There’s a reason Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Wings are a Must-make Game Day treat! They are so easy! And shatteringly crispy! And, Oh, that sauce!
Have you ever heard of a “SuperTaster”? These are people who taste foods so sensitively, they can detect small amounts of flavors in each dish. Doesn’t that sound dreamy? “Ooh, do I detect a hint of tarragon?” Of course there’s the flip side. They often dislike intensely flavored, super-sour, or spicy foods, and are especially sensitive to bitter flavors. I used to think I would like to be a supertaster, but if I couldn’t enjoy spicy food… or bitter flavors…or tart flavors….well, that would be devastating! Learn more about supertasters here. And, if I couldn’t enjoy those flavors, I imagine these Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce would be off-limits for many reasons. 😱
Fortunately, most of us are not SuperTasters, so we all NEED to know how to crisp up our chicken wings for game day, or any random Tuesday. But, now that I know the secret ingredient, I’ll be using it for chicken in general, not just wings!
These wings, I promise, are shatteringly crispy! Roll them around in some simple to make buffalo sauce, and it’s heaven! This method was perfected by the folks at Cook’s Illustrated, who are responsible for so many excellent recipes. And this one is no exception.
Just a little bit of baking powder is enough to dry out the chicken skin so it exudes a bit of fat at low temperature, then crisps nicely when the heat turns up. So you’ll be baking the wings 30 minutes at a low temp, then turning up the heat for an additional 40-50 minutes. And making the sauce is easy as can be, just mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat them up.
So, I’m hoping you love Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken Wings as much as I do! And add some buffalo sauce, (unless, of course, you’re a supertaster,) and need to eat them plain. Either way, it’s the new way to “fry” some chicken wings!
Enjoy!
If you’re looking for appetizers, don’t miss this enticing and flavorful Muhammara Dip and don’t forget some Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies for a sweet treat!
Buffalo Wings Recipe Tips:
The miracle that is baking powder is what brings us these truly crispy wings. Baking powder dries out the skin, enabling it to crisp so nicely.
This easy recipe involves just shaking up the pre-cut wing pieces that you can purchase by the pound at most grocery stores (drumettes and wingettes) with a little baking powder and some salt. Best to do the shaking in a large zippered bag. Then, lay them across a rack on a foil-covered sheet pan. [This Sheet Pan and Rack (#ad) by USA Pan are excellent quality!] It’s ok if they touch! Bake at a low temperature (250F) for 30 minutes. This will melt some of the fat from the skin, to begin the crisping process, as well as keep the meat moist. Then, turn that temperature up to 425F for a good 40-50 minutes until the wings are crisp.
This somewhat long cook time gives you ample time to make some blue cheese dressing – so easy, just mix together all of the ingredients. Also making the wing sauce, which you can do in a small pan, or microwave, again, just mixing all ingredients together. Then just toss the crispy wings in the sauce and you have Crispy Buffalo Wings, right from you oven!
What if you have whole chicken wings instead of drumettes and wingettes? The best thing to do is to cut them into the 3 parts: drumette, wingette, and flapper. This video from The Cookful shows and tells how to cut them into these easily edible pieces. You can use the flapper if you want, or just use it to make chicken stock, which is always nice to have on hand.
This is a big recipe. What do I do with leftovers? You can store leftovers, once fully at room temperature, covered in the fridge for several days. Unfortunately, they do lose much of their crispness once refrigerated. But they are still delicious!
Can I use this method with other chicken pieces, like drumsticks or thighs? I’ve used it to make oven-fried chicken, and can report that indeed it does work. Be sure to use the baking powder with “no added aluminum”, though, for optimal flavor, as you won’t get a sort of “metallic” taste. Use about 4 teaspoons for 3 lb chicken pieces.
Wings with baking powder Crispy from oven!
Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce
Adapted from a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, as seen on Recipe Tin Eats. Both fine sources of cooking excellence! I adapted this recipe only very slightly to my tastes and preferences, but the Blue Cheese dressing recipe is my own. (Feel free to substitute jarred dressing if you like!)
The brilliance of this recipe is that baking powder crisps the wings to perfection, and the low cook renders the fat from the skin, while the subsequent higher temperature then crisps the wings. These wings are excellent!
Equipment needed:
- 12×18 rimmed half-sheet pan
- cooking rack to fit the sheetpan
- foil
- large zippered plastic bag
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 1 hr, 20 min
- Total Time: 1 hr, 35 min
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Wing Ingredients:
- 4 lb. Raw Chicken Wing Drummettes and Wingettes
- 5 tsp. Baking Powder (Non-Aluminum preferred!)
- 1 tsp. Salt
Buffalo Sauce:
- 1/2 c Frank’s Hot Sauce
- 2 T Brown Sugar (dark or light)
- 2 T Butter
- 1/2 t Salt
- A few grinds of black pepper
Blue Cheese Dressing:
- 1/2 cup crumbled Blue Cheese (any variety, such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola)
- 1/4 c Mayonnaise
- 1/2 c Plain Greek Yogurt (Full fat or 2%)
- 2–3 T Lemon Juice, to taste
- 1/2 t Salt
- Pepper, to taste
For Serving:
- Celery sticks and/or carrot sticks
Instructions
Prepare Wings:
- Prepare sheet pan by lining it with foil, and placing a greased or sprayed wire baking rack into the sheet pan. Preheat oven to 250F, and position oven rack at its lowest level.
- Dry the Drumettes and Wingettes well with paper towels. The dryer the skin is, the crispier the wing will be.
- Place the wing parts in a zippered bag. Spoon in the baking powder and salt. Shake bag well so ingredients are well distributed over all of the wing pieces.
- Line the rack in the sheetpan with coated wing pieces, skin side down. They will shrink a bit while baking, so it’s ok if they touch a bit. The sheetpan should fit 4 lb, or little more, of wing pieces. Place coated wings in the oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, place the baking sheet with wings on an oven rack in the top third of your oven, and increase heat to 425F.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, turning wings to skin-side up after 15 or 20 minutes. Leave in oven until they are golden brown and crispy.
Prepare Sauces:
- While wings are cooking, prepare the blue cheese sauce. Mix together the mayonnaise and yogurt (or sour cream). Mash in the blue cheese crumbles. Add salt and pepper, and lemon juice to taste. I used the full 3 Tablespoons. If it’s a little too thick, thin it out with a bit of milk.
- Just before wings are done, prepare the Buffalo sauce by mixing all ingredients over Medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Stir occasionally while heating until bubbly.
- Pour the buffalo sauce into a large bowl. When wings are done, place them all in the bowl with the buffalo sauce. Using tongs or a large teflon spatula, mix the wings and sauce together until all wings are coated.
- Serve sauced wings with celery sticks and blue cheese, if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 recipe
Keywords: Chicken Wings, Baked, Crispy, Buffalo, Sauce
I just so happened to gorge myself on oven fried chicken wings last night, Laura! Hah they’re one of my absolute favorite things to eat. These look PERFECT!! Your photos are amazing!
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Oh, Katherine thanks so much! Chicken wings are one of those things that are so tempting! Hope you get the chance to try these!
Thanks for this recipe for Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Wings, Laura. Chicken wings are usually a starter for me when I go out to dinner. I don’t make them at home as I don’t like to deep frying much. However, these are baked so they’re so much healthier. That means I can make them at home now. And that buffalo sauce, lovely. Blue Cheese dressing is my favourite too!
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Thanks, Neil! Glad you’re a fan! I don’t deepfry at home if I can avoid it, so these are perfect for me, too! Glad you’re also a blue cheese lover!
Wow! That top photo really got my attention!!! I love that drippy hot sauce and white sauce all mixed together. I say white because I’ve been served yucky blue cheese sauce so I opt for ranch dressing instead. I think it’s all good. I love the hot and cold of it, too! Thanks for the recipe. Now I’m wishing I’d made these today!!!
Thanks, Mimi! Yes, Ranch would be equally good here! Hope you get the chance to try these!
Wow! These Chicken Wings looks soo tempting and irresistible I can’t wait to try them tomorrow for the Superbowl. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, Laura!.
Thanks so much, Balvinder! Hope you live them like we do!
Love this healthy recipe for chicken wings and they look amazzzing!!
Thanks so much! I love easy and healthy too!
Is to really a football game without chicken wings?! Um the answer is NO! These look game day perfect and I love that since you bake them, you can make a lot all at one time! Definitely need these on my Super Bowl menu!
Thanks, Kelly! Yes! These are perfect for all those reasons! I always think that if they’re baked instead of fried they are positively healthy! I’m right about that, aren’t I? Thanks for visiting, my friend!
Wings. Oh, how do I love? Let me count the ways. If I could write a Valentine’s Day card to Buffalo Wings, then I would. 🙂 So I hear ya about supertasters. I don’t think I am one since I enjoy buffalo wings, but here’s the thing. I really enjoy salt. Like I could own a salt lick, and I’d be cool with it. I’ve heard that supertasters always use salt to bring out the other flavors in a dish. Who knows. Either way, I’d be all in on these baked wings! Now I’m craving wings like you wouldn’t believe. Great pics!
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Thanks, David! I hear ya about using salt to bring out other flavors! Can’t believe all those years we shunned even the smallest amount of salt in food. And I also get your love for wings! They are a party of flavor and texture! Thanks for visiting and for your kind words!