Spicy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
These crispy baked chicken wings come out spicy, crispy, and still juicy without being deep-fried or covered with a wet sauce.
Ingredients
Chicken Wings:
- 10-12 chicken wing segments, drums and flats separated
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, aluminum-free
- 1 tablespoon butter, divided
Base Seasonings: (Please read note)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Recommended Seasoning:
- ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
Suggested Seasoning:
- ⅛ teaspoon dried basil
- ⅛ teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon ancho chile powder
Directions
- If you’re starting with whole wings, which I recommend, you’ll need to cut them into individual segments of drums, flats, and tips. The tips can be tossed or frozen until you save up enough to make homemade chicken stock later. If you haven’t cut chicken wings before, I have an article on how to cut chicken wings that breaks it down well.
- Some oven baked wing recipes mention using paper towels to pat the wings dry. Do not do that here. Using fresh, wet wings helps the baking powder and seasoning mix stick to the chicken.
- In a gallon sized zipper locked bag, add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and all seasonings. Shake back and forth until fully combined and it has a light rust color. Hold the bag upright so all the seasoning falls to the bottom.
- Lay the bag flat and place 10-12 chicken wings just inside of it. Seal the bag, then open a small area and blow inside to fill it with air, then reseal. Lift the bag and gently shake until the wings are fully coated.
- Leave the bag sealed and set it aside for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once the oven is preheated and the wings have been sitting for 15-20 minutes, dump them out onto the baking sheet and arrange them so they have a bit of space between them. Cut 1 tablespoon butter into 4 pieces and arrange it in a zig-zag pattern over the wings.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and flip all the wings over, tilting the pan a bit to move the melted butter around. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Once fully cooked, let the wings rest on the baking sheet about 5 minutes and serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce, like blue cheese or ranch, and any veggies you like, such as celery or carrots.
Equipment Used
Notes
1) Seasonings – I list the seasonings in 3 categories so that you can start with the base and add on from there, tossing in some of the recommended or suggested ones. Most of the base seasonings are common household ones, including some of the other categories. If you plan to add a sauce, I’d recommend at least adding the base seasonings.
Another important note on the seasonings is that I never actually measure them. These were measured for the recipe so that you’d have an idea of how much of each to use. Use the measurements to determine how many pinches or dashes of each seasoning should be in the mix. However, the measurements can be useful if you love the blend and want to make a large batch of the seasonings mixed with baking powder for either a large batch of wings for a party, or to have the blend on hand whenever you’d like.
2) Chicken – Mentioned in the post, I suggest and prefer buying the family size packages of uncut chicken wings. These are generally going to be the best price per pound you can find. I prefer fresh to frozen wings, and when you buy pre-cut wings, they’re much more expensive per pound, typically trimmed poorly, and packages can contain a grossly uneven ratio of drums to flats since it’s random.
3) Baking Powder – This is an important ingredient for making the wings crispy, along with the butter. It will pull moisture from the skin of the wings, drying them out so that they can become crispy when baked. To avoid an off or slightly metallic flavor, however, be sure to buy baking powder that is aluminum-free. If you see “sodium aluminum sulfate” in the list of ingredients, don’t use it. The red can of Rumford baking powder is common in most stores and is a good choice.
4) Plastic Bags – If you don’t wish to use a plastic zipper lock bag to make the wings, you don’t have to. Place the wings in a mixing bowl. Stir or whisk the baking powder and seasonings together, then dump them over top of the wings. Mix by hand until there’s no dry seasoning remaining. I like the bag because I find it gives almost instant and fuller coverage than trying to do it by hand, but both ways work.
Nutrition
Serving: 4 wingsCalories: 296kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 22gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 347mgPotassium: 207mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 0.1gCalcium: 108mgIron: 2mg
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