Super Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

Published: Jan 31, 2019 · Modified: May 9, 2024 by Kelly · This post may contain affiliate links · 60 Comments

These easy Baked Chicken Wings are amazingly crispy and crunchy. With a surprise ingredient that you probably have on hand and a simple technique, you can have Super Crispy Baked Chicken Wings with minimal effort.

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The best way to make amazing chicken wings

Chicken wings are definitely a must have on game day and baking them is my favorite way of making them.

They come out amazingly crispy and crunchy.

It’s super easy. No standing around frying, the oven does all the work.

There’s no greasy mess to clean up afterwards.

They’re so much healthier without the added fat from frying.

The secret ingredient to making them extra crispy

The special ingredient for the crispiest Baked Chicken Wings? Baking powder. Coating the wings with baking powder helps draw moisture to the surface of the skin which is evaporated in the high heat of the oven. It also creates little bubbles on the skin, which harden and create the crispy texture.

Be sure to use baking powder, NOT baking soda. Some people are sensitive to the aluminum that is used in some brands of baking powder, causing them to sense a bitter taste. I would recommend using aluminum free baking powder, such as Rumford, to be on the safe side.

Which technique makes the crispiest wings?

I tested four different methods of baking wings to find out which came out the crispiest.

Method A:

Wings are dried well with paper towels and tossed with baking powder. They are baked at a lower heat (250 F) for 30 minutes to render out some of the fat, then finished at a higher heat (425 F).

Method B:

Wings are dried well with paper towels and tossed with baking powder. They are left to further dry in the refrigerator on a rack for at least 8 hours and up to 24. They are then baked at 450 F until done.

Method C:

The impatient, shortcut-lover in me wanted to see if Method B left only to rest for an hour would result in the same crispiness.

Method D:

The par-boil method: wings are parboiled for seven minutes to get rid of some of the excess fat, drained, dried with paper towels, then baked at 450 F.

The results?

They all turned out amazing! I was hoping for something more definitive, but they were all very crispy.

If I had to choose a favored method, it would be method A. Here’s why:

While par-boiling the wings then baking at a high heat made an awesome and very crispy wing, it does involve more steps and more pans than I would like to use. In this method, the wings are baked directly on a baking sheet to help them crisp, so the baking pan, the pan for boiling, and the colander are all extra things to be washed. I also don’t want to hang around the kitchen on game day for any longer than necessary, so the steps of waiting for the chicken to boil, timing it, draining it, and drying it off when it could all just be in the oven were a little more cumbersome.

Method B and C would be my second and third choices. Letting the wings sit for longer did give a crispier outside, however even an hour produced nicely crisped wings. A drawback of this method is finding enough space in the fridge to set the baking pans while the wings dry. Also, I don’t always have the time or patience to wait overnight for the wings to rest. An advantage of this method is that they can be prepared the day before so all you have to do on game day is pop them in the oven.

Method A produced a super crispy wing with minimal effort, the fewest steps, and the least amount of cleanup. If you line your baking pan with aluminum foil, the only thing that needs to be washed is the baking rack.

How to make Super Crispy Baked Chicken Wings in three easy steps

Dry the wings thoroughly with paper towels.
Toss the wings with baking powder and salt.
Bake at 250F for 30 minutes, then at 425F for about 40 – 50 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

It really couldn’t get any easier than that!

The kitchen geniuses over at Cook’s Illustrated developed the technique for these amazingly crispy Baked Chicken Wings. There are three important steps:

Dry the wings thoroughly with paper towels. You want to remove as much excess moisture from the skin as possible so they crisp up in the oven. If you have time, space, and have planned in advance, you can let them further dry out in the fridge for up to 24 hours (after tossing them with baking powder and arranging them on a rack).
Toss the wings with baking powder. This draws moisture to the surface so it can evaporate in the high heat of the oven, creating a crispy surface. It also creates tiny bubbles on the surface, increasing the surface area and the crackly, crunch.
Bake at a lower heat first to render out the fat, then finish the wings on high heat. The wings are first baked low and slow at 250F for 30 minutes on the lower shelf of the oven to melt out the fat. Then the heat is cranked up to 425F for 40 – 50 minutes so the skin gets super crispy. They’re baked on a baking rack that has been set on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet so the hot air can circulate all around them, crisping all sides.

Need a sauce for those wings?

These Super Crispy Baked Chicken Wings are excellent as they are or with your favorite sauce. I’ve included a traditional Buffalo Sauce with a Blue Cheese dipping sauce because that one is always a winner.

Check out my Honey Sriracha Wings for a delightfully sticky, sweet, and spicy version.

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