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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.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing. My fiancé couldn’t believe I baked the wings. He thought it was fried.
Thank you!
So happy that you and your family loved this recipe!
Thank you for stopping by!
These were the best chicken wings! Super easy to make, very little cleanup and best of all…my teenage son wants to learn to make them for his friends. Now that’s a huge endorsement! Thank you so much!!
Great job Kristin!!! I made them they are good you can make changes off of your recipe. Different sauces changing up bake temp or time if you want to but I thought yours was good.
Thanks Brian!
this recipe is without doubt the best chicken wing recipe I’ve tried . . .can’t believe how easy it is and how perfect it turns out . . . you are awesojme!
No brining them?
Nope!
That happened to me but I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder. Oops! I tried it again and they came out great ?
This was my first time making wings at home, so I followed the directions to the letter and these turned out amazing!! My husband said they were the best he’d had ever.
I want to make these fir Sunday . Can I make ahead and warm in oven ?
You can – but they might get dry or if you add the sauce they won’t be crispy. If you’re going to warm them in the oven anyway, I’d just prep them and then bake them the day of.
I am completely addicted to these wings! I’ve made them very week for the last 6 weeks. LOL!! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe!
Love to hear that Sherry!
Can I take to a picnic and serve at out door temperature
They would be ok at room temperature, but I would wait to coat them in the sauce as you don’t want them to get soggy.
Can you use Almond or coconut flour as a substitue instead of regular flour?
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to whether or not it would work. Give it a try and let us know how it comes out!
These are absolutely phenomenal. A perfect crispiness, no need to deep fry, and you can make them in your underwear! Wish I would’ve found these sooner. These go toe-to-toe with ANY restaurant-made wings I’ve ever had and I consider it a BLESSING that I found this recipe.
Can I ask a question that might sound really silly, I’m planning on making these for my boyfriend as he absolutely loves hot chicken wings, however I don’t do a lot of cooking. The flour, is it plain flour used?
Yes it’s all-purpose flour.
I admit I was skeptical about the amount of baking powder, but these were delicious! The skin was crispy and perfectly seasoned and the meat was juicy and flavorful. No messy frying, either! A complete winner, we enjoyed them very much.
These were AMAZING! My son, husband and I devoured 1.5kg of drumettes between us! I just left them plain without the sauce. My son dipped his in tomato sauce and we dipped ours in Nandos peri peri lemon herb sauce. Can’t believe it gives a deep fried effect without the oil!
This is absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! Juicy and crispy as if they were fried!!!! I bake them on a rack and they are awesome every single time I’ve made them. Always a hit!!!
You have leave chicken in for hour and half. Then below you day 30 minutes. ?
The post says half an hour, which is 30 minutes.
I tried this for my first time and they came out delicious & crispy!! ❤
Excellent recipe! Can’t wait to make it again!
These were awesome!