Crispy chicken wings with no fryer and no guesswork. An easy recipe even wing novices can make for game day or any casual gathering. Use baking powder and a low oven to dry the skin, then switch to convection baking for the extra-crispy finish you usually expect from frying.
How long do chicken wings take in a convection oven?
Chicken wings take about 70 minutes total.
- Stage 1 (drying): 30 minutes at 225°F convection (250°F conventional)
- Stage 2 (baking): 40 minutes at 400°F convection (425°F conventional) until crispy and cooked to 165°F internal temperature
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Featured Comment by Don:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"My wife and I have used your basic recipe for quite some time, and it is "spot on" every time. Wings are crispy, and meat is tender. "
🤔 TL;DR – Recipe Summary
What it is: Crispy baked chicken wings made in a convection oven using baking powder and a two-stage cooking method.
Why you’ll love it: Extra-crispy skin without frying, splatter, or special equipment.
How to make it: Coat the wings lightly with seasoning and baking powder, bake low to dry the skin, then finish hot with convection baking to 165°F.
🐓 Ingredients
- Chicken wings (whole or split into drummies and flats)
- Baking powder — aluminum-free
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Optional Buffalo coating: hot sauce, butter, molasses
👨🍳 Quick Overview: Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
1. Trim chicken wings, leaving them whole or cutting into drummies and flats. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.
2. Mix aluminum-free baking powder with salt and garlic powder. Add the wings and coat evenly.
3. Arrange the wings on a prepared tray. Bake to dry on a lower rack at 250°F conventional (or 225°F convection) for 30 minutes.
✅ Pro Tip: If you don’t have a rack, flip the wings halfway through each stage.
4. Move the tray to the middle rack and bake at 400°F convection (425°F conventional) until golden brown and crispy, about 40 minutes, and cooked to 165°F internal temperature.
5. Let the wings rest for 5 minutes, then toss with Buffalo sauce or your favorite sauce, if using.
6. Serve hot with dip of your choice, celery, and carrot sticks.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🥣 Wing Coating Sauces
These wings are great plain, but sauces are optional if you want extra flavor. A classic Buffalo coating is traditional, while BBQ is a popular alternative.
For best texture, apply sauces after cooking, or serve them on the side to keep the skin as crispy as possible.
Buffalo Coating Sauce
Melt butter and combine with hot sauce and a small amount of molasses for balance. Toss the wings lightly after cooking, or brush the sauce on just before serving.
BBQ Coating Sauce
Mix BBQ sauce with a small amount of melted butter. Brush lightly during the last few minutes of cooking, or coat the wings after baking for a saucier finish.
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🍽️ Serving
We serve these wings with my Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce for Wings,, along with carrot and celery sticks. Other vegetables, such as sliced bell peppers or green onions, are also great additions.
Other dipping options include BBQ sauce, honey BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, or blue cheese dressing.
❄️ Storing Leftover Chicken Wings
Store leftover wings in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 4 months.
If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
🔥 Reheating Chicken Wings
You can reheat chicken wings in the oven or air fryer. The oven does the best job of maintaining the original texture.
Reheat in a preheated 350°F oven, spread the wings in a single layer, and bake for 10–15 minutes, flipping halfway through. An air fryer can be used similarly.
Avoid the microwave — it will make the skin soggy.
❓ FAQs
A rack helps air circulate and keeps the wings crisp, but it’s not required. If you don’t have a rack, flip the wings halfway through each stage.
Baking powder helps dry the skin, so the wings crisp better in the oven. Use aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a metallic taste. You can skip it, but the wings won’t be as crispy.
Chicken wings are done when they reach an internal temperature of 165°F in the thickest part.
There will be 4-5 raw, untrimmed chicken wings per pound.
Some people experience oven smoke due to higher cooking temperatures. It’s usually related to one or more of the following:
1. Trim excess fat from the wings if present.
2. Use a rimmed pan to contain splatter.
3. Choose convection bake instead of convection roast if your oven offers both.
4. Reduce the oven temperature by 25–50°F if needed (this may increase cooking time). Always cook to an endpoint temperature, not by time alone.
5. Make sure the oven is clean so smoke isn’t coming from old splatter.
6. Adding water to the pan can reduce smoke by cooling dripping fat, but because this recipe relies on drying the skin, it’s not recommended here.
🎉 Check out other game day party recipes
Don't miss these other party recipes, like Oven Pulled Pork Butt, Chicken for a Crowd, or Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket. And for sweet snacks, try Chocolate Cheesecake Bites and Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Clusters.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
These bacon-wrapped chicken bites are a perfect appetizer. The juicy chicken, crispy bacon, and a spicy brown sugar coating will make them the first finger food to disappear at any party.
📖The Recipe Card
Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings
- 1 tablespoon aluminum free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter - melted
- 1½ teaspoons molasses
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250°F conventional (225°F convection). Position racks in the lower and middle oven positions.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray.
- Trim the chicken wings of any loose joint parts or tips, if desired. Wings may be left whole or split into drummies and flats. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.
- In a large zip-top bag, combine 1 tablespoon of aluminum-free baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder. Add the wings and shake well to coat evenly.
- Arrange the wings on the rack, spacing them evenly. Place the tray on the lower rack and bake to dry for 30 minutes. Move the tray to the middle rack and increase the oven temperature to 400°F convection(or 425°F conventional).
- While the wings bake, prepare the Buffalo sauce by combining 2 tablespoons of melted butter, ¼ cup of hot sauce, and 1½ teaspoons of molasses.
- Continue baking until the wings are golden brown and crispy, about 40 minutes, and cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Let the wings rest for 5 minutes, then toss with the Buffalo sauce or your favorite sauce, if desired.
- Serve hot with dip of your choice, celery, and carrot sticks.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Trim the joints for bone fragments. You may cut the wings apart, leave them whole, and just trim off the tips.
- It is important that the baking powder is aluminum-free. Aluminum leaves a metallic taste that many can taste.
- Make sure the wings are very dry after trimming.
- Change up the coating if you want.
- I suggest Blue Cheese Dip, but everybody has a favorite
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
The inspiration recipes are Cooks Country Oven-Fried Chicken Wings (subscription required) and Serious Eat's very long writeup. This recipe is featured in Tailgate Recipes and Game Day Recipes roundups.
Editor Note: Originally published January 30, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Val says
Way too salty! I did use baking powder.
Texture would have been good but couldn’t eat them. Maybe cut it way back.
Debbie says
QUESTION: Just want to verify the type of oven (& I DO understand the temp increase & why) - It says to preheat an oven to 250° CONVENTIONAL. Then when going to higher temp, it gives the 2 temps, one for a convection oven (preferred) & one for a non-convectional oven. Just want to make sure the 250º temp is for a non-convectional oven in the beginning. Conventional & Convectional are so similar, but totally different outcomes. My oven does both.
THANK-YOU. Excited to try this. I’ve done baking powder before to crisp up chicken, so I totally agree with doing this for wings.
I am adding 1/4 t. Harissa Seasoning (simply organic), 1/4 t. smoked paprika & 1/8 t. turmeric to the bp, sea salt & garlic powder to give the wings a bit more flavor as I do not use the sauce.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Debbie,
Welcome to the blog.
The initial baking is in a conventional (non-convection) oven. When you increase the temperature, convection (fan-driven) is preferred, but some people don't have both, so you can complete the second step with either.
The first step is to pull moisture out of the skin, but not make a crust that might inhibit the next step. The second step is to evaporate that moisture and crust it up.
Hope the helps... I wish that those two words looked more different. Recently, if it flows, I use regular or convection oven.
Dan
Don K says
My wife and I have used your basic recipe for quite some time and it is "spot on" every time. Wings are crispy and meat is tender. For convenience we use frozen wing pieces (thawed and "squeezed dry"). We use your basic ingredients and add 1/4 tsp of paprika. Since we like the wings "plain" we don't use sauce but often do use various dips (depending on our moods and whatever we have at our old house). One different thing we do is - after thoroughly drying the thawed wings - we apply the coating as described (plus paprika) and then leave in the lowest refrigerator shelf on the baking pan/rack for about 5 hours. It seems to dry the wings a little more before cooking. As we are part of the older generation, we love your recipes; attention to details, regularly check your emails, and appreciate your devotion to this "art" of "cooking for two". Bless your heart.
Bill says
Nice! First time I've used baking powder to season wings. The skin crisped up nicely without flipping. I added a 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika and a 1/4 tsp of pepper to the seasoning mix, but other wise followed the recipe. I was a bit leery about the differing times and temps, but, contrary to my normal instincts, I went with it. Baked up the wing tips as well and saved them for chicken stock. For the sauce I used honey in place of the molasses. Enjoyed that as well. Went well with crispy cast iron pizza. My wife and I don't usually eat chicken skin, but, with it crisping up and still having tender juicy meat it was a hit.
Thanks Doc,
Bill
Dea Varner says
Have been eyeing this recipe for awhile and finally had the pleasure of making these tonight. I made my own dry rub, including the baking powder in it and then followed the directions exactly. These had to have been the most moist yet crispy chicken wings I’ve ever eaten!! My husband who is picky about his wings, devoured them!! We served with both ranch and BBQ sauces and some crudités. This is totally a keeper recipe!!!
Halfadime7 says
Thank you for supplying the link to the "Serious Eats" article. It was an eye-opener for me. We've been eating your Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in) recipe for years now and I'm anxious to try these wings. Another good one, Dr. Dan.
jon b kraft says
the skin on my wings was like a sheet of plastic. your great so I must have done something wrong-I just used whole wings. help!!!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jon,
Welcome to the blog.
I have seen that a on a few wings. I suspect they were a little dehydrated from prolonged freezing in the supply chain. Give then a light spray of PAM cooking spray between the drying and the cooking steps. That should help and it will not change the final results much if you don't need it.
Dan
Kathy Franklin says
These wings were excellent! Husband agreed. Best wings I have ever made!
Thank you for such a quick response to my comment this morning. Cooking time was perfect. Wings were so moist inside.
Kathy Franklin says
I am going to make these tonight. I’m surprised the wings cook an additional 40 minutes at the higher temperature after 30 minutes on low. Hopefully I interpreted the recipe correctly. I love all your recipes. I have made the White Chicken Chile many times. Always enjoyed!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kathy,
The recipe is correct. The initial low temp is to help the baking powder dehydrate the skin. Then turn it up to finish cooking and crisping. So, in a way, it is the secret to the "crispy."
Dan
I think I will make some chili this weekend.
Greg B says
The baking soda made the wings unbearably salty. My wife couldn’t finish them. I’ve got a “salt tooth” and even I found the salt taste overwhelming.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Greg,
Welcome to the blog.
The recipe calls for baking powder, not baking soda. Baking soda has four times as much sodium as baking powder.
Dan
(Rating removed due to not following instructions)
Jaime says
These turned out amazing. Definitely going on the super bowl menu. Thank you!
Erica says
This is the best crispy wing recipe I have ever had!
I can't wait to make these again and honestly look at more of your recipes based of how amazing this one was.
I added a McCormick spice packet (honey habanero to be exact) and they were HANDS DOWN the best wings I've ever had in my life
Mollie Harlow says
These were amazing! My husband absolutely loves wings, but since I have celiac disease and many times the restaurants share the fryer with breaded items, it makes it tough to go out and find good wings.
We followed the recipe exactly, and the wings turned out perfectly crispy and perfectly doused in the amount of buffalo sauce that we like. Thank you.
Alicia Bland says
Delicious and very crispy! My girls loved them! One of my girls likes to get general tso's wings so I made a batch of your general tso's sauce and used that on some of the wings and it was so good! Now we are looking forward to making the general tso's too.
jackiv says
This method of preparation does indeed make for a crispy wing, however I found that the chicken fat makes one heck of a smoky mess of my oven and kitchen for that matter. That being said, I remedied this by placing a one-sheet layer of paper towels over the aluminum foil to catch the fat. I have done this many many times, and no-it does not catch fire! Problem solved! Thanks for the recipe. I detest Buffalo sauce. I'm like you - just give me the dang wings!
DrDan says
Hi Jack,
Welcome to the blog.
The cooking of chicken at high temp tends to do that sometimes. Really, I never have had a problem.
But in my high temperature cooking of chicken thighs, others are having issues occasionally. Here are my suggestions there and I will add it to this recipes. Or the paper towel if it works for you.
-If there is trimmable fat, trim it.
-Use a pan with some side on it to keep any splatter contained.
-If your oven has convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode.
-You could turn down the oven by 25-50 degrees. This will increase the cooking time some and may prone to drying out some. Remember to cook to an endpoint, not by time.
-Of course, the oven should be clean, so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
-Some water in the pan under the rack will prevent the smoking issue. It will cool the fat when it drips.
Thanks for the note and glad it works well for you.
Dan
Jackie says
What can I replace the baking powder with since mine has aluminum sulfate.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jackie,
Welcome to the blog.
There is no good substitute. Baking soda will dry the skin but leave an odd taste, so don't do that. You can use the baking powder you have if you (or who you are serving) are not sensitive to the aluminum taste. It is a genetic thing, if I remember correctly, about 10% of the population.
If you skip it, the wings will still be crispy, just not super crisp.
Hope that helps some.
Dan
Cassie says
30 mins at 250F and then 40 mins at 400F?
Am I reading this right? Should put 10 mins at 400F, makes it less confusing.
DrDan says
Hi Cassie,
Welcome to the blog.
The 30 minutes at 250 draws the moisture out of the skin and the 40 minutes at 400 cooks and crisps. I haven't cooked this since last Super Bowl so I want back to the model recipes and Cooks Country is 40-50 minutes at 425. So the recipe is correct. I will re-word it some to clarify.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Joe says
I agree Cassie. 40 min. at 400+ degrees will be thoroughly cooked, but dried out and way over cooked. The idea of 250 for a time at first is great and I use it for my smoker. Then I increase the temp to crisp, but 400 in a modern convection oven for 40 min. will create carbon chunks.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
HiJoe,
Welcome to the blog.
I assume you have not tried it, but it is working for many.... give it a try
Dan