From tailgate parties to late-night bar food to kids dinner plates, chicken wings are a widely available and wildly popular food choice for people of all ages. Their small size and ease of preparation makes them ideal as a snack, appetizer or part of a larger meal.
Preparation
The method of preparation has a big effect on the nutritional value of chicken wings. Chicken wings are frequently served battered and fried, which adds significant amounts of calories and fat. Other preparations, such as roasted, may have healthier nutrition profiles. As a reference, a single raw chicken wing with skin still on it can be used. The different nutritional values of various preparations occur because the oil from cooking is absorbed by the wings, the batter or other coating adds calories and fat and the heat of cooking destroys some nutrients.
Calories and Fat
A single raw chicken wing, weighing approximately 28 to 29 g or about 1 oz., has 64 calories and 5 g of fat, 1 g of which is saturated fat. Comparatively, the same single wing battered and fried is 94 calories with 6 g of fat, 2 g of which is saturated. Roasted chicken wings clock in at 81 calories and 5 g of fat.
Macronutrients
Chicken wings are a good source of lean protein, having 5 g per wing. Raw and roasted chicken wings have no carbohydrates, but the batter on batter-fried wings adds 3 g per wing. Chicken wings are naturally low in sodium, with only 21 mg per wing, but battering and frying brings that up to 93 mg. The method of chicken wing preparation doesn't really affect the level of cholesterol, which remains at 22 to 24 mg.
Micronutrients
Chicken wings contain iron, vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, selenium, niacin, choline, folate and betaine, no matter the technique of preparation. Frying and battering the wings lowers the level of vitamin A but raises calcium levels.
Recommendations
Chicken wings can be part of a nutritious diet, but preparation really does matter. Most chicken wings served at restaurants, parties and fast food venues are of the higher calorie battered and fried version. A better idea for chicken wing fans is to cook their own wings at home by roasting or baking them. If sauces are served with the wings, these should also be taken into account when calculating the overall nutritional profile of the meal.
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