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Crispy Baked Chicken Wings You’ll Make on Repeat: If I’m being honest, this Best Baked Chicken Wings Ever recipe is one of the first I reached for when I wanted crispy, juicy wings without pulling out a fryer — and it’s been a winner every single time with my family and friends. I developed this oven?baked method because I kept craving wings that were crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and actually easy to make (no fancy tricks, just smart technique). This is The Only Baked Chicken Wings Recipe I Actually Use – time and time again!
I make these baked wings with a simple sauce I toss on right as they come out of the oven, and I’m sharing the little tips and tricks that help them turn out amazing, like drying the wings well and using a wire rack so the air circulates all around. These are the wings I trust for game day, weeknight dinners, or when friends pop over hungry!
I hope you love these baked chicken wings as much as I do – and be sure to check out my baked Lemon Garlic Parmesan wings while you’re here!
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
How to Bake Chicken Wings
These baked chicken wings come out perfectly crispy every time—no frying required. The process is simple: pat the wings dry, season them well, then bake on a wire rack at high heat to get that golden, crunchy skin. Finish with your favorite sauce right before serving for wings that are juicy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and full of flavor from start to finish.
Crunchy Baked Chicken Wings Recipe Ingredients
To make this recipe, we will need the following ingredients:
- Chicken Wings: There are 3 parts to the wing – we will use the flats and the drumettes, not the tips.
- Drumettes: meaty part of the wing that resembles a small drumstick.
- Flats: The middle joint of the wing with two bones, which lays flat, providing the perfect meat to crispy skin ratio.
- Tips: You can discard wing tips if desired, as there is almost no meat on them – however, some like the crunch they get.
- Butter (4 tbsp)Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture.Helps the wings to achieve a golden-brown color and crispy texture.Balances the heat from the hot sauce, providing a slightly sweet and buttery flavor.
- Hot Sauce (¼ cup Frank’s Hot Buffalo Sauce or hot peri peri sauce)
- Frank’s Hot Buffalo Sauce: Adds a classic, tangy, and mildly spicy flavor, synonymous with buffalo wings.
- Hot Peri Peri Sauce: Provides a more intense heat and a unique, slightly citrusy flavor profile.
- Other flavors and sauces: pick a flavor you love – from creamy and loaded with parmesan, to spicy with chilies, to a garlicky mix – or even BBQ sauce – the sky is the limit!
Steps to Make Crunchy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process to bake chicken wings:
Prep
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two large baking sheets (with a large rim) with parchment paper or foil. Set a wire rack (preferably a nonstick rack, or lightly greased) over baking sheets.
Pat Dry
Pat chicken wings dry with paper towels.
Bake
Bake wings until cooked through and skin is crispy, 45–50 minutes.
Toss in Sauce
Melt butter in small pan, stir in sauce. Add cooked wings to large bowl and toss in sauce.
Enjoy!
Serve and enjoy!
Baked Chicken Wings Recipe tips
Pat the wings dry before seasoning. Moisture is the enemy of crispy skin, so use paper towels to dry them off as much as possible before baking. The drier they are, the crispier they’ll get.
Season generously and evenly. Don’t just sprinkle seasoning on top—toss the wings in a bowl or zip-top bag to coat every piece. I sometimes add a bit of baking powder to the seasoning mix to help with crispiness.
Use a wire rack over your baking sheet. This lets hot air circulate underneath the wings as they bake, helping them crisp up on all sides without flipping. It also prevents the bottoms from getting soggy.
Finish with high heat. Bake the wings at a high temperature, and if you want extra crisp, turn on the broiler for the last couple of minutes. Just keep a close eye so they don’t burn.
Let the wings rest before saucing. When the wings come out of the oven, give them a couple of minutes to rest. This helps set the skin so it stays crispy even after you add the sauce.
Toss in sauce right before serving. The longer wings sit in sauce, the softer they get. Wait until you’re ready to eat to toss them so they keep their texture.
For leftovers, reheat them in the oven or air fryer. A few minutes at 375°F will bring the crisp back. Avoid the microwave—it tends to make the skin rubbery and the wings a little sad.
Experiment with rub-and-sauce combos. Try seasoning with a flavorful dry rub before baking, then tossing in a complementary sauce after. Garlic parmesan rub with buffalo sauce or Cajun spice with honey mustard are some of my favorite pairings.
My Pro Tip
Measure sauce with your heart – some like a saucy wing, some like a bit less. This is one way you can completely control the flavor of your baked chicken wings – add more or less sauce, depending on your preferences.
In the photos for this post, I used about half the sauce I normally would, as I wanted to show off the chickens crunchy exterior. Yours will look much saucier.
Cut chicken wings to save money. I often buy flats of chicken wings from my grocery store because they are much more affordable – and often more fresh!
How to cut chicken wings. To cut chicken wings into thirds – flat, drumette, and tip of the wing – follow the instructions below:
- Using a sharp large chefs knife, feel for the joints between the 3 main parts to a chicken wing – the wing tip, the flats, and the drumette.
- Bend the joints backwards, using your hands, to get them to loosen.
- Use your knife to feel where the bones come together, and pressing down hard, cut through the joint. (You don’t want to try to cut the bone – but find the space in between the bones.)
- While you can cook wing tips, they often dont have much (if any) meat to them. Discard any that don’t look to offer you much meat.
Oven Baked Chicken Wings FAQs
If your wings are done cooking, but you want a bit more crunch, pop them under the broiler for a few minutes (make sure they don’t burn) to crisp up all sides of the wings.
Chicken wings are a great filling low carb meal – many sauces have no or little sugars, but check labels carefully since the sauce you pick will have the biggest impact on carbs for this dish.
Often when you buy chicken wings you get the whole wing – not separated into drumsticks, flats, and the tip. You can cook them whole, but we prefer cutting them to allow the wings get crunchier and crispier. It is totally up to you, however.
You can certainly dip your wings in a cornstarch mixture to get even more crispy crunch – this recipe was designed to get chicken wings that are crispy with no additional seasoning or batter, however. I like to call them “naked” wings.
This is a very personal taste issue – I prefer my wings absolutely smothered in sauce, but some prefer just a hint of sauce. Do what you like!
Other Easy Chicken Wing Recipes
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Crunchy Baked Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce Variety Sampler Bundle
- 8 Quart, Set of 2, Mixing Bowls
- 10 Pcs 18/8 Stainless Steel Plate 304 Stainless Steel Dishes
- Metal Chicken Rack
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken wings, cut into thirds (wing tips, drumettes, flats)
- 4 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup Your favorite buffalo sauce or hot peri peri sauce
Instructions
To Bake Crispy Wings:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Line two large baking sheets (with a large rim) with parchment paper or foil.
- Set a wire rack (preferably a nonstick rack, or lightly greased) over baking sheets.
- Pat chicken wings dry with paper towels.
- Divide wings between wire racks and spread out in a single layer.
- Bake wings until cooked through and skin is crispy, 45–50 minutes.
- For extra crunch, broil under broiler on high for 2-3 minutes per side – watch CAREFULLY to make sure wings don’t burn or over-crisp.
For the Sauce:
- Melt butter in sauce pot until foamy.
- Vigorously whisk in sauce until well combined.
To Coat the Buffalo Wings:
- Pat wings dry out of oven with paper towels.
- In a large mixing bowl, add wings.
- Drizzle sauce over wings and toss vigorously until evenly coated.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love a good crunchy chicken wing doused in spicy sauce! Thank you for all the tips…we loved these wings!
Oh my gosh! Courtney, these are SO good!! Thank you for sharing!!
Nothing like a great chicken wing recipe! My boys will love these! Thanks!
Best EVER super crispy wings ever made in the oven. We love this recipe!