by Bottom Line: The Maple Sriracha and Dallas Cowboys Hot Lemon wings from Wingstop do not bring much heat and they take some getting used to, but they are worth trying.
Wingstop is one of my favorites among the chains for wings and I stop by there on a regular basis for one of their combos or their excellent chicken sandwiches. They don’t have as many sauces as say Buffalo Wild Wings, but they still have more than enough to choose from and they rotate flavors throughout the year. Just recently, they added the Maple Sriracha sauce to the list, so I decided to get a six-piece boneless wing combo for lunch to give it a try. While placing my order, I noticed the Dallas Cowboys Hot Lemon flavor and it looked interesting, so I split my order across the two sauces.
The Maple Sriracha wings are very heavy on the maple syrup flavor with maybe just a little bit of spicy taste from the sriracha in the background. They are not at the point that they are cloyingly sweet, but the syrup definitely dominates. On the positive side, the wings are not too salty (Wingstop does tend to over-salt), and the sriracha adds some nice heat (placing them somewhere between Mild and Medium on my scale), but you really have to like maple syrup to enjoy these. After the first bite, I was not thrilled with them. But by the time I finished the second wing they were growing on me. Consider them a nice change of pace to have along with other flavors, but I wouldn’t want this to be my main sauce.
The Hot Lemon wings have the expected Buffalo sauce tang along with a lemony zing and a peppery bite. The lemon is definitely prominent, delivering plenty of pucker almost to the point that it is overpowering, but ultimately it works well with the other flavors. These are heavy on the salt, but the other flavors manage to balance that out. The combination of citrus and salt may be overpowering to some, but it grew on me. Heat-wise, the Hot Lemon wings start out with some warmth and quickly work up to near the Medium level on my scale. But these will not set your mouth on fire.
I am not a Dallas Cowboys fan, so I have no idea what Hot Lemon has to do with that team, but I did prefer those wings over the Maple Sriracha flavor. Both require some getting used to, though, as you have to really like maple and/or lemon to enjoy them. But as I said above, they are a nice change of pace and I could see ordering one or both of these again when getting a bigger combo with more flavors. I should also note that a few of my wings were a little overcooked, but I usually have good luck with Wingstop and will not hold that against them.
I have not seen any nutritional info on these wings, but I and going to guess that the Maple Sriracha come in around the same as the Mango Habanero (both have a sugary sauce) which is 90 cals per wing. And for the Hot Lemon, I will guess they are similar to the Lemon Pepper which is 110 cals per wing. That may not seem like much, but that adds up quickly when you are getting six, eight, or more. Then, if you add a regular order of fries, that tacks on 495 more calories. The meal will certainly fill you up, but you will also need to reserve some time afterward on the treadmill at the gym!
The six-piece boneless combo goes for $12.49 in my area which includes fries and a regular drink. That’s not quite as good of a deal as the chicken sandwich combo ($8.49 in my area), but that hefty order of fries (and they make the best fries) adds to the value. Take note that both the Maple Sriracha and Dallas Cowboys Hot Lemon sauces will be headed back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville before too long, likely once the football season ends. So if either of these interests you, stop by your local Wingstop and give them a try. But don’t worry if they are out, because there are plenty of other good sauces to choose from at that establishment.
