Baked Crispy Chicken Wings – Ridiculously Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and oh-so-flavorful! And the best part? You won’t feel bad indulging in them. PLUS other finger-licking good chicken wings recipes to add to your collection.
Are you ready for crispy, baked and spicy chicken wings ? I guessed right. Who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t long ago before chicken wings became part of my family lexicon- though these days I can hardly ever imagine that there was a time that I rarely made these wings at home.
They are so easy to make and you have the freedom to include whatever spices to match your mood or guests.
So after years of buying chicken wings at pizza places, restaurants, I wanted to make my own chicken wings- one that is crispy, nothing beats that crispy first bite! Since I am always looking for ways to cut down on my calories intake, I like baking food and see which ones hold up to the test, without comprising taste and texture. These, certainly do!
How to make crispy chicken wings?
After reading Alton Brown’s method of achieving crispy chicken wings, I decided to incorporate some of his techniques; letting the wings dry in the fridge for about an hour, sometimes overnight. However, if I’m press for time, I just use a clean towel to dry it up.
Drying the chicken makes a huge difference in making the wings crispy. After mixing the wings with spices – paprika, onions, garlic powder, chicken bouillon powder and dried thyme, I drizzle them with canola oil and bake; rotating the wings half-way through baking. Before baking, I line my baking pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up . See how crispy they are?
And since Super Bowl is just around the corner, I decided to add a list of other scrumptious chicken wings recipes to add to your repertoire. You could also conveniently alternate preparing them whether as a regular weeknight meal, for game days or as party appetizers. Dig in!
Chicken Wings Recipes
Chicken Wings Shawarma – Crisp and tender finger-licking good baked chicken wings marinated in a lemon, garlic, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne and yogurt mixture. So tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Pair it with a low-fat ranch dressing!
Baked Jerk Chicken Wings – Who doesn’t go crazy over jerk chicken? They are absolutely a crowd-pleaser. So I went ahead and sprinkle these chicken wings here with the big bold flavors of jerk spice rub. You would hardly need a dipping sauce to go along with this very flavorful chicken wings. And they’re baked, too!
Buffalo Wings – Perfectly crispy chicken wings tossed in a classic spicy buffalo sauce served with ranch dressing and celery for the ultimate game day and party snack favorite. And you only need F-I-V-E simple ingredients to make that buffalo sauce!
Caribbean Stick and Hot Wings – This delicious Caribbean Sticky wings full of Caribbean flavors – a little spicy, sweet and super easy to make on a grill or in the oven. Just a great balance of sweetness, saltiness and spiciness.
Grilled Chicken Wings – And our list wouldn’t be complete without these beautiful grilled chicken wings with the flavors of thyme, onion and garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Grilled to perfection for the ultimate outdoor finger food! Pair it with any of these three easy to prepare homemade sauces: African Pepper Sauce,Caribbean Pepper Sauce and Remoulade Sauce.
Now go ahead and experience a real game day or party with these crowd-favorite and versatile chicken wings recipe. Hmmm… I may have given you a tough job today to choose which one to prepare. Or better yet, make them all!
Enjoy!
This post was first published on January 2017 and has been updated with new content.
Baked Crispy Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings
- 1 Tablespoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder you may replace with salt
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Wash chicken wings and place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer , then let them sit in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours or preferable overnight. Do not cover them, let the air dry them out.
- When ready to bake , preheat oven to 425°F.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl, with all the spices, then drizzle with vegetable oil .
- Line a baking pan with foil; top with a wire rack. Arrange chicken wings out in a single layer . While the chicken wings are baking, oil will slowly drip to the bottom of the baking pan.
- Bake wings until cooked through and skin is crispy, about 45-50 minutes-rotate wings half way through-roughly 20 minutes .
- Remove and serve with your favorite chicken wing sauce.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
How to Make Baked Crispy Chicken Wings
Gail Brooks says
These were the best wings I have ever eaten??? I can’t stop raving about them.
Please, please tell me how to avoid the grease that splattered all over the oven and the oven grates. I’m reluctant to make them again until I can avoid all the messy clean up.
ImmaculateBites says
Fantastic! Am so thrilled . Thanks so much.
Gail says
Can someone tell me how to make them without covering my oven in grease???
ImmaculateBites says
Leave out the cookie rack and turn wings half way through.
Ralph Jerzy says
Great hit!
I’ve made this over a dozen times in the past 2 years (as wings and legs), always a show stopper. I’ve made these in both a oven and a smoker (which really brings in an awesome touch). These are so good that at pot lucks and parties, these are repeat requests from others.
One trick I use to help with drying out the skin is I point a small fan on the chicken while in the fridge to cause more air motion (yes, crazy, I put fans in my fridge).
Shila says
Imma, this recipe was sooo good! I have tried several of your recipes which came out fabulous and delicious!! Thank you!! Your site is my top favorite!! I can’t wait to try out many more!! Kudos to you!
imma africanbites says
Thank you, Shila! Glad it turned out well for you. I can’t wait either for you to try my other recipes. Enjoy!
April Scott says
I have made your wings regularly over the last year or so, always fabulous – this weekend we have an afternoon meeting with 20 odd guests, again I go to your great recipe, with no worries of how they will turn out, they will be gobbled up 🙂
Thank you for sharing
Lily says
Any suggestions on what to serve this with? I’m working on a home ec. project.
ImmaculateBites says
You can never go wrong with fries(wedges)
Alyssa mingin says
Hi there my name is Alyssa and i was gonna make chicken wings for dinner tonight but all the recipes i read say i should use a wire rack, well i dont have a rack. Is there any suggestions u could give me? Need asap….ty
ImmaculateBites says
The only thing I could say is to go ahead and make it without the rack. The top part would still be crisp.
Wolf says
I’ve made foil strips (3-4) and laid chicken pieces on top of these Not 100% like a wire rack but I saw Martha Stewart do this once for the same reason…no rack.
It works to a degree
Dana says
I love your recipes and this was another winner!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome Dana! Thanks for letting me know
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
Hello Imma,
I’d like to give you a recipe for easy oven-baked fish nuggets, though it can be easily adapted into chicken ones.
It comes from one of Benedetta Parodi’s books, she is a popular Italian writer for easy and family-friendly dinners. I admit her recipes tend to be good, this one in particular she got from a woman named Rosa.
So here are Rosa’s oven-baked fish nuggets: Warm up your oven to 180° C (350 ° F) with fan and put into your mixer
500 gr/half a kg of fish (the original recipe calls for 300 gr white fish and 200 gr shrimps, you can vary this according to your preferences/availabilities)
one egg (this makes the nuggets soft inside and not hard)
one tsp of grated ginger
the juice of half a lemon
3 Tbsp of parmesan cheese
some parsley or basil (amount to your liking)
(my addition) one Tbsp of Worchestershire sauce
some salt (I would say about 1/4 tsp)
a swirl of Extra-virgin olive oil
Mix everything. With a tablespoon, form balls from the mixer, roll them in breadcrumbs (I like to use corn breadcrumbs because of its taste and crunchyness, but any will do) and put them in a single layer on an oven tray over parchment paper. Drizzle some olive oil again and put them into the oven; after 10 minutes, they should have a nicely browned top. Turn them the other side over and cook them for other 10 minutes or so.
They are not crunchy like fried nuggets, but pretty soft inside and won’t resemble cardboard like some more unfortunate baked nuggets do. You can customize them a lot: I made versions adding cumin seeds, soy sauce, chopped up chilis, paprika, Creole spice mix, etc. I also made meat versions using chicken and sausage, marinating them in beer beforehand, and then using Mexican-inspired flavors such as onion, lemon, cumin, chili…they are really versatile.
In my house frying is almost impossible so this recipe helped me a lot! Lol.
Best wishes, Didi
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
Sorry, I meant “nicely browned bottom”, that is, the side making contact with parchment paper.
This recipe is for 4 people more or less.
ImmaculateBites says
Fantastic! This is going on my to make list. Still torn between making it with fish or chicken- Arrgh! Maybe I’ll do both and see which one I like best. I know my little man would prefer chicken. Decisions decisions…
THANK YOU SO MUCH! For taking the time to write this up. Happy New Year!
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
If you go the chicken route I’d suggest marinating the meat in beer first, and maybe use a bit of sausage or other highly flavored meat, as baking will never replicate the clean but delicious taste of fried chicken :(, so without some help from umami sources you risk getting bland nuggets (or cheat with some Maggi lol). But I bet you already knew that. One huge plus of these baked nuggets is that they reheat well, unlike fried ones, so they make great leftovers.
April Scott says
Hi There, down here in New Zealand we know our food, fresh- tasty- or just so dam good…. Today- its the second- love these, adapted just a touch as good cooks do when needed, didn’t have thyme but did have Baggs dry seasoning (smells like a really good chicken stuffing herb mix )also added just a touch of brown sugar to soften the flavour of the extra herbs, So amazing…served with greek yogurt as a side sauce, oh la la So good…and low carb high protein, healthy!
Thank you
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I am so suprised that these chicken wings are baked and not fried – they look so crisp, golden and crunchy.. not to mention delicious!
Melinda says
I only have one word to describe this – AMAZING! They were the first to go at my superbowl party. Thanks !
Africanbites says
Better than your favorite wing joint? Thanks so much Naomi!
Naomi says
Thanks for a fantastic recipe. We live in a rural location and are always hunting for restaurant quality recipes that we can make at home since restaurants and takeaway are so far away. Made recipe as written except added a few tbsp of flour to the spice blend since the seasoned wings looked a bit too wet. These turned out even better than our favorite wing joint! Will be checking out more of your recipes for sure.
Dana says
I made these and they were really good. However, I almost burned the house down with the amount of oil I used (i think, unless i didn’t dry them out long enough)..either way..they were fantastic!! Make sure to dry them out all the way!! 😀
Africanbites says
Dana sorry to here about your mishap, you are coating the chicken wings with oil- so only use one tablespoon of oil.Don’t forget to line the bottom layer of your baking pan with foil paper. I am glad you are safe and that they were really worth it!
Rosa nateras says
Imma thanks for this recipe looks delicioso im having them tonight for dinner God Bless
Africanbites says
Thanks Rosa . I know you and your family will enjoy it!
Rosa nateras says
Thanks Rosa the Recipe looks Yummy i i’m going to try it
Africanbites says
This recipe is best suited for chicken wings, I never tried it with chicken legs or thighs. If you do…. just increase the spices . Please report back if you make them . Thanks kelsey .
kelsey says
Can i use chicken legs and thigh for this recipe ?
Terrell says
I made these on Friday night and they were awesome! I’m making them again tonight! My family loves chicken wings so this gave me a nice variation that they liked!
Africanbites says
I will work on the pepper recipe … just for you kelsey. Will have it up in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much for trying out my recipes.
Africanbites says
Terrell, I am glad your family enjoyed it ! Thanks for reporting back!
kelsey says
I baked the chicken yesterday and it came out really good and tasty. I was worried about the thyme flavor because I don’t like it very much but I was surprised I loved the end results. But next time if I could omit thyme then I will. Thank you so much for making me visit the kitchen frequently. What I am still waiting is the recipe for pepper sauce that could be used to eat roasted fish or chicken. I have tried so many different recipes for pepper but none has satisfied me. But I trust your cooking. So I am still patiently waiting . Thank you once again. You are such a great cook.
Lindsay says
Hi! Quick question about the wire rack (I’m SO not a chef:)…can this be just ANY wire rack?? Like the kind I’d use to cool cookies on? Thank!
Africanbites says
Lindsay, that is what I used. Let me know how it turns out.
Rosa says
Hi Imma, I loved the manner in which you baked your chicken wings it’s so neat. Guest what! I used to bake chicken wings directly on the baking pan with foil and it will not turn out neat as yours did. Am going to bake me some chicken wings this evening with a wire rack. Wish me luck
Thanks Immaculate
Africanbites says
Rosa, am keeping my fingers cross , can’t wait to hear how it turns out. You can do it girl!
Rosa says
Imma, thank you so much for all your hard work. I baked them chicken wings when my mom went out for a walk. She came back saw the wings and asked who came to visit us and brought the wings. I said I bake the wings, she was so surprised and by the time I closed and opened my eyes, you know the rest
Thank you again. You are a blessing and I guest you have strengthened so many marriages with your cooking skills
Africanbites says
Rosa, I wish I could take credit for that! but I can’t. You are such a sweet heart. THANK YOU for reporting back.
Keita Amadi says
I love your site!!! My husband loves your curry goat recipe and today these wings were a success. I will be trying your Okra soup recipe next. My husband is Nigerian and grew up on okra soup. I have yet to find step by step instructions with great reviews!!
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Am THRILLED!
kelsey says
Looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it.