No false promises here – these are seriously crispy Baked Buffalo Wings that are made entirely in the oven! Using a now-world-famous Cooks’ Illustrated technique, the skin is so shatteringly crispy it’s hard to believe they aren’t fried.
Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you! See and hear it for yourself in the recipe video……
Super Crispy BAKED Buffalo Wings!
The great thing about the internet is that there are loads of options for any recipe your heart desires.
The bad thing about the internet is sifting through all those Google search results to find a recipe that actually works as promised and is exactly what you are after.
So here is what I promise you: If you love perfectly seasoned crispy buffalo wings, tossed in a classic spicy, buttery Buffalo Sauce with a tinge of sweetness, and you prefer to avoid the mess and calories of deep frying, this is The One.
These aren’t just “quite crispy but still not like they’ve been deep fried”. These wings are seriously crispy. Read hundreds of testimonials from people who have tried it!
You can’t see how crispy the skin is when I’ve smothered them in that glorious Buffalo Sauce so here’s a photo of them plain, straight out of the oven. And if you have 90 seconds, watch the recipe video below the recipe so you can hear how crispy they are!
The recipe is ridiculously simple, and it’s a genius discovery by the amazing folk over at Cook’s Illustrated who used science to figure out how to make truly crispy wings in the oven.
How to make Ultra Crispy Buffalo Wings in the Oven
The 2 unique steps in this recipe that make all the difference are:
1. baking powder (secret ingredient!) – tossing the wings in baking powder which draws moisture to the surface of the skin and helps make it crispy. Rest assured you can’t taste the baking powder at all; and
2. bake on low then high – usually, the fat under the skin is part of the reason why baked wings don’t get really crispy. In this recipe, we start at a low temp first which melts the fat under the skin, then we crank up the oven which makes the skin super crispy!
What you need for Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
And here’s a visual for what you need.
1. The crispy baked wings
2. The Buffalo Sauce
That perfect combination of spiciness from Franks hot sauce, buttery goodness and and hint of sweet.
3. Blue Cheese Dip
I know some people aren’t a fan of blue cheese dip – but I’m all in!! In fact, I love blue cheese dip so much, I like to keep mine a bit lumpy so I get little pops of blue cheese. But usually, restaurants serve it completely smooth. Go with what rocks your boat!
Celery?? YES!
Crispy wings + spicy, buttery Buffalo Sauce + earthy, creamy blue cheese dip + fresh, crunchy celery = MAGICAL COMBINATION
I don’t know who discovered it, but they deserve a Nobel Prize. I remember the first time I tried it, I squinted at the celery sticks and thought, “who would bother with them?”. But they work! It’s like the perfect way to reboot your taste buds in between each wing!!
You’ll make a total mess of yourself eating them. It’s just not possible to eat wings elegantly. You’ll get Buffalo Sauce smeared all around your mouth. You’re doing well if your shirt stays clean.
But that’s all part of the Buffalo Wings experience, right?? The dramatic clatter as you toss the naked bones into a bowl. Smack you lips. Suck each finger clean.
Dive in for another.
YES PLEASE. – Nagi x
Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
Watch how to make it
PUMP UP THE VOLUME so you can hear how crispy they are!!
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Truly Crispy Oven Baked Buffalo Wings
Ingredients
Crispy Baked Wings
- 4 lb / 2kg chicken wings, wingettes & drumettes (Note 1)
- 5 teaspoons baking powder (NOT baking soda / bi-carb soda) (Note 2)
- 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt / cooking salt (not table salt, too fine)
Sauce
- 4 tbsp (60g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt / cooking salt
Blue Cheese Dip
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, softened (I use gorgonzola)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise , preferably whole-egg
- 1 clove small garlic , minced
- 1 – 3 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt / cooking salt
- Black pepper
To Serve
- Celery sticks
- Lots of beer!
Instructions
Crispy Baked Wings
- Dry overnight (optional) – If you plan ahead, lay the wings on a rack on a rimmed baking tray and let them dry uncovered in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, pat them dry with paper towels.
- Preheat the oven to 250°F/120°C (all oven types). Put one oven shelf in the lower quarter of the oven and one in the top quarter.
- Line the tray with foil. Put a rack on the tray then spray the rack with oil.
- Toss wings – Place the wings in a large bowl. Sprinkle over baking powder and salt. Use hands to toss well (or shake in ziplock bag) to coat wings evenly.
- Bake 30 minutes on low temp – Place the wings skin side up on the rack (ok if snug, they shrink). Bake on the lower shelf in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Bake 40 minutes on high – Move the tray up to the higher shelf and turn the oven up to 425°F / 220°C (all oven types). Bake for a further 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through. The wings do not need to be turned over. They are ready when dark golden brown and the skin is very crispy.
- Toss in sauce – Transfer the wings into a large bowl. Pour over sauce and toss to coat. (Alternatively, serve wings plain with Buffalo Sauce for dipping).
- Serve immediately with Blue Cheese Dip (for both wings and celery sticks dunking)!
Buffalo Sauce
- Whisk together the Sauce ingredients until the sugar is melted. Keep warm or reheat just prior to using.
Blue Cheese Dip
- Mash the blue cheese with sour cream until smooth (or to your taste).
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well until combined, using milk to get it to the consistency you want. Store in the fridge until required. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
* Salt – only a small amount is required, it’s a phenomenon I can’t explain but this small amount perfectly seasons 2kg/4lb of wings using this baking method.
* These shrink when baked because the fat under the skin renders out (melts) which is how these become super crisp. So they can be snug on the rack.
* They are JUICY not dry, despite the long cook time. This is because the first bake at the lower temp barely cooks them, it only melts the fat.
* These bake to a golden brown, not a deep golden brown. You will know they are done because the skin will be lovely and crispy. 5. Source: The recipe for the wings is from Cook’s Illustrated “Meats Book” cookbook. The sauce recipe is my own. 6. To reheat: Allow wings (not tossed in sauce) to cool, then cover and refrigerate. The skin will wrinkle and soften. Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F. Spread wings out on tray, skin side up, and bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the skin puffs up so the wrinkles smooth out and becomes crisp again. Works 100% perfectly! 7. Make Ahead: These stay crispy for as long as the wings are warm, so around 20 – 30 minutes. 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. 8. Comprehensive FAQ is available in the original Truly Crispy Oven Baked Wings. 9. Nutrition for just plain crispy wings (419 cal) and including the hot sauce (476 cal), both assuming 8 servings. Note that the wings have been adjusted to reflect the amount of fat that is rendered out (I measured the fat I poured off the tray 🙂 ).
Nutrition Information:
Originally posted June 2015. Republished February 2020 with improved video and photos, then updated with tidy ups in 2023. NO CHANGE TO RECIPE. I wouldn’t dare – it’s perfect as is!
Life of Dozer
This is what a Food Coma looks like.
Holy cow, I cannot believe these are simply tossed and baked! We cooked 10 pounds of wings for Christmas day, using Serious Eats double fried confit method. Best wings ever, super crisp, but a total PITA, standing over a steaming pots of oil, cooking batch after batch. These look (and sound!) exactly the same, for about 2 percent of the labor. I’m sold.
Thanks, Nagi, looks like wings are back on the super bowl menu.
I’ve never read the serious eats one but I bet it’s SERIOUS stuff!!!! 🙂 Yes these are certainly much simpler – you know me! N xx
No interest in Super Bowl but a lot of interest in these wings. I have to try these. Now. OK, maybe not. Soon though. Like this evening. Or the latest tomorrow. Give me some wings!!
Ba ha ha!!! That could have been ME writing: “No interest in Super Bowl but a lot of interest in these wings”!!! BA HA HA!!!
We don’t do football in our house, either, but, these wings are definitely going to be on this weeks menu!
Ba ha ha!!! That could be me speaking TOO!!!
I made this today and it was YUM! Thank you!!
Awesome! So glad to hear you enjoyed it Chi, thanks for letting me know! N x
These are a favorite in our house! Totally do not miss the breading or frying. Serve with a big salad and lots of cut up veggies and ranch or blue cheese. Super YUMMY! Thank you!
Hey Alice. I’ve been searching for a super crispy wing recipe for the Super Bowl. I always wish there are recent comments about recipes and lo & behold, I see you posted your comment today lol. That’s all the confirmation I need lol. Do you actually use 2 lbs of whole wings & cut them up or do you just use wingettes/drummettes? I’m asking because I don’t know if using whole wings & cutting them up into wingettes & drummettes is the best way. Does it make a difference?
Hi Dana! Doesn’t make a difference whether you cut it up yourself or buy them already cut up 🙂
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it Alice, thanks for letting me know! I love this recipe too 🙂 N x
Hi! Just saw this recipe – Any thoughts on using the IQF wings or should I simply go with the fresh? I have only ever used the big bags of wings from Costco and defrosted them and baked them at the same time in the oven.
Thanks!
Hi Jen! Defrosted wings are fine but make sure you dry them well! 🙂
I just made these for the football play-offs. It’s just the two of us ol’ folk.
I was really excited to find an oven recipe that gave us something that tasted “fried.” I had baked wings and that’s what they were like: baked chicken. We eat gluten free, so this really looked great! I did pretty good, but have 2 questions.
1. I had 4 lbs, and had to split them up to shake them in a gallon plastic bag. I wound up using more baking powder than I probably should have. They didn’t taste bad, just looked bad. Any ideas how to do this better?
2. The top skin side was nice and brown and crispy, but the underneath looked awful. I flipped them over and put them back in for about 5 minutes. Did I miss something in the recipe? I could have let them go a bit more, would that have helped?
I appreciate any ideas you may have.
Hi Ann! Regarding the baking powder if you don’t have a bag big enough, use a very large bowl 🙂 Or pot! And use your hands to toss. Using more baking powder does have a tendency to make it taste metallic. For the underside, it should be just as crispy as the top (the skin part), did you put them on a rack?? Hope that helps! N x
Yes, ma’am, I had a rack in a shallow cookie pan. I will use a big bowl nice time and not crowd them, too. Playing with my food is ok. Although I did some serious patting dry, the wings may have been too wet and absorbed too much powder. Looking forward to trying again!
I made a mini batch of these to try them out and, holy crap, they were PERFECTION! And I’m picky about my wings. This method is entirely life changing haha I want to make them for Super Bowl, but not entirely sure I want to monopolize my oven the whole time. I know there are instructions to reheat, but are they really just better fresh out of the oven the first time? Thanks!
HIGH FIVE!!! I AM SO GLAD you approve Jen!!!! Yes as with most cooked meats, the wings are definitely better fresh out of the oven BUT you will be shocked how well they reheat. They look the same, they really do. They wrinkle up and go soft when they get cold but honestly, once you reheat, they go crispy just like what you see in the photos. And they are still juicy inside. But they are crisper and juicier fresh – not noticeably to others (my friends never notice), but it will be noticeable to you 🙂
Works really well. Did it for thighs too- just did them 10 mins longer in the oven for both the cool and hot bake -it was terrific, both juicy and crisp.
That’s fantastic to hear Dan! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi,
I made the wings for New Year’s Eve. What a hit. Thanks for the recipe.
Just wondering if using other pieces of the chicken such as thighs and drumsticks would they work as well. Being larger pieces would obviously take longer to cook.
Love all off your recipes you post too.
Hi Nick, so glad you enjoyed these! It works on other cuts but it’s only the skin that will get crispy. With drumsticks, the skin shrinks when cooking so only part of it is covered with crispy skin, unlike wings which are almost entirely enclosed in crispy skin. Same with skin on thighs – the skin shrinks quite a bit. But it definitely works on the skin part!
These sound amazing! I’m just wondering if the oven temperature is fan-forced or not?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Laura! That’s a great question 🙂 Actually, it’s the same temp whether fan or standard. Which sounds strange but actually, because it’s so low then so high, it’s actually a bit flexible. I’ve tried it in both and the same cook times work! N x
Hi, I was wondering what you mean by “skin side up.” Any chicken wing I’ve seen has skin on all sides? Just wanted to clarify. Thanks!
Nagi,
These were easy to make and delicious. I made them on my grill in a throw away foil pan lined with non-stick foil. I used to marinade wings in hot sauce and butter and bake them, but your recipe makes crisp chicken wings. I froze three packs of leftovers and will experiment with other sauces when I warm them up, like Parmesan garlic butter or bay seasoning and butter. The possibilities are endless. Great recipe and I never would have thought about using baking powder. Thank you!
I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this Marilyn! THANK YOU for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi!
I want to make this for dinner for 6 people as a main.
I will probably make a slaw on the side as well.
What would you recommend for the portions?
I’m guessing maybe double but will be difficult to cook all at the same time…
Thanks for your suggestion.
sorry for the late response Chanel. I would make 2 batches separately, then reheat the 1st batch – just 5 minutes or so is enough!
Perfect! I am making them tonight. I will make one batch with the Buffalo and Blue Cheese dip and the other batch Honey, Soy and Garlic sauce. I will let you know how they turn out 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion!
The best recipe! Who knew oven baked wings would be so good. Thanks for sharing your secret. Oh and the sauce is amazing. Just the right amount of hot and sweet.
Touchdown! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it Lori, THANK YOU for letting me know! N x
Your photography and videos are beautiful. We were going to grill tonight but can’t because of thunderstorms. Can’t wait to try this instead.
I hope you did try them – and LOVE THEM!!!! N x
And 1 more question does this work with chicken legs too… (Wanted to do a assortment of wings and legs for my party ?
It works on skin so it will make the skin of the legs crispy but will take a bit longer 🙂 Just leave the legs in for longer!
Ok so I plan on doing this recipe for my football party next weekend… I only have 1 rack in my oven so ….. Can I just move the 1 rack from bottom to top (1 full tray of wings)
Of course! N x
Made these tonight- they were delicious, moist on the inside but perfectly crispy on the outside. Thank you so much!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Jane, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi!
Yes I meant the drumette part of the wing. I just followed exact recipe. I’m not joking I cooked them last night and I was asked to cook them again tonight haha! So I did. My husband uses an American brand Buffalo Wing sauce on there he got from USA foods called Wing Time but I use yours.
We prefer the drumettes to the wings a bit meatier. 10/10!!!!!
Welcome to the Crispy Baked Wings team Courtney!!! 🙂 So glad they were a hit! N x
Hi Nagi!
I’ve cooked these before AMAZING. My husband wants me to try drumettes for a bit more meat. Do I need to make any adjustments if weight is the same to seasoning and time/ temperature?
Thanks!
Hi Courtney! Do you mean drum sticks?? Or you want to do just an entire batch of the drummettes part of the wings i.e. the mini drum stick part? If just drumettes, then no need to change the recipe, just use per the recipe!