We know. We really do know that boneless wings are just glorified chicken nuggets. But here us out. Even before the pandemic disrupted supply chains across the meat industry, chicken wings’ prices were soaring ― everywhere. They went from about $50 a case for restaurants to more than $100, and that wasn’t even around the Super Bowl, when demand had typically peaked.
This happened because wings had become so popular, they were the most in-demand pieces of the bird. But chickens only have two wings. Chicken farmers had to have a market for the rest of the chicken before they could process it for wings. And demand, thanks to the opening of several national wing chains, was flying high.
Enter, the “boneless wing,” which we know is just breast meat cut into bite-sized pieces, breaded, fried and sauced. In their defense, boneless wings have some benefits: They’re cheaper to produce and easier to eat. Traditional bone-in wings are superior in flavor to the connoisseur, but the boneless wing became a palatable option for restaurants because once you get them sauced up, most customers ― and children ― will put up with them for the $2 break on a basket of 10-12.