Kristin Maxwell
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Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
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Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings are simple to make as a deliciously satisfying appetizer or meal. Chicken wings are seasoned and then baked for an addictively crispy skin with no greasy frying!
This chicken wings recipe is truly a family favorite. We serve them at parties, on game day or for family movie nights. With lots of different flavors to choose from, like Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan or BBQ Chicken Wings, baked chicken wings are as easy choice that’s budget friendly and easy to prepare.
Crispy Chicken Wings are delicious, but the messy frying doesn’t thrill me. That’s why I love this baked chicken wings recipe. It’s healthier and easier than frying, because they bake up crispy in the oven with hardly any effort!
Don’t want to mess with the bone? Try my Boneless Chicken Wings!
Table of Contents
The Best Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
We love finger foods for game day or just a fun family movie night! 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.
Chicken wings are somewhat of a guilty pleasure, but I can enjoy these guilt free because they are baked instead of fried. Plus I can make buffalo wings and control the heat or customize for everyone with one of my favorite sauces. Honey glazed is one of my favorites!
Ingredients
- Chicken Wings – Use a combo of flats and drumettes, or separate out and only use drumettes if you prefer. If frozen, you need to thaw first.
- Flour – Helps form a crispy coating around the chicken.
- Baking Powder – Forms a reaction with the skin and helps dry it out, which is crucial to a crispy skin.
- Cayenne Sauce – Frank’s Red Hot or something similar. This is not a wing sauce, although that can be used.
- Butter – Use real butter, not margarine, for the best flavor.
- Seasoning – Chili powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper
How to Bake Chicken Wings in the Oven
Preheat the oven to 450℉. Preheating and roasting at a high heat will help attain the crispy skin you’re looking for.
Dry and Coat: Pat wings dry with paper towels and toss them with the flour, baking powder and seasoning. It’s very important to shake off excess flour or there may be some residual flour after baking.
Roast: You have 2 options for baking – flat on a baking sheet or on a baking rack. If you have a rack, you’ll get better air flow and a crispier result. If you don’t, just cover a baking sheet with foil and you’re wings will still get crispy. Either way, make sure to spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for about 30 minutes, flipping them about halfway through.
Saucing Your Wings
If you’re making the buffalo sauce, you can do that while the chicken is in the oven. It’s basically just hot sauce and butter, melted together. You can make it as spicy or mild as you like. You can also leave your wings unsauced – they have a great flavor already.
Toss baked wings in the buffalo sauce or any sauce of your choosing.
FAQs
How Long does it Take to Bake Chicken Wings?
Using my foolproof method, wings take about 30-40 minutes to bake at 450℉, or until they are golden brown and crispy. Flipping them halfway through helps them to brown evenly.
How does baking powder make chicken crispy?
The baking powder (not to be confused with baking soda) is really what makes all the difference for crispy chicken wings. When you coat the chicken it dries out the skin leaving it crispy and crunchy when baked. The more sciency explanation is that there is a reaction when the salt and baking soda combine that changes the PH of the chicken skin.
Will this work with chicken drumsticks?
A lot of readers have asked if this recipe works with chicken drumsticks. Spoiler alert – it does! Check out my easy Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks.
Expert Tips for Crispy Wings
- Pat them dry. When you take them out of the packaging, you need to pat them dry really well. The dry they are the crispier they will be.
- Flour + Baking Powder. Some recipes don’t use baking powder but it really does help with the crispy skin.
- Tap off excess flour. 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.
- Storage: Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
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 of these yummy sides:
- 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.
- 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!
- Southern Potato Salad – Tender potatoes with a creamy, tangy dressing.
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Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
The best Crispy Baked Chicken wings are dipped in flour and spices, then baked until golden and crispy. Super easy for game day or just a weeknight dinner!
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 40 mins
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 ½ 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 wings into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the wings and toss to coat.
- Serve with celery and carrot sticks and a side of ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
Notes
I typically do a 1/1 ratio of butter to hot sauce. If you want more heat, add less butter. For less heat, add less hot sauce. The great thing is that you can keep adding one or the other until you have a taste you love.
Nutrition information does not include hot sauce and butter since the amount used is to personal taste.
Nutrition
Calories: 318kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 24gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 492mgPotassium: 625mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 378IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 190mgIron: 2mg
My go- to chicken wing recipe..love the idea these are baked not fried.
Only change I made was to place wings on a sprayed cookie rack on a sheet pan as they don’t tend to stick as much.
Serve mine with celery sticks & used Greek yogurt as the dip…scrumptious! 👏👏👏👏👏
Love the feedback Louise! Thanks for stopping by.
This is the only recipe for wings I use. I’ve made it so many times and they are always a hit!!!! Awesome recipe!! Thank you!!
You are so welcome Rosalva! Love the comment, thanks for stopping by.
Never get as crispy or delicious as fried wings don’t care what anybody says but is an alternative I suppose if you don’t have access to a fryer
Never implied they get just as crispy as fried, but they are definitely healthier.
I love nothing better than frying my chicken in GREASE but sometimes as a healthy alternative baking them on high eat will give you a crisp just not that crisp that you get in grease fix but it is definitely still tasty
My nephew made this recipe. The chicken was very tasty, juicy, and tender. The flavor was excellent. I plan to make these today.
Hi T’Lene,
Thanks for giving our recipe a try. Please let us know here in the comments how well it turned out for you.
Thanks for stopping.
The spices don’t get in at all, very bland
I made these but added more kinds of spices to the flour mix. I tried with the hot sauce over only half the wings and kept other half as is. The ones covered in hot sauce were a bit soggy. The others were great.
Yes they can get soggy if they don’t get crispy enough in the oven. Anytime you add liquid over anything that can happen. Glad they were still tasty though!
Absolutely LOVE this alternative to frying, all while getting the same (crispy) results. I use same recipe for thighs and it does NOT disappoint! Look y’all, everyone likes a different level of crispiness and everyone’s oven cooks a little different, so I just advise be patient and make sure that you watch them and I promise they will be amazing!! Another bit of advice, they crisp up a bit upon cooling so if not sure maybe pull one out and let it sit a few to test crispy level (of course once internal temp is on point).
Thank you for sharing recipe. We have use dover 20 times – at LEAST 🙂
You are so welcome Bri! Thanks for the awesome feedback.
Lifesaver for when I need to help my wife and give her a break in the kitchen! I put my own spin on the seasonings but THANK YOU!!!!!!
You are so welcome Jetwan! Thank you for stopping by.
Excellent! I’ve done this 3x with wings, and 1x with drumsticks.
My son has weight issues, but as a Southerner, I love me some fried chicken. This is an excellent substitute, with no frying in oil 🙂
Since I like mine extra crispy, for the last 2 mins, I brush the tops with the melted butter and put up on the top rack of the oven.
Awesome feedback Tracey! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Phenomenal! Followed the recipe exactly and they were good with and without the sauce and had the perfect crispiness which is usually lacking in oven wings. This will be my new ‘go to’ wings recipe.
Nice! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by Diana!
I’ve been using your recipe for a couple years and it is excellent. We like it more than most restaurant wings! Came back to make it again for Súper bowl Sunday today and I just wanted to say your website redo looks fantastic!!
That’s awesome Claudia! Thank you so much for the kind words and for stopping by.
tried it, loved it, best wings ever meat fell off the bone, but can you substitute flour for corn starch?
I haven’t tried cornstarch, but it wouldn’t be a substitute. You could probablu use it instead of baking powder .
I have made these wings now for quite sometime and they are soooo crispie and good. I don’t always put them in the hot sauce as we like the dry rub. Very good wings!!!!!
Nice! Thank you for the awesome feedback Cherie.
Super easy and they taste so good
Thank you Mary! Love the feedback.
Oh I love these! I’ve been making them for a few years using your recipe and my husband and I love them. They are so crispy. thank you!
You are so welcome Kathy! Thanks for stopping by.
I made the crispy oven fried wings and they were Better then any of my fried chicken. They were very crispy as well.
That’s awesome Joan! Thanks for stopping by.
K.
This is a fantastic recipe. I have made this several times. Perfect for game time. My husband is not a fan of chicken wings but will eat a few of these because they are not greasy and super crunchy- he thought i fried them.
Christina
Best baked wings recipe I have ever found. Used Alton Browns recipe for years but this one is amazing. Thank you, thank you.
You are so welcome Brian! Love the feedback! Thanks for stopping by.
i would love to do these for a party could i bake them and keep warm in a crock pot then people could add their prefered sauce or would they get mushy in a crock port over time do you think?
Hi Angie, I’d be afraid they would get mushy in a crockpot. Maybe a crockpot with the lid off would help keep them warm?
My sister in law introduced me to this wing recipe. I’ll never deal with frying again. These are perfect!
That’s awesome Melissa! We absolutely love when people share our recopies. Thanks for stopping by.
Kristin