James Kenji Lopez-Alt
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The Food Lab Recipe Update: Extra-Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 09:57:50 +0000 UTCAn updated version of my 20010 recipe, now even crispier and juicier.
The original recipe for oven-fried buffalo wings is fifteen years old. Fifteen!
A lot has changed in the last fifteen years. I’m writing this article on an iPad, the first generation of which came out that year! There’s been a new Beatles song! Rage comics are no longer the height of internet comedy (but double rainbows are still mind-blowing—that’ll never change)! I have a couple kids!
But here’s something that’s still true: we still love chicken wings. According to the National Chicken Council, we consume 1.45 billion wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone. Nearly half a chickens’ worth of wings for every person on earth! We even love watching others eat wings. Millions of us tune in to Hot Ones to watch celebrities answer questions as they gnaw on wings and burn the f&%# out of their faces.
And while you can certainly find chicken wings that are dredged, battered, or otherwise coated before being fried, the most popular incarnation of fried wings remains Buffalo wings. That is, wings that are deep-fried naked (the wings, not the one doing the frying) until crisp, tossed in a combination of melted butter and hot sauce, and served with a side of blue cheese dressing.
Why do we love them so much? There’re a few reasons I can think of. They’re shareable. They’re humanizing in their messiness and universal appeal (one need only watch Conan burn the f&%# out of his mouth on of The Hot Ones to experience this). Despite the best efforts of scientists and farmers, chickens still only come with two wings each, yet they remain relatively inexpensive.
On the flavor front, they are intense, but perfectly balanced. Vinegary buffalo sauce cuts through the fattiness of the fried wings, while creamy and cooling dressing complements the heat of the hot sauce.
More than anything, it’s their texture that appeals. We can still enjoy wings tossed in a wide variety of sauces. We can swap the blue cheese for ranch and (most of use will) still be satisfied. We can eat them alone as we work silently on our writing, or we can enjoy them in large groups as we watch huge men crash into each other at full force on the tv screen.
But a wing that’s not crispy or a wing that’s dry? That fundamentally breaks the wing experience and simply will not do. The best part of fried chicken is the skin. And despite technically being white meat, wings have such a high proportion of skin and connective tissue that at their best, they eat like straight up fried chicken skin wrapped around an extra-juicy, fatty core.
But there’s a problem: most of us are averse to deep frying at home.
My goal when I started developing this recipe in over a decade and a half ago was to come up with a recipe for baked wings that are every bit as crisp and juicy as if they had come straight out of the deep fryer.
Roasting vs. frying
So what’s the problem with the oven? It comes down to effectiveness of heat transfer.
Liquids are molecularly dense and thus can hold and transfer a lot of energy with a given volume. Oil is an especially effective cooking medium because unlike water, which can only be heated to its boiling point of 212°F (100°F), oil can be heated much hotter (to the tune of 400°F or 200°C). Foods that are deep-fried experience very rapid heat transfer, which means that we can brown and blister their exteirors long before their interiors have a chance to overcook and dry out. The best fried foods are crisp outside and juicy inside.
Air, on the other hand, is not dense and thus contains less energy as an equivalent volume of liquid does. Because of this, if the air temperature in an oven is the same 400°F as a pot of oil, foods in the oven will take far longer to cook than in the oil. Wings that take under 10 minutes to brown and crisp in a deep fryer can take upwards of 40 minutes to brown and crisp in the oven, and during that time, their interiors are slowly desiccating and shriveling.
With wings cooked in the oven, you typically have to make a trade-off between crispiness and juiciness.
So what’s the secret? As I discovered in my 2010 recipe, it’s brining with a combination of salt and baking powder, then letting the wings air-dry overnight in the fridge. Baking powder not only enhances browning by slightly raising the pH of the wings, it also improves crunch. As the wings exude juices, they activate the baking powder which in turn forms tiny bubbles of this protein-rich liquid that then dry out and harden, adding surface area to the skin and improving its crunch factor.
Meanwhile, the salty dry-brine helps ensure that the chicken remains juicy by breaking down its muscled fibrils and preventing them from contracting too tightly as they cook, which allows them to retain more moisture.
The result it juicy, crisp wings that are almost identical to their deep-fried counterparts.
The Modifications
Over the many years of making this recipe, I’ve added a couple of tweaks that improve their crispness.
The first is to add some cornstarch to the initial treatment of salt and baking powder. The cornstarch helps absorb and liquids that may be exuded during the chickens overnight rest, as well as adding a thin, thin coating to the wings that adds a layer of crunch without overwhelming the cookie at all.
The second modification is to toss the wings with some oil after they’ve been dried overnight and before they hit the oven. Part of what makes deep-fried chicken wings so delicious is that as the wings fry, water bubbles out of them in the form of steam and oil, in turn, starts to migrate into those interstitial spaces. Tossing the wings with oil before baking them adds a bit of oil to move into the skin spaces and it improves the evenness of browning.
Extra-Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings Recipe
Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.
What I like about this recipe:
“frying” in the oven is much cleaner than deep frying on the stove top.
Adding baking powder, cornstarch, and salt to the wings before resting overnight guarantees insanely crispy results.
YIELD: Serves 4
ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes
Notes: Use air-chilled chicken wings if you can find them (the package will be labeled as such if they are air-chilled).
Ingredients:
For the Wings:
2 pounds (900g) chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flats
2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
2 teaspoons (10g) kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume or the same weight
2 teaspoons (10g) cornstarch
2 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
For the Sauce:
4 tablespoons (50g) unsalted butter
2-6 cloves garlic (adoring to taste), freshly minced
4 tablespoons (60ml) Frank's RedHot Sauce
Blue cheese dressing, for serving
Celery sticks, for serving
Directions
1. For the Wings: Carefully dry chicken wings with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder, salt, and corn starch and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated. Place on rack, leaving a slight space between each wing. Transfer to the fridge.
Place baking sheet with wings in refrigerator and allow to rest, uncovered, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
2. When Ready to Bake: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Transfer wings to a large bowl and toss with an extra 2 tablespoons of oil. Retain them to the sheet pan (rack optional) and cook for 20 minutes. Flip wings and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes longer, flipping a few more times towards the end.
3. For the Sauce: Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until melted, then add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about a minutes. Add the Frank’s whisking until combined. Transfer wings to a large bowl, add sauce, and toss to thoroughly coat. Serve wings immediately with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, conspicuously shunning anyone who says that real Buffalo wings must be fried.
Comments
Deidre
I've made these wings SO many times and they always get so many compliments from whoever eats them. They always say they're super juicy and fall apart. I love that I can just toss these into the oven and not have to fry them in batches!
David Wagoner
I'm going to try these with dry seasonings rather than Buffalo sauce. Will probably sprinkle wing rub on after they come out of the oven, perhaps with a light spray of cooking oil.
Joe Krasznavolgyi
Piling up arguments lol. Made me laugh 😂 Tis always better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Get that oven, bro.
Stephen Leonard
Crispen Clover in Rueben and Ed and Howard Hessman was hilarious, gut punch funny
Tate Renner
Cover the baking pan with a thin layer of baking soda, the drippings will fall onto the baking soda and won’t smoke!
Marty West
My first half baked in a Brevile convection oven directly on a "non-stick" sheet pan with convection on, they browned too fast and stuck horribly to the sheet pan. The second half batch I baked without convection in the Breville, on a rack in a sheet pan at a bit lower level in the oven. They browned and crisped as in the video. I think they were too close to the heating elements in the first batch. And, the rack insulated them from the sheet pan in the second batch.
Matt Shildt
The wings were delicious, but they generated a LOT of smoke during baking due to the drippings burning as they dripped down into the baking pan. Anybody else have this problem? Any tips to avoid it next time?
Sean Witzeling
Thank you Kenji!
Larry Weiner
I have a sight preference to oil fried, but these are very, very close.
Rebecca Burridge
My favourite Crispin Glover cameo was in the movie Dead Man.
Amy Dalphy
Absolutely amazing and delicious. Thank you so much for sharing!
Bill Crawford
Yes,I dipped some of the wings in soy sauce then put them back in the oven for 5 minutes and they came out great.
Bill Crawford
Tried this out for the super bowl and they came out great and was the hit of the party. Made twenty pounds of the wing with different flavors. Thank you Kenji!
Anne Thacher
Any chance these would work with a sweet soy sauce rather than buffalo sauce?
Michael Holda
The best wings I’ve ever had, if I hadn’t made them myself I never would’ve guessed they were oven fried
Pam
I made these and they were PERFECT!!!! Will def make again!
Clayton Hannah
I did 20 minutes before flipping and the wings looked good. 15 minutes after flipping there was too much direct heat and I had some blackening on most exposed areas. If you have an air fryer with various shelf height options (Kalorik from Cossto with the barn door) dropping it down to the middle might alleviate overcooking so it isn't inches away from the heating element.
Stephen Horomanski
I’m combining this recipe with the seriouseats crispy baked potato wedges. Put the wings on a rack and the potatoes on the sheet pan underneath to catch all the fat. I’m a genius
MJI
Making the wings with the cornstarch update! Bangin’ recipe. Our Super Bowl Tradition. Blue Cheese only!
Clayton Hannah
I have an air fryer large enough I can do 2lbs of prepared wings in. I also have a large conventional convection oven (we've done a 30lb turkey plus sides). Is there any reason to not use the air fryer (understanding that the air fryer is just air convection in a smaller space), or any adjustments I should make?
Jon
Yeah they're totally fine and tasty without any sauce. Extra crispy. I do notice how salty they are though when eating plain. When you sauce them up you can blame that on the sauce...
thesko
Parchment paper, or bake them on a lightly oiled rack (this is what I do). They'll release on their own too, so you may be flipping them too soon.
Lisa Maria Andreoli Steinberg
I don’t toss these with sauce at all because we like to have a hot sauce line up for variation, but one of my kids doesn’t like spicy and she loves these wings straight up as is with no sauce.
Rick D'Angelo
yup, you can see he's doing these himself without an editor so those kind of things happen. Kenji is good in that he usually edits based on comments
Rick D'Angelo
while there are many arguments for a pizza oven, my opinion is this is not one. If you go much hotter, you're going to overbrown before you render the fat from the wings
Arjun Patel
Had great results with this recipe but the wings kept getting stuck to the sheet pan during cooking and the skin would rip when flipping does anyone know any fixes that might be worth trying next time please?
Michelle Read
Hello JKLA, I don't have a convection oven. What modification can I do? Up the temp/time? Using your technique but tossing one batch with a sticky spicy Cajun sauce and the other with Cowboy butter. I'm from Western NY so it feels like blasphemy 😳 Wish the Bills were playing tomorrow! Go Bills!
Larry Weiner
General note: Costco sello air cooler wings ... we bought an 8 lb package a few weeks ago and froze it.
Benjamin Bell
That makes sense. Thank you!
Larry Weiner
Should be "a minute". From the timestamps on the video it was about 8:08 to 9:08.
Larry Weiner
I've tried cooking in a Traeger, which we couldn't get up to 450. Smoking them for some time and finishing them in the oven for 20 minutes at 450 came out pretty good as well.
Patrick
Coming from Atlanta to say that 10% should be lemon pepper wet
Peter Morelli
I did this one year, slightly undercooking (time wise) then broiling 2-3 mins a side before tossing. Don’t cover for sure.
Benjamin Bell
I noticed on the final step "3. For the Sauce" you say "...then add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about a minutes." How many minutes is it supposed to be?
Jake Jackson
You could buy one of the mild pre made bw3 sauces at the grocery and use that. Like Parmesan garlic.
Jan Weihmann
They are young (7&9) and fans of crispy, so I will just leave a few plain and see how it goes…
Melissa Clifford
Ahh you did better than me! Oh well. Mine are in the oven. We shall see!
Bill Crawford
Luckily I caught that early and mixed in the corn starch then put them in the fridge.🤞
Peter
Possibly toss it in a sauce they like?
Melissa Clifford
Oh bum...I read the email version before coming to Patreon, and the email version didn't have the cornstarch in the wing/fridge period. sigh. Well I guess I'm oven baking wings tonight without the cornstarch. Drat.
Larry Weiner
Mad Star Wars flex ... "20010 recipe". Love your recipes, but moreso your dedication to your craft and clear communication. (I also hope you understand the significance of editors. My father and grandfather were newspaper editors, my mother a newspaper writer, and my personal editor... that's how I grew up.)
Jan Weihmann
If I have a no-spice eater, are these as great plain as they look? I plan to do 90% as written, and 10% with no sauce. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Robert Johnson
you could even look to broil them on high for 3-4 mins on each side, adjusting the rack to the highest position (assuming the broiler is at the top of the oven) to add to what Tim said!
Brad Higginbotham
Thanks for the formal updating of your recipe with cornstarch. Also, I appreciate the simple addition of garlic to the sauce rather than 10 additional ingredients to Frank’s.
Alex Miller
Yeah that wasn’t there earlier. I figured that’s when, I just wanted to point it out so he could update it
Tim Powell
If you have a pizza oven, would it make sense to do these hotter than 450˚? I don't have a pizza oven, but I'm currently piling up arguments to justify it to my wife.
Tim Powell
If it were me, I'd try cooking cook at a lower temperature till done, and then blast whenever you get to your destination
Infin1ty
Thank you!
Rick D'Angelo
he may have tweaked it after you read it--it specifies up to 24 hours
Rick D'Angelo
that's always been a fundamental argument with Buffalo wings. There is some loss of crispness with a wet sauce. But as with a variety of other wing recipes (Korean wings for example), if you get the wings pretty crispy, toss and serve immediately, the payoff in increased flavor makes up for the slight loss of crispness. I will definitely say sauce on the side isn't nearly as good-not even close
Rick D'Angelo
"In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder, salt, and corn starch and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated"
Jan Thie
It is not possible to buy air-chilled wings here; the best I can do is organic. You said not to keep them in the fridge for more than one night, because then they will lose too much moisture. So, the predictable question: if you start with non-air-chilled wings, would it be a good idea to keep them in the fridge longer?
Infin1ty
Can someone tell me how long "over night" actually is? I'm not looking to have chicken wings in the morning, are pretty much anything I'm putting in the fridge overnight, so on my end it basically means until the next evening.
Bill King
I must be in the cat family as I cannot tolerate anything on my paws so sauced wings are a hard pass here. Can you add other seasonings to the dry brine (Tajin for example)? Or is it best to add other spices after tossed in the oil prior to baking?
AF
What cookie is being overwhelmed, here? Autocorrect on the ol' ipad? :)
Eric Fritsch
Kenji, you've been guiding my wing making for years and years at this point. One thing that I always have trouble with, is how to get the wings to *stay* crispy. It seems like as soon as they are tossed in any wet sauce the crispiness starts decreasing. At this point I don't toss the wings. I serve them naked with the sauce on the side. Is there a better way?
James Kenji Lopez-Alt
Oh thanks. I’ve updated and corrected it!
Alex Miller
You mention cornstarch in the ingredients, but nowhere in the steps
Jon
I can't help that much but I have done this and it worked just fine. On one hand it did dry the chicken inside out a bit on the other hand it made the skin even crispier.
Daniel Longhurst
I have a question that maybe Kenji or someone else can answer. I’m making these wings but then bringing them to a friends house for the Super Bowl. I will be able to reheat them at his house. Any advice on best practices? I’m thinking of cooking them for the minimum time (20m flip 15m) then giving them another 15m at my friends to reheat and recrisp them before saucing. I wouldn’t store them in a sealed container so they don’t steam.
David
“Half a chickens’ worth of wings…” 🤔🤣
David
Those wings sure look great! Used your wings guide for my Hot Ones bday party several years ago to the delight of our guests. Side note: I gotta change my notification settings no doubt 😴📱💥😳 and no question this is a very U.S.-centric perspective: 1:59 AM is definitely an unconventional time to push out a recipe (do you have a lot of viewers in the UK?).
Luke Beks
Small detail: The recipe does not mention adding the cornstarch to the wings before resting them in the fridge. Otherwise, looking forward to trying it out soon!
Rumble In The Kitchen (RITK)
Wait?! Is that a camera person? Another awesome upgrade. 😊
Rumble In The Kitchen (RITK)
Love the modifications! Funny enough, I started playing with similar changes a few years ago. I haven't made wings in far too long... thanks for the reminder!
