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I am so excited to share these honey buffalo baked chicken wings with you!!!
I have tried to make baked chicken wings that taste as good as ones served at restaurants for years. I have never even come close to restaurant style chicken wings. I mean they were edible and tasted good, but they just weren’t up to the standard I was hoping for.
I had thought that maybe it was just never gonna be as good fried in oil is it was when it was baked. Then I found this recipe from the Domestic Geek and thought I would try again.
OMG nailed it! Her technique to toss the wings in cornstarch and bake them at a high heat, 450 degrees Fahrenheit really made all the difference. I also found that greasing my pan with oil was helpful to prevent the skin from sticking. Lining the pan with foil? Simply, to make clean up a breeze.
I must let you know that these baked chicken wings aren’t super crispy. There can be crispy bits here and there but they aren’t as crispy as if you were to fry them in oil. Anyways, any crispiness there might ever be on a wing is immediately softened up when it’s tossed in the sauce.
If you want a crispier experience, then I recommend serving the sauce on the side and dipping as you eat. For me though, I love a chicken wing that’s well coated in sauce.
What makes these baked chicken wings so much closer to restaurant style chicken wings is that the skin on the chicken isn’t soggy. It cooks down nicely with bits of crispy skin here and there so that the skin adds a nice flavor without a super fatty greasy bite. We have the cornstarch to thank for that, which helps absorb any of that grease as the wings cook.
Moving on to the sauce!!! I made a honey buffalo sauce to go on these baked chicken wings.
Oh man, it’s sooo good!!!
Like, I-never-want-plain-buffalo-sauce-on-my-wings-again good! And that’s saying a lot, because I enjoy a good buffalo sauce.
It’s simple, all I did was add quite a bit of honey to a regular buffalo sauce and let it simmer for just a few minutes to thicken. What happens is the sugar cooks down creating a slightly thickened and slightly sticky sauce that clings to the chicken wings!
It’s a perfect balance of hot and spicy. And if you’re not a HUGE fan of spice but don’t mind a little, this honey buffalo sauce might be perfect for you because the honey tones the level of spiciness down quite a bit.
Seriously, don’t think I can go back to just regular plain old buffalo sauce. At least not when I am in charge ha!
I have already brainstormed more recipes to feature this spicy sweet, sticky honey buffalo sauce! So. In. Love.
Paul worked at a pizza place for 8 years that also served buffalo wings. He couldn’t stop commenting on how good these baked chicken wings were, and how much he liked the honey buffalo sauce. That’s gotta mean they’re legitimately good, right?!
Of course, what’s any kind of chicken wing without a side of celery sticks, carrot sticks, and some ranch and/or blue cheese dressing for dipping? They help to cool things down and add veggies to the mix. I for one, am all for it!
You are gonna adore these honey buffalo baked chicken wings! They are juicy, tender, just slightly crispy, and coated in that perfect balance of sweet and spicy sauce that sticks right to the wings.
They are super easy to make – 40 minutes, tops. We ate them for dinner, which was fun, but they would also make a great appetizer at any party or dinner.
Hello football season!!!
I mean, what better appetizer/finger food to chow down on while watching a football game? I know you will be watching it, but I will just be focused on these baked chicken wings and look up confused every time someone cheers for a touch down ha!
True story!
As you know, I am not a football fan but I do care about the food you eat at the parties…
Here are more finger food appetizer recipes you will love:
- 11 layer taco dip
- spicy chipotle honey meatballs with cooling cilantro lime sauce
- loaded buffalo chicken hummus dip
- loaded Greek hummus
- 8 ingredient homemade salsa
- salmon cream cheese ball
- healthy Greek yogurt dill dip
- slow cooker curried trail mix
GO TEAM FOODIES! Who’s with me?!
If you made this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment below, along with a star rating. This helps other people find my recipes easier, and I enjoy hearing from you. Thanks friends!
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Honey Buffalo Baked Chicken Wings
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: about 12 wings (3 to 4 people as an appetizer, 2 people as a meal) 1x
- Category: appetizer, entree, chicken
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: gluten free
Description
Restaurant style baked chicken wings are coated in a sticky, sweet, spicy honey buffalo sauce. They are the perfect appetizer for any party, or even served as an entree.
Ingredients
chicken wings
- 1 to 1.25 pounds mix of chicken wings and drums (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Honey buffalo sauce
- 3/4 cup hot sauce (I use Frank’s red hot)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Options for serving
- carrot sticks
- celery sticks
- ranch dressing
- blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Prepare: 20 minutes before you are going to make your chicken wings pull the chicken wings out of the fridge so that they start to come to room temp, this will help with even cooking. Once you’re ready to make your wings preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with foil and grease well, set aside.
- Coat the wings: To a large zipper bag add the corn starch and salt and pepper. Add the chicken wings to the bag, seal the bag and toss to coat, making sure all of the chicken is well coated.
- Bake: Use tongs to transfer the coated chicken wings on to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken wings and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow the chicken wings to rest for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Make the honey buffalo sauce: While the wings are baking make the sauce. Add all of the ingredients to a small sauce pan. Turn the heat to high and stir until the butter melts, allow the mixture to come to a boil. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce reduces slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
- Coat in sauce: Once the wings have cooled just until they have stopped sizzling add them to a large mixing bowl along with 1/4 cup of the honey buffalo sauce. Use tongs to toss the wings in the sauce.
- Serve: Transfer the wings that are coated in sauce to a serving platter. You can use the extra sauce to put into a bowl for dipping or drizzling. Serve with celery sticks and carrot sticks, along with small bowls of ranch dressing and/or blue cheese dressing for dipping – if desired. Enjoy immediately while hot.
Notes
Chicken wings: When choosing chicken wings make sure to buy the smaller ones, like what you would think of when you get them at a restaurant. The large ones won’t crisp up or cook as nicely as the small ones. Also, if you prefer to have all drums or all wings then fell free to make all one type.
Keep the chicken wings warm: If you need to wait to serve the wings you can keep them warm in a 150 to 200 Fahrenheit oven. Then toss in the warm sauce just before serving. I wouldn’t recommend keeping them in the oven for more than 30 minutes, otherwise they will risk drying out.
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