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This baked chicken wings recipe creates flavorful crispy wings without using extra flours or coatings! Topped with a finger-licking good honey lime sauce, these wings are gluten free, low carb and paleo.
Baked chicken wings that taste just as good as restaurant wings? Yes! It can totally happen, and I’m going to tell you all about how you can achieve the perfect crispy baked chicken wings at home.
But first I have a confession to make. Chicken wings aren’t my favorite. I know, I know, what is wrong with me?! Let me explain. It’s not that I don’t like crispy crunchy baked chicken skin or juicy tender chicken, it’s just that I’m kind of a clean freak when it comes to eating and chicken wings are usually messy. No matter how hard you try, you always end up having wing sauce all over your mouth/face/hands and it drives me nuts.
I’m telling you this because I want you to understand that me posting this chicken wings recipe must mean that these babies are freaking delicious and worth all the napkins and sticky hands. Because they are! These wings are so good, I threw my clean freak card out the window and DUG IN. Here’s what you need to know.
How to bake chicken wings so they’re crispy
The secret to getting your baked chicken wings super crispy is parboiling them. Parboiling simply means partially cooking something by boiling it. So before they go in the oven, the wings need to go in a large stockpot of boiling water for 7 minutes to help get rid of any excess fat. This also cooks them slightly which makes the skin crisp up faster and easier once they go in the oven.
Once they’re finished parboiling, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon or colander and place them on a kitchen towel. Now here’s the important part: dry off each wing as much as you can by giving it a squeeze in a kitchen towel. You could also use paper towels, but I find that a kitchen towel is more absorbent and easier to use.
Also, be careful not to burn yourself since the wings will be hot. I recommend letting them sit for a few minutes until you feel you can handle them safely, unless you’re like me and have “hot hands” as John likes to call them.
Once the wings are as dry as you can get them, place them on a large baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt, ground coriander, garlic powder and paprika. Bake them in a 450°F oven for 25 minutes, turn them over and baked them for 5 to 10 more minutes. Wing size can vary greatly, so use your best judgement here. If the skin looks crispy, take them out, if not, leave them in for 5 more minutes and see how they’re doing.
While the wings are baking, make the sauce. Simple whisk together melted butter, honey, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest and red chili flakes. Once the wings are done, toss them in the honey sauce immediately and serve.
The sauce is LIFE CHANGING and am so so happy with how it turned out. John was obsessed.
Can these crispy baked chicken wings be made ahead of time?
Yes. To make these ahead of time, simple follow the parboiling instructions and dry them off as much as possible. Transfer the wings to a baking sheet and place in the fridge for up to a day until you’re ready to bake them. Then bake like normal.
Can these wings be frozen once they’re cooked?
Yes. To freeze, let them come to room temperature first and then place in an air-tight freezer bag. They can keep frozen for up to 4 months. To reheat, I recommend removing them from the freezer and letting them thaw. Once thawed, heat in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 450°F until fully heated through. I also recommend making a small batch of honey lime sauce for serving.
Baked Chicken Wings with Honey Lime Sauce
Ingredients
For the baked chicken wings
- 2 pounds chicken wings, cut in half at joints
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
For the honey lime sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, juiced and zested
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the baked chicken wings
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Fill a large stockpot with water, place on stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Season the water generously with sea salt.
- When water is boiling, add the chicken wings to the pot and lower heat to medium-high. Cook for 7 minutes.
- Remove the wings with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl lined with a kitchen towel. Pat and squeeze the wings as dry as you can with another kitchen towel. Transfer them to a large sheet pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine salt, ground coriander, garlic powder and paprika. Sprinkle seasoning on top of wings and toss to combine.
- Place sheet pan in oven and bake wings for 25 minutes, flip the wings over and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and toss with sauce.
For the honey lime sauce
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Pour sauce over baked chicken wings, toss to coat and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Isabel ! Here a fellow Mexican ! I made the recipe and came out amazing , and I can’t wait to make it again . I didn’t have coriander and I added some lemon pepper seasoning and it made work , next time I will follow the recipe just the way you made it .
Hello Isabel,
I would like to make batches of these wings for a rather large. party I am hosting. I will be making and freezing them. I want to cook most batches with the honey lime sauce, but I would also like to cook a couple of batches without the sauce and offer guests a couple of other flavored sauces.
Would this recipe taste just as good with a different sauce. Thanks.
Hi Marie! Yes, they’re great with other sauces! I’d recommend sauces like barbecue or honey garlic for this recipe.
These were delicious! The sauce was amazing, very smart cooking method! I used foil on my baking sheet with cooking spray and they stuck to the foil when I went to flip them. I definitely should not have used the foil, my mistake! Great recipe!
Hi!
I’m so glad I discovered you on Pinterest. I made these tonight, and they were amazing. I will definitely be adding these to our dinner rotation. My husband said they taste like something we would get at a restaurant. Thank you!
These are Awesome!! I loved how they were so crispy but not greasy! I will definitely come back to this method for wings!
This is simply a great recipe. I find 450 is too hot – smokes the kitchen (though the wings are still delicious and crispy). On subsequent suppers, I was much happier when the oven was set at 425.
I’m so glad you like it! And thanks for letting me know.
I made this for my family to try it out for a potluck . The cooking method made for crispy yummy wings. I didn’t feel the original recipe had enough flavor which may be because I didn’t have any coriander, so I used a salt-free seasoning blend which worked well. I tweaked it the second time by liberally salting the water and adding 2 cloves of minced garlic to the water. I also added a clove of minced garlic to the sauce. I tossed them in the sauce in my crockpot which I put on warm while delivering and serving at the dinner. They were a huge hit.