Even baked from frozen these wings are unbelievable good. Crispy Baked Chicken Wings (with the best buffalo sauce) are a must make for your next game day at home.
Until not too long ago I refused to eat buffalo chicken wings (with bones). Really good wings are hard to come by at restaurants and I’d had more than enough soggy, fatty wings to swear them off. But then this most recent Super Bowl happened and I was reading how many people serve wings that weekend and so I admit I gave in to the peer pressure. And that’s how I’m bringing you these crispy (like unbelievably crisp) baked chicken wings that you can make conveniently at home.
I’m a big fan of Cook’s Illustrated so I started by searching for a wing recipe that they had created in their test kitchen but I ran across another recipe post instead (which used the Cook’s Illustrated recipe). The problem I had when going to purchase my wings the day before the Super Bowl however (yes I am a procrastinator) was that I was stuck with frozen (ice coated) wings. There was not a fresh wing in sight. But guess what? The frozen wings worked! As in I baked them from frozen and they were still amazingly crispy!
So what’s the secret? Baking powder. Not baking soda. Baking powder. I’m not sure why it works because I didn’t actually read the Cook’s Illustrated well-researched article behind the recipe but it most definitely works and I am so happy it does! You will be too.
Tips for making Crispy Baked Chicken Wings:
- It is not necessary to search out fresh wings for this recipe – I used a bag of frozen chicken wings and followed the package temperature and time suggestions to bake them from frozen
- Equipment matters for baking these chicken wings properly
- I used a baking sheet like this one
- Lined with parchment paper (you could also use foil)
- And I baked the wings on an oven safe baking rack like this one to allow air to circulate on all sides of the wings
- Be sure to lightly oil the baking rack first to make sure the chicken wings don’t stick
Now about what I believe is the best buffalo sauce. I’ve made this recipe for crispy baked chicken wings several times now, tweaking the sauce each time. And I found what I think is the perfect flavor and spice combination. I only use four ingredients for my sauce.
Ingredients for making the Best Buffalo Sauce:
- I use this brand of wing sauce
- Mixed with this brand of chili garlic sauce
- Mixed with pure maple syrup
- Plus a little salt
You also might be wondering why I’m posting a recipe I discovered right before the Super Bowl now? Two words: March Madness
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Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 2.5 pound bag frozen chicken wings (or drumettes)
- 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup Frank's buffalo wing sauce
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add the frozen chicken wings (or drumettes if you prefer) to a large gallon-sized zippered bag with the baking powder. Shake the wings to coat.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (or foil). Place an oven-safe baking rack on top of the lined sheet pan. Lightly oil the rack.
- Place the baking powder coated frozen wings on the baking rack and bake for 80 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the wings is 165 degrees. If desired you can broil the chicken wings for the last two minutes of cooking time to get them even more browned.
- Whisk together the buffalo sauce, chili garlic sauce, maple syrup and salt. Add the baked chicken wings to a bowl and toss them with the sauce until they are evenly coated.
- Serve the wings with fresh carrots and celery and blue cheese dressing.
Nutrition
More game day favorites:
- Meatloaf Sliders
- Cincinnati Nachos
- Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
- Seven Layer Hoagie Dip
- Ultimate Pizza Dip
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
Wow! I love spicy foods and these definitely look drool worthy. Thanks for sharing the tip about baking powder..never heard that before.
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome. I hope you try them!
NATALIE says
I tried them and they were awesome! I only had Frank’s wing sauce, so I added a pouch of ranch dressing seasonings to the sauce to add some flair and my husband ate them all before I even had one! So easy and crispy! Thank you so much!
foodtasticmom says
So happy to hear this! Love your improvisation with the sauce, sounds yummy. Thank you for the positive rating!
David @ Cooking Chat says
Mmm, looks like you got these to come out just right! Crispy is best way to enjoy wings.
foodtasticmom says
Exactly! Thank you David
Natalie says
I love chicken wings and always look for different ways to make it for diversity. These look and sound delicious and I love the idea of baking it instead of frying – way easier!
foodtasticmom says
So simple – and much less mess!
Dannii says
Anything that is smothered with franks hot sauce is good with me. I am obsessed with that stuff at the moment.
foodtasticmom says
It’s hard to beat. Try it with a little chili garlic sauce mixed in – OMG
Chris says
buffalo wings are my absolute fav! Love that you’ve made them crispy through baking as well. Pinned this for later! Thanks for sharing 🙂
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome. Let me know what you think if you try them!
Brian Jones says
They look superb, I made wings for the first time in ages a couple of weeks ago, must give your recipe a try.
foodtasticmom says
Yes you definitely should. Thanks so much Brian!
Debbye says
These look so good, I want to jump into the page and grab one. And your step by step instructions make the recipe super easy to follow. Thanks so much, my grandkids will love these.
foodtasticmom says
Yay! So glad you enjoy the recipe. Come back and let us know what your grandkids think 🙂
Sara says
These wings were perfect! I tossed the baking powder right into the bag the chicken came in, shook it up and put them in the oven. We mixed up our oun spicy wing sauce and we chowed down! Thank you for posting this!!!
foodtasticmom says
I’m happy to hear this! Thank you for taking the time to rate and comment.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
Mmm those wings look absolutely amazing! I know what you mean about soggy ones in restaurants, it can be so hard to get the perfect wings but these look great!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Bintu!
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
Oh wow, I love the tip for getting the wings crispy, I can use that for all my oven fried foods!
foodtasticmom says
You know, I hadn’t even thought about trying the baking powder on other things, LOL Great idea!!
Andre Casey says
This definitely looks crisp and savory! Good mention about the use of baking powder, never heard of that. Crispy chicken and chili sauce is the way to go! Looks better than take out!
foodtasticmom says
So much better than take out. Thanks Andre!
Emma says
These look delicious. A really healthy ratio of meat to sauce 😀 I love mine nice and sticky!
foodtasticmom says
Me too – thank you!
Noel Lizotte says
Tailgate season means wings! I love crispy wings … soggy just isn’t cutting it in my book. Thanks for the trick with the Baking Powder. That is going to make a difference in my prep.
foodtasticmom says
Nope, soggy wings are the worst! Thank you!
Caitlyn Erhardt says
YUM! We love chicken wings and buffalo style sauce is my husband’s fav! Can’t wait to give these a try on a game day! Thanks for the recipe!
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome. I hope you like them!
Heidy says
Awesome tip, I have heard of using Arrow Root but never baking powder. I’m definitely going to try this tip!!
foodtasticmom says
I hope you do! Thanks!
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
It’s amazing what baking powder can do! I’m all over this crispy wings, especially if I can cook them from frozen. How easy is that? And I love the sauce! Yum.
foodtasticmom says
It really is amazing! Thank you.
Amy | The Cook Report says
I love how easy they are and they look incredibly crispy too!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Amy!
Tamika Dean says
We are making this recipe as I type! Never made chickens wings with baking powder so I’m excited to it! Will let you know how they turn out! Happy New Year!!
foodtasticmom says
So what did you think?
Jeffrey J Despard says
Amazing! All of the guests loved them, thank you! 🍻
foodtasticmom says
So happy to hear this. Thank you for coming back to review and comment!
Mike Bouley says
I can not thank you enough for posting this. I love Wings but have struggled with finding a simple way to crisp up some frozen wings and pretty much gave up. I stumbled on your recipe post on a recent Google attempt. Long story short, I’ve had wings at home 4 weeks straight and staring down week 5. Thank you so very much!!. I have subscribed to your email list and looking forward to digging into your site/recipes to see what else you have in store!.Maybe there is something else I make that you have improved! Take care!
foodtasticmom says
I’m so happy to hear this Mike! Thank you. I was blown away by how many people looked at my wing recipe on Super Bowl Sunday. Glad to have you as a regular and to know that this recipe was a success for you 🙂
Jane says
Just made them and used Texas Pete sauce,
Frank’s sweet chili and used garlic powder since I didn’t have the other along with the maple syrup and salt. The wings were great!! I ate them without sauce and they were perfect. My husband loves the sauce. Thanks.
foodtasticmom says
It always makes me happy to get a positive review like this. I’m glad you liked the wings and thanks for taking the time to write!
Jo Kammerdiener says
So delicious! I just made your recipe and it was the bomb! The hint of garlic and sweetness on the back end took them to a whole new level. The chicken was crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. Will defanitly make again! Thank you the recipe!
foodtasticmom says
This is a wonderful review. Thank you so much! You made my day 🙂
Don says
Ok, so being a Buffalonian. I thought.. I’m going to try this recipe. I went a bit much with coating the wings pre bake. That was my mistake. Next time I will knock some of the baking power off. The wings came out looking awesome ! Now let’s talk sauce ! I love making sauces ! I mixed up the sauce that you use, some store brand honey bbq sauce, a stick of butter with a healthy tablespoon of Cayenne Pepper . Once heated up well… I let it stand for about half an hour, then back on the heat and bring it back up to a slow boil. Mixed up some corn starch and water to thicken the sauce up to about gravy consistency. The thicker sauce really works well for the folks I serve to. My opinion on this recipe ? Loved it ! Easy to make and everyone enjoyed the wings ! Thank you for sharing with us !
foodtasticmom says
Your version of the sauce sounds fantastic. I’m a fan of heat – but my daughter needs it toned down a bit 🙂 This is such a great review. I really appreciated you taking the time to write. You’re welcome!
Leslie says
My husband goes crazy over these wings. I’ve been making them a lot. The garlic chili sauce is a must! I specifically hunted for it on Amazon so I could try this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
foodtasticmom says
This makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for taking the time to rate and comment!
John in Detroit says
These wings were great! Made 2 batches in one day both turned out perfect from frozen. Used wings we got from Costco. The wings have a great crunch to them with the baking powder!
foodtasticmom says
Glad to hear it. Thank you for the positive rating and comment!
Ali says
Just tried these, so crispy!! We had tried 2 batches in our air fryer and they are soggy. These were fantastic and just tossed them in Frank’s asian wing sauce. Delicious!!
foodtasticmom says
Yay! Happy to hear this. Thank for the positive comment and review Ali!!
regina marie kershner says
making these tonight, will keep you posted!!!
regina marie kershner says
the wings came out crispy and yummy. i seasoned them as well. great recipe..
foodtasticmom says
So glad to hear this, thank you!
Jill says
Hi! I found your recipe on pinterest. GREAT wing recipe! Probably the best I’ve ever made. My family all loved them. We used the baking powder trick and baked at your temp but used my sauce recipe (everyone has their own perfect sauce right?) Thank you! My husband thanks you, too. The only problem is next time I think I have to buy more wings (I bough the 4lb bag). Haha.
foodtasticmom says
Love getting comments like this. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. And yeah, 4 pounds is never enough at my house either!
Lily N says
I just made this tonight and they turned out pretty good I would make it again! Didn’t have maple syrup so I left that ingredient out. The baking powder really did crisped the wings!
foodtasticmom says
So glad you enjoyed the wings. I appreciate you taking the time to rate and comment!
Steve Tyndall says
I want to try this recipe but it says to cook for 80 minutes. That sounds like a long time. Is 8 minutes correct?
foodtasticmom says
I’m sorry for my late response. 80 minutes is correct.
Steve Tyndall says
Correction: is 80 minutes correct?
foodtasticmom says
Yes, because they are being baked from frozen.
Patti Nienberg says
My husband is not interested in the super Bowl but wants the food that goes with it! Lol. Getting ready to make these now! No garlic chili sauce but will improvise as someone else suggested. Will let you know what we think!
Ann says
So, so simple and so good! I was tired of paying $15 for wings for my husband… these were way better and way cheaper! Thanks for an excellent recipe.
foodtasticmom says
Happy to help. Thanks for taking the time to rate and comment!
Kim says
I love chicken wings, but mine always come out soggy! I can’t wait to try this version. If they’re as crispy as they look in your photos, I’ll be a happy lady. Thanks so much for sharing!
foodtasticmom says
Yep, no soggy wings here. Come back and let us know what you think!
Ashley Gomez says
Idk what I did wrong but all I could taste was the baking powder even with the sauce on it it was too powdery the texture was weird I don’t know if I added to much
foodtasticmom says
I’m sorry that happened to you. You may have added too much. I make sure to shake off any excess that sticks (because it will sometimes stick in clumps when the wings are still frozen) before putting them in the oven. These wings have gotten so many positive reviews. Maybe you’ll consider trying again? Thanks for the feedback.
Stevo says
Great recipe, I didn’t have garlic chili sauce, so I used 1 tbsp minced garlic and 1/2 tsp chili powder and we thought it came out great. Thanks
foodtasticmom says
Happy to hear that you enjoyed the wings. Thank you for taking the time to review and comment!