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??
After the 30 minutes in the 250 oven there was no fat on the bottom of the pan I didn’t have racks
I have made these alot and always add Chinese 5 spice and dried chilli flakes as we like them spicy. Simply delicious!
Hi Nagi, love your blog/recipes! Thanks for the great content <3
I’m out of baking powder, can I use a mixture of cornstarch & bicarbonate soda instead?
Thanks!
Hi Nagi, I’ve made this recipe previously as is and was totally amazing and just the way I like my wings. I’m just wondering if this recipe would work using a BBQ. We was thinking maybe slow cook in the oven and then throw on the BBQ, would that work? Thank you 😊
Hi Nagi!
These crispy baked chicken wings truly get a solid 5 stars from me. They are golden and crispy without all the oil, better than fried in my opinion. I didn’t taste any baking powder whatsoever. (I used magic brand baking powder for anyone in Canada concerned about other comments on the taste coming through).
Thanks Nagi!!
Holly xx
I’ve made the chicken wings this way several times and they are so good! Going to try to make chicken legs this way tonight.
I made these like the recipe said, and they were way too salty! Baking powder? Come on😝 I regret the time and chicken I used on this recipe! Today’s chickens are way too lean to be rendered. That step only increased the lengthy time for this recipe and served to help dry them out. These wings needed fat added to them! And fat on the outside of the wings to help with that powdery baking powder! Needless to say I won’t be making this recipe again!
Perhaps you should be buying better quality chicken if yours are ‘too lean’? I’ve made these wings as instructed plenty of times and they’re always perfect. (I use free range organic chicken from Gippsland)
Other people said the same thing I have, these are way too salty. Your assuming lean chickens are poor quality, which doesn’t correlate. You should mention in the recipe to buy fatty, organic chicken for the best result if this is true.
I wonder if you are not reading the recipe correctly? There is only 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt for 4 pounds of chicken so it should not be salty at all.
These are the best wings ever. The baking powder works wonders and you don’t taste it. I add Mrs. Dash seasoning instead of salt and it’s wonderful. Comes out wonderful every time.
I gave this a crack today, Very happy with the results. Had to pull the wings out after 30 minutes during the second (higher heat) stage as they would have burnt at 40-50 minutes. Probs just my oven. Thanks heaps!
I’ve made them twice but they’re Way Too Salty (I didn’t add any salt). What have I done wrong?
I made the chicken wings, but the taste was quite off. The coating kind of burnt/stung as we ate the wings. Is it possible that I put on too much baking powder?
Yes Elyssa – it sounds like that might have been the problem! N x
I agree as I now know I should have used less baking powder so they’d have only a dusting. Not where it looks like flour on them! I ended spraying some of my canola oil spray on each side and baking about 8 minutes longer on each side. Then they were very good.
I made these now 3x. My husband LOVES them. Thank you. The sauce I use is
1.5 C Mae ploy sweet chili sauce ( This is not spicy)just tingly
1/2 C raw honey
2Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs lime juice
You cook on top of stove. It is so good with these wings. Again thanks for your recipe.
Fantastic results on my first try 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp cayenne.
Excellent Jeremy!! N x
This really did work!! Wings were actually crispy, unlike any other time I’ve tried to make them in the oven. Awesome! Next time, I will cut final cook time back to prevent over cooking chicken, but it was probably my oven that caused that.
Shes not kidding ! I risked a double batch because my ( middle aged) kid was here. They were fantastic ! Crispy! Like I hoped for. And my kid said she could eat those all day lol. So good I ate some with nothing and some with BBQ sauce. And I am making a pan again now with French fries. I will always make them this way now. Oh, I had to cook them in pan. Didn’t have what she used. So used foil and sprayed heavy with Pam and hoped. 100 % happy. Thank you, I am so glad I found your recipe 🙂
Made this last night, it was sensational! Family went nuts for it. Just wondering if I can use the dipping sauce as a marinade for chicken thighs? ( I doubled the dipping sauce recipe and have a lot left over😆 )
I’ve read that adding on a bbq sauce while baking can make wings soggy. Thats why cooks/chefs only either coat in right before serving or use as a dippjng sauce.
Clabber girl baking powder is double acting with a sodium bicarbonate. Is this what I use or do I use a single acting powder? With or without a sodium bicarbonate?
Trying it again today first was a blast everyone enjoyed the wings and wanted more. So here goes.
These were fantastic! I will have to start making wings more often!
A great base for crispy wings, but one of the kids complained over the overwhelming taste of baking powder. We’ve subsequently added 1 tsp each of granulated onion, granulated garlic, paprika, chili powder, and 1/2 tsp ground pepper, which adds more flavor and masks the baking powder bite. Lowered the temp the entire time to 375F, as our convection oven ran too hot for 425.
I was skeptical but these were wonderfully crispy and delicious! Definitely a must keep recipe. You would never know they weren’t fried!