Betty White’s 5-Ingredient Chicken Dinner Is Golden

Betty White is considered to be a national treasure by fans, many of whom have kept the The Golden Girls star’s memory alive since she died in 2021 at age 99. During her lengthy career, White appeared in everything from the The $25,000 Pyramid game show to Saturday Night Live, won awards like Emmys and Grammys and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But there’s another thing White is remembered for by fans—her five-ingredient chicken dinner recipe.

There’s a bit of confusion among internet sleuths about where the chicken recipe originated. Some say it first appeared in cookbooks in the 1960s, but there’s definitely sightings of the recipe in Johna Blinn’s 1981 cookbook Vintage Celebrity Cookbook and in the 1989 Seasons Greetings cookbook produced by Special Olympics Ohio. Regardless of which decade the recipe hails from, it’s one fans are still making and posting about today.

In the r/old_recipes subreddit, one redditor shared a photo of their version of the dish with a nostalgic explanation. “My favorite dinner as a kid: Betty White’s Chicken Wings Pacifica,” they wrote. “Is this recipe really from Betty White? I tried to research this online and no one seems to know for sure… I know it from my mom’s recipe cards as Betty White’s Chicken Wings Pacifica. I do know for sure that it’s real tasty.”

So just what goes into this “real tasty” chicken dinner? The ingredients are simple. Retro blogger Miss MonMon, who pulled the recipe directly from Vintage Celebrity Cookbook by food columnist Blinn, says all you need are four pounds of cleaned chicken wings, 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 stick of melted butter, 1 scant cup of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of dry mustard.

First, arrange the chicken wings in a deep bowl, then mix the other ingredients together to form a marinade and pour it over the wings.

Cover the mixture and leave it sitting out at room temp for several hours, occasionally turning the wings to coat them in the marinade. 

When everything has had time to hang out and soak up those sweet-savory flavors, place the wings in a baking dish and spoon some extra sauce on top. A drizzle of the excess marinade right out of the bowl would work too, if you don’t want to dirty another spoon.

Then place the pan, uncovered, in a 375 degree F oven and bake for about an hour, until chicken is cooked through and tender. The chicken should be fragrant and golden brown—not to mention mouthwatering.

The recipe sounds golden to us. Not only is it simple with just a few ingredients, but white meat chicken (found in wings) is low-calorie and provides lots of phosphorus and B vitamins. Paired with a yummy potato side dish and a delicious green salad, Betty White’s Chicken Wings Pacifica would be a great dish for feeding a large crowd. What’s more, it’s super easy to make, so it’s perfect for stress-free entertaining.

If you’re aiming for a diet that’s lower in sodium or in sugar, you could always make some tweaks to this recipe so it works for you. Snag some low-sodium soy sauce at the store, and consider lowering the amount of brown sugar in the marinade-slash-sauce. If you find that you want to boost the flavor a bit after subbing out some of the soy or sugar, you could always zhuzh things up with a bit of minced garlic or some pepper flakes for another punch of savory flavor.

Could Betty White’s chicken wings be our new favorite football food? Or maybe Chicken Wings Pacifica would be great to keep on our quick-and-easy appetizer list. If nothing else, it’s perfect for cooking up on a relaxing weekend—maybe one where you kick back and enjoy a few Betty White classics, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Match Game.