Our hot wings recipe guarantees crispy and delicious wings. You are going to LOVE them. They are also perfect for serving a crowd. I especially love serving them with a side of homemade blue cheese dressing. For more chicken wing recipes, see our bbq wings, grilled wings, or these sweet chili wings. Or try my buffalo baked cauliflower wings.
Key Ingredients
Chicken wings: Depending on where you buy them, they are sold as the whole wing or separated into a drumstick and wingette. If you can only find whole chicken wings, hop over to our tutorial for separating a chicken wing. Homemade buffalo sauce: I use my favorite homemade Buffalo sauce for these hot wings. It’s easy and quick to make. I make it while my hot wings bake in the oven. I combine butter, my favorite hot sauce (like Crystal), and garlic powder. You can add a little honey to balance the flavors, but that is optional. Homemade blue cheese dip: I love hot wings with blue cheese dip, so I’ve shared it below, but if you prefer ranch with your wings, I highly recommend trying our homemade ranch.
How to Make Crispy Baked Hot Wings
When making homemade hot wings, I use my oven. You can fry these, but baking at a high temperature does the trick nicely. These wings really do become crispy and perfectly tender. For the crispiest wings, use an oven-safe baking rack inset into a rimmed baking sheet (like in my photos and video). This rack lifts the chicken wings and allows some airflow around them. I use the same setup when baking bacon. You also want to pat your wings dry, which helps them crisp up in the oven even more. And don’t forget to season them with salt! I don’t use any other seasonings but feel free to do so if you’d like. I bake chicken wings in a 425°F oven until crispy, usually 30 to 45 minutes. I like them crispy! So I continue baking hot wings until they have had enough chance to render their fat and crisp up the skin, so I probably cook them a few more minutes than necessary. Once your wings are ready, toss them in the sauce, which is super simple to make. Our homemade buffalo wing sauce combines melted butter, hot sauce (I use Crystal), and a little garlic powder. I also like this with a slight drizzle of honey, balancing the sauce and making everything taste even better.
What to Serve with Homemade Hot Wings
Celery, carrot sticks, and blue cheese or ranch dressing are classic sides for hot wings. I love serving them alongside creamy coleslaw, refreshing cucumber salad, or creamy potato salad to turn them into a meal. You can also serve wings with crispy baked French fries, potato wedges, or try these roasted fingerling potatoes with its creamy sauce for dipping. Salt, to season the chicken 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter 1/3 cup (80ml) cayenne pepper hot sauce, like Crystal or Frank’s 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon honey, or more to taste, optional 1/2 cup (115g) mayonnaise, try homemade mayo 6 ounces (170g) crumbled blue cheese 1 tablespoon minced parsley Salt and fresh ground pepper 2Pat the wings dry, and then season with salt. 3Spread out in one layer on the wire rack. Bake until cooked through and crispy, 35 to 45 minutes. 4Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. 5Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the hot sauce, garlic powder, and honey. Season with salt to taste. 6Toss the baked chicken wings in the sauce and serve with the blue cheese dip.
