This ingredient will make your homemade chicken wings nice and crispy: Video

Something about crispy chicken wings just hits the spot. The finger food pairs well with parties, friends and your team winning. 

Making crispy wings is easier than you might think and can be achieved whether you’re baking them, air frying them or smoking them. Regardless of how you cook them, there's one ingredient that should always be in the mix to help crisp them up: baking powder. It draws out moisture from the skin without changing the flavor of your wings. 

Watch this video for our side-by-side comparison of wings made with baking powder and without. 

Extra crispy wings

Moisture is the enemy of crispiness! A crispy wing starts before you even begin preparing them. Before cooking or storing the chicken in the fridge, pat them down with a paper towel to remove moisture.

When it’s time to cook, start by evenly coating the chicken with your favorite seasoning blend and oil. Then, sprinkle in enough baking powder to evenly coat the wings. Drizzle with more oil and get the wings well coated before cooking. 

If you have more time:

1. Evenly coat the wings with salt. 
2. Add baking powder. 
3. Put the wings on a sheet tray in the fridge overnight. 
4. Pat the chicken dry again.
5. Season them, oil them and cook. 

Letting it sit overnight allows the baking powder to draw out even more moisture and the salt will really infuse into the meat, making it more flavorful. 

This method also works really well for preparing whole chickens or turkeys. 

If you’re cooking the wings in the oven, place the wings with the fattier side up on a rack on a baking sheet. It’ll render down with more exposure to the heat. 

You can cook at a lower temperature until it’s just about done in the middle, then increase the heat to really crisp up the skin. But if you’re looking for an easier, less-involved method, cooking them in a hot oven will also do the trick. Just remember to flip them half way through cooking. 

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Wing flavors 

No matter the flavor you’re going for, start by seasoning the chicken wings with salt, pepper, garlic, baking powder and avocado oil. 

Next, add any additional dry seasonings for you wings. This can be store-bought or homemade spice blends, paprika, cayenne, etc. 

Bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 425ºF. 

Remove the wings and add the wet sauces. Slather the wings and flip them so they cook evenly. 

• For lemon pepper wings: Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil or avocado oil, garlic, parsley and pepper. 
• For garlic parmesan wings: Combine garlic, parsley, salt, melted butter or olive oil, pepper and parmesan. 
• For buffalo or Nashville hot wings: Combine paprika, cayenne, brown sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder. You can also add some of your favorite hot sauce or buffalo sauce.

These wet sauces are entirely to taste, so add as little or as much of each ingredient as you prefer. 

Put them back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes until they’re fully cooked.