This really is the best recipe for baked chicken wings that are actually, really, truly crispy!
While many chicken wings recipes come out juicy, we need them to be amazing with crispy skin too! This method originally appeared years ago in a fave Honey Garlic chicken wings recipe and can be enjoyed with ANY sauce (or no sauce at all, the choice is yours)!
The Best Appetizer for Game Day
Chicken wings are the real MVP, no gathering is complete without them!
When making snacks, I honestly do not love deep frying so I try to avoid it. I do love air fryer wings but often can’t fit enough in the air fryer so I needed a way to get actually crispy baked wings.
These are tender and juicy inside while having a super crispy exterior.
The secret is in the light coating they’re given (and the rest time). Once in the oven, the baking powder crisps the skin and puffs it up from the meat making them extra crunchy!
Ingredients and Variations
CHICKEN WINGS Purchase wings that are already split to make these extra quick. If your wings aren’t split, cut the drums from the flats and discard the tips.
COATING A simple crispy coating and some salt and pepper are all you need for the basic recipe but feel free to mix in other seasonings to the flour coating. We like powdered ranch dressing, taco seasoning, or a simple combo of garlic and cayenne powder for a little heat.
How to Bake Chicken Wings
- Pat wings dry.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, & pepper (per recipe below). Toss with wings.
- Place on a foil-lined pan & refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours).
- Once wings are chilled & fully coated, toss in olive oil & bake.
Once baked wings can be served as salt & pepper wings or tossed with your favorite sauces from buffalo sauce to homemade bbq sauce.
Tips for the Crispiest Wings
- Pat the wings dry, moisture makes them steam (not crisp).
- Don’t skip the resting period, this allows them to dry out and draws moisture from the skin.
- Toss with olive oil for a little bit of crisp without the deep fry.
- Place on a rack on your baking pan, this allows air to circulate all around the wings.
- Line the pan with foil for easy clean up. If the pan begins to smoke from the drippings, add a new sheet of foil on top of the old foil.
- For an extra-crisp, put the baked wings under the broiler for about 2 minutes until the skins start to become golden brown.
More Game Day Goodies
- The Best Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Crispy Homemade Hot Wings
- Quick and Easy Pizza Bagels – only 4 ingredients
- Grape Jelly Meatballs – a crowd favorite
- Candied Bacon – ready in 30 minutes
- 7 Layer Dip
Did you love these Crispy Oven-Baked Wings? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Actually Crispy Oven Baked Wings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken wings split and tips removed, about 18 wings
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Pat wings dry with a paper towel.
- Prepare a pan by lining with foil and placing a baking rack on it. Spray the rack with cooking spray.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Toss with wings and place on prepared pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours) uncovered.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Toss wings with olive oil in a bowl (ensuring there are no dry spots of flour) and return back to the prepared pan.
- Bake wings 20 minutes, flip and bake an additional 15 minutes. If your wings are smoking, remove the foil and add new foil. Cook until crisp and broil 1 minute each side if desired.
- Toss with sauce or serve with dips.
Notes
- Pat the wings dry, moisture makes them steam (not crisp).
- Don't skip the resting period, this allows them to dry out and to draw moisture from the skin.
- Toss with olive oil for a little bit of crisp without the deep fry.
- Place on a rack on your baking pan, this allows air to circulate all around the wings.
- Line the pan with foil for easy clean up. If the pan begins to smoke from the drippings, add a new sheet of foil on top of the old foil.
- For an extra-crisp, put the baked wings under the broiler for about 2 minutes until the skins start to become golden brown.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Chicken, Party Food
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I made these crispy chicken wings a few days ago and my wife and I loved them. I am making them again tonight and adding a little more seasoning salt and some garlic and onion power to the mix. I highly recommend this recipe.
Excellent recipe! I left my wings whole, they cooked up great.
A few alterations I made:
1. left the wings whole, and added seasoning to the flour mix. drying them extra in the fridge helped out alot.
2. I just baked them right on the oven rack and foil lined the 2nd rack for drips. this did smoke up the house something crazy. but it got all 4 dozen cooked at the same time.
3. I did use fresh wings instead of frozen. Saved on thaw time and didn’t loose much in the way of cost.
4. Reheat in the oven worked best for me. I bet an airfryer would be awesome too. But cold wings don’t scare me either.
5. As I was cooking 4 doz wings, naturally tripled the called for ingredients. Added paprika, garlic salt, red pepper flake, and some thyme to the mix.
Thank you for sharing your tips Caroline! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I haven’t made these yet, but I have a question. Would you recommend baking on convection oven setting?
I use the air fry setting.
These wings tasted as if they were fried! Best recipe I have tried for baked wings. I seasoned them as I normally would and refrigerated for 30 mins. Then tossed with the flour mix and oil per the recipe. Total cook time was 50 minutes. Baked 20 mins per side and broiled 5 mins per side. My family was fighting for seconds! The baking rack made all the difference. Thank you!
Is this a joke recipe? I followed the direction to the T. What I have is white dusty chicken wings.
What a waste of wings.
Did you ensure there were no dry spots of flour as mention in step 5? If you missed this step they should be fine if you toss them in olive oil or sauce and pop them back into the oven if needed. Hope that helps.
5. Toss wings with olive oil in a bowl (ensuring there are no dry spots of flour) and return back to the prepared pan.
I have made these many times and they’re always delicious! I add about a 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika to my flour mix. Sometimes I put on buffalo sauce, but mostly we just eat them right out of the oven.
Sounds delicious Lori! So many great ways to enjoy crispy wings.
Absolutely delicious. I tweak the spices. Omitted the salt because it dries out the chicken. Added onion and garlic powder. 1/4 teaspoon of each. I also refrigerated for 8 hours. Broiled for 2 minutes both sides after baking time. Mix 1/3 cup of unsalted melted butter and 1/4 Wegman wing sauce. Then add hot wings. Delicious, It was the best wings ever eaten.
Quick and simple! That’s how I like to cook! Thank you for sharing and keep them coming!❤️
So glad you enjoyed them, Janice!
Can they be left to dry overnight?
While I haven’t tried it, I don’t see why not.
These wings turned out awesome! Just like the air fryer for crispiness. I tossed some in Dill Pickle seasoning and some in lemon pepper and also hot sauce. Excellent – will definitely make them again!
Oooo, dill pickle seasoning sounds amazing, Wendy! Thanks for sharing.
What can be used in place of baking powder ?
Once in the oven, the baking powder crisps the skin and puffs it up from the meat making them extra crunchy! But you can omit this ingredient if you prefer, your wings just might not end up as crispy as expected.
Crispy! Easy to make. The only change to consider is the seasoning does not adhere well to chicken once dusted in flour/baking powder mix, so I added additional seasoning during the baking process for some zip.
Glad you enjoyed it, Debohra!
All I can say is WOW! I never had chicken wings come out of the oven so crispy, these came out great, golden brown just like the picture! I had to tweak a few things, I did not have baking powder so I used cornstarch with the flour instead, I also added salt and pepper and a little garlic powder and onion salt to the flour mix. I let the wings “sit” in the fridge coated with the flour mix for about 4 hours. When it was time to put the wings in the oven, instead of plain oil, I used a very high-quality organic italian dressing to lightly coat the wings and I sprinkled a little more salt and pepper on the wings. I did have to change the pan foil a few times because of smoking. Pre-coating the wings with the flour mix and letting them sit awhile in the fridge is definitely the secret trick. Super happy with the results I got, this recipe is a winner and a keeper!
So happy to hear that Lucy! Thank you for sharing your substitutions!
I hate wings but made these for hubby.My first time making wings .followed recipe .
Turned out fantastic! I ate half the batch!! Hubby wasn’t impressed
Oh dear We made this recipe too delicious. But I am glad you enjoyed them too!
I have baked Wings before following your recipe, but didn’t have the Buffalo Sauce. Planning on making it now. Would it be a good idea to put some on the Wings, at some point, and Bake or Broil at the end?? Want to make them extra special for my family, especially on game day. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. I follow you daily on my in mail and on Facebook. We enjoy them all. God Bless. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thank you for following along Aunt Jackie!! While you can toss them with the sauce and serve immediately, we often to add the sauce and broil about 5-10 minutes.
So what’s the seasoning that’s clearly on top in the pictures, and why isn’t that in the recipe?
The garnish on top is pepper and parsley.
Is that enough flour for 1 1/2 pounds of wings?
Yes, you just want to lightly dust them, not coat them.
Excellent recipe. Crispy. I added Ancho Chili Pepper to mine and it was really good.
So glad you loved these Maggie!
The flavor was really good. My only problem was getting them cooked to that golden crispy state. I followed the directions but at the end of the cooking time found that they were not crispy or anywhere close to being done. Could be my oven, or not. Anyway I left them in the oven while I cooked a second batch for 35 minutes then under the broiler for another 5 minutes. When they were finally crispy! And delicious!!
I agree with Laura except mine never got golden crispy like the picture. Under the broiler for 5 min both sides. Flavor was very good!
Have you checked the temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer? My oven runs 10° lower than I think it is. So for 350° I have to set it for 360°.
One tablespoon of flour is gonna coat 1 1/2 pounds of wings?
It is enough to lightly dust them.
That’s my question too! I can’t wait to read a response..
Yes, you just want to lightly dust them, not coat them.
So you would just add the extra seasoning into the mixture to coat them. How much would be enough? I have taco and fajita seasoning to choose from.
It depends on the seasoning but I’d try a tablespoon. You could add more for more flavor but may need to add extra olive oil to ensure you don’t have dry spots on the wings.