It’s football season which means it’s chicken wing season! I don’t know about y’all but the food item I crave most on game days are chicken wings. But making the same old buffalo wings every week gets old so we’ve been experimenting with new flavors. Because of our multicultural backgrounds, we experiment with new flavor profiles a lot, typically Latin/Mexican, Italian, and Middle Eastern are our favorites. Middle Eastern food in particular is one of our favorites (not just because of my background), but because there’s so much complexity to it. So we decided to create a recipe for Middle Eastern inspired wings and these Zaatar Wings with Harissa Honey were born.

What is Zaatar?

It is a common Middle Eastern seasoning blend, often eaten simply with pita and high quality olive oil. However, it’s used in SO many other ways and starting to pop up more and more on restaurant menus. It’s typically a blend of dried oregano, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds, among other things. It’s got a very herby flavor profile but some depth and nuttiness from the sesame seeds.

You can find Zaatar at most specialty grocers, but if you can find a local Middle Eastern grocer, you’re sure to find a lot more options to select from at cheaper prices as well. Even better, make friends with someone traveling to the Middle East and beg them to bring you some back!

Here’s a few options to order online if you prefer:

Ziyad Brand — one of our favorite trusted brands
Here’s a Lebanese style one that comes in a slightly smaller package

What is Harissa?

Harissa is a spicy pepper paste that originates from Northern Africa, most commonly seen in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. There are many different ways to prepare it and I’ve had mild versions and VERY spicy versions. I recommend to try a *tiny* bit of the one you plan to use before dumping two full teaspoons of it onto your wings, because you may regret it later!

This is the one we used for this recipe, and the wings turned out mild, not too spicy at all. If you prefer your wings extra spicy, you could add an extra 1-2 teaspoons.

Cooking the Chicken Wings: Air Fryer vs Oven

We recently caved and finally bought an air fryer and I honestly can’t believe how much we use it. At least 3-4 times per week. In order to save on space, we opted to get a toaster oven air fryer combo to replace our previous one. Honestly, we can’t recommend ours enough, so if you are in the market, be sure to check this one out. We’ve truly loved using it. Chicken wings are especially fun to make because they cook so quickly and really get extra crispy in it. That being said, you can absolutely still make these chicken wings without an air fryer or deep fryer for that matter.

First off, you want to buy a cooling rack — like the ones you use for cookies. Next, set that over a cookie sheet or sheet pan of some sort. Arrange your wings onto the wire rack and bake that way in the oven. This allows the wings to get crispy all around. Will they get as crispy as in the air fryer? Probably not, but they’ll still be really freaking delicious.

Final Notes

If you want a complete spread, pair your zaatar chicken wings with some hummus and veggies or harissa cauliflower. If you’re a dipping kind of person, you can also mix a little extra harissa with some ranch for a tasty dipping sauce. Personally, we really enjoyed these without any need for dip. It took a few tries to get right, but so happy with how they turned out!