Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
These Crispy Baked Chicken Wings are ready in under an hour and taste truly restaurant-quality. With our secret rub, we guarantee you will have crispy wings every single time! Serve or toss in your favorite sauces to customize the flavors.
Whenever we are hosting a tailgate, these Baked Chicken Wings are required to be on the menu. After years of perfecting them and keeping the recipe a secret, I’m finally sharing how I make them SO crispy with all of you! The two key ingredient that are required are cornstarch and baking powder.
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I toss the wings in these two ingredients along with my favorite spices, then bake them at a high temperature for a foolproof method even the beginner cook can master. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people will ask for the recipe! Serve them with a variety of sauces (my blackened ranch sauce is delicious) and they’re gone in a matter of seconds.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Restaurant-quality wings at home. It’s truly so easy to make crispy wings in your own oven without any messy frying oil.
- Secret 5-ingredient coating mixture that’s so flavorful. This rub makes the skin extra crispy every single time.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauces. Customize any platter of wings with bbq sauce, ranch, buffalo sauce…the options are endless!
Laura Ashley’s Tip: My secrets after much recipe testing are to use both cornstarch and baking powder in the spice rub of the wings. The cornstarch helps to absorb any excess liquid, while the baking powder raises the pH level of the skin to help it brown more deeply and make a crackly texture.
Ingredients
Scroll Down to the Bottom of this Post for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Printable Recipe Card
- Chicken wings drums and flats: These will come in a large package in the meat section of the grocery store.
- Cornstarch: The key ingredient to making the wings crispy.
- Baking powder: The second secret ingredient that works with the cornstarch to make the wings crispy.
- Seasoning Salt Blend: Seasons the wings perfectly. Livia’s is my go-to! If you don’t have one on hand, you can also season the wings with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Neutral Oil Spritz: Either a store-bought spritz or container that you can fill with oil works great. This is important so that the wings don’t stick to the cooling rack and the exterior comes out crisp. Avocado, canola, vegetable, or olive oil all work great!
Tools You’ll Need
- Shallow Dishes or Zip Top Bag
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Measuring Cups
- Cooling Racks
- Half Size or 12″x17″ Sheet Pan
How to Make Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
- Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Pat the chicken wings with paper towels until completely dry.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cornstarch, baking powder, and seasoning salt.
- Add the wings to the mixture and mix or shake until evenly coated.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack lightly with oil. Arrange the wings on top, not touching each other.
- Spray the tops of the wings with additional oil.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. For extra crisp, broil 1-2 minute at the end, watching closely.
- Serve the wings plain or tossed in your favorite wing sauce.
Expert Tips
- Pat the chicken wings very dry. This is the first step to a crispy skin. By removing excess moisture you are already helping the skin to become very crispy.
- Bake the wings on a wire rack. By roasting them at a high temperature and on a rack, you are allowing the air to circulate on all sides so they get crispy and golden brown everywhere.
- Broil at the end of cooking. This is one last step to making the skin super crispy before tossing in the sauce.
- Only toss in sauce right before serving. If you want to bake the wings in advance, reheat them again before tossing in the sauce to re-crisp the skin.
Flavor Variations
The opportunities are endless! After you’ve seasoned the wings with seasoning salt or salt, black pepper, and garlic powder, here are flavor directions you can go:
- Classic Buffalo – Season with onion powder, smoked paprika, and a pinch of cayenne. After baking, toss in buffalo sauce and (optional) butter.
- Garlic Parmesan – Season with dried parsley or Italian seasoning. After baking, toss in melted butter and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Lemon Pepper – Season with lemon pepper seasoning and dried parsley. Toss the baked wings in melted butter or olive oil with a squeeze of lemon if desired.
- Sweet Chili – Season with ground ginger. Toss the baked wings in Thai sweet chili sauce and finish with optional crushed red pepper flakes.
- Teriyaki – Season with ground ginger. Toss the wings in warm teriyaki sauce and finish with sesame seeds if desired.
- Cajun Dry Rub – Season with Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and dried thyme or oregano. Toss the baked wings in melted butter or serve as-is for a dry-style wing.
Use ½–1 teaspoon of each added seasoning per pound of wings.
Storage
Store any leftover crispy baked chicken wings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven. Better yet, if you have an air fryer, this is the best way to reheat; it will make the skin just as crispy as the first time you baked them!
You can easily bake the wings an hour or so ahead of time too and then reheat in the oven right before serving to guests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure you pat the skin very dry, bake them at a high temperature, and also on a wire rack.
Yes, you should! Both of these ingredients help to absorb excess liquid as the wings roast to make the skin very crispy.
Line the baking sheet with foil for easy clean up, then bake the wings on a wire rack so they have good circulation on all sides.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Mini Chicken Pot Pies
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Nashville Hot Chicken Dip
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip
Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds chicken wings drums and flats
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder aluminum-free
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt or salt, black pepper, and/or garlic powder
- neutral oil spritz avocado, vegetable, canola, or olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Pat the chicken wing with paper towels until completely dry.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cornstarch, baking powder, and seasoning salt.
- Add the wings to the mixture and mix or shake until evenly coated.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack lightly with oil. Arrange the wings on top, not touching each other. Spritz the exterior of the wings with more oil.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. For extra crisp, broil 1-2 minute at the end, watching closely.
- Serve the wings plain or tossed in your favorite wing sauce.
Video
Notes
- Pat the chicken wings very dry. This is the first step to a crispy skin. By removing excess moisture you are already helping the skin to become very crispy.
- Bake the wings on a wire rack. By roasting them at a high temperature and on a rack, you are allowing the air to circulate on all sides so they get crispy and golden brown everywhere.
- Broil at the end of cooking. This is one last step to making the skin super crispy before tossing in the sauce.
- Only toss in sauce right before serving. If you want to bake the wings in advance, reheat them again before tossing in the sauce to re-crisp the skin.
Nutrition
About Laura
Taught by some of the best, cooking and entertaining has always been my favorite hobby. Food is my love language! The conception of Dinner in 321 came from my family talks that sharing our dinners would help others learn new skills, tasty recipes, and make cooking fun! Read more…
I think it would have been better if I had flipped the wings half way through. The tops were rather crispy but the the bottom side was not. I’d try them again, but would flip and spritz with oil again half way through.
I have a few to reheat and think I will do them in the air fryer and flip and spritz both sides.
Thanks Laura!
Sounds like a great way as well 🙂 The convection setting on my oven ensures even crisping on both sides (when the rack is used), but if an oven doesn’t have that circulation of heat, a flip midway sounds like a great idea 🙂
Minimal ingredients and perfectly crisp. These were a hit at our little game day celebration. Loved that it wasn’t as messy and still gave us crispy wings.
This is FANTASTIC!! Thank you SO much!!!🥰 I’m so happy you made them and liked them so much!
Not sure what I did wrong but these did not turn out well at all. The overwhelming flavor was the coating – I followed the recipe to a T. I’m sorry – I’ll continue to look for wing recipes.
Nothing to apologize for 🙂 If the recipe was followed to a T, it wouldn’t have any overwhelming flavor as the coating is simply cornstarch, baking powder and seasoning salt or salt and pepper. It’s a basic palette flavor so that the flavor notes of the sauce can be heightened. It yields a crispy crunch with a perfect flavor. Perhaps the oil you used dominated the flavor, and if that’s the case, I would suggest using a more neutral oil.
Easy and delicious!
Awwww!! That makes my heart so happy!! Thank you SO much!!!🥰
Simply fun, no fuss & delicious.
Aww!🥹You’re so sweet! Thank you SO much!!!🥰 I love this so much!