These crispy baked buffalo wings are everything you love about the classic - tangy, spicy, and finger-licking good - without the mess of deep frying. With only a few simple ingredients, you'll get perfectly crispy skin and juicy meat, tossed in a quick 2-ingredient buffalo sauce. Ideal for game day, parties, or an easy weeknight meal!
🕒 Prep Time: 10 mins | ⏳ Cook Time: 40 mins | 🔥 Cooking Method: Oven | 🍗 Serves: 4-6 | 🌶️ Flavor: Classic Buffalo
Why You'll Love These Buffalo Wings
- Crispy without the deep fryer - These baked buffalo wings come out perfectly crispy thanks to the high heat of your oven. Why deal with deep frying if you can get the same results without the mess?
- Classic buffalo flavor - Tossed in a 2-ingredient buffalo sauce made with hot sauce and melted butter, these wings are tangy, spicy, and perfectly delicious. We have other must-try chicken wing flavors, too, so add another flavor if you're serving a crowd!
- Easy to make - With just a few basic ingredients, this recipe is incredibly simple - just bake, toss, and serve. It's just as easy as the method we use for our easy baked lemon pepper wings!
- Perfect for parties - If you're hosting a Super Bowl bash, a backyard BBQ, or just having friends over for game night, these wings are always a hit. You can easily double (or triple!) the batch to feed a crowd.
- Oven and air fryer friendly - Prefer to use your air fryer? No problem! These wings work well in both the oven and air fryer, giving you crispy results no matter how you prefer to cook them.
Oven Baked vs Air Fryer Wings
If you know how to cook wings right (or just follow this recipe) you can get juicy, super crispy wings using an air fryer or oven. The forced circulating hot air of an air fryer does make it easier and air fried chicken wings cook 3 times faster than a conventional oven.
The oven, however, wins for cooking large amounts of wings (about 1 lb or more) due to the size limitations of an air fryer. You don't want to overcrowd chicken wings as it can result in unevenly cooked wings and cooking wings in batches with an air fryer is not ideal.
If you're set on using your air fryer, we can teach you how to cook frozen wings in the air fryer!
Ingredients You'll Need
Baking chicken wings only requires two ingredients: Wings and cooking oil. This recipe is for buffalo hot sauce recipe but you can use any sauce, dry rub seasoning or leave them "naked" and just follow the cooking instructions.
- Chicken Wings: Use fresh or thawed frozen drumettes and wingettes.
- Cooking Oil (Olive, Avocado, Vegetable or Cooking Spray): The oil creates that crispy texture that makes chicken wings so irresistible. For a healthier version and still get super crispy wings, substitute the oil for aluminum free baking powder.
- Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper (optional): This is for the buffalo sauce, feel free to season as you prefer.
(Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe card with exact measurements and recipe instructions.)
How to Make Baked Buffalo Wings
- Dry the wings: One of the secrets to crispy wings is to remove as much moisture from the wings before baking.
- Bake the Wings: Place the wings skin side up on a wire rack and bake for 40-50 minutes. The wings should reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Toss in Sauce: Toss the wings in the buffalo sauce but keep about a ¼ of the sauce in reserve for dipping.
How to Make Homemade Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo sauce is easily made with equal parts of hot sauce and melted butter. Simply add the two ingredients to saucepan and stir it occasionally until the butter is melted and the sauce is smooth. Sometimes I'll add a smidge of garlic powder or cayenne but try starting with just those two ingredients first to see how you like it.
- Hot Sauce: You can't go wrong with Frank's RedHot Sauce but use any brand of hot sauce that you prefer.
- Butter: Butter adds a layer of richness to the buffalo sauce.
- Cayenne Pepper (optional): If you want to turn up the heat even more, add some cayenne pepper. You can also skip the cayenne pepper and go with Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce.
- Garlic Powder (optional): Add a powerful bite with a smidge of garlic powder.
Variations & Cooking Tips
- You can use any sauce, dry rub or seasoning you like.
- Use a wire rack so air flows underneath the wings and gets them extra crispy.
- The wings will be crispier with less moisture. Dry the wings with papers towels by blotting and firmly pressing on the wings.
- Baking powder is a great hack if you prefer not to use oil and works well as a crisping agent. You won't taste the baking powder.
- For extra crispy wings set the oven to "warm" after they're done.
- Line your pan with foil to catch the drippings.
- Use the instructions for these easy smoked wings and toss in the buffalo sauce at the end. So incredibly good!
These baked buffalo wings are perfect for game day parties including the Super Bowl. Make a big batch - they'll go quickly!
Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
Crispy, baked buffalo chicken wings are easy to make, absolutely delicious and no need to hassle with the grease. Plus, without the deep frying, you get much healthier wings that are lower in fat and total calories!
Ingredients
Chicken Wings
- 3 pounds chicken wing pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
Buffalo Sauce
- ½ cup Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce or your favorite sauce
- ½ cup butter (melted)
Instructions
Chicken Wings
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place a wire rack inside a baking sheet lined with foil. Toss chicken wings with vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper. Place wings in a single layer skin side up on top of rack. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until wings are browned and crispy.
Buffalo Sauce
- In a saucepan combine hot sauce and butter.
- Stir occasionally, until the butter is melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Toss cooked wings with 1 cup of the sauce, reserving the rest to serve at the table. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 867Total Fat: 72gSaturated Fat: 29gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 37gCholesterol: 207mgSodium: 1171mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 35g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.
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Fifi says
Hi,
Can I bake the chicken in the morning and then reheat them later on with the sauce. Just want to get as much stuff done ahead of time
Kristy Bernardo says
Hi Fifi! I haven't tried making them in advance. My thought it that it will work but they may not be quite as crispy. I would bake them until about 15 minutes before they're done then bake again to finish later. Or you could bake them entirely and toss them under the broiler? Let me know how they turn out!
Ct3lle says
Hi there! So, when I tried to make these, the oil on the wings kept dripping off into the pan below, getting too hot and ultimately smoking up a storm. I didn't bathe them, just tossed them in the oil per the instructions. Anyone else have this problem?
Kristy Bernardo says
Hi there! I have never had this problem but others have using the same method: http://www.thewickednoodle.com/crispy-baked-lemon-pepper-chicken-wings/ You can read through those comments for help. Thanks!
Julie Camp says
I'm so anxious to make these today!! Do the wings need to be thawed before I cook them?
Kristy Bernardo says
Hi Julie! Yes, they do need to be thawed first. Please let me know how you like them! Cheers 🙂
Nutmeg Nanny says
I love making baked wings. They always turn out perfectly crisp and delicious. This wing sauce sounds great too - you can never go wrong right Franks!
Kristy Bernardo says
Thanks, NN!! Cheers 🙂
Susan@LunaCafe says
Gorgeous. The skin looks so crisp, almost lacquered. Who isn't going to jump all over these? 🙂
Kristy Bernardo says
Thanks so much, Susan!!
Sabrina Modelle says
Buffalo wings are totally my guilty pleasure. I can seriously put away some SPICY wings. These look amazing and I'm looking forward to trying your recipe.
Kristy Bernardo says
You & me both, Sabrina!! I'm a spice lover and crispy wings and I get along very well 🙂 I hope you enjoy the recipe.
dad says
@Kristy Bernardo, I WOULD add some vinegar to the wing sauce for that take your breath away you get with take out. Frank wing sauce probably has it already, but traditionly franks hot sauce butter and vinegar
Marlynn @UrbanBlissLife says
Oh my gosh. We LOVE wings at our house and I am always looking for new wings recipes, especially for baked wings. These look so good! Thanks!
Kristy Bernardo says
My pleasure, Marlynn! Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Becca from It's Yummi! says
Girly, it's like you just know what my heart (and stomach!) need. These baked wings will be perfect for the Superbowl... even if I'll be sobbing through the entire game 😉
Kristy Bernardo says
haha, I DO know your heart and stomach - it's very similar to mine 🙂 xoxo
Laura @MotherWouldKnow says
OMG - you found a way to make my secret obsession with buffalo wings easier to satisfy and a less guilty pleasure. Thanks!
Kristy Bernardo says
I'm so glad, Laura!
Sues says
This is how my parents make their buffalo wings, too, and I love them 10 times more than any fried wings you can get anywhere else! Finger licking good 🙂
Kristy Bernardo says
Isn't it crazy that they could taste as good as fried and be so much easier?? Buffalo wings rock 🙂
Nguyet @ Taming of the Spoon says
Oh, how I love buffalo wings but they always seemed like too much work to make myself. This recipe looks so easy, you have inspired me to try making them.
Kristy Bernardo says
That's quite a compliment! I'm so glad, you'll love them, Nguyet!
Terry Garvey says
I do it that way but after I dredge them trough the sauce I put them back in the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp up the sauce. Not big on the messy, slippery ones without crispy them up a bit.