Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings

Third try is a charm for the PERFECT Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings recipe. I’ve found the secret ingredient for making buffalo wings ultra crispy in the oven. Hint: it is not baking powder. And it’s exactly why I’m re-posting these with a new and much-improved recipe!

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email for this recipe and weekly cooking inspiration!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Name *

Email *

Subscribe

It’s not that I mind eating the occasional deep fried food. Who doesn’t love French fries? I just don’t enjoy deep frying in my own kitchen; it’s too messy, too smelly, and then there’s disposing of the oil. Because of this aversion, I assumed that buffalo wings were only something to be ordered out.

But I’ve been enlightened; it’s possible to make super crispy, utterly delicious buffalo chicken wings in your oven without baking powder! The secret ingredient? Plain cornstarch. Here me out.

Ingredients You Need to Make Baked Buffalo Wings

For the Hot Wings:

• Cornstarch: not baking powder and certainly not baking soda – read why below
• Kosher Salt: or fine sea salt
• Chicken Wings: drumettes and flats separated (look for ‘party wings’ at the grocery store)

To Make the Buffalo Sauce:

• Butter: if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Garlic: fresh garlic cloves
• Hot Sauce: such as Cholula Original or Frank’s Red Hot

For the Easy Blue Cheese Dip

• Blue Cheese: your favorite variety
• Garlic: fresh garlic clove
• Sour Cream: ideally full fat sour cream
• White Vinegar: or white wine vinegar
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Do NOT make the same mistake I did.

My first attempt at making these baked wings went terribly wrong, but it was my own fault. When I first tried the technique from the America’s Test Kitchen Meat Book, (where raw wings are coated with baking powder before baking and, like magic, the wings come out crispy) I knew I had to try it they were HORRIBLE.

It wasn’t until the next morning when I awoke with an awful taste in my mouth that I took another look at the recipe and realized that I’d used baking soda not baking powder. Whoops! Do not make the same mistake. After the baking soda flavor left my mouth, which was no less than a week, I decided to give the recipe another try. And the wings were very good, crispy on the outside; tender and flavorful on the inside.

Why Cornstarch is Better than Baking Powder for Crispy Baked Wings

But I have to make a confession: there was still a hint of metallic flavor from the baking powder that I didn’t care for, likely from the baking soda that is one of the ingredients. I learned that when I read the baking powder label, and the answer to the ultimate crispy chicken wings was right there. The first ingredient in baking powder is, drumroll please…

Cornstarch.

When you coat chicken wings in plain cornstarch mixed with a little kosher salt before baking, you are rewarded with ultra tasty, divinely crispy wings with zero metallic flavor. They’re delicious on their own, but you can make them even better by bathing them in buttery homemade buffalo sauce and dipping them in my easy blue cheese dressing.

More Great Game Day Recipes

• Garlic Parmesan Wings (With a versatile Garlic Parmesan Wing Sauce)
• Pulled Pork Nachos
• Pork Belly Sliders
• Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
• Baked Coconut Shrimp
• Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders
• And here or a complete list of game day recipes

How to Make Crispy Buffalo Wings

Start by setting one oven rack in the upper-middle position and another in the lower-middle. Preheat the oven to 250°F and prepare a baking sheet with a foil or parchment-lined oven-safe wire rack, lightly greased with non-stick spray or oil. In a large bowl, combine cornstarch and kosher salt. Pat chicken drumettes and flats dry, then toss them in the cornstarch mixture to coat evenly.

Arrange them on the prepared rack in a single layer and bake on the lower-middle rack. After baking, increase the oven temperature to 425°F and move the chicken to the upper-middle rack, continuing to bake until golden brown and crispy, rotating the sheet halfway through.

While the chicken is baking, prepare the buffalo sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, adding minced garlic and cooking until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat and whisk in hot sauce until smooth. Once the chicken is done, let it rest for 5 minutes, then toss with the warm buffalo sauce in a large bowl.

Serve the coated wings with the blue cheese dip, made by smashing blue cheese and garlic into sour cream, adding vinegar, and seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste.

Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings

5 from 13 votes

By: Marissa Stevens

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Calories: 535

Servings: 6 people

SaveSaved Pin Print

This may be the easiest and most delicious buffalo wing recipe ever! Serve these with carrot and celery sticks and blue cheese dip.

Video

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Oven-Safe Baking Rack Key to achieving perfectly crispy baked buffalo wings!​

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

For the hot wings:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 3 pounds chicken wings drumettes and flats separated (look for ‘party wings’ at the grocery store)

For the buffalo sauce:

• ▢ 1/2 cup butter
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1/2 cup hot sauce such as Cholula Original or Frank’s Red Hot

Easy Blue Cheese Dip

• ▢ 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled
• ▢ 1 clove garlic minced
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• ▢ salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions 

To make the wings:

• Adjust oven racks so that one rack is in the upper-middle and one is in the lower-middle.
• Preheat oven to 250 °F (121 °C).
• Set an oven-safe wire rack into a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Spray wire rack with non-stick spray or brush with oil.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cornstarch and kosher salt.
• Pat chicken drumettes and flats dry with paper towels. Add to bowl with cornstarch mixture and toss to coat evenly. Arrange in a single layer on rack in baking sheet. Bake on lower-middle rack for 30 minutes.
• Increase oven temperature to 425 °F (218 °C) and move baking sheet to upper middle rack. Bake for 40-50 minutes more until golden brown, rotating the sheet half way through.
• Meanwhile prepare buffalo sauce. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When butter begins to melt, add minced garlic and stir. Cook and stir until butter is fully melted and garlic is fragrant; remove from heat. Whisk in hot sauce until smooth.
• When wings are golden brown and crispy, remove them from oven and allow to rest on rack for 5 minutes. Then place wings in a large bowl and pour warm buffalo sauce over; gently stir to coat evenly. Transfer coated wings to platter and serve with blue cheese dip (recipe below).

Easy Blue Cheese Dip

• Add blue cheese, garlic and sour cream to a medium bowl. Using the back of a fork, smash blue cheese crumbles into sour cream until flavors have melded. Stir in vinegar. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve.

Notes

1. Keep an eye on the wings in the last 25 minutes at 425˚F to be sure that they don’t get too brown for your taste. Some readers have preferred them baked for as little as 30 minutes at the higher temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 535kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 1522mg | Potassium: 302mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1010IU | Vitamin C: 16.7mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 1.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Leave a comment & rate the recipe below!