These crispy oven baked chicken wings are crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and dripping in spicy margarita sauce. They’re easy to put together and they’ll be ready in under an hour! Serve these up at a football party for a healthier – and yummier – version of wings!
Why I Love These Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Football season is the perfect time to serve chicken wings, but frying them takes so much work and they’re not good for you. I figured that since wings are so beloved in my household, I’d develop a recipe that would achieve the crispiness we all love just by baking them! That way they’re healthier and easier to make (and clean up!).
Once I perfected the crispy texture of the wings, I made a yummy new flavor that I like to call Spicy Margarita. It’s mouthwateringly delicious, and it’s heavenly when dipped in blue cheese or buttermilk ranch dressing. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Recipe Highlights
- They’re healthier than fried or restaurant-made wings!
- Plus, they’re cheaper. You can make so many more wings for less than you’d pay for a dozen at a restaurant.
- This recipe is customizable. Use my technique to get them crispy and then develop your own sauce!
- Bottom line is that they’re quick, easy, and impressive to serve to guests.
Ingredients to Make Oven Baked Wings
Our goal here is to make our wings super crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and flavorful all around. This recipe calls for surprisingly simple ingredients to achieve that goal! For the actual wings, all you’ll need is olive oil, salt and pepper, and the wings of course.
To make the mouth-watering spicy margarita sauce, you’ll need tequila, honey, lime juice, orange zest, minced garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper.
How To Make Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Step 1: Preheat and Prep
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil. Place a cooling rack on top so the juices from the wings can drip through.
Step 2: First Bake
Place the wings in a large bowl and toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange them on the cooling rack so they have plenty of space between each, which will ensure crispy wings. Bake them for 45 minutes.
Tip: I also like to broil my wings for an extra couple of minutes to lightly brown the skin.
Step 3: Make Spicy Margarita Wing Sauce
While the wings are cooking, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the mixture to reduce by half. Let it cool until it’s ready to use.
Step 4: Toss with Sauce
When the wings are done cooking, place them in a bowl and gently toss with the sauce. Enjoy!
FAQs
There are a couple of methods you can try to make your homemade wings crispy. In this recipe, I bake the wings on a cooling rack over the baking sheet. This allows the wings to spread out and get crispy because they’re not sitting in their juices. Another popular technique is to lightly coat the wings in baking powder before baking.
Adding sauce to your wings after baking them ensures that the sauce will soak into the wings. The goal is to get the skin baked and crispy so that the sauce will penetrate the skin and the flavor will go deeper.
It’s definitely better to bake your wings at 400 degrees F if you want them to come out perfectly crispy! A higher heat will create an outer crisp more quickly and in turn, it will hold in the juices so your chicken comes out perfectly.
How To Store Leftover Chicken Wings
These wings are best served immediately when they’re done cooking. However, you can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a couple of days. You can also store leftover sauce in the refrigerator to re-coat the wings when you reheat them (either at 350 F in the oven for a few minutes, or in the microwave).
Keep in mind that when you don’t eat them the day of, they will loose some of their crispiness.
More Chicken Recipes To Try
- Baked Garlic Sriracha Wings
- Buffalo Chicken Baked Potatoes
- Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Thighs
- Baked Coconut Chicken Strips
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings (Spicy Margarita Flavor!)
Ingredients
- Chicken Wings
- 4 pounds of chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Sauce
- 1/2 cup tequila
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup lime juice
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a cooling rack on top.
- Place wings in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet so they have plenty of space between each. (This will ensure crispy wings) Bake for 45 minutes. I also like to broil mine for a few minutes to lightly brown the skin.
- While the wings are cooking combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and reduce the mixture by half. Let cool until ready to use.
- When the wings are done cooking place in a bowl and gently toss with the sauce.
