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 chicken wings in your oven!
My friend Nagi posted these Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings with Honey Garlic Sauce (I made that sauce btw, and you have to try it. It’s awesome!). Then I came across Stephanie’s Crispy Oven Sriracha Buffalo Wings. They were both using a technique from the America’s Test Kitchen Meat Book; they coated the wings with baking powder before baking and, like magic, the wings came out crispy! I had to try it.
But I have to make a confession.
The first time I made these 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, friends, it’s the real deal. These wings are crispy on the outside; tender and flavorful on the inside.
(For more spicy goodness, be sure to check out these TRULY Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders – they’re amazing!)
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 pounds chicken wings drumettes and flats separated (look for 'party wings' at the grocery store)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup hot sauce such as Cholula Original
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 cup sour cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Adjust oven racks so that one rack is in the upper-middle and one is in the lower-middle.
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Set an oven-safe wire rack into a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the baking powder and salt.
- Pat chicken drumettes and flats dry with paper towels. Add to bowl with baking powder 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 and move baking sheet to upper middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes. Rotate rack, front to back, and bake 25 minutes more until golden brown.
- 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.
- 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. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Voile!
Thank you for the great recipe, I adapted it a little by using drumsticks 1.5 lbs.
I used a clear glass spice jar with a holes in the top to shake on the baking powder.
I then added the bbq sauce, and followed the recipe. Mind turned out delicious
but less crispy as I used a deep baking dish. I have never tasted such tender chicken.
The benefit of course is the slow oven, it does take the oven to heat up to 425. So
allow sufficient time. It doesn’t hurt in my opinion to add another 10 minutes.
I’ve never tried this with drumsticks – great idea! 🙂
This is amazing recipe! Thanks!
Thanks so much…
Do you remove from oven at temp switch?
Hi Brutus – nope, they stay in the whole time… 🙂
I made these tonight for dinner! What an awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing. My husband can’t stop talking about them. I made buffalo and garlic parm.
That’s fantastic! So kind of you to come back to let me know. 🙂
I made these before, and I’am making them right now. All I can say is WOW! So delicious! I won’t make them any other way, they come out so crispy, when adding the baking powder, Tip I let them sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before putting them in the,oven. They come out so crispy! YUMMERS! !
Awesome! I’m so glad you like them, Jo Anne!
Just made these…they turned out perfect. Thanks for sharing your recipe! I believe Super Bowl tradition has been born.
Yay! You made my day, Donna!!
Thank you @Marissa for co-hosting this great giveaway! I was contacted by Kristi and I am the winner! Yeah! I love following your blog and collecting all of these fantastic recipes. I will be stopping by often.
Congratulations, Trish! And what a sweet note, thank you!
Get outta town! I LOVE baked chicken wings! These look SO darn good!
🙂 Thanks, Kayiu!!
I also won’t deep fry in my kitchen (but mostly because I’m certain I’d accidentally stick a finger in the frying oil), so I LOVE this crispy oven-baked version you made! Thanks for sharing!
I hate frying things in my kitchen but I love the food! These wings look wonderful and I’ll never know it’s baked if you don’t mention it! Will try out the baking powder idea, sounds like a perfect solution! 🙂
Try it, Maggie! Can’t wait to hear what you think… 😉
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mixed up baking soda and baking powder – I say we make a movement to change the names so they’re distinctly different 😛
This is such a wonderful recipe and I love that these are baked! I personally don’t mind frying food in my home (in terms of the actual act of doing it), but I do appreciate baking in terms of the health conscience part of me! And I love the blue cheese dip – gotta have blue cheese with wings!
I agree! Gotta have the blue cheese dip. 😉
These look amazing! And I don’t even really like wings!
Thank you!
Ooh, these look great! And that’s saying something, because I am not a wing person at all. 🙂 They still look great! I love the simplicity of the baking powder & salt coating.
Thanks, Eileen. I still can’t get over how easy these are to make.
Buffalo wings are always too good to resist! I love that your recipe is easy and perfect for game days!
Thanks Ashley!
Marissa, we *love*baked wings and learned the baking powder trick. Man, it works absolutely perfectly! The wings are crisp on the outside and juicy, tender on the inside. I guess I’m saying, you must know I love this recipe! Oh, and thanks so much for participating in the giveaway!
Thanks for including me, Kristi! xx
oh no!!! what a mix up! i ALWAYS double check because it’s definitely happened to me while baking! so awesome that you decided to give it another go!
crispy wings for the win!!! 😀
I’m so glad I gave it another go, once the baking soda taste had finally passed. 🙂 This will be a go-to party appetizer recipe for me from here on out – thanks for the inspiration, Stephanie!
I’ve got to give these a try! I love chicken wings and crispy baked ones are right up my alley 😀
You’ve got to try them, Lorraine! Can’t wait to hear what you think…
I’m with you – frying stuff at home is no fun. I make too much of a mess and frankly I’m not sure if I can be trusted with that much hot oil! These baked wings look perfect for game day!
Liz, I hear you! I don’t trust myself with molten hot oil – a little too accident prone I’m afraid. And on that note, if you have never read “How to Start a Grease Fire” from Pen & Palate, you must. It’s hilarious – http://www.penandpalate.net/?p=353
Marissa! Thank you for the shout out!! And OMG, I had to laugh – BAKING SODA is AWFUL!! I made that mistake too!! And every time I go to make the recipe, I hesitate and have to double check that I am to use baking POWDER not SODA. Because it really is a natural instinct to reach out for baking soda! Coating meat in powder is weird, right?? And you know what? I just made a batch yesterday and was tossing up whether to use a blue cheese or other dip, but because I was LOST in the selection of blue cheese dips out there, I ended up going in another direction – but now I can use yours!! Yay yay!!
Just one question – is the blue cheese you use the “crumbly” type (like feta) or is it slightly creamy (i.e. if you crumble it with your fingers you get it smeared on your fingers, whereas with feta you would not!) Thank you Marissa!!
Yay, I’m not alone! 🙂 On the blue cheese, the kind I used is on the creamy side – definitely gets smeared on your fingers.
Just made a batch…. Used baking soda.. . Was about to write a WTF message but realised that I am the one who didn’t read. Maybe write in parentheses “not baking soda” so no other poor soul goes through what my mouth just went through.
I made the same mistake the first time and, you’re right, just awful! Definitely try it with baking powder… 🙂
These look great for the big game day coming up. Too bad I want them today and I’m on day 1 of a 3 day cleanse. Detox and refresh! That baking powder tip is interesting, I’ve heard of cornstarch – a new must try!
Good for you, Kevin! Just two days to go. When you’re ready to try these though, I’d love to hear what you think.
Ugh, I hate frying too. I avoid wings because of it! I’m definitely making these for the superbowl! And I’m pretty excited. I can’t remember the last time I had wings!
I’d love to hear what you think, Amanda!