Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes: Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Pat 3 lb of chicken wings very dry, toss with baking powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper, and roast on a wire rack at 450 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes, flipping once, until deep golden and crisp. Toss hot wings with melted butter and cayenne pepper hot sauce. Serve with a blue cheese dip of crumbled blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Makes about 24 wings for 8 servings.
Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes: Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings is the appetizer that never survives until the main meal. These wings roast at high heat with a baking powder coating until the skin is shatteringly crisp, then get tossed in a buttery cayenne pepper sauce while still hot. A chunky blue cheese dip and celery sticks cool everything down.
Why you’ll love it
- Oven crisped, no deep fryer and no greasy splatter to clean up.
- The baking powder trick gives blistered crispy skin every single time.
- Buttery buffalo sauce clings to every wing when tossed hot.
- Cool chunky blue cheese dip balances the heat perfectly.
- Scales easily: one sheet pan serves 8, two pans serve a full house.
Ingredient notes
Chicken wings: buy them already split into flats and drumettes to save prep time. Patting them very dry is the most important step in the whole recipe.
Baking powder: the crisping agent, and it must be baking powder, not baking soda, which tastes soapy. It raises the skin pH so it browns and blisters faster.
Cayenne pepper hot sauce: the classic buffalo flavor. Use your favorite; the butter mellows it, so even a fiery sauce becomes balanced.
Blue cheese: buy a wedge and crumble it yourself for the best chunky texture. The tubs of precrumbled cheese work fine too, and a milder blue keeps the dip crowd friendly.
Butter: half a cup of real butter is what makes buffalo sauce cling and shine. It tempers the heat of the hot sauce into something rich and balanced.
The dry and hot rule for crispy skin
Crisp wings come from two things: no surface moisture and high heat. Pat the wings dry twice if you have to, then let the baking powder coating do its work on dry skin. A wire rack is non negotiable, since wings sitting in their own rendered fat will never crisp on the bottom. Roast at a full 450 degrees F and do not pull them early out of fear; pale wings are soft wings. They are done when deeply golden with blistered skin, and they crisp even more in the first minutes out of the oven, so sauce them fast and serve them faster.
Variations
- Honey buffalo: add 2 tablespoons of honey to the sauce for a sweet heat version that kids tend to love.
- Garlic parmesan: skip the hot sauce and toss the roasted wings in melted butter with minced garlic and grated parmesan instead.
- Extra hot: add a pinch of cayenne to the butter sauce and finish the platter with sliced fresh chiles.
- Ranch style: serve with ranch dressing instead of blue cheese dip for the guests who will not touch blue cheese.
What we learned testing it
- Baking powder beat cornstarch clearly in the side by side test. The baking powder wings came out deeply crisp with blistered skin, while the cornstarch batch was crisp but chalky in spots.
- 450 degrees F beat 425. The hotter oven rendered the fat faster and gave better browning in the same 45 minutes.
- Flipping matters. The wings flipped at 25 minutes browned evenly on both sides; the unflipped test batch had pale soft spots underneath.
Read how we test recipes.
Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes: Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings
Makes about 24 wings (8 servings) · 1 hr 5 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Large sheet pan · Wire rack · Large mixing bowl · Small mixing bowl
Instructions
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Pat dry and season the wings
Set a wire rack inside a large sheet pan. Pat the wings very dry with paper towels, pressing on both sides, since surface moisture is what keeps wings from crisping. Toss them in a large bowl with the baking powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper until every wing is lightly and evenly coated. Arrange the wings on the rack with space between them so hot air can reach all sides.
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Roast until deep golden and crisp
Roast at 450 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes, flipping each wing once at the 25 minute mark. They are done when deeply golden, with crisp blistered skin and the fat fully rendered. If your oven runs cool, give them 5 more minutes rather than pulling them early.
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Toss the hot wings in buffalo sauce
While the wings roast, melt the butter in a small saucepan and whisk in the hot sauce and honey if using. As soon as the wings come out of the oven, transfer them to a large clean bowl, pour over the warm sauce and toss until every wing glistens.
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Mix the blue cheese dip and serve
Stir together the blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice and chives in a small bowl. It can be chunky, that is the point. Pile the wings on a platter with celery sticks and the dip, and serve while the wings are hot and the skin is at its crispiest.
Notes
- Dry wings are crispy wings. Paper towel drying plus the baking powder coating is the whole trick; skip either one and the skin steams instead of crisping.
- Use a wire rack, not the pan. The rack lifts the wings so rendered fat drips away and hot air crisps the bottoms too.
- Sauce them hot. The butter sauce clings best when the wings come straight from the oven, so have the sauce warm and ready before they come out.
- Make the dip ahead. The blue cheese dip keeps for 3 days in the fridge, and it tastes better after the flavors meld for a few hours.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Baking powder
- Use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead. The wings will still crisp, though the skin is a little less blistered than the baking powder version.
- Blue cheese dip
- Use ranch dressing or a simple mix of sour cream, lemon juice and chopped herbs. It keeps the cool creamy contrast without the blue cheese funk.
- Cayenne pepper hot sauce
- Use a milder Louisiana style hot sauce or cut the hot sauce with extra melted butter. Start with half the sauce, toss and taste before adding more.
Storage and make-ahead
Wings are best eaten fresh, within an hour of roasting. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days and reheat in a 400 degrees F oven or air fryer for 8 to 10 minutes until the skin crisps again. Microwaving makes them soft, so I avoid it. The blue cheese dip keeps separately for 3 days.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my wings not crispy?
Three usual causes: the wings were not patted dry, they were crowded on the pan with no rack, or the oven was not hot enough. Dry them well, use a wire rack with space between them and roast at a full 450 degrees F.
Can I make buffalo wings ahead for a party?
Partly. Roast the wings up to a day ahead and refrigerate them uncovered so the skin stays dry, then reheat at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes and toss in warm sauce right before serving. Make the dip up to 3 days ahead.
Are these wings gluten free?
Yes, as made. Chicken wings, baking powder, butter and most cayenne pepper hot sauces contain no gluten. Check your hot sauce label to be sure, since a few brands add thickeners.
Can I use frozen wings?
Yes, but thaw them completely first and pat them extra dry, since frozen wings hold more water. Add 5 minutes to the roast time and check that the skin is crisp before saucing.
How spicy are these?
Medium heat as written. For milder wings, add the tablespoon of honey and use a milder hot sauce; for hotter, add a few dashes of extra hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne to the butter.
