No false promises here – these crispy oven baked wings are SERIOUSLY crispy! You will be gob smacked how easy they are to make. They honestly taste like they’ve been deep fried, with a thin shatteringly crisp golden skin. You can see how easy these are to make and hear how crispy they really are in this cooking video.
These are so good they can be eaten plain. Or toss them in your favourite sauce, or serve it on the side. I’ve provided a selection of sauces for these crispy baked wings in the recipe below!
Truly crispy oven baked wings
This recipe for how to make Crispy Oven Baked Wings is a discovery by the genius folk over at Cook’s Illustrated. Being the food nerd I am, I really enjoy how Cook’s Illustrated explains the science behind why they do things in a particular way.
And I honestly believe this to be one of their most all time most epic recipes, especially because it’s so insanely EASY!!! And today, I’m sharing the secret with you. Are you ready? 🙂
How to make crispy oven baked wings
Crispy oven baked wings in 3 easy steps:
Pat wings dry with paper towels;
Toss wings in baking powder and salt;
Bake at 120°C/250°F for 30 minutes, then at 220°C/425°F for 40 – 50 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Yes, that’s it. That’s all there is to it. 🙂
Why this recipe works
In those 3 simple steps are 2 very important things to make these truly crispy oven baked wings:
1. Coat in baking powder – yes, you read that right, baking powder! I won’t go into all the technicalities, but in a nutshell, the baking powder draws moisture to the surface of the skin so it can evaporate, thereby making the skin crispier; and
2. Bake for 30 minutes on low to melt the fat before blasting in a very hot oven to crisp up the skin. There’s a lot of scientific explanations around this and I’ll skip it because I’ll bore you! But basically, the wings are first baked on the lowest shelf in the oven at a very low temperature for 30 minutes which causes the fat under the skin to “melt”, then you move the wings up to the top shelf and crank up the heat which crisps up the skin.
The other tip is ensuring that the wings are dry. If you are organised enough, put the wings on the rack and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight. However, I neither have the fridge space nor am I organised enough, so I just dry them using paper towels (see photo below for how I do this).
When these come out of the oven and you tap the skin with your nail, you can instantly “hear” how crispy the skin is. They even look like they’ve been fried! And in case you are concerned, you don’t taste baking powder at all.
Got questions? See FAQ under the recipe card.
You will notice that the wings are smaller than you are used to. That’s because so much of the fat under the skin melts off the wings – you’ll see it all pooled on the tray. So these have the added benefit of reduced calories too!
You can toss the wings in your sauce of choice or serve the sauce on the side. I’ve also shared classic Buffalo Wings using this same method for crispy oven baked wings. For this recipe, I’ve included a few simple sauces that I like to serve wings with: Honey Garlic Sauce, Honey Mustard Sauce, Ranch Dipping Sauce.
Let’s get stuck into these wings! – Nagi x
PS I’ve now published the Buffalo Wings version! Here it is: Truly Crispy Oven Baked BUFFALO Wings.
Watch how to make it
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Truly Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Crispy Wings
- 4 lb / 2 kg chicken wings , cut into wingettes and drumettes (Note 1)
- 5 teaspoons baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA / BI-CARB SODA!!)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Oil spray
Instructions
Crispy Wings
- If you are organised enough, uncover the chicken wings and leave them in the fridge for a few hours to dry out. Otherwise, use a paper towel to pat the wings dry.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions.
- Preheat oven to 250F/120C (all oven types – standard/convection/fan).
- Line a baking tray with foil, then place a rack (like a cooling rack) on the foil. Spray the rack with oil spray.
- Place wings in a large bowl or in a ziplock bag. Add the baking powder and salt, then toss to coat evenly.
- Place the wings on the baking tray in a single layer with the skin side up. They should just fit snugly. They will shrink when they cook because the fat renders out so don’t worry if they look too snug.
- Place wings on the lower middle oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.
- Move wings up to the upper middle rack and increase the oven temperature to 425F/220C. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through.
- Remove baking tray from the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- Toss wings in sauce of choice or serve it on the side to dip / drizzle on the wings, then serve.
Recipe Notes:
* Honey Garlic Sauce: Mix together 4 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp white vinegar (or sub with any other vinegar except balsamic), 2-3 garlic cloves, minced. Use for dipping OR tossing.
* Honey Mustard Sauce: 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup honey
* Ranch Dipping Sauce: Mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2 tbsp milk, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp EACH dried dill, parsley, chives, onion and garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste.
* Spicy Creamy Dipping Sauce: 3/4 cup mayo, 1/2 tso garlic powder, 1/8 tsp paprika, 3-4 tbsp sriracha, salt & pepper
* Pink Sauce: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp sriracha (or other hot sauce) 7. Nutrition: The nutrition is per serving, assuming 8 servings. Note that the calories is HIGHER than it actually is because so much fat is rendered out (melted) and discarded which is not reflected in the nutrition below. I measured the discarded fat once and calculated that it should be 60 calories LESS per serving (around 1/4 cup fat in total was discarded).
Nutrition Information:
Originally published in November 2014, updated with fresh new photos and step by step photos!
Frequently asked questions
I don’t have a rack. Does this cause a problem? The skin will still be crispy but the bottom of the wings that is in contact with the tray will be oily. This is because the purpose of the rack is to elevate the wings off the tray and allow the chicken fat to drip down.
One way to get around an oily underside is to take the wings out after around 35 minutes during the high temp cooking. Drain the oil out of the tray then return to the oven to finish crisping/browning. You could also drain the excess oil from the wings on paper towels before serving.
Can I make ahead? These stay crispy for as long as the wings are warm, so around 20 – 30 minutes. After that, the skin starts to wrinkle and soften. However, I was shocked how well they reheat! Just allow the wings to cool (uncovered), then cover and refrigerate. Spread wings out on tray, skin side up, and bake for 5 to 8 minutes at 200C/390F. The skin smooths out and puffs up, just like when they were baked fresh. Other than to you (if you’ve made as many wings as me!) and true hard core Wings experts, the difference in juiciness and crispiness is barely noticeable – my friends never notice when I reheat!
The skin stays crispy for around 10 – 15 minutes after tossing in the sauce, then after that they start to soften but not go soggy, up to around 30 minutes. If you reheat after tossing in sauce, they go soggy.
Please do not toss in baking powder then refrigerate or freeze, this won’t work (makes the wings sweat too much to become crispy).
Can I add seasonings? You sure can! It does marginally reduce the actual skin crispiness but a crust forms from the extra seasonings/spices and adds more crunch. I did a lot of testing around this and I can assure you it works really well!
There was a lot of smoke! Help! A few readers have had this problem and I don’t think it’s from the chicken wings because I’ve made a ridiculous amount of these wings (in my kitchen and others) and never had the problem. The problem may be: a) spillage of chicken fat onto the oven burners when transferring from the lower to the upper shelf or b) there already was fat on the oven burners. I can’t think of anything else. While the smoke point of chicken fat is below that of the high oven temperature used in this recipe, the fat is not in direct contact with the heat because it’s shielded by all the wings and diluted by chicken juices dripping into the fat.
You really don’t need to flip? Really! Even if you don’t use a rack, the underside will get crispy.
Can I make this with other cuts of chicken? Yes BUT the crispiness will only work on the skin. So it works best on wings because they are almost fully enclosed by skin. With drumsticks, thighs and skin on breast, they are not fully encased with skin when raw and the skin shrinks while cooking. But the actual technique works super well! For 1 kg / 2 lb drumsticks or other cut of chicken, using 2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt – less than the recipe for wings because there is less skin surface area.
Life of Dozer
No wings for Dozer – cooked chicken bones are dangerous for dogs! How about a Honey Prawn instead??
Hey Nagi
Bought 4 lbs of wings for the Super Bowl ,excited to try your recipe but thinking of adding smoked paprika to the baking power before tossing since it’s pretty fine …like dust. Will that hinder the baking results ? Your expert opinion is valued.
Thanks,
Michael
Hi Michael! It affects it ever so slightly, but still really crispy, I promise!! 🙂 I created a whole cookbook of baked chicken wings so did a lot of experimenting with how rubs affects the crispiness 🙂
We bought Buffalo Wild Wings salt and vinegar wings dry rub/seasoning, do you think that the rub will stick on the wings after baking? How do you think we should flavor the wings when using dry powder flavor? We are excited to try your recipe for Super Bowl Sunday! Thanks for posting!
Hi Merce! I don’t think the rub will stick very well after baking. The best is to sprinkle it on after tossing in baking powder. The wings don’t come out quite as crispy, but still very crispy. I’ve done a whole series of baked wings with dry rubs in my cookbook so plenty of testing done!! 🙂
You mentioned Sriracha but the ingredients lists vinegar….Which do I use? Both?
Hi Michelle! It’s an optional extra – for a touch of spice! 🙂
I made these before and they were great.but they left almost a gritty feeling in my mouth. Did i do something wrong? How do i stop the gritty?
Hi Corrine! Hmm – gritty? I’m not sure. The only thing I can think is that your baking powder is past the used by date?? Also did you shake well for even coverage? If you did, the coverage should be such a light dusting that there definitely should not be any grittiness!
Hello Nagi, im baking the wings now,just wondering,can I put the sauce on them the last 30 minutes while baking them? Ricky
Hi Ricky, sorry, missed your question, guess you are finished now! No, the sauce can’t be added while baking, otherwise they won’t come out crispy!
Hi Nagi, I can’t wait to try these tomorrow for dinner! Can I bake these without the rack on the cookie sheet? Thanks!
Hi BC! You sure can, but the underside won’t be quite as crispy because it will be sitting in the melted fat. 🙂 Still delish though! And it’s not the entire underside that is not as crispy, around 75% of the wing is crispy as it should be and it’s only the part that is directly touching the tray that is not quite as crispy
Winner winner chicken dinner literally! I did this with my daughter and we followed your instructions to the letter and it was simply a-ma-zing. Thank you so much this is going on my menu plan from now on.
Do you think the baking powder trick and low/high heat would work on normal drumsticks? This was great thanks again!
So glad you enjoyed it Christina!! It does work with drumsticks but not as well because there isn’t as much skin 🙂 It works great with skin on thigh cutlets though because there’s usually plenty of skin!!
Hi Nagi, I made this for dinner tonight and it was SUPER crispy, just like fried! But, the meat inside was dry and not moist. What might have gone wrong?
Amazing! Couldn’t be easier or better tasting! Loved it!
YAY!! Glad to hear you enjoyed it Megan, thanks for taking time to come back and let me know!
These wings are amazing! I will save so much money by making my own now! Thank you very much! Five Stars for sure!!!
I know, right??? 😉
I just made these. OMG. These came out so good and crispy. I will never fried chicken again. Love the sauce. And so simple to make. Thanks for the recipe.i’m trying to give it five stars and my phone is not cooperating. But knOw I give this recipe five stars and then some
Yeeha!! So glad you loved it Trace!
I am excited about getting your emails.
Thank you Tiffany!!
I won’t be using 4 lbs of wings.. more like 1 lbs. I know to cut down the amount of baking soda, but should I still bake for that long?
I am going to make your recipe. In a few days. It looks like my husband and I will love it. I will (promise) to give feedback. I will be honest. The baking powder I know is going to work. I cannot wait
I look forward to hearing what you think!!
Hi Lauren! For the first 30 minutes at the lower temp yes. But for the higher, you might only need 30 minutes 🙂
Made these oven baked wings this evening and they were delicious!! So easy and so good!!
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Aren’t they so crazy easy??!! I’m so glad you liked it Linda!!
So I had such high hopes for this recipe…being as we’re snowed in and usually make wings on the grill. Yes, they got crispy on the outside, they were comparable to a B- wing joint. But if you like your wings really crispy, it was not cutting it. After 30 minutes in the oven low, and one hour in the oven high, my husband is digging out the grill to finish them off.
Sorry to hear that Lindsey! 🙁 Did you dry the wings and use baking powder, not bi-carb?? I’ve made these wings hundreds of times and they come out crispy every time, as I show in the video when I tap my nails on the wings!!
TRULY ! Crispy wings. Listen, you will never ever have to fry your wings again. My dreams have come true. Follow the recipe and you can’t fail. And I’ve failed at plenty others recipes looking for that crispy wing. This is the real deal. Season however you’d like afterward.
YESSSSS!!!!! 😉 N x
Hi, I am so glad I clicked on your oven baked wings link from google! Your recipe was easy and oh so crispy! My boyfriend is from Buffalo, NY so he thinks he is a wing pro and he agreed that the wings seemed fried. I liked this recipe so much I bought your wing cookbook and can’t wait to try all the wings in it! Can I use regular pieces of chicken with these wing recipes with longer cooking times? I think some of the rubs would also be great on whole chickens! I can’t wait to experiment!!! Thank you so much for your blog and recipes! I want to try everything! Tyra C.
That’s awesome! So glad he approved! 😉 High praise!!!
As crispy as advertised. These wings are fantastic. I had all but given up on finding a way to make a truly crispy wing in the oven, but this method delivers. I’m crossing my fingers that the leftovers retain the texture after being refrigerated and reheated.
WOO HOO!! SO GLAD you enjoyed it Morris, thank you for letting me know! N x
Made these tonight and without any sauce they were fantastic ! Perfect since we are gluten free, too. I added more baking powder because I think I had more than 4 lbs. some of my chicken wasn’t coated. Sprinkled some with lemon pepper seasoning. Everyone loved them!
YAY!!! I’m totally with you, I can scoff these down without any sauce at all!! Isn’t it amazing how far a little salt goes?? Each wing is perfectly salty!!
I’m pretty sure you meant “scarf.” LOL. I’m making these for Super Bowl next weekend. They look amazing!!!
These wings are grrrrrrreat! Take note when the wings are baked at the highest temperature, the fat from the wings will cause smoke to fill the room. This is as good as fried wings.
So glad you liked it Barbara! Thank you for letting me know! N x
I’ve been trying to get the perfect crispy wings for a while now and this worked perfect! Thank you so much for the recipe!
YAY! So glad you liked it Ashley! Thank you for letting me know! N x
My oven heats from the bottom (it’s electric) , so would I still start it on the bottom rack and then move it to the top – or should I reverse it?
Hi Janet! Mine is electric too and the heat comes from the bottom. Just follow the recipe – bottom rack then top!
Could i use all purpose baking flour ??
Hi Shar! This won’t work with flour, it needs to be baking powder 🙂