For baked chicken wings that are perfectly crispy, you need our three-step method that’s loved by hundreds of thousands of cooks, cooks who come back here over and over again to make them. It’s the best chicken wing recipe ever!
Good news! You don’t have to deep fry wings in order to end up with deliciously crispy chicken. You can easily make trays of wings for game day in the oven with my crispy baked chicken wings recipe. A little bit of baking powder and a two-step baking method gives you delicious wings without a lot of effort.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
- Video: How To Make Crispy Oven Baked Wings
- Why Bake Chicken Wings?
- Why These Baked Wings Are SO Crispy
- Why Use Baking Powder?
- Can You Use Baking Soda Or Cornstarch?
- Time and Temperature for Baked Chicken Wings
- How To Bake Chicken Wings So They’re Extra Crispy
- Seasoning The Wings
- Sauce For Baked Wings
- Even Better Crispy Chicken Wings?
- More Chicken Wing Recipes
- Podcast Episode: Baking Chicken Wings
- Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Wings Recipe
Video: How To Make Crispy Oven Baked Wings
Here’s a short video showing the three-step baking powder method for making crispy baked chicken wings. You’ll see the three steps in our process: (1) baking powder, (2) low temperature, (3) high temperature.
Why Bake Chicken Wings?
There are several factors that influence how you might choose to cook your wings. Here are the reasons that you might want to bake yours.
- You want a lot of wings. You can fit a lot more wings on a pan in the oven than you can in an air fryer or in a pot for deep frying. This means you can make a lot at once without working in batches!
- You want a hands-off process. Once they are in the oven, you don’t need to move them around or flip, making it super easy.
- You want crispy skin! With my baking method, you get wonderfully crispy chicken skin with very little fuss.
You can see in this How to Cook Chicken Wings post that we compared different ways of cooking chicken wings and baking is best for cooking for a crowd and the best option for crispy skin other than deep fried chicken wings.
Why These Baked Wings Are SO Crispy
These chicken wings are seriously so crispy, you’d think they were deep-fried. There are three reasons why they give you that crunch:
- They use a small amount of baking powder which helps crisp the skin, see more about why this happens below.
- They are baked at a low temperature first to really dry the skin out and to give the baking powder time to start working.
- High heat at the end to finish cooking the wings and to really brown and crisp the skin.
“My son says they’re as good as from his fave wing shop!”
Melody, TheCookful reader
Why Use Baking Powder?
Baking powder is a leavening agent usually used in baked goods such as cookies and cakes. It’s a mixture of sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar, and cornstarch. But interestingly, when mixed with salt and dusted on chicken, after cooking, the chicken skin is extra crispy. Why does this happen?
It happens because baking powder is alkaline (the opposite of acidic). The addition of the baking powder therefore raises the pH level in the chicken, allowing the peptide bonds in the skin to break down, which in turn lets the skin get more crisp and brown.
You can also use this method with other cuts of chicken, like these amazingly crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks. And, I’m going to tell you below how adding baking powder to a wet brine mixture can also get your crispy chicken skin.
Use Aluminum-Free Baking Powder
Note that while most of the comments below this post are very positive (people seriously love this method of baking crispy wings!) a couple of commenters noted a bitter taste on their wings. I at first thought that they were using baking soda instead of baking powder. Doing so would definitely lead to a terrible taste. However, they claimed that they were really using baking powder for sure. I was stymied until another helpful commenter posted this link showing that some people are sensitive to a flavor that is found in some brands of baking powder.
Baking powder that contains “sodium aluminum sulfate” has a bitter taste to some people. If you notice this flavor, you’ll want to try a different brand of baking powder. The Rumford Brand is aluminum-free, so that’s one to try. And note that Rumford is not a sponsor of this post or anything like that. We just know for sure that they are an aluminum-free brand.
Can You Use Baking Soda Or Cornstarch?
Baking soda is NOT a good substitute for baking powder. While baking powder does contain baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), baking soda alone is stronger and has a very metallic taste if used without being neutralized with an acid. The cream or tartar found in baking soda is acidic and neutralizes that taste.
In the comments below this recipe, several people have asked if they can use cornstarch instead of baking powder. While people do use cornstarch on their wings to make them crispy, it works in a different way. Baking powder changes the pH of the skin so that the skin itself gets crispier. On the other hand, when you put cornstarch on wings, it’s the cornstarch coating itself that is toasting and crisping.
Therefore, my answer is that you can use cornstarch on wings, but not as a substitute for the baking powder in this recipe – it won’t work the same way and the amounts would not be equivalent.
Time and Temperature for Baked Chicken Wings
We start at the low temperature of 250°F for 30 minutes to dry out the wings.
Then, without removing the wings from the oven, increase the temperature to 425°F and bake for 40-50 minutes more. This cooks the chicken through and browns the wings to crispy perfection. If your wings are smaller than average, you will likely only need to cook them for 30 minutes at this step.
How To Bake Chicken Wings So They’re Extra Crispy
Prep and Season
If you have whole wings, you can learn how to cut chicken wings here. (When you cut ten wings, you end up with 30 wing pieces. That’s 10 drumettes, 10 flaps and 10 wing tips. You’ll either discard the wing tips or save them for another use. That leaves 20 wing pieces that you’re using here.)
Note: You can leave the wings whole if you prefer and it won’t affect the cooking time. I think they area little more awkward to eat though. You also can leave the wing tips attached to the flap, but there’s so little meat on there that they aren’t the best to eat.
Once they’re all cut up, put them into a big bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of aluminum-free baking powder (and NOT baking soda!). It doesn’t seem like much but you’re not trying to make a coating for the wings here. You’re trying to change their pH level so that they will crisp up better. Mix it up, I usually just toss it around or get in there with my hands.
I’ll also say that I am somewhat of a perfectionist and so to get a really even coatingthat is dispersed well on the wings, what I usually do is to put half of the wings into the bowl, sprinkle with half of the salt and baking powder, then add the other half of the wings and sprinkle with remaining salt and powder, and then I mix them with my hands. That just reduces the likelihood that the salt and baking powder will be overly concentrated on some wings.
Use A Wire Rack
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to make clean up easier. Then set an oven-safe metal rack onto the baking sheet. Spray the rack with cooking spray or lightly oil it to help prevent the chicken from sticking. Place the wings on the rack.
The rack is really helpful for crisping the wings because it allows air to circulate all around the chicken pieces so that they get evenly crisp. It also lets the fat drip away from the chicken so they’re not sitting in pools of fat, which will also reduce crispiness.
Start at a Low Temp
Place the chicken in a 250°F oven for 30 minutes. This gets some of the fat rendered from under the skin and starts that drying out process. Here’s how they look after 30 minutes. These are not cooked. Do not eat them yet.
Finish with High Heat
Leave them in the oven and crank the heat up to 425°F and cook 40-50 minutes more, until golden brown and so crispy. If your wings are smaller, skinnier ones, you will likely only need to cook them for 30 minutes at this step. If they’re crispy on the outside and their internal temperature on an instant read thermometer is 165°F, they’re done.
Note that a lot of people’s ovens aren’t calibrated well and usually run a bit lower than is displayed. If your wings are not browned well after 40 minutes, increase the heat to 450°F or even 475°F to get a final bit of browning on them.
In general, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer that sits in your oven and tells you the actual internal temperature. They’re inexpensive and very useful if you’re trying to perfect your cooking. They sell them at a lot of grocery stores, and you can also get one on Amazon here.
Seasoning The Wings
You can season them before baking, but sometimes some spices burn from the high heat. I therefore prefer to toss them with just the salt and baking powder for baking and then add flavor with a spice blend and/or sauce after.
Having said that, this wing dry rub contains baking powder and great seasonings and works beautifully – these spices don’t burn.
After baking, my favorite is really just adding more salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Use regular fine salt, which is more likely to stick to the wings, not kosher or anything thick here. A bit of tajin seasoning thrown in is always good too! Or try these seasoning blends that are great on wings. And yes, pizza seasoning is one of them and is my kids’ favorite on crispy baked wings!
Sauce For Baked Wings
These wings are so crispy that I find it a shame to add moisture to them and lose any of the crispiness with a sauce, but if you must toss them with a sauce…
This easy decadent homemade Buffalo sauce will blow your mind or grab some BBQ sauce.
And then you’ll need a great dip, like ranch or blue cheese dressing. I prefer ranch dressing. You can grab a bottle at the store, make your own with fresh herbs like this, or make homemade ranch seasoning with ingredients from your pantry and stir together 1 cup of sour cream with 1 tablespoon of the seasoning. It’s so fresh-tasting and delicious!
Even Better Crispy Chicken Wings?
I have to tell you something. So it is absolutely true that the recipe below, the one I’ve been telling you about so far, is the one I’ve been using for over 15 years and is the one that everybody raves about it. I love it and my readers keep coming back and making it over and over. I still stand by it and it is still the same recipe down there that it has always been.
However, recently, I’ve started doing things a little differently at my house. I’ve started brining the wings in a mixture of water, salt, and you guessed it, baking powder. Why?
- The baking powder flavor is undetectable with the brine method.
- The chicken wing meat gets nicely seasoned right though from the salt brine, so much flavor.
- I swear, the skin is even crispier! It even kind of bubbles up in places as though it’s deep fried.
So, if you want to try something new, head over to my new crispy baked brined chicken wing recipe.
More Chicken Wing Recipes
If you haven’t guessed it already, I’m obsessed with chicken wings. Here are all of my chicken wing recipes for you to browse through. If you specifically want to bake wings but with a different flavor, try our Zesty Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings! They are baked with baking powder, salt, and lemon pepper seasoning, and then have fresh lemon zest and cracked pepper added at the end, which is so crazy-good! Or, if I haven’t convinced you that baking is the way to go, here are some other ways to cook your wings:
Podcast Episode: Baking Chicken Wings
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Wings Recipe
For perfectly crispy baked chicken wings, you need our trusted three-step baking powder method loved by hundreds of thousands of cooks.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 20 wings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 10 whole chicken wings, cut into flats and drumettes (here’s how to do it). Discard tips or use for a stock. That leaves you with 20 wing pieces total
- 1 Tbsp. aluminum-free* baking powder (NOT baking soda)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Sauce or dry rub
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place a oven-safe rack on top of cookie sheet. Spray rack with cooking spray or lightly oil it.
- In a large bowl, use your hands to toss the flats and drumettes with the baking powder and salt until chicken is evenly coated. But do not add extra baking powder. Just mix them so they all have some.
- Place wings on the prepared rack in single layer. Transfer rack with the cookie sheet under it to oven and cook for 30 minutes. This baking at a low temperature dries the wings out and allows the baking powder to penetrate.
- After 30 minutes, leave the wings in the oven but raise the heat to 425°F. Continue to cook until brown and crispy, 40-50 minutes.**
- Take wings out and let rest 5 minutes. Toss in a delicious sauce like this one and serve.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
This post originally appeared in January 2016 and was revised and republished in December 2024.
You just taught me something new and good. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Haven’t tried this recipe yet but, can I put them in my air fryer (large one with racks) instead of my oven?
Thanks
AJ, I’m not really sure since all air fryers are different. Mine has fairly intense heat and if I followed this recipe as is, the wings would get burned for sure. You could try baking them at a lower temperature or for a shorter time. I think the best thing to do would be, after the initial low temperature cook, once you increase the heat, check on them frequently and adjust the temperature as needed. They’ll be fully cooked after about 30 minutes at the higher temperature, probably. So after that, you’re just wanting the skin to crisp up. Note that in my air fryer, the way it cooks things get nice and crisp wings without needed the baking powder and the lower temperature at the beginning, so you could just try this recipe instead.
I haven’t tried them yet, but by the looks of them, I know it will be five stars! My question is, do you flip them at some point, or just let them cook the entire time on one side?
Because they are on a rack on the baking sheet, I find that flipping them isn’t necessary. Enjoy, Steve!
If using a dry rub instead of a sauce, when do you put it on? With the baking powder or after?
Some people like to add the dry rub at the beginning with the baking powder, but because they’re in the oven a long time I like to toss them with the dry rub at the end so there’s no risk of burnt seasonings. Enjoy, Carol!
I’ve updated this Dry Rub for Wings so that it works with this baking method. It has the baking powder so you can add it at the beginning. Enjoy, Carol!
My go to baked wings recipe
Wonderful, Michael! 🙂
My son says they’re as good as from his fave wing shop! That’s a huge order, and thanks to you a much appreciated compliment!
Question – if I want to make drumsticks or thighs using this , method, how much longer would I have to bake them?
Melody, thank you so much! I’m so happy that you both liked them so much. As to the drumsticks and thighs, several people have asked that in the comments above and so I have added it to my recipe-testing for this summer. I’ll try to remember to email you once we post it. I suspect it will work exactly as written for the wings though. That amount of time should be plenty for drumsticks and thighs even though they’re bigger than wings.
I ♥️ chicken wings..this recipe so easy…warning…do not keep them in oven @425 any longer than 40 minutes..or maybe less….yes, the were crispy but way too dry.
Came out perfect for us following the recipe exactly. Our air fryer is too small to make a large batch of wings so this is exactly what we needed. Leftovers re-crisped in the air fryer perfectly too!
So happy to hear that, Matt! I usually don’t have leftovers, but glad to know the air fryer worked well for reheating. 🙂
Tried this the first time to great success — baking powder, who knew! — but had trouble getting my hot sauce to stick to the wings. Any pro tips to get a good saucy wing? Thanks!
Sandy, so happy you liked the wings!
What I typically do is to put a small amount of sauce into a large bowl, about 1/2 cup for 20 wing pieces. Then, when the wings come out of the oven I use tongs to transfer them to the bowl of sauce and I use the tongs to stir and toss the wings around. The wings all end up with a light coating of sauce. I will say that I am not a big sauced-wing fan and prefer them dry with seasonings or very lightly sauced, so maybe that’s why I haven’t had a problem.
I’ve been making them in a similar manner for years and this is the best way to do chicken wings that there is. I used to do them on the grill, but I decided that this is just as good if not better. At the end, you can toss them in any sauce you like. We’ve done a traditional buffalo sauce, a simple garlic butter sauce, a VERY hot Jamaican jerk sauce, an Asian-inspired ginger soy sauce…the sky’s the limit on how you sauce it at the end. I like making a blue cheese dipping sauce to serve on the side, along with carrot sticks.
But yeah, as you clearly point out in the recipe…use baking POWDER, not baking soda. Using baking soda is an unrecoverable error.
Thank you for sharing, Michael! Those all sound like amazing sauce options.
Will cornstarch have a crunch to?
Marilyn, I’ve never tried this recipe with cornstarch. The baking powder is there to change the pH of the chicken skin and make the skin itself crispier. Cornstarch doesn’t have that effect.
Do I drop my oven to rack down one row or leave it on the top
Thank u
Theresa
Theresa, I typically cook these in the middle of the oven, with the rack in the center-most slot. However, when I do two big pans of them, then I do one at the top slot and one at the bottom, and I swap them halfway through the first round of cooking and then again halfway through the second. And note that the pan on the bottom does sometimes get very hot and smokes, so watch for that and switch them around before it happens.
Can I add spices to the baking powder and salt? Can’t wait to make these this weekend!
You can, Nancy, and some readers love to do that. They are in the oven for a long time though, so keep that in mind. I actually like to toss them in a dry rub like this – https://thecookful.com/best-dry-rub-for-chicken-wings/ – after they come out of the oven so there’s no risk of the seasoning burning while the chicken cooks.
Purely awesome! Great way to have & her special wing sauce is wonderful. I do use unsalted butter though for …..well… a decadent wing meal. Kudos!
Happy to hear, Mary! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi Christine,
My name is Barbara in Sputh Africa.. Im trying to follow your recipe but i do not know whether you used oil or not.
If you did ihave some questions to ask. When and howmuch oil do you use. Also which type of oil.
No, Barbara, we didn’t use oil for these chicken wings. Enjoy!
I use chicken drumsticks instead of wings – so much meatier – they are awesome. Sprinkle with lemon pepper before baking and turn over half way through cooking.
Thanks for letting us know, Mel! Glad you enjoyed.
Would just like to say that this is my go to oven wing technique. I have done it this multiple times and it just works out so great.
That’s wonderful, Lila! Thanks for taking a moment to rate and comment.
Christine, this is a wonderful recipe and your instructions and warning are great. I feel badly that someone said “shame on you” because they used arm & hammer baking soda. Shame on them! lol
I made a small batch (10 pieces) today and was glad to read your instruction about not using more baking powder. I used 1/2 a tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and that worked well.
Keep up the great work girl!
Thank you, Mari! Can’t make everyone happy, but glad that you enjoyed. 🙂
Don’t they sell already cut up chicken wings?
They do in many places, Lisa. I have found that it’s more expensive, so I prefer to cut my own. Do what works best for you though!
This is my go to wing recipe. They turn out super crispy and tasty every time! Best wings ever!
Yay! Love to hear that, Marie!