Popeyes Spices Up Its Menu With The Limited-Time Return Of Popular Ghost Pepper Wings
Popeyes prides itself on being influenced by Louisiana cooking, including using a variety of spices and seasonings in everything from its chicken to its seafood. Because Big Easy cooking depends so much on spice and heat, it would only make sense that Popeyes would — on limited occasions — put chicken wings on the menu.
On May 1, Popeyes announced the return of its ghost pepper wings on Twitter. These bone-in wings, covered in Popeyes' trademark crispy buttermilk coating, are tossed in a blend of spices and seasonings that include ghost peppers. The promise of ghost peppers isn't just another fancy marketing buzzword or something mundane that's been overhyped, either. The average ghost pepper has a Scoville Heat Unit of somewhere between 855,000 to 1,041,427 SHU — a far higher SHU than the regular chili peppers you might expect to find on fast-food wings. The ghost pepper is one of the (if not the) hottest peppers in the world.
Popeyes first introduced the ghost pepper wings back in 2014, but they've made sporadic appearances across the menu over the years since then. This time, Popeyes is not only bringing back its famously spicy wings, but also a brand-new drink option.
You can order mango lemonade with your wings
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could power through a few ghost pepper wings without reaching for a drink. That's why Popeyes is also releasing a new lemonade to pair with its incredibly hot wings. The mango lemonade can be prepared chilled or frozen.
And if you're thinking the ghost pepper wings are just a product of marketing hype, reviewers have gone on the record claiming that the wings can actually be pretty hot. Spicy Food Reviews noted that although the heat doesn't seem too noticeable at first, the more one eats the wings, the more they'll notice the build-up of heat on their lips. But some Redditors have claimed that while the wings were good, the ghost pepper heat seemed to be diluted to appeal to the mass market.
If you're willing to take on the wings, they're available for $6. And if you're unsure about how much heat you can take, you may want to order a mango lemonade, too.