These chicken lollipops, served with a sticky, sweet and spicy dip, make a playful and crowd-pleasing appetizer. They take a little effort to prepare, but are always a hit at parties.
“Great recipe… thanks. I love wings of all types and flavours. Korean, American, Chinese, you name it.
Cheers!”
– John M
Nicky’s Notes
I love how charming these bite-sized, crispy lollipops look. They remind me of those viral videos where people pull a clean bone out of a chicken wing—such a satisfying trick. These lollipops do most of that work for you by pushing the meat down the bone so each piece becomes a neat, single-bite portion.
After preparing the wings, we toss them in a flavorful coating and fry them until golden and crunchy.
They’re delicious on their own, but I like to serve them with a simple sticky-spicy sauce included in the recipe below for dunking.
Table of Contents
- Nicky’s Notes
- 🔪 How to cut the chicken
- 👩🍳 Pro Tip
- 🍽️ What to serve it with
- Crispy Chicken Lollipops Recipe
- 👌 More fantastic Finger Foods
🔪 How to cut the chicken
Full recipe and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Cut each chicken wing into three pieces by slicing at the joints. Discard the wing tips.
- Take the smaller middle piece and, at the thicker end, carefully cut around the bone to detach the meat—don’t remove any meat, just loosen it at one end.
- Use your fingers to push the flesh down toward the end of the bones. You may need to use the knife a little to help free any stubborn bits.
- When the meat is pushed down, remove the smaller bone by pulling and twisting; it should come away easily.
- Now take the larger wing piece and loosen the meat at the thin end, then push the flesh down the bone until it forms a neat lollipop shape.
Once prepared, we coat the lollipops and fry them until crisp.
See the recipe card below for full instructions
👩🍳 Pro Tip
Stand the lollipops upright in the oil for the first minute or two to firm up the meat and create a nice bulbous lollipop shape. After that, lay them on their sides to finish cooking through.
🍽️ What to serve it with
Serve these as part of a Chinese-style buffet or alongside other sharing dishes such as egg fried rice or prawn toast. They also pair well with sweet-and-sour or BBQ sauces.
For a tidy finish, wrap the ends of the bones in small pieces of foil to prevent greasy fingers.
Just look at that sticky, drippy sauce 😍
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Crispy Chicken Lollipops
Ingredients
Chicken Lollipops:
- 10 whole chicken wings (about 900g / 2lb)
- Oil for deep frying (approx. 500ml)
- 60g (1/2 cup) cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 60g (1/2 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar
- 120ml (1/2 cup) cold water
Chilli Honey Sauce:
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 4 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
To Serve:
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
Instructions
- Prepare the wings: cut into three at the joints and discard the tips. Use the technique above to push the meat down the bones and remove the smaller bone so each piece becomes a lollipop. Repeat for all wings to make about 20 lollipops.
- Preheat the oven to its lowest setting to keep cooked wings warm while you fry the next batch.
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pan or deep fryer to 175°C / 350°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the cornflour, baking powder, garlic salt, pepper and paprika. Toss the prepared wings in this dry coating so they are evenly covered, then transfer them to a plate.
- In the same bowl, combine the plain flour, rice vinegar and cold water; whisk until smooth to form a wet batter. Dip each coated wing into this batter, allowing excess to drip off, then carefully add to the hot oil.
- Fry in batches (you can usually fit up to 10 at once in a large pan) for 6–8 minutes, moving them occasionally so they don’t stick together, until golden and cooked through. Stand them upright for the first minute to set the shape if possible.
- Transfer cooked lollipops to a baking tray and keep in the oven while you finish frying the rest.
- While the lollipops cook, make the sauce: place the ginger, honey, brown sugar, dark soy and sriracha in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Arrange the lollipops on a platter, optionally wrap the bone ends in foil, spoon over or serve the sauce on the side, and garnish with sliced spring onions.
Notes
Air fryer option: You can air fry instead of deep frying, though the result will be slightly less golden and crisp. For the air fryer, coat only in the dry cornflour mixture (omit the wet batter). Spray generously with oil and air fry at 200°C / 400°F for 20–25 minutes, standing them upright if possible and turning them a couple of times to ensure even cooking.
Other dipping sauces: try sweet-and-sour, sweet chilli, BBQ, chimichurri, or bang-bang sauce as alternatives.
Nutrition notes: Nutritional figures are approximate and shown per lollipop, not including the sauce. Oil absorption during frying is estimated; actual values will vary.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an approximation.
This Chicken Lollipops recipe was first posted in July 2023 and has been updated with improvements since.
👌 More fantastic Finger Foods
Appetizers
Sesame Prawn Toast Recipe
Street Food
Chicken Pakora Recipe
Appetizers
Easy Sausage Rolls Recipe
Appetizers
Coconut Shrimp
Appetizers
Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings
Appetizers
Bang Bang Cauliflower
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