Crispy Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings

Get the crispiest buffalo chicken wings without deep frying! This baked recipe is pretty easy, and will produce juicy chicken wings with a crisp outer skin. Enjoy these for date nights, game days, or as an easy meal.

Buffalo wings are one of the most coveted and enjoyed foods here in America. We love out spicy wings while watching sports or before a main course. Jared loves them so much that he often order a side of them as his meal.

That is what prompted me to share his easy recipe for Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings. Perhaps you didn’t know you could make them just as yummy as deep fried versions all without the mess and hassle?

I love easy chicken appetizers like these Buffalo Chicken Wontons, these Honey Garlic Chicken Wings (pictured above), or these Terriyaki Chicken Wontons. I even have enjoyed Dr Pepper Wings–how funny sounding are those? They do taste really good though!

So, lets get to the point and explore how to make these delectable, meaty morsels easily at home.

Best cut for chicken wings

When it comes to homemade wings, I prefer to use fresh chicken wingettes, and drumettes versus frozen wings. Frozen wings are often bloated with sodium to preserves them. I find they bake down to the skimpiest wings pieces ever that are often difficult to crisp up.

Fresh chicken wingettes and drumettes are my preference because they are the flatter, cleaner style wing pieces (no tips). They do not have too much meat, but their skin crisps up nicely. However, they are pricier than traditional whole wings or drumsticks.

You can buy the full portion of chicken wings cheaper because the wing tips and whole portion are together rather than being cleaned, and cut. With the wingettes, and drumettes the work is done, but you do pay a premium for the convenience. However, the choice is yours and this recipe technique can be done with any skin-on, bone-in cut.

Baked chicken wing crispy skin

To achieve a crispy, oven-baked wing you will need a few key ingredients on-hand.

Baking Powder – Mixed with the spices, this coats the wing skin and allows it to bubble up and get the crisp effect in the oven.

Salt- You do not want to overdo it for this recipe since the buffalo sauce is sodium-rich. Just 1/4 tsp to enhance the other spices.

Onion & Garlic powders- These are my stand-by spices that pair together so well to bring out the deliciousness in the wings.

Black Pepper- Freshly cracked, coarse black pepper is the best for flavor!

Paprika- This gives the wings a little color and a nice, smoky flavor. Paprika is a key ingredient in a lot of Portuguese dishes.

Oven baked wings tips

Pat your fresh wings down with a paper towel to ensure any excess moisture is removed.

Add your wings to a large bowl and toss with baking powder, and spices. Ensure all surfaces are coated.

Place wings on a foil-lined baking sheet with a baking rack above. The foil will catch the mess nicely. The rack will keep the wings crispy ensuring both sides (once turned) crisp up and are not sitting in fats.

You will turn the wings once after 30 minutes to ensure both side evenly crisp.

Easy buffalo sauce

Once the wings have baked, it is time to coat them with the sauce. The easiest way to do this is to mix the sauce ingredients, and then toss the wings.

You will need melted butter and Frank’s Red Hot sauce to make the buffalo wing sauce. Simply melt the butter and then whisk it into the pepper sauce. Add the wings into a stainless steal or lightweight bowl, and quickly toss to coat all surfaces.

Enjoy your wings right away so you can still enjoy the crisp skin.

Serving tips

You can use these oven-baked wings technique for any wing sauce you prefer. There are so many great combinations out there to try! I will be sharing more combos soon with you all!

We served these wings with ranch and blue cheese. Some veggies sticks provide a nice cooling effect for the pallet in-between appetizers.

To make these a meal, serve them with fries, mashed potatoes, or rice.