Crispy Baked Buffalo Hot Wings
With our crispy buffalo hot wings recipe, you can skip the oil and fryer and make delicious, crispy baked wings that rival your favorite restaurants. This recipe guarantees crispy and delicious chicken wings. You are going to LOVE them! They are perfect for serving a crowd. I use my Easy Buffalo Sauce, and love to serve them with the blue cheese dressing shared below. This is my favorite method for making chicken wings at home, so we’ve shared a few different versions over the years. You might also enjoy these BBQ Wings, Spicy Glazed Wings, and these sticky Sweet Chili Wings. Key Ingredients Chicken Wings: Depending on where you buy them, they are sold as the whole wing or separated into a drumstick and wingette. If you can only find whole chicken wings, hop over to our tutorial for separating a chicken wing. Buffalo Sauce: I love using my favorite homemade buffalo sauce. It’s easy and quick to make. You can make it while your wings bake in the oven with butter, hot sauce (like Crystal), garlic powder, and a bit of honey. It’s delicious and I think it tastes better than the store-bought. Blue Cheese Dip: I love these served with thick blue cheese dip, so I’ve shared a quick recipe below, but if you prefer ranch, I highly recommend trying our Homemade Ranch. I also have this thinner Blue Cheese Dressing. Chicken Wings: Depending on where you buy them, they are sold as the whole wing or separated into a drumstick and wingette. If you can only find whole chicken wings, hop over to our tutorial for separating a chicken wing. Buffalo Sauce: I love using my favorite homemade buffalo sauce. It’s easy and quick to make. You can make it while your wings bake in the oven with butter, hot sauce (like Crystal), garlic powder, and a bit of honey. It’s delicious and I think it tastes better than the store-bought. Blue Cheese Dip: I love these served with thick blue cheese dip, so I’ve shared a quick recipe below, but if you prefer ranch, I highly recommend trying our Homemade Ranch. I also have this thinner Blue Cheese Dressing. Find the full recipe with measurements below. How to Make Crispy Baked Hot Wings When making homemade wings, I use my oven. You can fry them, but baking at a high temperature does the trick nicely. These wings really do become crispy and perfectly tender. Another way to cook them is to grill them like we did for the Lemon Garlic Grilled Wings. Tip 1: Use an oven-safe rack. For the crispiest wings, use an oven-safe baking rack inset into a rimmed baking sheet (like in my photos and video). This rack lifts the wings and allows some airflow around them. I use the same setup when baking crispy bacon. Tip 2: Pat dry before baking. It’s really important to pat your wings dry, helping them crisp up in the oven even more. And don’t forget to season them with salt! I don’t use any other seasonings, but feel free to do so if you’d like. Tip 3: Bake wings at a higher temperature. I bake my chicken wings in a 425°F oven until crispy, usually 30 to 45 minutes. Adam and I really love them when they are extra crispy, so I continue baking until they have had enough chance to render their fat and crisp up the skin. That means I usually cook them a few more minutes than necessary to reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Tip 4: Try homemade buffalo sauce. Once your wings are ready, toss them in your favorite sauce. Our homemade wing sauce combines melted butter, hot sauce (I use Crystal), and a little garlic powder. I also like adding a slight drizzle of honey, balancing the sauce and making everything taste even better. Serving Suggestions Celery, carrot sticks, and blue cheese or ranch dressing are classic sides. I love serving them alongside creamy coleslaw, refreshing cucumber salad, or creamy potato salad to turn them into a meal. You can also serve wings with crispy baked French fries, potato wedges, or try these roasted fingerling potatoes with its creamy sauce for dipping. I also highly recommend browsing our Game Day Recipes category for more ideas. Crispy Baked Buffalo Hot Wings PREP 15 mins COOK 45 mins TOTAL 1 hr PREP 15 mins COOK 45 mins TOTAL 1 hr Skip the oil and fryer and make our baked chicken hot wings instead. I love using the homemade wing sauce shared below, but you can substitute your favorite store-bought sauce or use BBQ sauce. 2 to 3 Servings Watch Us Make the Recipe You Will Need Baked Chicken Wings 1 pound chicken wings, separated at joints, tips discarded (450g) Salt, to season the chicken 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (56g) ⅓ cup cayenne pepper hot sauce, like Crystal or Frank’s (80ml) ½ teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon honey, or more to taste, optional Celery sticks or carrot sticks, for serving ½ cup sour cream (113g) ½ cup mayonnaise, try homemade mayo (113g) 6 ounces crumbled blue cheese (170g) 1 tablespoon minced parsley Salt and fresh ground pepper Directions 1Prepare oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Set a wire rack inside a large-rimmed baking sheet. 2Bake the wings: Pat dry chicken wings with paper towels, and then season with salt. Spread out in one layer on the wire rack. Bake until cooked through and crispy, 35 to 45 minutes. 3Make blue cheese dip: Stir the sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, and parsley together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then refrigerate until ready to serve with the wings. 4Make buffalo sauce: Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the hot sauce, garlic powder, and honey. Season with salt to taste. Set aside until the wings are out of the oven. 5To finish: In a large bowl, toss the baked chicken wings in the sauce and serve with the blue cheese dip and veggies on the side. 1Prepare oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Set a wire rack inside a large-rimmed baking sheet. 2Bake the wings: Pat dry chicken wings with paper towels, and then season with salt. Spread out in one layer on the wire rack. Bake until cooked through and crispy, 35 to 45 minutes. 3Make blue cheese dip: Stir the sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, and parsley together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then refrigerate until ready to serve with the wings. 4Make buffalo sauce: Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the hot sauce, garlic powder, and honey. Season with salt to taste. Set aside until the wings are out of the oven. 5To finish: In a large bowl, toss the baked chicken wings in the sauce and serve with the blue cheese dip and veggies on the side. Adam and Joanne's Tips Wings: There are 8 to 12 wings in 1 pound (depends on size). If you need to separate the wings into the wing and drumette, see How to Cut and Break Down Chicken Wings. No wire rack: If you do not have a wire rack that will fit inside a baking sheet, you can still bake them. Arrange them on the baking sheet without the rack and rotate a few times during baking. The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We did not include the blue cheese dipping sauce in our calculations. Wings: There are 8 to 12 wings in 1 pound (depends on size). If you need to separate the wings into the wing and drumette, see How to Cut and Break Down Chicken Wings. No wire rack: If you do not have a wire rack that will fit inside a baking sheet, you can still bake them. Arrange them on the baking sheet without the rack and rotate a few times during baking. The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We did not include the blue cheese dipping sauce in our calculations. Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/2 the recipe / Calories 487 / Total Fat 41g / Saturated Fat 20g / Cholesterol 222mg / Carbohydrate 0 g / Dietary Fiber 0g / Total Sugars 0g / Protein 29g AUTHOR: Joanne Gallagher We’re Adam and Joanne, a couple passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? To inspire you to get in the kitchen and confidently cook fresh and flavorful meals.More About Us