Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings are baked, not fried, using a secret ingredient that could fool any die-hard chicken wing fan.
These Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings are exactly what they claim to be – CRISPY! Surprisingly, without deep frying. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!? Using a special ingredient you likely already have in your kitchen pantry, you can make your very own crispy buffalo wings without the hassle and grease of a deep fryer.
BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS
We love chicken wings as much as the next guy, especially our Sticky Honey Sesame Chicken Wings and our Sticky Thai Chicken Wings but there was just one thing these two recipes were missing – CRUNCH!
This extremely popular creation came out of a New York restaurant in the 60’s by Teressa Bellissimo. Teressa covered the wings in her own special sauce and served them with a side of celery and blue cheese. Since then, Buffalo wings have become a quintessential game day food in the United States, served at bars and restaurants everywhere.
Of course, good Buffalo wings need a creamy dip, so this recipe includes a blue cheese dressing. If blue cheese isn’t your thing, I also love my wings dipped in ranch dressing!
These deliciously, crunchy wings have been well received at home and have quickly become a hit with our readers. Abso-freakin-lutely worth giving these wings a red hot go.
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO CRISPY WINGS
The key ingredient to crispy wings, without using a lot of oil, is aluminium-free baking powder. It may sounds unappealing, but coating chicken wings in seasoned baking powder is what makes the skin super crispy. You won’t taste it in the final results, so long as you use aluminium-free. To be clear, make sure you use baking powder, NOT baking soda, because there is a big difference!
You’re going to spice up your wings with some classic seasonings you’re bound to already have in your pantry:
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- You an also add a dash of Cayenne pepper.
Toss them through the seasoning until they are coated evenly.
HOW TO COOK CHICKEN WINGS IN THE OVEN
After your wings are coated, place aluminium foil on your baking sheet to catch any drippings, then arrange a wire rack over the top. Place your wings in an even layer to allow the heat to be evenly distributed.
You’re then going to bake your wings on a rack so the fat can drip off, creating ultra crispy wings all over.
HOW LONG TO BAKE CHICKEN WINGS
Chicken wings can take about 50 minutes or more to bake, flipping them halfway through cooking time to allow even crispness. Why so long? To allow the fat to render out from the chicken wings so that the skin crisps to a delicious golden brown.
HOW TO MAKE BUFFALO SAUCE
To get the best baked buffalo wings, you’re going to toss them in an incredible buffalo sauce, which requires only three ingredients!
- Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce
- Melted unsalted butter
- Honey or sugar (white or brown)
Whisk it all together until combined, then pour the sauce ALL over your CRISPY baked wings and serve! So easy and no deep fryers needed!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BUFFALO WINGS
Serve your buffalo wings with blue cheese dip, ranch dipping sauce or a creamy garlic mayo. Don’t forget the celery and/or carrot sticks on the side! Game day has never looked so easy and so good!
To serve wings as a family meal, we normally keep some separate without sauce so the kids can enjoy super crispy chicken wings. You can also dip theirs in bbq sauce or honey garlic butter sauce. Buffalo wings can also be paired with our Macaroni Salad and some Crispy Garlic Baked Potato Wedges.
You won’t need to order take-out wings again after trying this epic recipe!
CRISPY BUFFALO WINGS ON VIDEO!
More chicken wings!
Sticky Thai Chicken Wings
Sticky Honey Sesame Chicken Wings
Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings
Ingredients
CHICKEN WINGS
- 4 lbs chicken wings cut into drumettes and flats
- 1 tablespoon aluminium free baking powder not baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
BUFFALO SAUCE:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons honey or white sugar or brown sugar, adjust to suit your tastes
BLUE CHEESE DIP:
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese softened
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cracked pepper to taste
TO SERVE:
- ¼ cup ranch dressing for serving
- ½ cup blue cheese dressing for serving
- 2-3 celery stalks for serving
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil and set a heat-proof wire rack inside.
- Pat dry chicken wings liberally with paper towels, squeezing out as much moisture as you can. Transfer them to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine the baking powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper together, whisking well to combine, and sprinkle the mixture over the wings. Toss wings through the baking powder mixture until evenly coated.
- Arrange on rack, leaving about 1-inch of space between each wing.
- Bake for 30 minutes; flip and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, (about 20-30 minutes longer), until golden browned and crispy.
- While wings are cooking, whisk together hot sauce, butter and sugar. Toss wings through the sauce to evenly coat.
- Serve wings immediately with blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing, and celery sticks.
Christine says
Made these for Super Bowl Sunday. I’ve tried making wings before and they we’re never any good. These were amazing and I will definitely be making them again!
Gina McDonough says
Best wings ever. Followed directions to the t! Left dried wings in refrigerator overnight on rack in rimmed cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil after dredging in regular baking powder and garlic powder. Baked for 1 hour at 450 turning at the 30 minute mark. Very little dripping so no smoke.
After baking tossed in Frank’s Buffalo wing sauce (hot) and melted butter, but omitted the sugar since we like our wings hot! Our Super Bowl wings were a success! Will surely make them again. Thank you!!
Erika says
This is the best recipe!! I changed up the Buffalo sauce and did a lemon pepper (a spice found in any grocery store) and they were so so so good. I also find I don’t need to leave them as long as the recipe calls for. Lastly, the key step is definitely pat drying them really well. I didn’t do it so well once time and they came out soggy. 5 star recipe!
Tamara says
These come out so perfect! Thank you! I used this recipe but adapted the baking time for my air fryer that has 2 racks. I made sure to pat the wings super dry w/paper towel. Tossed about 2 lbs of wings in the mixture as described (my baking powder had aluminum, it was fine). I cooked in batches to leave about 1 inch of space between each wing and flipped halfway. I did 400 degrees for total of 30 mins in air fryer. Cooked perfectly!! Tossed in the Buffalo sauce as described (1 tbsp of honey)…amazing!!
Robin says
Perfection! You literally can’t get better than this – they are SO crispy and delicious! Especially with the red hot/butter/honey sauce – O M G. 💃Thank you!
Jessica says
I wish I could give this recipe more stars.
I never would have thought to make wings, but my son requested them for his birthday dinner, and with COVID, going out to eat wasn’t an option. These are the best wings I have ever had; better than any restaurant wings, including the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. We couldn’t stop raving as we ate them. An absolute do-over.
Thank you! Now, off to explore the rest of your site.
Tracy says
SUCH a great and easy recipe. Last time I made wings they weren’t crispy at all and I was so disappointed beca I followed the recipe to a “T”. But I didn’t know the secret! I am so glad I stumbled upon this recipe because the trick totally worked! I also added the sweetness to the sauce in the form of Agave. Altho 2 Tbsp was a bit too much, 1 or 1 1/2 is what I’ll do next. But still good to have it included. Thank you so much!
Mommy Dearest says
I am as picky as they come when it comes to making delicious food and these were certifiably the bomb! The blue cheese dip was delicious, the buffalo sauce was delicious, and the wings were perfectly crisp. I would NOT put any sauce on them to bake it on after you’re done baking them. I’m sure it will mess up the crispness. Dipping the wings into the sauces works awesome and brings the flavor.
Susan Amering says
Made these last Sunday, my husband loved them, really crisp and so good!!! I made my own aluminum free baking powder! Worked great!! Press wings in a towel and got out as much moisture as possible. Refrigerated them till I baked them.
Your recipes are the best!! Thank you so much!
Mary says
I didn’t know you could make your own baking powder! Clever! In a pinch, try cornstarch. I use it instead of flour for crispy chicken cordon bleu. But can’t wait to make this recipe, as is!
Anne says
Aren’t these wings amazing? I have to double or triple the quantity of the dry ingredients to have enough for the wings (I roll each wing in the dry ingredients rather than put the dry stuff on the wings). I have never liked Buffalo flavored wings until these. I made them first for my husband who prefers buffalo flavored; but now they’re for both of us because they are so gooood. We rarely use any blue cheese or ranch with them; they don’t need it.
Dan Massoff says
So I just tried this recipe tonight and my god were these wings delicious. Possibly the best I’ve ever had! I don’t try many recipes outside of Blue Apron which I’ve been doing for a while, but this recipe is now saved on my phone. They weren’t even that crispy, possibly because I didn’t refrigerate overnight. And I didn’t even make the dip- just the hot sauce. I used a little more baking powder than in the recipe. And I used monk fruit sugar and a little honey as the sweetener. Not that this is better, but maybe fewer calories? Who am I kidding. Haha
Go Home Charlie says
One tip: mix the baking powder and salt together, grind it to get an extra fine powder to coat the chicken to avoid clumping.