Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. When you make your own chicken wings, you can prepare them however you’d like. Most wing joints serve up fried chicken wings. While I greatly enjoy them, I prefer to bake them at home. It saves on calories over deep frying, and I like to limit my intake of fried foods. The thing is, I also LOVE my chicken wings to be CRISPY. YES! But how do you make your baked chicken wings crispy? I’ve been making baked chicken wings at home for years, and this is the method that works best for me. As a chicken wing fanatic, it’s important to get them right every time. No one likes to lose out on great wings! I will share a step-by-step recipe below for you to follow, but let’s discuss the important factors that affect the crispiness of your baked chicken wings.
Drying the Chicken Wings. Pat them very dry with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible. You can also set them in the fridge after this step and leave them overnight to dry out even further. Baking Powder and Salt. Baking powder and salt help to draw the extra moisture out of the skin where it can evaporate. Moisture is the key reason why oven baked chicken wings don’t crisp up as desired. Very important! The Baking Process. Bake the wings first at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 30 minutes, then flip, turn up the heat and bake another 30 minutes (or until they are cooked through and nice and crispy) at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
You can see the crispiness when you take them out of the oven. You can feel the crispy dryness on the skin. It is awesome! Let’s run through the recipe so you can see the steps. Then I will answer some common questions. We can also explore some alternative cooking methods. Here we go! Next, set your wings onto a baking sheet. You can line the tray with aluminum foil, parchment paper, or use a silicone mat. Another option is to bake them on a wire baking rack set atop a baking sheet. This will allow the rendered fats to drip through and pool below. The racks are difficult to clean, though. I usually just use my silicone mat and am very happy with the results. You can also bake them on a wire rack to get more air flow around them. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F (220 C) and bake the wings another 30 minutes, or until the wings are cooked through and the skins are nice and crispy. If you’d like, you can hit them with the broiler for a couple minutes for an extra blast of crispiness. BOOM! Done! Crispy baked wings! I love them. So wonderfully golden brown. Serve as is, or toss them with your favorite wing sauce. Try my Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe. It rocks! Here are some common questions and talking points I hear about making your chicken wings nice and crispy in the oven. Please be sure to use baking powder. The idea is that removing some of the internal fat will result in crispier overall wings. The resulting wings were pretty good, but you lose a bit of flavor and substance when you lose some of that fat. It does save on a few calories, however. I’ll stick with my preferred method. The result? Yes, the skins were rather crispy. It does work, but one batch of mine still didn’t quite match the crispiness that I’m used to. The verdict? you might save a bit of time this way, but not much. A average baked chicken wing (half, not whole wing) is 81 calories, with roughly 8 grams of protein and over 5 grams of fat. They are no carb. Keep this in mind if you’re counting calories. And still great for game day! The dressing is meant to be a cooling element to help if your wings are too spicy. I love mine spicy! Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
