Blueberry BBQ Wings
Blueberries are quintessential to summer and although we typically don’t think about using berries in savory applications, I am here to tell you that you should. Blueberries add the perfect amount of sweetness to complement our savory dishes, like chicken, beef, black bean burgers, salsa, and more. So, I decided to make wings for Memorial day and simply added my homemade Wild Blueberry BBQ sauce to wings cooked in the air fryer. You can also grill or bake your wings depending on what cooking equipment you have at home. The homemade BBQ adds so much flavor and brightness to the chicken! I originally created this recipe for Memorial Day weekend, however, you can serve these any day of the week. Believe me they will be the star of the meal! Also, feel free to use different cuts of chicken, such as a thigh or breast.
Why make your own BBQ sauce?
Who doesn’t love using a sauce or marinade to add flavor and brightness to a meal? In the south when eating BBQ, not only do we cover our food with sauce after cooking, we also continue to dip our food in BBQ sauce while eating. Oh boy, this is such a significant amount of added sugar, well beyond the American Heart Association’s (AHA) recommended 25g (~6 teaspoons) of added sugar per day for women and 38g (~9 teaspoons) of added sugar for men. So, I created my own BBQ sauce from scratch, using wild blueberries and just a touch of honey, which dramatically reduces the added sugar compared to store-bought sauces.
Why is excess added sugar a problem?
In a 2014 cross-sectional study, added sugars accounted for ~16% of total calorie intake of children older than six and adults in the United States. However, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines recommended that we keep our added sugar intake to less than 10% of total calories. As it’s often hard to know how much sugar adds up to less than 10% of our total calories, I like to use the AHA’s recommendations stated above as a guide for added sugar. Added sugars are sugars, syrups and juices that have been added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. It’s important to make the distinction between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars, found in fruit and milk. Naturally occurring sugar found in fruit and milk, has an added benefit of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein, so they are quite different than added sugar. Let’s take a closer look at how added sugars appear on food labels, as well as the associated effects of too much added sugar on health.
Added Sugars on Food Labels - Added sugars are now required to be listed separately on the nutrition facts panel. It’s important to review this information in relation to the serving size and how many servings you actually consume and think about how this compares to the AHA’s recommendations. I also recommended reading the list of ingredients and if sugar of any form is listed in the first three ingredients, then it’s safe to say that food is high in added sugar. Also know that sugar can be listed in many ways throughout the food label, such as honey, agave, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, juice, cane syrup, nectar, maltose, corn sweetener, carob syrup and more.
Weight Gain and Obesity - Foods high in added sugar are often low in nutrients that help us feel full, such as protein and fiber. It’s very easy to over consume these foods, leading to excess weight gain. I consistently see clients in my practice consuming much more added sugar than they realized from sauces, dips and snack foods. Until their initial assessment, in which I provide a detailed nutrient analysis of their current intake, they have no idea just how much added sugar they are consuming.
Increased Risk of Heart Disease - Eating too much added sugar has been associated with increased risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease. Excess added sugar elevates our triglyceride levels, which over time increases our risk of heart disease. Triglycerides are the fat found in blood and stored in our fat cells. According to Mayo Clinic, high triglycerides may contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls (arteriosclerosis) — which increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease. Extremely high triglycerides can also cause acute inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes - Excess weight gain and obesity is considered one of the strongest risk factors for diabetes. As mentioned earlier, high intakes of added sugar lead to weight gain and may also contribute to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is when our cells don’t respond properly to insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas after a carbohydrate-containing meal, to help regulate our blood sugar. When our cells become resistant to insulin, our blood sugar stays elevated, increasing our risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Increased Risk of Fatty Liver Disease - Consistently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly sweetened with fructose, has been linked to increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Because fructose is exclusively metabolized in the liver, high intakes of fructose promotes liver storage of glycogen and fat. This excess stored fat can lead to disruption of liver function, which overtime may be irreversible.
Leaves You Feeling Sluggish - I think we’ve all experienced a sugar crash, right? When we eat foods high in added sugar, it may give us a temporary surge of energy, but we quickly come crashing down. Since there’s no protein or fiber in many of these foods, our blood sugar drops very quickly. High fluctuations in blood sugar like this leave us feeling drained and sluggish.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not on team no sugar. That would be a pretty dull life. However, it is important that we are strategic about our sugar intake. It’s important that we eat with awareness about how much we’re consuming and making smart choices about how we consume added sugar. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather enjoy a chocolate chip or cupcake, than eat added sugar in foods that don’t need it. So, if you’re with me, then give this recipe a try!
Blueberry BBQ Chicken
Prep Time: 5 mins | Make time: 20 mins | Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 10
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbs poultry seasoning
2 Tbs garlic powder sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 Lbs chicken wings
DIRECTIONS
Prep
Prep the Wild Blueberry BBQ Sauce following the directions as indicated here.
Make
Season the chicken with poultry seasoning, garlic powder and salt pepper to your liking (note: I did not add additional salt, nor pepper to season the chicken, as the BBQ sauce has lots of flavor).
Add the chicken wings to the air fryer, so that the wings do not overlap (you may need to cook the wings in multiple batches).
Cook the wings on 400 for 20 mins in the air fryer (or use the chicken setting on your air fryer).
After the wings are cooked, brush generously with the Wild Blueberry BBQ sauce to your liking.
Alternatively, you can preheat your grill and grill the wings, then apply the BBQ sauce half way through cooking.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
292 calories (158 from fat), 18g total fat, 8g carbohydrate, 0.5g dietary fiber, 25g protein