American · Appetizers & snacks

Crispy oven-baked Buffalo wings

Name: Crispy oven-baked Buffalo wings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 6 appetizer servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 pounds split chicken wings, wing tips removed; 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder, not baking soda; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 1/4 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed; 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice; 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, divided; 4 celery ribs, cut in sticks; 3 medium carrots, cut in sticks

Crackly oven-baked chicken wings tossed in a sharp butter-and-cayenne sauce with celery and cool blue-cheese dip.

About 1 hr 10 minTotal

About 1 hr 10 minActive

$$Cost

ModerateDifficulty

Makes 6 appetizer servings

Equipment

Bake directly on a rimmed pan and turn once; the underside will be less evenly crisp.
Best starting point
Checkered Chef Half-Sheet Cooling Rack
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Bake directly on a rimmed pan and turn once; the underside will be less evenly crisp.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched the rack to the recipe’s half-sheet footprint, then checked oven-safe material, grid spacing, cleanup, stable product identity, and the exact Amazon destination. Kwilt has not cooked with this rack.
Checkered Chef Half-Sheet Cooling Rack: The half-sheet footprint and close stainless grid support wings while allowing rendered fat to drain and hot air to circulate around them. Trade-off: Confirm the interior dimensions of your existing pan; nominal half-sheet accessories can vary enough to fit poorly.
Another workable path: Bake directly on a foil-lined rimmed sheet pan and turn the food during cooking; the underside will be less evenly crisp.
Sources
Amazon exact product listing
Nordic Ware half-sheet dimensions
Rimmed sheet pan
Large mixing bowl

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 6 appetizer servings

3 pounds split chicken wings, wing tips removed
1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder, not baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, divided
4 celery ribs, cut in sticks
3 medium carrots, cut in sticks

Instructions

Heat oven to 250°F. Set a over a foil-lined rimmed sheet pan. Pat wings extremely dry, then toss with baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and garlic powder until no chalky pockets remain.
Arrange wings skin-side up with space between them. Bake on the lower-middle rack 30 minutes to render fat. Without removing the pan, raise oven to 450°F and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, turning once, until deeply browned, crisp, and at least 175°F near the bone.
While wings bake, whisk hot sauce, melted butter, and Worcestershire. In a second bowl, whisk sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk, lemon, remaining salt, remaining pepper, and two-thirds of the blue cheese; thin only enough for dipping.
Move hot wings to a large bowl, pour in Buffalo sauce, and toss vigorously until every wing is glossy. Return to the rack for 3 minutes only if a drier sauce-set exterior is preferred.
Serve immediately with blue-cheese dip topped with remaining cheese, plus celery and carrots. Do not cover finished wings; trapped steam erases the crispness the two-temperature bake created.

Buffalo, New YorkGreat Lakes · Northeastern United States

From the table

About this recipe

Buffalo-style wings are closely tied to Buffalo, New York, and to the Anchor Bar in the 1960s. The familiar account credits Teressa Bellissimo with frying split wings, coating them in hot sauce, and serving them with celery and blue cheese. The Buffalo History Museum places that account within a broader local story that also includes John Young’s breaded whole wings with mambo sauce.

The nationally recognizable style centers unbreaded crisp wings, cayenne-pepper hot sauce enriched with butter, and cooling celery and blue cheese. This recipe changes the cooking method rather than the identity: a wire rack and staged oven temperatures replace deep frying while the sauce and accompaniments remain.

Sources

Dinner does not stop at the recipe