Crispy Baked Chicken Wings are a game day party hit! Chicken wings are dipped in flour and spices, then baked until their skin is nice and crispy. Coat them with some homemade buffalo sauce and your family will devour these wings as quickly as mine did.
When it comes to these baked chicken wings, they are truly a family favorite. They rival other favorites like my easy Baked Chicken Breasts and Easy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks and Cheesy Baked Buffalo Chicken.
CRISPY BAKED CHICKEN WINGS RECIPE
We love finger foods for game day or just a fun family Netflix night! Crispy Baked Chicken Wings are almost always on the menu, and we love to serve them with some of our other favorite appetizers, like French Bread Pizza, chips and homemade Guacamole, and Fried Ravioli with Marinara.
We also happen to love all things Buffalo flavored, and will put that delicious, spicy sauce on anything, from Buffalo Chicken Nachos to Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip to Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad. But our all time favorite way to use that spicy sauce is on these classic Baked Chicken Wings!
Why we love them!
- Chicken Wings are a total guilty pleasure and a favorite snack or even meal when you want to really indulge and get a little messy.
- Wings are a must-have staple for game day parties especially – everybody loves them!
- I’m a bit of a wimp with the buffalo sauce, so I love that I can control the amount of heat in these by adding more or less hot sauce. Or customize with any favorite sauce, like barbecue or honey glazed.
HOW DO YOU MAKE CHICKEN WINGS CRISPY IN THE OVEN?
We love heading out to Buffalo Wild Wings on hockey night to watch the game and enjoy a big basket of wings. While the kind of crispy chicken wings you get in restaurants are quite tasty, they are also typically deep fried – that’s how they get that crispy skin. Well now you can get that perfect crispy skin at home with my Crispy Baked Chicken Wings recipe!
I’ve made chicken wings before, but I’ve never been able to perfect the crispiness until now. The key? Coat them with a little flour and baking powder! I also added some simple spices, but this little mixture coated over the wings made all the difference. They were delicious!!
The baking powder (not to be confused with baking soda) is really what makes all the difference. It is a mixture of sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar and cornstarch that, when mixed with salt and tossed to coat the chicken, dries out the skin leaving it crispy and crunchy when baked. There’s a bunch of sciencey explanation behind this reaction, but basically it’s because the baking powder raises the pH level in the chicken.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BAKE CHICKEN WINGS?
Using my foolproof method, chicken wings take about 30-40 minutes to bake at 450 degree F, flipping them halfway through cooking time to allow even crispness. Cooking them on a rack will allow the fat to render out from the chicken wings so that the skin crisps to a delicious golden brown.
HOW TO MAKE CRISPY BAKED CHICKEN WINGS
It will take about 30 minutes to bake your chicken wings in the oven. A hot, 450 degree oven helps the chicken to cook faster and aids in the crispy skin result that you want. You will bake the chicken wings for about 30 minutes, or until they are nice and crispy and golden. Cooking them on a wire rack is optional, but can also help with the crispiness factor.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Mix the flour and spices together in a large bowl, then coat the wings. Once the wings are coated in the flour mixture, place them on a foil covered cookie sheet that’s been sprayed with cooking spray (don’t forget this step – trust me!).
- Bake them in a 450 degree oven for about half an hour, turning them about halfway through. You can also place the wings on a baking rack that you set on top of the baking sheet. You’ll still want to spray it and flip them for even cooking, but it might make the skin a little crispier (but honestly, I haven’t seen much of a difference).
- In the meantime you can make your own hot wing sauce, which is basically just melted butter and hot sauce. If your family likes it spicy, add more hot sauce. Alternatively, you could leave the wings unsauced, but what’s the fun in that? If you’ve got some that like it hot and some that don’t, use two separate bowls to coat the wings. Make the sauce more on the mild side and pour some over the wings in one of the bowls. Then stir more hot sauce into the remaining sauce and pour that over the other bowl of wings to coat.
TIPS & TRICKS FOR CRISPY CHICKEN WINGS
- Be sure to tap off any excess flour mixture before placing these on the rack. This will keep your wings from tasting bitter from the baking powder.
- Use the rack. If you don’t have one, get one. They are really inexpensive and super useful in the kitchen.
- Don’t crowd the pan. Space your wings far enough apart so they aren’t touching and the air can circulate around them for even cooking.
- Feel free to mix it up with the flavors. Add different seasonings to the flour, or use different sauces.
- Keep lots and lots of napkins handy. These chicken wings are messy – but it’s a good messy!
Serving Suggestions
Of course you’ll want to make sure you have carrot and celery sticks to help cleanse the palette, as well as some creamy Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing for dipping. I actually like to mix the two together for a great flavor.
If you’re looking to make these wings a meal, add some yummy sides like these:
- Garlic Bread – crunchy, buttery and full of garlicky goodness!
- Homemade Baked French Fries – Much easier than you might think and so much better than the drive thru.
- Easy Baked Potato Wedges – Thick strips of potato coated in a homemade seasoning blend and baked until crispy.
- Best Ever Classic Macaroni Salad – A classic that has been in our family for more than 50 years!
- Simple Carrot Salad – Skip the carrot sticks and make this delicious shredded carrot salad!
Will this work with chicken drumsticks?
A lot of readers have asked if this recipe works with chicken drumsticks. It does! Come find out with my Easy, Crispy, Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks!
Love these Crispy Baked Chicken Wings? Try these other chicken recipes:
- Shredded Chicken Parmesan Sandwich
- Easy Baked Barbecue Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- Skinny Southwest Chicken Salad
- Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs
Get more of that tasty buffalo wings flavor with these recipes:
- Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
- Buffalo Ranch Meatballs
- Buffalo Ranch Chicken French Bread Pizza
- Cheesy Baked Buffalo Chicken
Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings or drumettes thawed or fresh (about 3 dozen pieces)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoon baking powder
- Bottled Cayenne Hot Sauce like Frank's Red Hot
- Butter not margarine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Rinse chicken wings and trim any excess skin. Do not remove the skin or you will lose the crispiness. Pat chicken dry.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and seasonings. Add chicken and coat with the flour mixture. Shake off excess.
- Prepare a large cookie sheet by covering with foil and spraying with cooking spray.
- Arrange chicken on the cookie sheet, at least an inch apart.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, turning once after about 20 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce. Add about a 1/2 cup of the bottled Cayenne hot sauce and a stick of butter to a small saucepan. Heat on low and stir until butter is melted and sauce begins to bubble. Taste. If the sauce needs more heat go ahead and add some in batches, or add a few dashes of Tabasco.
- Transfer baked chicken wings into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the crispy baked chicken wings and toss to coat.
- Serve with celery and carrot sticks and a side of ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
Can I do the with chicken breasts too?
This recipe gets crispy because of the skin. You could bread and bake chicken breasts like this: https://www.yellowblissroad.com/crispy-garlic-parmesan-baked-chicken/
Great wings!! Very delicious. My husband and kids love these wings. I love them because it was not fried in oil.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Kristin, pictures look so yummy! My guy likes wings on the grill. Can these be prepared on the grill instead of the oven? Thanks.
Hi Lynda, You can make wings on the grill but wouldn’t need the coating. Just season and grill! Here’s a version we love: Peach Glazed Grilled Chicken Wings
I do not have plain flour, can I use self raising and omit the baking powder?
Yes that should work.
I make these all the time!! Whole family loves them.
Thank you Gabby!
Great recipe!!! The wings were crispy and delicious. My 10 y/o son loved the wings!! He raved about how crispy they were.
That’s awesome Tawana! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Great recipe! Came out crispy and so tasty.
Thank you Love2cook for stopping by.
also 5 stars!!!
Nice! Thank you Juls!
Everyone loved these wings. Delicious and crispy.
i personally think that doing half a stick of butter, putting the hot sauce on the wings and then putting the hot sauce covered wings into the oven to
broil first about 10 minutes makes them crunchier. other than this, delicious recipe.
Your recipe sucks!!! Did everything according to your instructions and ended up frying what the oven didn’t do. There was flour that didn’t go away!!!!
I’m guessing you neglected to shake off the excess flour like the recipe says, or didn’t shake off enough. That’s usually the problem but every kitchen is different. I know this recipe is solid because it’s been viewed nearly 3 million times, been pinned over a million times and has 4.9 stars.
This is the only recipe I use for wings! It is by far amazing. And personally if it didn’t work for you, you don’t need to be a jerk about it. Just move on.
I have used this recipe no less than 5 times, and every single time I eat these wings (or drumsticks one time!) I tell myself there is no reason to ever go out for wings again. Tonight, we are making them again…1/3 with buffalo, 1/3 with garlic parm, 1/3 plain.
Thank you. This recipe is on point and delicious.
That’s awesome Andrea! Thank you for your feedback.
I loved this recipe. New go to for wings. Do you think this could apply to a cut up whole chicken?
I haven’t tried a whole fryer chicken, but I have adapted the recipe for drumsticks here: https://www.yellowblissroad.com/easy-oven-baked-chicken-drumsticks/
I think it would work with other cuts, however the cook time will vary.
We have ordered wings from various restaurants in our area and we find the plain wings, if available, barely taste like chicken. So we decided to make our own. Your recipe was intriguing, baking was a plus, and they were tasty and did NOT NEED sauce! Wednesday is pizza and wings night at our home, and we no longer have to order out!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Sandi.
I made these and found that the mixture of flour + baking powder stayed on the wings after baking… there were white patches on some and not others. I found it wasn’t crispy… :/ not sure if I did something wrong but I followed the directions
Did you shake off the excess flour? That’s the only thing I can think of that may have caused this issue.
Give the chicken a light but even coat of cooking spray before you put them in the oven, and for more crisp, use a flour/panko crumb mix.
Found the panko crumbs didn’t stick well so I did an egg wash first. Now waiting for them to cook. Was simple enough and smell good.