No false promises here – these are seriously crispy Baked Buffalo Wings that are made entirely in the oven! Using a now-world-famous Cooks’ Illustrated technique, the skin is so shatteringly crispy it’s hard to believe they aren’t fried.
Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you! See and hear it for yourself in the recipe video……
Super Crispy BAKED Buffalo Wings!
The great thing about the internet is that there are loads of options for any recipe your heart desires.
The bad thing about the internet is sifting through all those Google search results to find a recipe that actually works as promised and is exactly what you are after.
So here is what I promise you: If you love perfectly seasoned crispy buffalo wings, tossed in a classic spicy, buttery Buffalo Sauce with a tinge of sweetness, and you prefer to avoid the mess and calories of deep frying, this is The One.
These aren’t just “quite crispy but still not like they’ve been deep fried”. These wings are seriously crispy. Read hundreds of testimonials from people who have tried it!
You can’t see how crispy the skin is when I’ve smothered them in that glorious Buffalo Sauce so here’s a photo of them plain, straight out of the oven. And if you have 90 seconds, watch the recipe video below the recipe so you can hear how crispy they are!
The recipe is ridiculously simple, and it’s a genius discovery by the amazing folk over at Cook’s Illustrated who used science to figure out how to make truly crispy wings in the oven.
How to make Ultra Crispy Buffalo Wings in the Oven
The 2 unique steps in this recipe that make all the difference are:
1. baking powder (secret ingredient!) – tossing the wings in baking powder which draws moisture to the surface of the skin and helps make it crispy. Rest assured you can’t taste the baking powder at all; and
2. bake on low then high – usually, the fat under the skin is part of the reason why baked wings don’t get really crispy. In this recipe, we start at a low temp first which melts the fat under the skin, then we crank up the oven which makes the skin super crispy!
What you need for Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
And here’s a visual for what you need.
1. The crispy baked wings
2. The Buffalo Sauce
That perfect combination of spiciness from Franks hot sauce, buttery goodness and and hint of sweet.
3. Blue Cheese Dip
I know some people aren’t a fan of blue cheese dip – but I’m all in!! In fact, I love blue cheese dip so much, I like to keep mine a bit lumpy so I get little pops of blue cheese. But usually, restaurants serve it completely smooth. Go with what rocks your boat!
Celery?? YES!
Crispy wings + spicy, buttery Buffalo Sauce + earthy, creamy blue cheese dip + fresh, crunchy celery = MAGICAL COMBINATION
I don’t know who discovered it, but they deserve a Nobel Prize. I remember the first time I tried it, I squinted at the celery sticks and thought, “who would bother with them?”. But they work! It’s like the perfect way to reboot your taste buds in between each wing!!
You’ll make a total mess of yourself eating them. It’s just not possible to eat wings elegantly. You’ll get Buffalo Sauce smeared all around your mouth. You’re doing well if your shirt stays clean.
But that’s all part of the Buffalo Wings experience, right?? The dramatic clatter as you toss the naked bones into a bowl. Smack you lips. Suck each finger clean.
Dive in for another.
YES PLEASE. – Nagi x
Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
Watch how to make it
PUMP UP THE VOLUME so you can hear how crispy they are!!
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Truly Crispy Oven Baked Buffalo Wings
Ingredients
Crispy Baked Wings
- 4 lb / 2kg chicken wings, wingettes & drumettes (Note 1)
- 5 teaspoons baking powder (NOT baking soda / bi-carb soda) (Note 2)
- 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt / cooking salt (not table salt, too fine)
Sauce
- 4 tbsp (60g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt / cooking salt
Blue Cheese Dip
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, softened (I use gorgonzola)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise , preferably whole-egg
- 1 clove small garlic , minced
- 1 – 3 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt / cooking salt
- Black pepper
To Serve
- Celery sticks
- Lots of beer!
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.
Recipe Notes:
* Salt – only a small amount is required, it’s a phenomenon I can’t explain but this small amount perfectly seasons 2kg/4lb of wings using this baking method.
* These shrink when baked because the fat under the skin renders out (melts) which is how these become super crisp. So they can be snug on the rack.
* They are JUICY not dry, despite the long cook time. This is because the first bake at the lower temp barely cooks them, it only melts the fat.
* These bake to a golden brown, not a deep golden brown. You will know they are done because the skin will be lovely and crispy. 5. Source: The recipe for the wings is from Cook’s Illustrated “Meats Book” cookbook. The sauce recipe is my own. 6. To reheat: Allow wings (not tossed in sauce) to cool, then cover and refrigerate. The skin will wrinkle and soften. Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F. Spread wings out on tray, skin side up, and bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the skin puffs up so the wrinkles smooth out and becomes crisp again. Works 100% perfectly! 7. Make Ahead: These stay crispy for as long as the wings are warm, so around 20 – 30 minutes. The skin stays crispy for around 10 – 15 minutes after tossing in the sauce, then after that they start to soften but not go soggy, up to around 30 minutes. If you reheat after tossing in sauce, they go soggy. 8. Comprehensive FAQ is available in the original Truly Crispy Oven Baked Wings. 9. Nutrition for just plain crispy wings (419 cal) and including the hot sauce (476 cal), both assuming 8 servings. Note that the wings have been adjusted to reflect the amount of fat that is rendered out (I measured the fat I poured off the tray 🙂 ).
Nutrition Information:
Originally posted June 2015. Republished February 2020 with improved video and photos, then updated with tidy ups in 2023. NO CHANGE TO RECIPE. I wouldn’t dare – it’s perfect as is!
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Thank you so much for sharing your wing and sauce recipes. I have attempted so many times (at least 7 or 8 different recipes) to make baked wings and had given up because they were always a disaster. Then, I stumbled across your blog. Your photos are amazing and you are right!!!! Crispy baked wings!! It can happen! And it’s easy!! All my previous failed attempts make me appreciate this recipe even more. Thank you so much for sharing. The sauces are great as well!! You are awesome!!
YAY!!! I’m so glad!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and share your thoughts!! N x
Nagi,
HELP! I am fixing 600 wings for a group of youth tomorrow and want to use this recipe. I am cooking them at a school so I can do them all at one time. They are thawing today. Can I dry them and put the baking powder on them tonight and let them sit in the refrigerator until 4:00 tomorrow? We are eating at 6 pm.
OMG! I’m so SO SORRY I missed this message 🙁 Oh no, how did you go? I feel terrible. I would have suggested cooking them all asap, then cool and leave them in the fridge. Then just reheat them in a very hot oven just for 5 minutes or so to heat through and the skin goes crisp again!!
These wings were amazing! I was shocked at how delicious and CRISPY they were!
My question is, do you think it’s possible to do a whole cut up chicken this way? It seems like it would work, but I was curious if anyone had tried it!
Thanks for sharing a fantastic recipe!
Hi Shiloh! So glad you were as amazed as I was when I first tried these! Unfortunately it doesn’t work as well with other cuts of chicken. Wings are perfect because they are almost virtually fully encased in skin. It works pretty well with thigh cutlets – I’m working on a couple of recipes to “perfect” this. But it didn’t work as well even with drumsticks.
Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know you enjoyed it!!
Very interesting recipe! Can’t wait to try it for my party this weekend!
I do have a couple questions–
I’m a heavy handed seasoning queen and I like my chicken to be super flavorful on the inside, will a heavy dose of seasoning effect the crispiness I would get from the baking powder?? Sometimes I even marinate my wings, would that take away from the crispiness also?
It’d be a shame to waste good chicken!!
Thank you!!
Hi Ruth! Adding seasoning makes it slightly less crispy simply because the crispiness comes from the skin becoming paper thin in the oven. BUT it is still really crispy, far crispier than without using this method. I made a whole cookbook on baked wings so I did tons of testing and created a bunch of seasoned baked wings recipes (I am heavy handed with my flavours too! I’m all about big flavours! 🙂 ) All you do is follow the recipe to lightly coat in baking powder and salt, then toss in seasonings later. Regarding marinades, it really depends on what marinade you use. I also did a ton of testing on that for my wings cookbook! I discovered some ways to get the crispiest possible marinated wings but it really depends on the recipe used. 🙂 Hope that helps!!
Hi,I’ve searched all over for a crispy baked wing recipe and I can’t wait to try this one. It sounds amazing. Quick question though, I’m trying to limit my carb intake…would omitting the brown sugar have a huge negative effect on the overall flavor?
Hi Mandy! Well, buffalo sauce has a bit of sweet in it so the flavour won’t be quite the same. Can you sub with anything else that is sweet? Honey would be perfect – but I am not sure what the carb level of honey is!
OOOH! Congrats on the cookbook, from the previews I have seen the photography looks amazing! Like seriously, you need to come out with a printed book to sell! It would be so popular, and perfect for gifting as a housewarming gift or a going away to college gift. Anyways, back to the wings, I tried making these last night and they turned out completely perfect, I made the garlic honey sauce to go along with it and fell in love. This recipe for chicken so genius, I would love to buy a copy of the book soon. I am definitely going to share your recipe on my blog one of these days, too.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the wings! And thank you for your kind words re: my cookbook! N x
Many congratulation on your book Nagi!
I’m in the UK & have never eaten Buffalo Wings before (really!) Yesterday bought the Blue Stilton cheese, & scoured all the major supermarkets for Franks Hot Sauce. Then In my eagerness to get started I misread the ingredients & used 1+3/4 TBSP of salt! A total disaster – good job it wasn’t for guests! I am so kicking myself.
Note to self – double-check recipes in future!
Also think my wings may be smaller & were slightly overcooked, so next time will cut back on the timing of the second roasting.
However, loved the hot sauce, and the blue cheese dip was spectacular, and yes, the celery should be mandatory! (Also had some carrot sticks, radishes & raw cauli florets for dipping)
PS and thank you for your kind words re: book! I’m very excited about it!! N x
Oh no oh no! That would have been sooooo salty!!! Bugger! 🙂 (Did you just eat the blue cheese dip with a spoon like I do? And use it for chips and dip and spread on toast….. 😉 ) Wish I could have been there to warn you!!! 😉 N x
Quick question, could you use cornflour vs the baking powder? Have you tried cornflour? Would it work as well as baking powder? I guess I am just curious how you got to baking powder. Great recipe, they were incredibly crispy. The sauce was lovely, I typically do not add sugar but tried and loved it! Thank you!
Hi Laura! Cornflour doesn’t achieve the same result. I didn’t discover this, Cook’s Illustrated did! The science behind it is why this works and it must be baking powder. 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed it!! The crispiness is unbelievable, isn’t it??!
Congratulations, Nagi!! So, I’ve had this ‘thing’ gnawing at the back of my head and I woke this morning, checked emails, perused my favorite blogs and realized what it was…I hadn’t ordered your book yet! I just took care of it and now I can go on with my life! haha! Everything about this book looks awesome! Can’t wait to get going on my highly anticipated wing journey!!
Awww ANNIE, thank you!! You’re so sweet! 😉 N x I hope you enjoy it! And if you have any questions, please shout out!! N xx
Congratulations on this cookbook! It looks amazing!
I’m a huge fan of wings and I can guarantee you I’ll be trying your method for getting crispy wings. They look so good. 🙂
Thanks so much Kristen!! 🙂
Congrats on your cookbook! They all look so delicious! Can’t wait to try one out!
Thanks so much Mary!! 🙂 Hope you do try one – love to know what you think!! N x
Congrats Nagi! I am loving the look of these wings and your book! A whole book dedicated to wings… Incredible!
Thanks so much Thalia!! 🙂
Wow! Great tips Nagi! That skin certainly does look super crispy and paper thin. Yum!!! My hubby is going to love these!!
I swear he will! Just tell him they’re fried. He will NOT know the difference!! 🙂
I did it…
I tried to resist the urge… Hubby and I cleaned out 4 lbs of wings at 11:00PM. . Half with soy honey glaze and half buffalo… And no need to clean my stove afterward!! How fantastic!
Thank you for lovely post! Now I’m really really gonna try harder to NOT open your wings book!
Next is no-bake peanut butter chocolate bars and pork carnitas tomorrow. My excuse is hubby’s work potlock on Monday.
I’ll let you know how long those last!
Gochiso-samadeshita~~~~
Dōitashimashite!!
I am SO GLAD you enjoyed it!!! I know, this technique is amazing, isn’t it? Cook’s Illustrated. They are GENIUS!!
Aggh! You got my wings book – thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy it!! And just email me directly if you have any questions using the contact form on my blog or just reply to any new post notification email you get. 🙂
Oooh….the peanut butter bars are SENSATIONAL. And the pork carnitas! You’ve chosen two of the most popular recipes on my blog, so I can confidently guarantee you will LOVE them!! – N x
Hi again Nagi,
Two consecutive nights of commenting!!! That’s first for me.
I just had 11pm snack of your wings w/ hubby. 2lbs each of soy ginger sauce and buffalo wings for him. Now it’s half past 3 AM, letting you know of two happy full bellies!! BTW, I really should stay clear of your site after dinner.
I’ll be making pork carnitas and no-bake peanut butter chocolate bars for Monday potlock!
Thank you again and Just so you know, I’m purposely staying clear of your wings book!!! Or eles… I’m going to wipe my butcher shop clean of darn wings!
Marry me? Because you know the way to my heart and that is chicken wings. I set myself a reminder to purchase this cookbook immediately once July hits. Stupid monthly budgets. Being an adult is boring sometimes!
Also, I love the idea of using baking powder. I bake wings a lot at home, but have only used a light oil with seasoning before baking. I’m trying this method next time!
Definitely try it Marissa! You will be shocked. Seriously. I remember the first time I made it, I couldn’t believe how crispy it was!! 🙂 N x
What a fun cookbook! My friends and fiance LOVES wings – during college we went to Hooters’ all you can eat wings all the time (the record is 56 wings in one meal! eww). This is a much tastier and more sophisticated version haha. Thanks for the recipe
OMG!!! I couldn’t get past “all you can eat wings”!! We don’t have anything like that here in Australia. I have to go the next time I’m in the US!!! N x
Oooh, Nagi!! You little minx … what an amazing-sounding cookbook! And yes, I’m getting it for sure!!
Extremely shamefully, I have NEVER made any wings at home. Absolutely criminal, I know, but now of course I have absolutely NO excuse not to. Great sharing sort of meal for when you have friends over.
Very nicely done – congratulations!!! 🙂
What? You’ve never made wings at home? I have to say….I’m floored! You MUST change that!! 🙂
BRAVO NAGI ! When do you have time for all this ? Do you ever sleep ?
I wish you the best success with your Wonderful book.
May I ask what e-book template did you use for creating the e-book ?
Thank you
Hi Florentina! I actually designed the book myself 🙂 Thanks very much for your kind words! N x
Wow. Just wow. It’s a good thing it’s a digital book or they would have been all sold out by the time I got there. 🙂
Baking powder? Who knew? I love this!
See, now THESE are wings that John is permitted to have without guilt. Seriously! Because so much fat renders out. I even measured it out once, it’s about 60g of fat that ends up on the tray. Which means the wings have about 15% less calories than if you just bake the wings the normal way. N x