Truly Crispy Oven Baked Buffalo Wings
User Reviews
5
Truly Crispy Oven Baked Buffalo Wings
Description
The recipe uses baking powder—never baking soda—to create a crisp skin on chicken wingettes and drumettes. Wings are optionally dried overnight in the fridge to enhance crispiness. After coating with baking powder and kosher salt, wings bake first at 250°F to melt fat under the skin without cooking thoroughly, then at 425°F to crisp and brown the skin. This stepwise baking yields skin that is golden rather than deep brown and maintains juiciness despite the long cooking time.
The wings are then coated in a sauce of melted butter, Frank's hot sauce, brown sugar, and salt that balances heat, sweetness, and richness. They are paired with a blue cheese dip made from blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, and milk for cooling contrast. Celery sticks and beer are traditional accompaniments.
Reheating wings is possible; warming wings without sauce restores crispness. The wings retain optimal crispness while warm and begin to soften after 10-15 minutes of saucing but do not go soggy immediately. The recipe relies on aluminum-free baking powder for best flavor neutrality but works without it if tossed well. Using wingettes and drumettes simplifies coating and eating.
Ingredients
Crispy Baked Wings
- 4 lb / 2kg chicken wings Note 1, includes wingettes and drumettes
- 5 teaspoons baking powder (NOT baking soda / bi-carb soda) (Note 2)
- 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt not table salt, too fine, or cooking salt
Sauce
- 4 tbsp (60g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup hot sauce Note 3, Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce brand
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt or cooking salt
Blue Cheese Dip
- 1/2 cup blue cheese I use gorgonzola, crumbled, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise , preferably whole-egg
- 1 clove garlic minced, small
- 1 - 3 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt or cooking salt
- black pepper
To Serve
- celery sticks
- beer quantity as desired
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.
Notes
- Use aluminum-free baking powder for a neutral flavor, but coating well is most important.
- Dry wings overnight in the fridge uncovered to improve crispiness before baking, or pat dry with paper towels.
- Wings remain crispy for 20–30 minutes once baked; skin crisps again after reheating uncovered at 200°C/390°F for about 5-8 minutes.
- Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce is preferred but other hot sauces like sriracha can be used with added sugar.
- Buy pre-cut wingettes and drumettes for ease; whole wings can be cut down to this if necessary.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 476 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 247g | |
| Calories | 476cal | 24% |
| Carbohydrates | 3.1g | 1% |
| Protein | 63.3g | 127% |
| Fat | 22g | 34% |
| Saturated Fat | 8.1g | 41% |
| Cholesterol | 210mg | 70% |
| Sodium | 1195mg | 50% |
| Potassium | 934mg | 20% |
| Sugar | 1.3g | 3% |
| Vitamin A | 100IU | 2% |
| Calcium | 200mg | 20% |
| Iron | 2.9mg | 16% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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