Baked chicken wings are healthy and easy to make, and they come out of the oven crispy and delicious. Simply bake them in a 400°F oven for 40 minutes. There’s no need for flour!
I make this baked chicken wings recipe often. Cooking chicken wings in the oven is healthy and easy, and they turn out so wonderfully crispy. My entire family enjoys them and repeatedly asks for them!
The ingredients you’ll need
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty recipe (exact measurements are in the recipe card below):
- Fresh chicken wings: I usually buy them in trays marked as “party wings,” already split with the tips removed.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. Unsalted butter should be fine too.
- Kosher salt and black pepper: I use kosher salt in most of my recipes. If using fine salt, you might want to use less salt.
- Spices: Garlic powder and paprika. You can use smoked paprika if you’d like. And onion powder is also very good, in addition to or instead of the garlic powder.
How to bake chicken wings
This is one of my easiest recipes, which is why I love it so much. The detailed instructions are listed in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps:
- Arrange the wings on a rimmed baking sheet fitted with a rack.
- Toss them in melted butter and sprinkle with spices.
- Bake until fully cooked, well-browned, and wonderfully crispy!
How long do you bake chicken wings?
Simply bake them in a 400°F oven for 40 minutes. If you want them super crispy, once they’re done, lower the oven to the “keep warm” setting (170 degrees F) and keep the wings in the oven for 60 more minutes.
This is actually my favorite way to make them. I simply start cooking two hours before dinnertime.
How do you make chicken wings CRISPY in the oven?
There’s no need for flour when making these baked wings. The skin will crisp up beautifully in the hot oven.
And as explained above, keeping them in the oven on the “warm” setting after they’re done will crisp them up even more. So I highly recommend this extra step.
Baking is easier than frying!
I love this recipe and make it often, but I actually started making it out of sheer laziness. My family loves wings, but I hate deep frying with passion.
I also prefer to avoid breading, keeping the wings not just gluten-free but also keto and low carb. So I decided to simply season the wings, and bake them in a hot oven. Surprise! They came out of the oven crispy, juicy and absolutely delicious.
Are baked chicken wings healthy?
They are probably healthier than battered and fried wings. Those are higher in refined carbs, and they are often fried in refined, bleached, deodorized oils (RBD oils), which are considered by some experts as unhealthy.
As for the meat itself, chicken is considered a healthy protein source, and experts now tell us that chicken skin is, happily, fine to eat.
What to serve with them?
If you serve these wings as an entree, rather than an appetizer, you can serve them with lots of yummy side dishes! A few of my favorites:
You can dip the wings in buffalo sauce to make tasty buffalo wings, but it’s not really necessary. They are perfect just as they are, straight out of the oven.
What about leftovers?
Leftovers of these baked chicken wings keep well in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days.
They are not as good as when freshly cooked, and I actually prefer to eat them cold, because microwaving them dries them out. But if you’d like to reheat them, do so very gently, covered, in the microwave on 50% power.
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Baked Chicken Wings
INGREDIENTS
- 3 lb. chicken wings, split, tips removed
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with foil and fit the baking sheets with wire racks.
- If your chicken wings are whole, cut the tips off, and separate the drumettes and the flats (here’s a good video that shows how to do that).
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings with the melted butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
- Arrange the coated chicken wings in a single layer on the wire racks, not touching each other. Bake until the skin is browned and crispy, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately.
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NOTES
More Healthy Recipes:
Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., has been following a healthy real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She has taken 
