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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!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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I have frozen wings. Should I bring them to room temperature?
They don’t need to be room temperature but they should be fully thawed.
All I can say is AWESOME!!!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Tried it out last night, my wife and I both absolutely loved it. Crispy, juicy and delicious wings!
You are so welcome Mike! Thank you for sharing your feedback.
You are so welcome Mike! Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Wonderful flavor and juiciness and crispness.
You are so welcome Donna! Thanks for stopping by.
This a great recipe. I don’t plan on frying wings ever again.
Nice! Thanks for sharing your feedback Lance.
Love this recipe. So easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing.
You are so welcome Winnie, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
Do you cook immediately after coating or do you leave it on in the frig
Bake immediately.
I did try the Crispy Chicken Wings and they were the best ever, could not believe. I make a fresh salsa that does takes one hour which is created at the same time wings were cookin’ at 40 minutes turned the over to 170° it was exactly as you said, perfect. Now I have some fresh chicken tenders for Sunday game appetizers, am thinking can I do the same with them?
You would need something with skin on in order to get that crispiness. However you could try these:
https://www.yellowblissroad.com/crispy-cheesy-baked-chicken-tenders/
https://www.yellowblissroad.com/baked-coconut-chicken-tenders/
Made them tonight and fam jam was impressed!!!
Thanks so much for a great recipe and easy meal?
You are so welcome Sharon! Thank you so much for stopping by.
We just destroyed 4lbs of these for xmas day lunch appetizer. Great Kispy wings. Thank you.
You are so welcome Robert, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
There were 3 different cooking times listed in the commentary….??? Which one is correct lol 30 mins, 20 mins, 1.5 hrs???
Where are you seeing 1 and a half hours? the cooking times state 30-35 or up to 40 minutes in several places.
Now I finally know how to make crispy wings without frying! They were really good 🙂
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Lorien.
Love this recipe!!! My husband and daughter are huge chicken wings fans and this recipe is exactly what I was looking for. Baked to crispness perfection! Perfect everytime!! Thank you!
You are so welcome Emily, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
I’ve been using your recipe for a few years. We are having them again tonight and it is absolutely the only way to make wings. Very little mess and they are crispy and delicious. For those who may not like sauce these wings are delicious plain Jane.
Thank you so much Sherri! and thank you for sharing your positive experience.
Just letting you know, after using another recipe for crispy baked chicken wings using just baking powder, these not only looked golden brown and crispy, but tasted far better!! I’ve been looking for an alternative and this is definately it.Could not taste any ingerdient residue from the powder, flour, etc. Delicious and highly recommend. Thanks!!!
Nice! Thanks for sharing your experience.
These wings are just what I was looking for. I hate frying wings at home, but wanted that crispy texture, and this is the way to do it!! I’ll forever bake my wings this way! Thanks for the recipe!
You are so welcome Michelle, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
Just had these again tonight and I can’t say enough how amazing cooking wings this way is!!
Hi there! I read through the recipe and don’t see how much, or when to add the baking powder. Thanks
It’s in the printable directions. 2 tablespoons of baking powder and you will add that to the flour and seasonings.
I made these following the recipe to the end. It is a simple yet very good way to add that crispiness we like. I believe the trick is to simply tap off any excess powder mixture before cooking in order to lose that powdery texture. I will make this recipe again and again. Pls tell me if its possible to add the baking powder with less flour? Anyway, very nice recipe. Wings were completely cooked within that time period.
Yes tapping off the excess flour is a good tip. I have seen recipes that don’t use any flour, but I like the coating that it adds.
These were awful I could taste the baking powder on the chicken skin .. it left a bitter after taste I will never make this recipe again
Sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you Judy, but thanks for sharing your feedback.
Hi, Judy! If you’re getting that bitter taste, it can come from using baking powder that contains aluminum. Try looking for an aluminum-free baking powder brand (Rumford is a popular one), it should give you nice crispy wings with no bad taste. 🙂
These are the best crispy wings! Thanks for sharing your recipe hey are a hit every time I make them.
I also add a good tablespoon or 2 of honey into the hot sauce/bitter mixture before coating the wings, delish!
You are so welcome Barb, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
Perfect! First time making wings and I won’t look for any other recipe!
Nice! Thanks for sharing your positive experience Laura.