Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

Name: Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 195 min
Ingredients: 3 pounds chicken wings; 3 tablespoons paprika; 2 tablespoons light brown sugar; 1 tablespoon salt; ½ tablespoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; ¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)

by Michelle Lettrich
Published January 8, 2024

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4.85 (72 ratings)

You'll never believe these baked chicken wings were made in the oven! Super easy, crispy skin, meat that falls off the bone, and covered in a sensational dry rub. Add sauce if you’d like and serve them up at your next game-day party.

Platter of chicken wings with one being dipped into ranch dressing, and a plate of carrots and celery sticks in the background.

The ultimate party food, wings were something that I always wanted to make at home but never thought I could get right until I finally decided to go for it a few years ago.

Let me assure you that you CAN make wings at home and they are easy and delicious!

The vast majority of wings are made by deep frying, which is (of course) amazing, but I didn’t want to have to take out (and clean up) our fryer every time we wanted wings at home.

I was hesitant about baking the wings in the oven, convinced they would be dry and boring, but let me tell you… they were fall-apart tender, the skin was crisp, and they were phenomenal. My husband said if he hadn't known I made them in the oven he may not have been able to taste the difference between these and conventional dry-rub fried chicken wings.

This is a wonderfully easy chicken wings recipe that you can make at home, and they're totally customizable using your favorite rubs or sauces, and take only 10 minutes to get into the oven.

Simple Ingredients

I did a dry rub on these wings because, while we often get wings that are sauced, my husband LOVES dry seasoned wings.

So this is all you need to get your wings ready to be baked:

Ingredients for crispy baked chicken wings prepped and labeled.

Chicken Wings: 3 lbs (see section below on types of wings and cutting them at home)
Seasoning Blend: Brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and cumin, as well as a little cayenne if you like your wings spicy!

They are a little bit sweet, a little bit smoky, and a little spicy if you include the cayenne.

You can easily adapt this recipe by using a simple seasoning of salt and pepper to start with and then tossing the wings in the sauce of your choice before the last 30 minutes of baking.

How to Cut Chicken Wings

There are two ways you can purchase wings:

Whole
As “party wings”, which have already been separated into drumettes and wingettes (“flats”).

I usually buy them whole, as we often like to cook them that way (and they are much more economical), but if you’re making them for a crowd and want smaller-sized wings, you will want to either purchase them already cut or buy them whole and cut them yourself.

To separate the wings yourself, simply hold the wing by the drumette end and bend it back to stretch open the wing, then use a sharp knife to slice through the joint. Next hold the wing tip and bend it the same way, and slice straight down through the bend.

The wing tips can be saved to make homemade chicken stock, if you’d like.

Baking Temperature

When I started researching making chicken wings in the oven, there were two decidedly different schools of thought:

Bake at a high temperature (400-450) for a very short amount of time (20 minutes);
OR bake low and slow (200 to 300) for a long period of time (3 to 4 hours).

I was pretty much sold on the low-and-slow method since I know how fabulous a stew or braised meat can be when cooked in the oven at a low temperature for several hours, so I went that route.

I ended up starting the wings at 200 degrees and then gradually increasing the temperature to 300 degrees over three hours to crisp up the skin, and it turned out perfectly.

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How to Make the Wings

It takes less than 15 minutes to get these wings into the oven, here’s what we do:

Pat the wings completely dry using paper towels. Removing any excess moisture helps with keeping the wings crispy.
Place the wings in a large bowl and get your pan ready with foil and a wire rack.
In a small bowl, mix together the seasoning blend.
Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken, then use your hands to mix them together and ensure that the seasoning is rubbed evenly over all of the wings.
Transfer the wings to the wire rack and bake! Sauce them or leave them plain, and enjoy!

Side by side photos of mixing together the seasoning blend for chicken wings.

Side by side photos of chicken wings in a bowl with seasoning and chicken wings placed on a wire rack on a baking sheet.

The Key to Crispy Baked Wings

The key to getting wonderfully crispy oven baked chicken wings is to place the wings on an elevated surface, like a wire rack. Doing this ensures the wings aren't sitting in their own rendered fat, which would make them soggy, not crispy.

My cooling racks fit perfectly inside my half sheet pans, so I used those. Lining the sheet pan with aluminum foil first makes clean-up much easier!

There are several recipes that call for tossing wings in baking powder and baking soda before seasoning and baking to make them crispy, but I didn’t find that it made a difference when trying it that way.

Baked chicken wings on a wire rack set inside a baking sheet.

Sauce Options

If you want to add sauce, you will do so during the last 30 minutes of baking (and then again when they come out of the oven, if you want them extra-saucy).

The options are pretty much limitless when it comes to wing sauces, and you can buy bottled versions of so many of these now. Some of our favorites have been:

Buffalo Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce) if you love buffalo wings!
BBQ or Honey BBQ
Teriyaki
Garlic Parmesan
Honey Garlic

How to Serve the Wings

Wings are great alongside a spread of other dips and appetizers, and are traditionally paired with the following:

Fresh-cut veggies, such as carrots and celery sticks
Ranch dressing
Blue cheese dressing

Platter of chicken wings with carrots, celery sticks, and ranch dressing.

Recipe Tips

Ensure Crispy Wings: Make sure to dry the wings thoroughly before seasoning, and bake on a wire rack.
Storing Leftovers: Extra wings can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheating Instructions: Leftover chicken wings are best reheated in a 350-degree oven for 12 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Giving them a spritz with water before heating can help keep them moist, as well as re-crisp the skin. You can also simply warm them in the microwave or reheat them in an air fryer (350 degrees for 10 minutes, flipping once). If using an air fryer, you can give them a quick spray of oil.
Freezing Instructions: Cooked wings can be frozen, though they freeze best if not sauced. Freeze in an airtight container or ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then follow reheating instructions above.

Watch How to Make Crispy Baked Chicken Wings:

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