Easy Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

These easy crispy baked chicken wings are a healthy alternative to their fried counterpart. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper, these wings are sure to be a crowd favorite that can be eaten alone or with your favorite sauce!

Let’s face it! Everything fried is always so good. But it’s not that healthy. If you make it yourself, you’ll need lots of oil. And your house will smell of it for the whole day… and your clothes… and your hair.

Now these days, everyone seems be getting air fryers to go the healthier route while still satisfying their fried cravings. We are still toying with this idea, and only recently replaced our 10 year old toaster oven for a new one equipped with an air frying option.

Before that, I baked everything.

Great tasting, crispy baked chicken wings was my goal. After a few tries with different oven temperatures, spices, and method, I finally got a really good baked alternative that made up for not being fried.

How to get crispy oven baked chicken wings

You’ll only need very basic ingredients to get a really great flavored chicken wing. So you won’t have to break the bank buying other spices you might not have readily in your pantry.

First, I place a wire rack on a baking sheet that is lined with foil to minimize the mess. Then I space the chicken wings on the rack.

Next, I season both sides with salt and pepper. So actually, my family favorite spice combination is salt, lemon pepper, and garlic powder (which is what my pictures will show). But for this blog recipe, just stick with salt and pepper. It’s the base that can be served alone or dredged in a yummy sauce.

Then, bake in a preheated 425F (220C) oven for 40 minutes, flipping each wing halfway through the bake. Why? So it crisps on both sides.

You can check for doneness but baking those tiny wings at such a high temperature for that long is pretty sure to kill it dead. I usually bake mine to the point of deader than dead, like 45 minutes. But that’s how we like it here in this house. But 40 minutes is long enough.

And here is the mouth-watering result!!

Other spices you can use to get a tasty wing

Salt and pepper are the base spices. Then you add additional spices or sauces according to your taste.

When I make this for my family, instead of using plain pepper, I use lemon pepper and garlic powder as I said earlier. It’s just a tastier spice combination and adds a nice zing.

You can try also Italian seasonings, add a Mexican flare, or have a Middle Eastern spice mix. All sound wonderfully delicious!

Sauces to dredge over the wings after baking

One of my favorite sauce is this Buffalo hot wing sauce. This alone or served alongside ranch dressing is so reminiscent of bar food. That would definitely be a great crowd pleasing appetizer for sure!

Another personal favorite is this sweet chili sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Freshly baked, I enjoy dipping my crispy wings into this sticky sweet sauce! It has just the right balance of sweet and heat that is just absolutely yummy!

You can also try teriyaki sauce, or a tempura dipping sauce, even curry. Really, the possibilities are endless! It just depends on what you’re craving.

Give it a try

So it’s your turn! Give it a try. And then let me know in the comments. What did you do? What spice combo did you opt for? Any suggestions? Things I should try? I’d love to hear from you!

Link to my other appetizers

My mom’s Filipino pork lumpia