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Persian grilled chicken wings recipe is so unique. The chicken wings are marinated in a saffron yogurt mixture, making them tender and delicious.
My love for the chicken and saffron combination has no end. You can find this combo in zereshk polo morgh (chicken and barberry rice), saffron chicken and also joojeh kabab (grilled saffron chicken). Today I’m going to show you how to make another staple of Persian grilling: Grilled chicken wings recipe, Persian style.
Table of Contents
About this recipe
Kebab houses (or restaurants) are very common in Iran. Every family has their favorite kebab place and their favorite dish. Grilled wings are very common in kebab places and we usually have them in addition to other types of kabobs.
Making Persian grilled chicken wings (Baal-kababi) at home is very simple. Wings are marinated in a saffron yogurt mixture for about an hour to overnight and then grilled to perfection over charcoal grill, just like how it’s done in Iran. Follow along to see how I make this Persian barbecue staple.
Saffron yogurt marinade
All the flavor of this grilled chicken wings recipe lies within this yogurt based marinade. When you marinate chicken in yogurt based mixture, it becomes more tender as you’ve seen with our chicken gyro recipe. Read more about why it’s best to marinade chicken in yogurt. To make the marinade, you need these ingredients:
- Bloomed saffron: It’s important to use bloomed saffron in this recipe and not saffron strands. To make bloomed saffron, grind saffron using a pestle and mortar, sprinkle it over two cubes of ice and let it melt. I’ve written a post on how to bloom saffron that you can check out.
- Yogurt: Yogurt is perfect for tenderizing the chicken and make it juicy. It’s best to use whole milk yogurt for this recipe. However, Greek yogurt works too.
- Bell peppers, onion and garlic: These give such amazing flavors to the marinade therefore don’t skip them. Chop the vegetables into large pieces so they don’t stick to the wings and can be removed easily.
- Olive oil and lemon juice: For great flavor and some brightness, a bit of olive oil and lemon juice is added to this dish.
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken wings: Start by mixing the bloomed saffron with yogurt, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the wings to the mixture and using a pair of tongs, move the wings around to make sure they’re covered with the marinade. Cover the bowl and let the chicken wings marinade for at least two hours up to overnight.
- Prepare the grill: When ready to grill the wings, take the bowl out of the fridge and place on the counter to come to room temperature. Preheat the grill to two zone heating. This means placing all the coals on one half of the grill and keep the other half empty. Now you have direct and indirect heat. Heating up a charcoal grill takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Grill saffron chicken wings: Using tongs, take each chicken wings out of the marinade and shake to get rid of the excess marinade. Place the chicken wings on indirect heat for about 12 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Then place the wings on direct heat to get some nice char on them. Serve immediately.
Serving suggestions
These grilled chicken wings are perfect with some pita bread, hummus, mast o khiar (Persian yogurt and cucumber) and of course, some salad shirazi. You can also serve them with a side of Persian style rice and tahdig or saffron rice if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use sour cream for this recipe if plain yogurt is not available. Keep in mind that diary free yogurt doesn’t work for this marinade and if you like to keep the dish dairy free, you can just leave out the yogurt.
Keep the leftover bloomed saffron in a jar and refrigerate for up to 4 days. You can use it to make saffron chicken or saffron rice.
Preheat the gas grill to 350°F and once it’s hot, place the wings on the grates. Grill and flip every 5 minutes, until fully cooked. This would take about 20 minutes.
Notes and tips
- Don’t skip the bloomed saffron since the main flavor for these grilled chicken wings come from saffron.
- As for the marinade, I suggest using whole milk yogurt but you can also use Greek yogurt or any other kind of yogurt as long as it’s plain and not flavored.
- The reason we grill the wings first on indirect heat and then on direct heat to char is that since the wings have bones, they will take longer to cook. If cooked on direct heat first, the wings might burn on the outside while being raw on the inside.
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Grilled Chicken Wings Recipe Persian Style
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken wings
- 1/2 tsp saffron strands
- 3 cubes ice
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, see notes
- 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into large chunks
- 1 yellow onion , sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemons, juice of
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Grind saffron using a pestle and mortar. Sprinkle saffron over ice and let it melt at room temperature. This will be your bloomed saffron.
- In a large bowl, mix yogurt, bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and bloomed saffron. Add chicken wings to the mixture and using a pair of tongs, move the wings around so they're all covered with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours up to overnight to marinate.
- Once you're ready to grill, take the bowl out of the fridge and place it on the counter to come to room temperature. Preheat the grill to two zone heating. Meaning have all the coals on one half of the grill and keep the other half empty. Now you have direct and indirect heat. Heating up a charcoal grill takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Once the grill is ready, place the wings on the indirect heat and grill for 12 to 15 minutes. Flip halfway through. Now transfer the chicken wings to the direct heat side and grill them until they're charred to your liking. This would take about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken wings to have them charred on all sides.
- Serve immediately with your favorite side dish.
Notes
- Don’t skip the bloomed saffron since the main flavor for these grilled chicken wings come from saffron.
- As for the marinade, you can use Greek yogurt or any other kind of yogurt as long as it’s plain and not flavored.
- The reason we grill the wings first on indirect heat and then on direct heat to char is that since the wings have bones, they will take longer to cook. If cooked directly on If cooked on direct heat first, the wings might burn on the outside while being raw on the inside.
- To make these wings on a gas grill: Preheat the gas grill to 350°F and once it’s hot, place the wings on the grates. Grill and flip every 5 minutes, until fully cooked. This would take about 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These grilled chicken wings look absolutely amazing! I especially love the flavor from the saffron yogurt marinade.
You know that I know that I can never say no to chicken wings lol Fantastic recipe!
Oh some new exotic flavours to try! I have some saffron but never sure how to use it. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
These chicken wings look perfectly cooked and the flavours on them sound amazing.
These are absolutely delicious! I rarely stray from Buffalo wings, but am so glad I did this time.
This sounds delicious! I don’t eat dairy but will try with plant based yogurt – yum!