Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings Recipe
Chicken wing pieces baked on a rack until browned, then coated in warm cayenne hot sauce and butter.
This Buffalo wings recipe uses a hot oven and a rack to brown chicken wing pieces before they meet the sauce. The coating is the familiar combination of cayenne hot sauce and butter: tangy, spicy and rich enough to cling to the skin. Expect about an hour from preparation to serving, with most of that time spent baking. Patting the wings dry and leaving space between them matters more than a long ingredient list. Toss only when everyone is ready to eat, because even well-browned skin softens under sauce. The batch serves four as an appetizer, with celery and a cool dip making useful companions to the warm, peppery wings.
Dry skin and warm sauce make the difference
Use separated flats and drumettes, not whole wings with attached tips. A rack lets hot air reach the underside and prevents the pieces sitting in rendered fat. If the rack sticks, loosen each wing with tongs before flipping rather than pulling the skin off.
Choose original cayenne pepper hot sauce for the butter mixture. A product labeled prepared wing sauce may already contain fat and needs a different ratio. Keep the sauce warm rather than boiling it; a gentle whisk produces a more even coating.
Recipe at a glance
Yield: 4 appetizer servings. Active preparation: about 15 minutes. Cooking: about 45 minutes. Total elapsed time: about 60 minutes.
How to make oven-baked buffalo wings
Recipe card
Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings Recipe
Equipment: Large rimmed baking sheet; oven-safe wire rack; paper towels; tongs; small saucepan; large mixing bowl; instant-read thermometer.
Ingredients
Main
Instructions
Prepare the oven and wings
Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F conventional. Set a lightly oiled wire rack over a foil-lined rimmed sheet. Pat wings thoroughly dry, then toss with oil, salt and pepper.
Arrange for airflow
Place wings on the rack in one layer with gaps between pieces. Use a second tray rather than crowding if your tray is small.
Bake and turn
Bake for 25 minutes, turn with tongs, then bake another 20–25 minutes. The skin should be browned and the thickest pieces must reach at least 74°C/165°F away from bone. Extend the cooking if needed.
Warm the sauce
Near the end of baking, melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, whisk in hot sauce and keep warm. Do not boil.
Coat and serve
Put the hot cooked wings into a large clean bowl, pour over sauce and toss until coated. Serve at once with celery and dressing.
How to tell when it is ready
Skin is deeply golden in patches and the largest drumettes reach at least 74°C/165°F; color alone is not a safety check.
Tips
- Dry both sides of each wing before seasoning.
- Keep the wings in a single layer for even browning.
- Check several larger drumettes with a thermometer.
- Sauce the wings at the table if maximum skin texture is the priority.
Troubleshooting
- Pale skin: allow more baking time and check that the rack is above pooled fat.
- Sauce looks oily: whisk while warm and use it immediately; do not boil.
- Wings stick: oil the rack lightly and release them gently with tongs after the first baking interval.
Substitutions
- Use salted butter and reduce the salt on the wings to ¼ tsp.
- Use prepared Buffalo wing sauce as directed on its label instead of combining hot sauce and butter.
Variations
- Milder coating: use 90 ml hot sauce and 75 g butter.
- Sharper coating: stir 1 tsp distilled vinegar into the warm sauce.
Serving suggestions
- Serve celery sticks alongside the wings.
- Offer blue cheese dressing in a separate bowl.
- Add carrot sticks for another cool, crunchy side.
- Make an appetizer spread with potato wedges and a simple slaw.
Make ahead
Separate and dry the wings up to a day ahead, then refrigerate covered. Mix the sauce shortly before the wings finish baking.
Storage
Refrigerate leftovers promptly in a shallow covered container for 3–4 days. Reheat on a rack at 190°C/375°F until the meat reaches 74°C/165°F. Freeze cooked wings for up to 2 months for best quality; thaw in the refrigerator.
Food safety
Do not wash raw chicken. Keep its utensils away from the clean tossing bowl. Cook all wing pieces to at least 74°C/165°F and refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, or 1 hour in temperatures above 32°C/90°F.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bake without a rack?
Use a lightly oiled baking sheet and turn the pieces halfway through. The undersides will be less crisp because they sit closer to the rendered fat.
Are these wings breaded?
No. This version uses dry skin, oil and high oven heat rather than a flour coating.
More recipes to try
Spotted a detail that needs correcting? Contact the FeastDelights editors.