super Bowl (they make good football munchies). So give these a try now while they are still available. They may not quite reach the Ghost Pepper heat expectations, but these little firecrackers still pack a punch and plenty of flavor as well.

Tale of the Tape:

Serving Size: 6 Wings Calories: 670 Fat: 46g (17g Sat/2g Trans) Protein: 45g Carbs: 21g Sodium: 1420mg

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The Chicken Sandwich Wars: Spicy Blackened Chicken from Popeyes

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Burger king canada adds ghost pepper chicken nuggets and ghost pepper ranch dipping sauce to…, nathan’s famous unleashes new new york chopped cheese hero sandwich, california pizza kitchen launches new korean bbq steak pizza with free pizza offer for national…, baskin-robbins releases new apple cider donut ice cream and brings back zombie unicorn cake, ghost pepper wings return to the menu at popeyes.

After a three-year hiatus, Popeyes is once again offering the perfect level of kick with the return of Ghost Pepper Wings at participating locations.

Ghost Pepper Wings consist of bone-in crispy chicken wings marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for 12 hours, then hand battered and breaded in a Southern style crispy coating, and deep-fried until crispy and browned. They’re served with a side buttermilk ranch on the side for dipping.

Ghost Pepper Wings are available in 6-, 12- and 24-piece orders for a suggested price of $5, $9.69 and $18.99, respectively (may vary).

To celebrate the return of the fan favorite item, the brand is offering a 6-piece order of Ghost Pepper Wings for just $5 when ordering ahead in Popeyes App or on popeyes.com for in-store pickup. Additionally, fans who place an order of Ghost Pepper Wings between now and February 12, 2023, will receive 200 loyalty points, which is the right amount of points for a free Apple Pie .

Popeyes is also offering delivery deals to make getting wings even easier and more convenient with offers like $1 wings when you order 6 wings for $6 or 12 wings for $12 through the brand’s mobile app or website. ​

Ghost Pepper Wings can be found at participating Popeyes locations nationwide for a limited time through February 12, 2023.

Ghost Pepper Wings (6-Piece) Nutrition Facts

• 670 calories
• 46 grams of fat
• 17 grams of saturated fat
• 1420 milligrams of sodium
• 21 grams of carbs
• 1 gram of sugar
• 45 grams of protein

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Guilty Eats

The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 1800 Knoxville Avenue in Peoria is closed until further notice because of a leaky grease tank.

Popeyes brings back Ghost Pepper Wings once again

It was three months ago that we at Guilty Eats happily reported that Popeyes , best known the last couple of years for their Chicken Sandwich, had decided to bring back one of their other very popular menu items.

After being gone for years, the chicken-focused fast food chain revealed that they were bringing back their Ghost Pepper Wings, albeit for a very limited engagement. It was part of a larger campaign that they were using to promote their app and ordering online.

Many fans feared that once the promotion was over, that would be it. The Ghost Pepper Wings would be gone once again, never to return. However, it looks like folks shouldn’t have worried if the report from the chickens over at Chewboom is to be believed.

Ghost Pepper Wings are once again back at Popeyes for a limited time.

You asked. We delivered. GHOST PEPPER WINGS ARE BACK!!! *smooth jazz plays* pic.twitter.com/TdQLuUPTnf — Popeyes (@Popeyes) May 1, 2023

Popeyes has announced that Ghost pepper Wings are back for a limited time. For those that don’t remember, the wings are made from bone-in chicken wings that have been marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for 12 hours. Then they are battered and breaded in a Southern style coating and deep fried.

Additionally, Popeyes has added a new Mango Lemonade to the menu, also for a limited time. It is available chilled or frozen and includes a mango fruit flavor and is made with cane sugar.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they have also revealed that the Popeyes Foundation will be having its first Spring Fundraiser. From now until June 4, anyone who makes a donation to help communities in a time of need will receive a coupon for a free apple pie.

So you get the return of Ghost Pepper Wings, a new Mango Lemonade and a chance to get a free apple pie just for helping others. Sounds like you have absolutely no reason to head out for some chicken.

What do you think Guilty Eaters? Are you excited for the return of Ghost Pepper Wings? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages.

• Published on 05/03/2023 at 11:00 AM EDT
• Last updated on 05/03/2023 at 11:00 AM EDT
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Easy Baked Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean sea bass is a white fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids with a unique large-flake texture and a mild flavor that makes it broadly appealing. An abundance of healthy fats makes the fish a little easier to cook than less fatty varieties because it won't toughen up like other fish, even if it is a bit overcooked. 

This easy recipe calls for baking the fillets—it's a simple method that's largely hands off. While the fish cooks, make the accompanying butter sauce and your favorite veggie sides. It's an easy meal that comes together in about 30 minutes.

What Is Chilean Sea Bass?

Chilean sea bass is a deep water fish also known by the less attractive name "toothfish." It's typically caught in ocean waters around Antarctica, among other locations.

It's a mild yet rich-tasting fish that takes well to a number of preparations. The demand for this fish and regulations to protect it from overfishing mean that Chilean sea bass tends to be relatively expensive, but its mild flavor and texture make it worth the price.

Is There a Difference Between Sea Bass and Chilean Sea Bass?

If you see "sea bass" on a menu or at a fish market, it's likely referring to black sea bass, often caught in the Western Atlantic. The fish is similar to snapper and is popular served whole. Chilean sea bass is technically not a sea bass, but was labeled as such to increase marketability.

How to Shop for Tasty—and Sustainable—Chilean Sea Bass

When the popularity of Chilean sea bass led to overfishing, the fish declined precipitously. It showed up on "do not eat" lists and was removed from many restaurant menus. These days, some Chilean sea bass fishing is managed responsibly and there are regulations in place to protect the species, but there are still some areas where it is overfished. Seafood Watch recommends only buying Chilean sea bass if it's certified by the Marine Stewardship council or is sold by a store that's committed to ocean-friendly seafood.

Beyond sustainability concerns, when shopping for Chilean sea bass look for fillets that are firm and blemish-free. If possible, give the fish a sniff—it should smell like the ocean not "fishy." If buying frozen fillets—a great option, by the way!—check the package to be sure you don't see any ice crystals or freezer burn.

What Can I Substitute for Chilean Sea Bass?

The closest fish in flavor and texture to Chilean sea bass is black cod , also known as sablefish. Black cod tends to be less overfished than Chilean sea bass, making it more commonly available.

For this recipe, any thick white fillet, such as cod or haddock will also work well. You can also use thinner fillets, such as flounder or sole—just reduce the cooking time.

What's the Best Way to Cook Chilean Sea Bass?

While Chilean sea bass is delicious when pan-fried or cooked on the grill, baking it, as in this recipe, is one of the tastiest and easiest methods. Since this recipe is hands-off once the fish is in the oven, you'll have time to make sides or a salad whiles the fish cooks.

Recipe Tips

• Don't worry about removing the skin: Chilean sea bass skin is thin and tasty, so there's no need to remove it for this recipe.
• Use an instant-read thermometer: One of the best ways to cook any animal protein properly without undercooking or overcooking it is to use a thermometer to test it. When a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the fillet registers 145 F, the fish should be perfectly cooked.
• Mind the salt : This recipe calls for homemade Creole seasoning, but you can also use a store-bought variety. If the seasoning is very salty, omit the Kosher salt.
• Don't overheat the sauce: Make sure to whisk in the butter over very low heat or off the heat if the pan is getting too hot; if the heat is too high, the butter will melt too quickly, and the sauce will not thicken properly. If you need to make the sauce ahead of time, keep it warm over very low heat, whisking every so often to keep the  emulsion  intact.

What to Serve with Chilean Sea Bass?

This recipe includes a silky lemon and shallot buerre blanc sauce, which flavors the sea bass beautifully. Feel free to serve the fish plain if you like or use another type of sauce. A simple lemon and butter sauce is another good option, or drizzle the fish with a Parmesan cream sauce.

Serve Chilean sea bass with pea puree , mashed potatoes , or buttered rice or pasta to soak up the sauce, plus a simple vegetable side like steamed green beans .

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

“Both the sea bass and beurre blanc are packed with flavor! It can be an amazingly quick dinner and the sauce doesn’t overpower the fish at all. Making a beurre blanc can be tricky, but if you follow this recipe step by step, it comes out perfectly!” — Tara Omidvar

Ingredients

For the Fish:

Olive oil , for the pan

4 Chilean sea bass fillets (about 6 ounces each)

Kosher salt , to taste

Black pepper , to taste

Creole seasoning (or seasoned salt), to taste

For the Lemon Buerre Blanc:

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 tablespoon lemon juice , or more to taste

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon heavy cream

6 tablespoons  cold butter , cut into 1-inch pieces

Lemon wedges, for garnish

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Oil a broiler pan and rack or baking pan with olive oil.

Lightly sprinkle the sea bass fillets all over with Kosher salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning.

Place the Chilean sea bass on the oiled broiler rack, skin-side down.

Bake the fish fillets at 425 F for about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. The fish is ready when the temperature reaches 145 F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a fillet.

While the fish is baking, prepare the lemon buerre blanc sauce.

In a saucepan, combine the dry white wine, white wine vinegar, and minced shallots.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until it has reduced to about 2 tablespoons.

Add the lemon juice, zest, and heavy cream.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in 1 piece of the butter.

Set it back over low heat and continue whisking until the butter has almost melted.

Continue with the remaining pieces of butter until all are incorporated.

Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed. Whisk until well blended. If the sauce is too hot or too cold, it can separate, so keep it warm—at least 80 F but no hotter than about 135 F—until serving time.

Arrange the fish on plates with lemon wedges and drizzle with the lemon buerre blanc.

Recipe Variations

• Simply salt and pepper the fish and omit the Creole seasoning for a more delicate flavor.
• Finish the sauce with chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, or dill.
• Add some capers to the beurre blanc for a salty, briny flavor.

Recipe Tags:

• family dinner

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Popeyes Kicks Off 2023 By Bringing Back a Spicy Fan Favorite

Ghost Pepper Wings are returning to menus nationwide.

Photo by: Photo courtesy of Popeyes

Photo courtesy of Popeyes

If your resolutions for 2023 include spicing things up and saving some cash, Popeyes is ready to help you keep them. The chicken chain is kicking off the new year by bringing back to its menus, after a three-year absence, fan-favorite Ghost Pepper Wings for a limited time for $5.

The crispy chicken wings, which return starting January 3, 2023 at participating U.S. locations nationwide, are marinated “for at least 12 hours" in a ghost pepper spice blend. They are then battered by hand, breaded and served with Popeyes buttermilk ranch to achieve “the perfect level of kick.” The Ghost Pepper Wings are “a more approachable wing option for those who enjoy a little bit of heat and a whole lot of flavor,” according to a press release .

“Our Ghost Pepper Wings have been a fan favorite amongst our guests, combining the perfect amount of spice and flavor for wing lovers,” Sami Siddiqui, president of Popeyes North America, says . “The holiday season can be tough on everyone’s wallets, and we’re so excited to bring back Ghost Pepper Wings at an incredible value that can’t be beat.”

And for those looking to embrace sweetness alongside their spiciness in the new year, Popeyes is also bringing back, for a limited time also beginning January 3, its Blueberry Lemon Pie and a Strawberry Cheesecake cup. The former includes “blueberries and cream cheese with a touch of lemon flavor in a flaky, turnover-style pastry” and the latter boasts “a thick and rich cheesecake filling mixed with strawberry puree, on a graham cracker crumb crust perfectly portioned in an individual cup,” as Popeyes describes them.

Popeyes is also offering $1-per-wing deals (six wings for $6; 12 wings for $12) on delivery orders placed via the Popeyes App or website and offering 200 loyalty points on every order of Ghost Pepper Wings. That’s enough to earn you a free Apple Pie.

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