Wet Sauce, Dry Rub: A Tale of Two Wings

Chicken wings. They offer endless combinations of sauces, countless pairings with dips, and boundless deliciousness when choosing sides. You can choose from drums or flats, celery or carrots, ranch or bleu cheese with nary a glance from your table mates. The only wing choice that might get you a disbelieving glance from your friends… Sauce or dry rub?

The debate has raged for ages, with both sides claiming that their wings are superior. Head-to-head, they clash, sauces versus dry rubs in an endless scuffle to come out on top in the dog-eat-dog (or human-eat-chicken) world of poultry seasoning. 

Where do you stand?

Is Sauce the King of Wings?

When you think wings, you think buffalo sauce. Somehow, the combination of hot sauce, butter, and various herbs has become synonymous with football games, cookouts, and beers with the boys. From there, we branch out into a whole world of saucy flavors to drench your wings in. Honey mustard, barbecue, spicy garlic… The options are only limited by your imagination. 

In fact, one could say that the art of saucing a wing takes far more TLC than just rattling it around in some dubiously tasty powder. Finding that perfect balance between deliciously tossed and soaking wet takes practice, failure, and perseverance. There’s a fine line between delightfully messy fingers and annoyingly dribbling garlic sauce down your wrists. 

Saucers would claim that those that prefer a sauced wing are those that appreciate the finer things in life… A little indulgence and a little luxury. 

Do Dry Rub Wings Take the Cake?

While the dry rub isn’t as synonymous with wings as buffalo sauce, it’s made quite the showing in its own right. It all starts with perfectly portioned chicken wings and a spice mix custom-tailored to your liking. Lemon pepper? Sure thing. Spicy barbecue? No problem. Garlic powder, chipotle, cayenne… Your spice cabinet is a science lab, and you are the scientist, finding the perfect recipe for knock-out, dry rub wings. 

The only necessity? A little bit of brown sugar. See, unlike saucy wings, dry rubs have the innate ability to return a satisfying, yet juicy, crunch that you just can’t get with a sauce toss. The sugar in your recipes caramelizes into a crisp crust of baked-on deliciousness. 

Dry rub aficionados know the importance of taking your time. Whereas the sauce fans can drown out any questionably seasoned chicken with a veil of dripping liquids, dry rubs tell all your secrets. It has to be a perfect blend, made with love, and applied with finesse. 

Our Verdict

At Anduzzi’s, there’s no question that we love wings. We offer a variety of flavors, including Parmesan Garlic, Teriyaki, Sweet Chili, Honey BBQ, BBQ, Tangy Carolina Gold, Anduzzi’s Fusion, Spicy Garlic, Buffalo, Inferno, and, of course, our own special Dry Rub. So, whether you like things saucy or prefer to spice it up, we’ve got you covered.