Crispy Baked Chicken Wings – So Easy! (VIDEO)
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You’ll never need to deep fry chicken wings again after you make these super crispy Baked Chicken Wings! They’re so easy to make – you only need 5 ingredients and 5 minutes to prep before you slide them in the oven!
Watch the Baked Chicken Wings Recipe Video!
A Note from CJ
These are the Best Baked Chicken Wings!
Don’t believe me? Even Eater.com declared these the best chicken wings recipe on the internet! I love this method because it only takes 5 minutes of prep before you put them in the oven – it’s so easy, all thanks to my secret ingredient (hint: baking powder!)
If you love wings, try my Air Fryer Chicken Wings, Grilled Chicken Wings, Korean Gochujang Honey Wings, classic Buffalo Wings (or Air Fryer Buffalo Wings)! Don’t forget to pair with my Homemade Ranch, Raising Cane’s Sauce, Popeye’s Blackened Ranch, Chick-Fil-A Sauce, Honey Mustard, or Barbecue Sauce!
WOW — these wings are FREAKIN’ AMAZING! Not only were they insanely crispy (that baking powder trick is genius), but they were so easy to make. Just a few ingredients, minimal prep, and the oven does the work — yet they taste like something you’d get at a top-notch wing spot.
How To Buy Chicken Wings
Since we are baking these chicken wings, the water content in the wings will affect the end result. I recommend buying air-chilled wings for the crispiest skin!
- Air-chilled vs. water-chilled: Water-chilled wings absorb extra water during processing, which can prevent the skin from getting as crispy as possible. Look for “air chilled” on the packaging label if they are available. I’ve tested baking both the water chilled and air chilled wings, and the air chilled chicken wings always come out crispier!
- Whole wings vs. party wings: Whole wings are often cheaper than the pre-cut party wings. I recommend only baking the individual wing flats and drumettes. See below on how to cut whole wings to save money!
- Wing size: Once the wings are cut into flats and drumettes, count the number of wings per pound, then refer to my cooking time guide below to ensure your wings come out super crispy!
How To Cut Chicken Wings Into Flats and Drumettes
Whole chicken wings have three parts: the wing tip, the flat, and the drumette. We are only baking the wing flats and drumettes for this recipe. To cut the whole wings properly, follow these easy steps:
- Find the two joints that connect the three parts (refer to the dotted lines below).
- Use a sharp knife to find where the joints naturally separate and cut through them, doing your best to avoid cutting through bone.
- Remove the chicken wing tips and save them for homemade chicken stock!
Ingredient Tips
Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and measurements!
- chicken wings – Try to use wings of similar sizes, as this will help ensure your wings bake evenly. Cut into flats and drumettes.
- baking powder – This is my secret ingredient to the crispiest Baked Chicken Wings! Baking powder does 2 things – 1. it draws moisture (which evaporates) to the surface of the skin, leading to a crispier skin, and 2. it increases the pH levels of the skin by breaking down the proteins, which helps the skin crisp up and brown evenly when baked!
- white pepper – I recommend using white pepper over black pepper because I personally find that the finer grind of white pepper works better in the seasoning. You can substitute with black pepper if you prefer.
- neutral oil – My go to neutral oil is avocado oil but you can also use canola or vegetable oil.
The Best Oven Temperature for Baking Chicken Wings
Many people ask what the best oven temperature and settings for the crispiest Baked Chicken Wings are. After many rounds of testing, here is what I’ve found:
Convection vs. Non-Convection
If your oven has a convection setting, I highly recommend you use it for making Baked Chicken Wings. The convection setting powers a fan that circulates hot air around the wings in the oven, which helps get the skin crispier. After multiple rounds of testing, I recommend baking the wings at 425°F on the convection setting. If your oven does not have a convection setting, simply bake them at 450°F to account for the lack of convection.
Why You NEED a Wire Rack
For the crispiest baked wings, do not simply place the chicken wings straight on the baking sheet. The wire rack is essential for getting the underside skin crispy! Here’s why:
- The rack lifts the wings so hot air reaches the underside skin.
- Fat will drip away from the wings, allowing them to crisp up, instead of the fat keeping contact with the skin which makes them soggier.
- The convection setting’s fan circulates the hot air around the wings more, so the skin crisps more evenly.
These are the wire baking racks I love. I like buying them in quarter sheet sizes because they are more versatile. You can use one for a quarter sheet or combine two for a half sheet tray.
How to Make Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Season And Prep the Chicken Wings – Pat the chicken wings completely dry with paper towels. Add the dried chicken wings and the neutral oil into a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix kosher salt, ground white pepper, and baking powder. Use a mesh strainer and pour half of the seasoning into the strainer to sift the seasoning over the wings, mix, then repeat with the rest of the seasonings to ensure all wings are evenly coated. Line the wings on a wire rack lined baking sheet ensuring there is space between each wing.
Bake the Chicken Wings – Bake at 425°F convection (or 450°F if your oven does not have a convection setting) for 30 minutes. Remove the wings from the oven and flip them so the bottom side can be exposed to more heat and help crisp up. Bake the wings for another 15-25 minutes, depending on the wing sizing guide below, or until the skin is crispy and golden brown. Eat them dry or toss in your favorite sauce, like my homemade buffalo sauce, and enjoy!
- Small wings (12+ wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes
- Medium wings (10 wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 20 minutes
- Large wings (8 wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 25 minutes
*Baking times were tested in both a convection and regular oven
PRO TIPS
CJ’s Recipe & Storage Tips
Drying chicken wings of excess moisture is my key tip to the best Baked Chicken Wings. Make sure to buy air chilled chicken wings if available, and to pat dry the chicken wings so they are completely dry – this will help the seasoning stick better and the skin will also crisp up more when baked!
If your oven has the convection setting, I highly recommend using it – the convection setting will help promote more air flow in the oven, which will allow the skin of the wings to get extra crispy.
Cooking Time – The cooking time may vary for the wings depending on their size – see notes in recipe card or section above for more details. Use a thermometer probe to make sure the internal temp reads at least 165°F to ensure doneness.
Storage and Reheating – Store any leftover chicken wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. They will soften as they sit in the refrigerator. Reheat them in a 375°F oven for 7-8 minutes or until crispy.
If you tried this Baked Chicken Wings Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Baked Chicken Wings (SUPER CRISPY)
Video
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings, drumettes and flats separated
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp neutral oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to Convection Bake at 425°F. If your oven does not have a convection setting, preheat the oven to the Bake setting at 450°F.
- Pat chicken wings completely dry and add the wings to a large bowl. Add the neutral oil to the wings. In a small bowl, mix kosher salt, ground white pepper and baking powder until combined. Use a mesh strainer and pour half of the seasoning into the strainer to sift the seasoning over the wings, mix, then repeat with the rest of the seasonings to ensure all wings are evenly coated.
- Take a large baking sheet and line it with foil. Place a wire rack on top of the baking sheet and lay the wings on the wire rack with space between each wing so they are not touching each other.
- Place the wings in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Flip the wings with tongs and bake for another 15-25 minutes until the skin is crispy.
- Toss in your favorite sauce or eat plain and enjoy!
Notes
- Use similarly sized chicken wings to ensure they cook evenly – using varying sizes may result in over or under cooked Baked Chicken Wings.
- If you are using frozen wings, I recommend defrosting them first, then patting dry before seasoning. I do not suggest cooking the wings straight from the freezer.
- Pat dry the chicken wings before seasoning. Drying the chicken wings helps the seasoning stick better to the chicken skin. Dry chicken wings also crisp up better when cooked!
- Small wings (12+ wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes
- Medium wings (10 wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 20 minutes
- Large wings (8 wings per pound): Bake for 30 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 25 minutes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Crispy Baked Chicken Wings recipe was originally published in August 2024, and updated in November 2025, and October 2026.
Make sure you double check how many lbs of wings you have.. Because the ingredients are measured for 3lbs (Which is what I thought I had, might’ve been less, I guess) and the 2 tsp of salt was way too much 😅 They came out perfectly crispy though!! Will definitely use this recipe again.
Thank you so much, Alex! Yes, I’ve found 2 tsp of kosher salt to 3 lbs of wings the perfect amount! You can always adjust to your liking though.
I made this tonight for me and my husband, all i can say is omg!! Its the best ever, we truly loved it, the crisp and the tender meat. It had the right amount of flavor as well. This will be my new dinner to my collection. It went so good with the potato salad i made as well. Thanks CJ for this great recipe.
Thanks so much for the kind words, DNiece!
Great, tasty wings! I skipped the olive oil, added a simple salt, pepper and garlic powder blend, used a spoon to shake a little baking powder on top of both sides and they turned out so good! No air fryer, no broiler, just using my oven at 450. I have made them 3 times this month. Thanks for the easy recipe!
Love to hear it Katie! Thanks so much for trying my recipe 🙂
Perfect! Crispy, tasty, easy recipe. New addition to my family favorites. I used Convect bake and added my bbq dry rub to seasoning.
Love to hear it! Thanks for making my recipe!
Super easy and very good!
Thank you Monique!
We marinated our for a few hours first for extra flavor, but as long as you pat really dry it’s so crispy. Legit the best wings I’ve ever had. We plan to eat these regularly.
I’m so glad you loved them!
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe out since I saw it on your TikTok (I bought white pepper eons ago for it), and finally made them tonight. I kid you not when I say I’ve thrown away all of my other wing recipes after trying this one. This is the GOAT. I felt like a feral raccoon fighting my children to get the last one. Was it worth it? Yes. Will I double the recipe next time? Also yes.
Thank you SO much Steph! I hope you make it again soon – doubled! 🙂
I made these today and they are delicious. There were even a couple moments that I looked at the finished product in disbelief that they were not fried. If I didn’t make this myself, I would have serious doubts 😄
I was wondering if this process would also translate to larger pieces of chicken? I figured wings are most suited to this because they’re so small. Thank you so much for this perfect recipe!! They are an incredible substitute for fried wings.
Thank you so much Ariella! I haven’t tried these with drumsticks or thighs, but I think they will work here as well!
1st time making wings this way. Used to just put them on a baking sheet and into the oven but they come out fine but oily. This recipe was great! Super simple, quick, and totally exceeded expectations. Excellent crisp and not oily! Perfect base recipe to kick up the spicyness from here, too. Thanks, Chris.
Thank you so much for trying them out, John! I’m glad you loved them!
Hi there, I just made my chicken wings after reading your recipe. I had baking powder but it had aluminum chloride in it so I skipped that and ended up using my favorite spices along with panko breadcrumbs.
I did get the wing skin really dry with makes the skin sticky. I added the spices mixed with panko to coat the wings.
They came out incredibly crispy without the baking powder.
Thanks so much for sharing, Christine! I’m glad they worked out for you!