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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, Salt and Pepper Wings 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!
Pin this recipe for later!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, Jalapeno Popper Dip, 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
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
I make these at least once a month and they turn out great Every. Single. Time. Crispy and flavorful – thanks!
These are the best wings ever! I’ve tried other methods, but this is the best!
Thank you for this recipe I have finally found success making wings…without the mess of frying. They are awesome!!
I made wings for the Super Bowl tonight. I made half the batch with my usual recipe and the other half with this recipe. My son went crazy for these wings! The first thing he said is that they taste like Buffalo Wild Wings. I tried them and agree. They are so crispy and flavorful. This will be my go-to recipe from now on. : )
Unsalted or salted butter?
Either one will work, but I typically use regular salted butter.
I ended up using unsalted (for Super Bowl), next time I’ll try salted but they were amazing and I’ll definitely make these again! Thanks!
Can I use parchment paper instead of tinfoil and cooking spray?
Parchment doesn’t always do well at higher heats, so I would stick with the foil.
These are awesome. My family can”t get enough of them. Would this recipe work with chicken cutlets? Love the recipe but not having “wing eating company”. if yes, How long would you bake it for?
I would probably go with chicken nuggets rather than cutlets. Without any skin though, they won’t get crispy so you might want to do a 3 layer (flour, then egg wash, then breadcrumbs).
Delicious and easy to make! They are the best wings ever ?!!
This was a huge winner! My hubby thought I had ordered out for wings LOL
Hey Kristin,
Does the recipe need to be changed depending on if chicken is frozen or thawed? Wasn’t sure if your recipe used frozen wings or not.
Thanks!
The wings need to be thawed out first.
I am baking them right now and my kitchen is filling with smoke! I’m not sure exactly why? I rinsed and patted dry, made the dry rub, coated the wings in the dry ingredients and laid on a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Has this happened to anyone else?
I wonder if maybe there was something on the floor of your oven that had dripped previously? This could cause smoking/burning in the oven.
Are he wings frozen or thawed to start!?
They need to be thawed.
Just made these but divided them into three and used the buffalo sauce as is, a honey mustard that I whipped up with Hot Honey, and a hoisin/teriyaki sauce (sprinkled those with toasted sesame seeds.) These are awesome.
Great idea!
Made these tonight and they were delicious!!!! Thanks for the recipe and satisfying my craving! Definitely will make them like this from now on.
Very easy recipe to follow with amazing results. Never thought I could get crispy wings from the oven this easy. Thanks for the recipe
My family LOVES these wings – they were voted “even better than dad’s” — and his are fried, and make such a mess! Love these 🙂 (for the timid, I leave a few of them naked – no hot sauce – and they are equally delicious)
Wow! You truly discovered how to make crispy chicken wings in the oven. These were absolutely amazing! I had to sub Chalula for Louisiana hot sauce because I realized at the last second I was out of it lol! But they were still so good. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I have used this recipe 2 days in a row! Last night on chicken wings and today on chicken thighs. My wife LOVES this recipe!!! I literally looked for several days to find the right one to use. This one looked like what I was craving and did not disappoint! AWESOME!!!!
Made them without baking powder and still very yummy!!! Thank you!
II was hoping to make these for an upcoming party. I would follow the recipe and then put them in a crockpot. Have you or anyone else done this? I understand they will probably not be as crispy but don’t really have a choice.