When it comes to game day foods, nothing beats a basket of BBQ chicken wings—unless it’s a basket of homemade, oven-baked chicken wings! Baking the wings in the oven leaves them juicy and tender with a sauce that you can customize to your heat preferences. Best of all—you don’t have to leave home to enjoy them!
Are baked wings better than fried?
That depends on how you look at it. Oven-baked chicken wings are just as flavorful, tender, and crispy as fried wings. They’re also a lot less messy. But it’s all a matter of personal preference. If you love a basket of deep-fried chicken wings, then dig in—but make sure you give these a try too!
What do I need to make baked BBQ chicken wings?
You can get sweet and flavorful wings using just a few ingredients that you already have in your pantry or fridge. To make this chicken wing recipe, you’ll need:
- Honey
- Barbecue sauce—whichever flavor you like best
- Salt and pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Chicken wings and drumsticks
- Flour
- Cornstarch
Wholefully Protip
This recipe makes mild-flavored bbq chicken wings. If you prefer a spicier wing, you can use a hotter BBQ sauce or you can add a 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes to your wings before tossing them in the sauce.
How do you make oven-baked chicken wings?
These crispy baked chicken wings couldn’t be easier to make. With a few simple steps, you’ll be serving up the best game day snacks in the neighborhood!
- Prepare by preheating your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper, or spray it with oil.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the raw chicken to the bowl and toss to coat. This step gives the wings a nice, crispy exterior
- Spread the chicken pieces out in a single layer on your prepared baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes, flipping after 15 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, mix together the BBQ sauce and the honey.
- When your chicken has cooked, allow it to cool for roughly five minutes, then toss it in the BBQ sauce.
Wholefully Protip
If you use whole wings that you have to cut into pieces yourself, buy about four pounds of wings. Then, cut them into sections along the joint using a sharp knife. You can discard the wing tips.
How do you know when baked chicken wings are done?
Your baked chicken wings are done when the outside is crispy, and the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165°F. Make sure you test at the meatiest part of the chicken and that you don’t touch the bone with your thermometer to get the most accurate temperature reading.
How long does it take for wings to cook at 400°F?
Different ovens cook at slightly different temperatures and different size pieces of chicken take more or less time to cook. Your chicken wings should take around 30 minutes to cook, but it’s always best to check doneness with a meat thermometer.
Can I make baked chicken wings from frozen?
You can use frozen chicken to make your crispy oven-baked chicken wings as long as you thaw them in the fridge overnight prior cooking. Make sure the chicken has completely thawed, then pat the wings dry with some paper towel before tossing them into the flour mixture.
Wholefully Protip
Although you don’t need honey in this recipe, I highly recommend it! The honey makes the barbecue sauce stickier—and sweeter—helping it cling to your chicken wings better than BBQ sauce alone.
Are baked chicken wings gluten-free?
These baked chicken wings use flour to make a crispy coating on the chicken. If you want to make gluten-free wings, you can replace the flour with a gluten-free option. You’ll also want to check your barbecue sauce—many store-bought sauces have gluten hiding somewhere in the ingredients list.
What goes with baked chicken wings?
If you’re serving your barbecue chicken wings as a snack or game-day appetizer, there are plenty of sauces and dips you can serve with them. Some classic choices are ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, or some more BBQ sauce. You could also use blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce. Finally, no chicken wing platter is complete without some cut-up celery and carrot sticks to dip alongside the wings!
Oven-Baked Chicken Wings
Oven-baked chicken wings are tender and flavorful, and much less messy to make than traditional fried wings. Learn how to make this classic bar favorite at home!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings (wingettes and drumettes)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until well combined. Add the mixture to the raw chicken wings and toss to coat.
- Place the chicken pieces in a single layer on a lined and/or greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Meanwhile, mix together the BBQ sauce and the honey and set aside.
- Remove from the oven and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, toss in the BBQ sauce (carefully—the chicken will be hot!).
- Serve with more BBQ sauce, ranch, bleu cheese dressing, carrots, and/or celery!
Notes
- These are fairly sweet and mild chicken wings. For spicier chicken wings, use a spicy BBQ sauce and/or add 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes to the flour mixture before tossing the wings.
- Adding the honey to the BBQ sauce makes the sauce stick to the wings much better than just using regular BBQ sauce. It’s technically optional but highly recommended!
- If using fresh chicken wings that you have to cut into sections yourself, we recommend buying four pounds, then cutting the sections and discarding the wing tips. Or save them for making bone broth or stock!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 911Total Fat: 56gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 1728mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 2gSugar: 28gProtein: 40g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
