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??
Following these instructions, my truly perfect, crispy wings turned out perfectly! Thank you for simplicity and deliciousness all at the same time! Hats off to you.
They were truly crispy oven baked wings. My husband, who refuses to eat chicken, said he would eat one if I made these and I was so happy that he ate two, and another two the following day. Of course, I ate more than a dozen myself. So good. I love how your recipes are so detailed and well written. For St Patrick’s Day, along with these wings with Ranch Dipping Sauce and Spicy Creamy Dipping Sauce, I made your Irish soda bread, bite size smoked salmon appetizers, and Greek Lemon Potatoes. I’m proofing your No-Knead Yeast Bread, which is truly amazing. Thank you.
As a husband, I am always super-appreciative of anything my wife makes for me. How sweet is that? People really should, for their own good, strive to be more appreciative of efforts that others make for them. Really! No joke! Also, I’m making these wings right now for the bazillionth time. I love them!
Made these so I didn’t have to drag with deep fryer out. The texture is beautiful, but it really upset the salt balance in my recipe. Next time, I will lower the salt content of my blue cheese dipping sauce.
I used baking soda!!! Good lord you even say NOT to and I did and BARFFFFFFFF
I was skeptical at first…but then on the first bite. WOW! I had made some Buffalo sauce and I never used it…that’s how good they were plain.
These are the best wings. This is the only recipe I use. They come out so nice and crispy.
Another winner… I was craving chicken nuggets and figured this was close enough. Had a potato that I was worried might start to go off so used it to make your crispy french fries.
After cutting + boiling potatoes as per french fries recipe I chucked them under the potatoes and cooked them underneath the chicken in the oven.
Fries caught all the chicken fat and both were absolutely delish and crispy!
These turned out like mummified wings. The baking time was way too long. Wings never need more than 50 minutes total in a hot oven. Next time I’ll skip the “fat rendering” phase. I tried just lowering the high temp minutes and They were cooked but not crispy enough. Fail!
Excellent recipe! My son said they were better than most restaurants that have wings.
Thank you for sharing!
Can these cooked wings be frozen without any sauce and reheated?
I’ve made these about 10 times. Perfect every time, and my family’s favorite. I’ve made all kinds of sauces (including B-dubs Asian Zing), but invariably the fam wants ’em tossed in lemon pepper. I always leave some for my favorite, the original Franks wing recipe, but the lemon pepper keeps better for leftovers (if there are any). This is a killer recipe! Note: don’t skip the “pat dry” part, which I did the first time I made ’em.
Thanks Nagi! just made these again today, perfect as always 🙂
Finally, awesome crispy without setting off the smoke alarm. I put layer of kisser salt on the foil. I then transferred rack to fresh pan with foil and salt after 20 min in high.
Way too salty & the baking powder left our mouths feeling stripped. Crispy yes, but awful taste.
These are the absolute bomb!!! I rave about them to everyone!
Do yourself a favour and make them…..but maybe only share with one!
I’ve never used one of your recipes before, and I’ll have to say this is a bad start. They were crispy, yes; but the bitterness of the coating could not be overcome or masked. These were inedible at best. After our family rejected them outright, I took some meat off of the bones and both our dogs had a nibble and turned away as well. In summary, don’t waste your good chicken on this.
Hi Nagi! Made these today for my Canadian husband who has been missing decent wings! They were just WONDERFUL! Thank you! So easy too.
These wings are LEGIT! Make them a couple few times a month now since finding this recipe. The husband loves them too, much better than any chain wing restaurant. Also, I read several comments before making for the first time. Everyone said aluminum free baking powder. Was hard to find but I did it! And no issues.
Terrific wing recipe! To Cdns concerned about aluminum in baking powder – please note in Canada both Fleischmann’s and Magic baking powders are aluminum free. Magic baking powder is made by Kraft Canada and is only available in Canada.
Hi, this is the first of your recipes that I haven’t thought great. The wings were crispy but had a strange, unpleasant flavour. I assume from the baking powder. It wasn’t that I added too much as I read the comments below before I started. Perhaps if you covered them in a sauce you wouldn’t notice the taste, but plain you definitely did.
Hi! I only have about 10 wings to make. Should I cut down the time in the oven? Thank you!
I made these today, they were nice and crispy, but way too salty, and I could taste the baking powder. I found out that baking powder is loaded with sodium. Would cornstarch work instead of baking powder?
Absolutely. The top two ingredients in baking powder are cornstarch and baking soda. I always use cornstarch for my wings. I have also used cornstarch with just a pinch of baking soda. It’s easier to control the salt content and avoid off putting flavors from the leveling agents in baking powder.