Get ready for Game Day with this crispy baked buffalo chicken wings recipe, which is seriously easy to make and even better to eat. You can make these buffalo chicken wings for one, two, or a crowd – they are just that easy and delicious.
Delightfully easy to make, once you try these party wings, they will become your go to chicken wing recipe. You might even find yourself making these crispy wings for an easy weekday meal. I love to serve them with this Easy Party Veggies Tray (Crudités Platter) for the perfect combination.
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Why This Crispy Wings Recipe Works
Your Super Bowl party or Game Day party food will have the most epic buffalo chicken wings. The wings come out wonderfully crispy – so much so that you would think you are eating fried wings. We then toss them in an easy classic buffalo wing sauce that is pure perfection.
While you don’t need any special equipment to make these baked buffalo chicken wings, you will need a rimmed baking sheet and a wire rack. Then all you have to do is combine a few simple ingredients and follow the easy steps to make outstanding crowd-pleasing wings.
This baked chicken wings recipe makes the best appetizer without deep frying, spattering hot oil, cooking spray or even olive oil. It is simply a great recipe for crispy chicken wings without the mess. The homemade buffalo sauce takes makes your crispy delicious wings the perfect appetizer. You could also try this crispy air fryer chicken wings recipe for another great football season wing recipe with crispy perfection.
Ingredients For Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
We all love to spend time with our family and friends watching the big game so the easier a recipe is to make the better. Most of these simple ingredients you need for baked buffalo chicken wings, you will probably already have on hand. You will just need to pick up some fresh chicken wings and you are are on your way to making one of the best chicken wing recipes ever with a crowd favorite sauce.
- Chicken wings: I like to use fresh chicken wings that are already cut into the drumettes and flats instead of using whole chicken wings. See Cook's Tips below if you are using whole wings.
- Baking powder. This is the secret ingredient that makes your chicken wings nice and crispy. It acts as a drying agent for the wings which aids the wings in drying out.
- Kosher salt: Kosher salt's larger crystals aid in drying out the wings more than table salt. You also don't have the iodine flavor that comes with table salt.
- Frank's RedHot Sauce: This is the Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce that is used in the original buffalo wing sauce recipe from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY.
- Unsalted butter: Unsalted butter let the sweet creamy flavor of the butter shine. Using unsalted butter also gives you control over the amount of salt in your recipe. This last feature is especially important for recipes like this one that call for a larger amount of butter. You can always add more salt if you need to.
The recipe card at the bottom of this post has the exact quantities of these ingredients.
Instructions For Crispy Oven Wings
Follow the recipe steps and you will have one of of the best buffalo chicken wings recipes ready for you and your guests to devour. If you prefer, you can even bake the wings ahead of time, refrigerate, and then reheat the wings just before tossing in the buffalo sauce.
- Preheat oven and prepare the sheet pan(s). Have oven rack set to upper-middle position. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on the prepared baking sheet.
- Combine. In a 1 gallon zipper-lock bag, add the baking powder and salt; tossing to combine.
- Dry the wings. Use paper towels to thoroughly pat the wings dry. Add the wings to the zipper-lock bag, seal the bag, and toss to evenly coat the wings.
- Place chicken wings on the prepared baking sheet. Arrange wings, skin side up, in single layer with space in between the wings. Do not crowd the wings as this will resulting in steaming the wings and not making them nice and crispy.
- Bake the wings. Bake wings for 25 minutes. Turn wings over, rotate the sheet pan, and cook 15 to 25 minutes, or until wings are crispy and golden brown. Remove wings from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. The size of the wings will determine the baking time.
- Make the buffalo sauce. While the wings are baking, in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the hot sauce and butter, whisking until combined and heated through.
- Toss the wings in the sauce. Transfer the baked wings to a large bowl. Pour hot sauce over the top and toss wings to coat with sauce.
- Serve. Serve the wings with a dipping sauce such as blue cheese dressing, ranch dip or your favorite sauce for dipping.
Before You Begin Baking: Make sure you also have enough space in the oven around your sheet pans, including the sides. Doing this will help the hot air to circulate around your chickens wings so the skin crisps and they cooked evenly.
Cook's Tips
- Do not wash your chicken. This topic has been a long standing debate, not to mention it is really hard to differ with Julia Child. However, several top chefs and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) disagree. The CDC emphatically stated "Don't wash your raw chicken!" Washing can spread bacteria and germs from the chicken to other surfaces and foods.
- Pre-cut wing versus whole. If you can, find wings that are already cut into sections - it will be so much easier and faster. If you do purchase whole wings, use good poultry shears or a sharp knife to cut the wings into sections where the cartilage is between the bones. Avoid cutting through the bones as they may leave sharp and unpleasant looking ends. Save the wing tips to use in making Instant Pot Chicken Stock or discard them.
- Baking powder. Be sure to use baking powder and not baking soda. You may also want to use aluminum free baking powder if you prefer a less metallic tasting baking powder.
- Crispy perfection. For the crispiest skin make sure your wings are thoroughly dried with paper towels and the mixture of baking powder and kosher salt coats the wings entirely.
Variations
- Hot wings - add up to a half teaspoon cayenne pepper to the buffalo sauce before tossing with the crispy buffalo wings. Start by adding a little at a time and taste testing before adding more. Freshly ground black pepper is also a nice addition for a little more kick without being too hot.
- Sweeter wings - add up to 1 tablespoon brown sugar, starting in small increments, to the wing sauce while it is simmering.
- Garlic or onion powder - add a 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 teaspoon onion powder to the sauce for added flavor.
- Frank's hot sauce - there are more flavors of their Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce on the market. If you prefer, you can even buy their sauce that is ready-made for your wings and eliminate the butter in this recipe. This hot sauce is also dairy free for those that are lactose intolerant or just prefer to not have butter in their sauce.
- Barbecue sauce - in place of the homemade traditional buffalo sauce, use this Sweet and Tangy BBQ Sauce, or this Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce to toss your crispy skin wings into.
You may also enjoy this Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe that not only makes amazingly tasty wings but includes more sauces you might want to try!
Safe Handling and Storage
- Use plastic kitchen gloves to handle the raw chicken wings and be sure to clean any surfaces that they have been in contact with.
- Baked buffalo chicken wings should only be left out at room temperature for a maximum of 2 hours to make them safe to eat.
See more safe handling tips at USDA.gov.
Are you ready for some football? Its time to get ready for Super Bowl Sunday with these amazing baked buffalo chicken wings.
📋 Recipe
Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3-½ pounds chicken drummettes and flats about 24 wing sections
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) or 2-¼ teaspoons of Morton kosher salt or 1-½ teaspoons table salt
Buffalo Wing Sauce
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup Frank's RedHot Sauce
Instructions
- Arrange oven racks to upper-middle position. Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on the prepared baking sheet.
- In a 1 gallon zipper-lock bag, add the baking powder and salt; tossing to combine.
- Thoroughly pat wings sections dry with paper towels. Add the wings to the bag, seal bag, and toss to evenly coat the wings.
- Arrange wings, skin side up, in single layer with space in between the wings, on the prepared wire rack. Bake wings for 25 minutes. Turn wings over, rotate the sheet pan, and cook 15 to 25 minutes, or until wings are crispy and golden brown. Remove wings from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and hot sauce, whisking until combined and heated through.
- Transfer wings to a large bowl. Pour hot sauce over the top and toss wings to coat with sauce.
- Serve wings immediately.
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