The other day I asked my husband what does he want me to make him for Super Bowl, and even before I was able to finish my question, he said chicken wings. But the way he said it and the expression on his face was more like, “you would not make that.”
He was right. I would not prefer to make a fried dish in my kitchen. He continued by saying that I should pretty much forget about healthy food when it comes to Super Bowl party food. I told him that I would find a way to make healthier chicken wings. Again, he looked at me with an expression on his face saying, “I don’t think so…”
I looked for a recipe that (1) I do not have to fry (2) will be crisp on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside, just like the fried version would be.
After a few tries, I found the perfect baked chicken wings recipe that gave me just that. Perfectly crispy chicken wings without all the extra fat. Come to find out, the way to achieve my goal was by slow cooking chicken wings in the oven.
Intrigued? Let’s break it down.
Ingredients:
This Slow Baked Wings recipe has three sets of ingredients. Wings, hot sauce ingredients, and garnishes.
For The Wings:
- Chicken Wings: You need 4 pounds of chicken wings (approximately 30-40 wings) for this recipe. I recommend purchasing a combination of drumettes and wingettes (also called Flat) for variety.
- Baking powder: To get crispy chicken wings without frying, you must find a way to dry out the skin outside. The secret that does that is baking powder. Baking powder dries out the skin by breaking out the proteins within the skin. It also helps with browning.
- Kosher Salt: It is important to season the wings properly. 3/4 teaspoon of salt is all you need for this recipe.
For The Hot Wing Sauce:
- Storebought Hot Sauce: My favorite hot sauce is Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce (affiliate link), but you can also use Texas Pete (affiliate link)
- Unsalted Butter: Two tablespoons of unsalted butter makes the sauce super silky and delicious.
- Molasses: Although molasses is an optional ingredient, I recommend using it as it adds another layer of flavor to this buffalo wing sauce. Alternatively, you can use one table of honey as a substitution.
- Garlic: You’ll need two cloves of minced garlic to flavor the sauce.
For the Garnishes:
You can serve these crispy buffalo wings with countless sauces/dressings or vegetables. If you want to create a dish similar to the ones you see in these pictures, you will also need:
- Healthy Blue Cheese Dip: I don’t know about you, but I do not think that you can serve chicken wings without a blue cheese dip. My version is a healthier one made with greek yogurt and vegan mayo.
- Yogurt Ranch Dip: Alternatively, instead of the blue cheese dressing, you can also serve these hot wings with my ranch made with Greek yogurt.
- Scallions: I usually sprinkle my wings with a handful of scallions.
- Carrots and Celery: These are the classic veggies to serve wings with, but you can use whatever veggies you have on hand.
Prep the wings
First things first, prep the chicken wings. To do so:
- Dry the skin: It is imperative that the skin of the wings is as dry as possible. I usually place a few sheets of paper towels on a rimmed baking sheet, place the wings on top, and dry them as much as possible with a few more paper towels.
- Mix the wings with salt and baking powder: Place the now-dried wings in a large bowl. Sprinkle them with baking powder and salt. Give it a mix to make sure that all the wings are coated with baking powder and salt.
How to slow cook chicken wings in the oven
I think what makes this recipe special is the fact that the wings are baked in the oven in two different heat settings. Cooking chicken wings low and slow first in a 250 F degree oven and then increasing the heat up to 425 F yields perfectly crisp chicken wings.
Once your wings are ready, cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack (affiliate link) in it. It is important to use a wire rack for better air circulation that helps create crispy skin and fully cook the wings. Lightly grease the wire rack with oil to prevent wings from sticking to the rack as they bake.
Arrange the chicken wings on top. Here, it is okay to arrange them as close to each other as possible. However, if you run out of space, you can bake them in two batches. Preheat the oven to 250 F degrees.
How long does it take to cook chicken wings at 250 degrees
Bake the chicken wings in the middle rack in a low 250 F Degree (120 C Degree) heat for 30 minutes.
How long to bake chicken wings at 425 degrees F
After the first 30 minutes, crack up the heat to 425 F degrees (220 C Degrees) and bake for 45-50 minutes to finish the cooking.
How to make the hot wing sauce
As the wings are cooking in the oven, quickly make the hot chicken wing sauce.
Place the hot sauce, butter, and molasses in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, in medium heat until simmering, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and turn the heat down to low. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
How to get buffalo sauce to stick to wings
Once the wings are fully baked, remove them from the oven and transfer them into a large bowl. Pour the hot sauce over it.
If you do this as soon as they are out of the oven and super hot, you should not have any issues with the sauce sticking to the wings.
How to serve slow-roasted chicken wings:
If you wish to create a similar dish to the one you see in the pictures. Make a batch of my healthy blue cheese dip and place it in the middle of a large plate in a small bowl.
Place carrot sticks and celery sticks on one side and the wings on the other. Garnish the wings with scallion and crumbled blue cheese.
How To Store Leftovers & Reheat:
- Storage: Leftover slow roasted chicken wings can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just be sure that they come to room temperature before doing so.
- Reheating: To reheat, place leftover wings on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated 300-degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until warmed thoroughly.
Expert Tips:
- If you are using frozen wings, be sure to thaw them overnight in the fridge.
- Don’t be afraid to arrange them close to each other on the baking rack. They shrink as they bake. However, if you run out of space, you can bake them in two batches.
- Make the sauce right before the wings are out of the oven so it will be nice and hot when you are ready to serve them.
If you do not want to sacrifice your health and still want to have delicious chicken wings that are not fried, you should give this recipe a try.
Other Game Day Recipes you might also like:
- Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken Wings
- Chicken Nachos
- Vegan Greek Nachos
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Five Bean Salad
- Cowboy Caviar
Adapted from cookscountry.com‘s.
