My baked buffalo wings recipe is a little healthier than deep-fried wings, but mainly crispy baked wings are way easier to make at home! They also taste just as great thanks to all that spicy buffalo sauce!
Crispy wings happen like magic in a hot oven, and once you’ve got the wings themselves nice and crispy, it’s all about making a perfect buffalo sauce! Don’t forget to serve your wow-worthy buffalo wings with homemade blue cheese dressing on the side, OK?
Ingredients For Homemade Buffalo Wings
- Chicken wings: look for chicken wings that are already prepared for you so that you don’t have to break the wings down into wingettes (also called “flats”) yourself. Look for the raw chicken wings in packs labeled “party wings” or just “drumettes.”
- Egg whites: You’ll beat them until frothy and use it to coat the wings. Just trust me!
- Simple seasonings: Salt, garlic powder, paprika
How To Make Baked Buffalo Wings
- Season the chicken wings with salt, garlic powder and paprika.
- Coat the chicken wings with egg white. This makes the wings crispy!
- Bake the wings! The trick is to set a cooling rack over a lined baking sheet. This allows the heat to get at the wings from all sides. If you don’t have a wire cooling rack, just bake the wings on a parchment-lined sheet pan. They won’t get quite as crisp, but they’ll still be good. Flip the wings halfway through cooking.
- Make buffalo sauce! Whisk together hot sauce and honey, then add the butter.
- Coat the wings in buffalo sauce and voila! You made buffalo wings! Easy, right?
All You’ll Need To Make Buffalo Sauce
Note that you can make the buffalo sauce up to a week ahead of time if you’re trying to save yourself time. Just gently reheat the sauce in a small saucepan over low heat before using.
- Hot sauce. Frank’s Red Hot or Louisiana Wing Sauce are classic choices, and while some think Frank’s is the best hot sauce for buffalo wings, I think both work great!
- Butter. Salted butter is best, to balance out the flavors and add oomph.
- Honey: My secret ingredient! Honey in the buffalo sace adds just the right sweetness to balance out the heat. It also gives the wings a delectable stickiness that I adore.
Variations & Swaps
- Make the buffalo sauce sweeter: Add more honey! Up to 2 tablespoons.
- Or go savory by adding two minced garlic cloves.
- You can use frozen chicken wings BUT thaw them completely first and pat them very dry. Frozen wings have extra moisture that can prevent crispiness. Let them come to room temperature before seasoning.
How To Store + Reheat Leftovers
This dish is best fresh, but you can hang on to leftovers for up to 4 days in the fridge. I suggest storing the sauce separately, though, so that the wings can crisp up when you reheat them. Reheat the wings in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes or in an air fryer set to 375°F for 3-5 minutes.
Why They’re Called Buffalo Wings
The origins of the Buffalo wing are up for debate, but according to the Smithsonian “most agree that the Anchor Bar, in Buffalo, New York, was where the buffalo chicken wing was invented.” So there you go! It’s called a Buffalo wing because it was invented in the city of Buffalo, NY. However, if you love a good, juicy food history debate, check out Calvin Trillian’s now-infamous 1980 deep dive into the Buffalo wing origin-story controversy over at The New Yorker.)
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