How Many Carbs Are in Buffalo Chicken Wings?

Buffalo chicken wings are a tasty appetizer that you can find at almost any restaurant or sports bar. Their tangy, spicy flavor makes them hard to resist! But if you’re watching your carb intake, you may be wondering – how many carbs are actually in buffalo wings?

In this article, we’ll break down the carb count in traditional buffalo wings. We’ll also look at how preparation method, sauces, and sides can impact the total carbs.

Traditional Buffalo Wings – Skin and Meat Only

First let’s look at plain buffalo chicken wings without any breading or sauce.

One serving of 6 traditional wings contains

• Total Carbs: 0g
• Net Carbs: 0g

The chicken skin and meat itself contains zero carbs. This makes plain wings an excellent low carb and keto friendly choice.

Adding Sauce Increases Carbs

Once you add sauce, the carb count goes up.

Two tablespoons of hot buffalo wing sauce contains around 5g of carbs.

So dipping 6 wings in sauce adds about 17g net carbs to the meal.

The amount of carbs can vary based on the specific ingredients in the sauce recipe. Some buffalo wing sauces have more sugar than others.

Breading Adds More Carbs

Breaded wings are higher in carbs than traditional wings.

One serving of breaded boneless wings contains about 18g net carbs from the breading alone.

When the breaded wings are tossed in sauce, the carbs increase even more.

Sweet Sauces Spike Carbs

Sweet glazes and thick sauces are the highest carb options.

For example:

• 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce: 11g carbs
• 2 tbsp honey garlic sauce: 17g carbs
• 2 tbsp barbecue sauce: 10g carbs

Just two tablespoons of a sweet sauce can add over 10g carbs to your wings.

So for the lowest carb options, go for hot or mild buffalo style wings instead of sweet glazes.

Calories and Fat

In addition to carbs, buffalo wings are high in fat and calories:

• 10 traditional wings with sauce = 700 calories, 50g fat

The skin, sauce, and frying method all contribute to the high fat and calorie counts.

Baked wings are lower in fat and calories than fried. But they still contain a lot of calories from skin and sauce.

How to Make Buffalo Wings Low Carb

Here are some tips for keeping buffalo wings low carb:

• Get naked wings – Skin-on wings without breading or sauce
• Add sauce on the side – This lets you control sauce amount and carbs
• Choose hot sauce – Spicy buffalo style is lower carb than sweet BBQ sauce
• Bake don’t fry – Baking avoids the extra calories from frying oil
• Watch the sides – Skip starchy sides like fries for veggies or salad

You can also make low carb buffalo dipping sauce using greek yogurt or cream cheese instead of sugary bottled sauce.

Keto Friendly Options

Buffalo wings can be part of a keto diet when prepared properly. The high fat content fits the keto guidelines.

Some keto friendly options include:

• Dry rub wings – Use lemon pepper or cajun seasoning instead of sauce
• Grilled wings – Get crispy skin without deep frying
• Ranch dressing – Dip in ranch for added fat; 2 tbsp = 1g carb
• Celery sticks – Low carb vegetable for dipping sauce

Low Carb Recipes

To get you started, here are some delicious low carb buffalo wing recipes:

Baked Buffalo Wings

• Chicken wings, 60g fat, 450 calories, 2g net carbs

Buffalo Chicken Dip

• Shredded chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce, 3g net carbs

Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing

• Wings baked not fried, blue cheese dip, 4g net carbs

Air Fryer Buffalo Wings

• Crispy wings without the oil, 0g net carbs

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