featured-image

Every fancy restaurant, fast food chain, and home chef has their own way of cooking chicken wings. Some say the key is , others say the trick lies in , but Buffalo Wild Wings likes to keep things traditional. So traditional that its secret to making the most crispy, flavorful chicken wings involves using an unconventional ingredient that's making a steady comeback: beef shortening.

Yes, you read that correctly. According to its official , Buffalo Wild Wings fries all of its wings (including cauliflower wings), chips, tater tots, and a good majority of its chicken-based menu items in beef shortening (otherwise known as beef tallow). But there's no need to sound the health department alarms just yet! The popular chain restaurant has good reason for using beef shortening in its recipes, and according to modern kitchen wizards, it isn't as dangerous as we were once led to believe.



Why using beef shortening makes Buffalo Wild Wings unique Beef shortening, a rendered fat from the kidneys and loins of cattle, has been a primary ingredient in the kitchen for generations. It wasn't until the 20th century when negative public health perceptions about tallow and shortenings became rampant that it was phased out of cooking use in favor of oils such as olive oil, avocado oil, and other vegetable oils. But these days, the historic ingredient is slowly making its way back into popularity, proving to have many benefits in the kitchen that other oils simply can't compete with.

A high smoke po.

Back to Food Page