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Home » Appetizers » Baked Chicken Wings

Baked Chicken Wings

Created: January 15, 2020 Updated: January 10, 2022 by lyuba 4 Comments

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You can’t have a game day without chicken wings on the table and baked chicken wings are amazing. Baking wings is healthier and easier than messing with the fryer and all the excess oil in the wings. To figure out the best way of making baked chicken wings, I’ve set out to test different methods and temperatures. 

vertical picture of chicken wings with wording

BAKED CHICKEN WINGS

After years of making my chicken wings the same way, I decided to test out some other methods to see if I can improve my recipe. There is a ton of baked chicken wings recipes out there and they all seem to variate slightly. There are different temperatures for baking wings, some recipes use baking powder to make it crispy, some simply rub in oil and season. One of my friends even recommended steaming the wings before baking them.

I’ve always made my wings with a little oil, seasoned, and baked at 400°. After spending a week (yes, a week!) making countless trays of wings and bugging my family with decisions, I think I have it figured out. 

I will talk about the temperatures for baking chicken wings a little later but as far as the method, I discarded steaming wings before baking right away. First of all, it’s tedious and when making a lot of wings for a crowd, it will get exhausting. Second of all, it dried out the wings too much. Steaming gets rid of extra fat under the skin but that is what keeps the wings juicy in the middle. You do not want to get rid of that fat!

This left me with two methods: coating wings in baking powder or rubbing them in oil. For crispy skin results, baking powder was definitely the winner. I’ve tested both regular baking powder and non-aluminum baking powder just in case and it does matter. Use non-aluminum baking powder for best results. 

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how to break down a chicken wings. Pieces of the wings on a plastic cutting board

HOW TO BREAK DOWN CHICKEN WINGS

When shopping for chicken wings, you can buy whole chicken wings or ones already separated into flats and drumettes. If you’re unable to find separated wings, don’t be scared, you can easily use a whole wings or separate them yourself. 

Chicken wing consists of three parts: drumette, wingette (flat), and a tip. Drumette is the part of the wing that looks like the leg drum and is the part that is attached to the body. Wingette is the middle, flat part of the wing. The tip is the very end of the wings and it generally gets discarded. (Personally, I like to use them in a homemade chicken stock. You can just freeze the tips in a freezer bag and use in stock later.)

So if you don’t want to cook the whole chicken wings, you can easily break it down:

First, pull the wing apart to clearly see where each part is attached at the joint. 

Then, make a cut through the skin and meat between the drumette and the flat, right to the joint. Pick up the wing and move it up and down at the joint to pop the bone out of the joint. Cut through the remaining meat and skin to separate the wing. 

Finally, do the same at the joint of the tip and the flat. And there you have it, three separate parts of the wing. (Discard tips or save for chicken stock.)

wings in a bowl

OVEN TEMPERATURE FOR BAKING CHICKEN WINGS

I’ve tested three most recommended temperature settings and each one has its own benefit and drawback. 

400­°– results in the least crispy skin but the juiciest meat in the middle. Takes a few minutes longer than other cook times as well. 

425°– the skin is crispier and the middle is still juicy. This is the winner for me personally because I like to have juicy chicken meat.

450°– crispiest skin but also meat in the middle is more dry. Takes a few minutes less to cook. 

Personally, I found that 425° is the best result because even through the skin is not as crispy, the meat in the wing is still juicy. If the crispiest skin most important to you, then you want to cook the wings at 450°. Also remember that once you coat the wings in sauce, the skin will only stay crispy for a few minutes and then it will soak up the sauce and loose the crisp.  

wings on the rack not baked

baked wings on a rack

HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN WINGS

Make sure to preheat the oven first and prepare the baking sheet so the wings can go into the oven right after being tossed. Once food comes in contact with salt, it release moisture. Preheat the oven to 425°, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to catch the drippings and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet. Rub the wire rack with some oil to prevent sticking.

First, make sure to blot the wings with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. 

Next, toss the wings with non-aluminum baking powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 

Spread chicken wings in one even layer on the wire rack and bake for 20 minutes. 

Take the baking sheet out of the oven to turn the wings and close oven door. Flip each wing and bake for additional 15 minutes. (For small wings, bake a few minutes less and for large wings, bake a few minutes more.)

You can serve the wings naked with various sauces or toss them in your favorite one. 

How Long To Bake Chicken Wings:

Depending on the size of wings, at 425° wings will bake for 35-40 minutes. If baking at 450°, wings will take a few minutes less so check them at 35 minutes. Smaller wings will be done faster and larger wings will take a few extra minutes.

If you have a wide variety of sizes, you may want to separate the wings in two batches, the smaller ones and the larger ones, that way they will be baked more evenly. 

wings on a plate horizontal

WHAT TO SERVE WITH WINGS

Get some celery sticks and carrots sticks to serve along the wings with spicy sauce. Celery and carrots help put out that “fire” in your mouth after biting into a spicy wing. 

As far as coating sauces, buffalo sauce and BBQ sauce are probably the post popular ones. But there are so many wing sauce available, you can search for your favorite one on Pinterest.

Don’t forget ranch and blue cheese to dip the wings!

chicken wings picture vertical

MORE GAME DAY APPETIZERS TO TRY

Beer Cheese Dip

Homemade White Queso Dip

Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies

Spicy Orange Chicken Wings

BBQ Little Smokies

dipping chicken wing in sauce

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PIN THE RECIPE

Baked Chicken Wings

Baked chicken wings are easy and delicious with crispy skin on the outside and juicy meat on the inside. Baking wings is easier and healthier than frying them so make some and enjoy with your favorite sauce.
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked chicken, baked chicken wings, chicken wings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4 (8 whole wings or 16 separated)
Calories: 509kcal
Author: lyuba

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs* whole chicken wings or a mix of drumettes and flats
  • 2 tsp non-aluminum baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • oil to rub the wire rack

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425°, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to catch the drippings and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet. Rub the wire rack with some oil to prevent sticking.
  • Blot the wings with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. 
  • Place wings in a large mixing bowl and toss them with non-aluminum baking powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
  • Spread chicken wings in one even layer on the wire rack and bake for 20 minutes.
  • Take the baking sheet out of the oven to turn the wings and close oven door. Flip each wing and bake for additional 15 minutes. (For small wings, bake a few minutes less and for large wings, bake a few minutes more.)

Note:

  • *Feel free to double or triple the recipe. Make sure to still bake the wings in one even layer with a little space in between each wings.

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 509kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 175mg | Sodium: 906mg | Potassium: 367mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 333IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

wings collage

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

420 shares

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chicken, Healthy Dishes, Super Bowl Recipes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Carlie says

    January 16, 2020 at 11:26 am

    5 stars
    Love these wings!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      January 17, 2020 at 4:30 pm

      Thanks, Carlie! I am so glad you liked them! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Terry Ravizza says

    March 2, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Can I put the non-aluminum baking powder in with the dry rub for the other chicken wings?

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      March 5, 2020 at 11:31 am

      Hi, Terry! Yes, you definitely can! Hope it turns out well 🙂

      Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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