These Crispy Garlic Butter Chicken Wings are addictive! They come together in no time and THEY ARE CRISPY on the outside and tender on the inside without the need for deep-frying. They’re tossed into a garlicky chilly butter sauce that literally makes them finger-licking heaven and the yoghurt dip that comes with them is simply the best pairing they could have to balance all the flavours. They make an amazing “tapa”, appetizer or main since they are seriously so easy and delicious!
Chicken wings are always a winner dish, both for children and adults. They can be made in so many ways and there are so many versions. We often see recipes for fried chicken wings that are undeniably very good, but they have a couple of small drawbacks:
- Either you have a very large pot for deep-frying or a deep-fryer, or you will surely have to cook in batches.
- If we want to eat them often… daily deep-fried meals aren’t the most convenient thing (although again, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t super tasty).
By cooking them in the oven we don’t need to cook in batches, they can all be baked in one go, and it’s a healthier version. And yes, they can still be very crispy!
Tips & Tricks to Get Crispy Chicken Wings Every Single Time
This recipe is very, very easy, but in order to get crispy chicken wings, there’re a few things to bear in mind.
- Dry your wings: this not only helps with getting a crispy skin, but also so the dredge adheres well.
- Corn starch: you will see that some recipes call for baking powder, but guess what’s its main ingredient. Cornstarch! It creates a layer on the skin of the wings that helps them crisp up without using baking powder, which could leave a trace of a weird flavour.
- Use a baking rack: place the wings on a baking rack so that the steam that is generated while baking them can escape. Otherwise, it gets trapped between the wing and the contact surface preventing the skin from getting crispy.
- Do not stack the wings: it’s a trick that I always share with you when we make oven-fried vegetables or chicken and we want them crispy. The reason is the same as in the previous point, we want to let the steam escape. In this case, the important thing is to bake the wings in a single layer and leave a small gap between them.
- High oven temperature: another trick that I always remark as well. To get crispy results we have to bake at a high temperature, above 200ºC, at some point.
- Flip the wings: it’s very important to flip the wings so that they’re crispy on all sides. Flipping them only takes a few seconds and it’s soooo worth it (I can tell you from experience, since recently I didn’t do it because I was being lazy and guess what happened, they didn’t turn out crispy. This was the only different thing I did from the whole process).
IMPORTANT! Eat immediately after tossing the crispy chicken wings with the butter sauce. The longer they lay on a tray waiting, the less crispy they will be.
The Garlic Butter Sauce
Since we aren’t marinating the chicken in this recipe, something had to be done to enhance the flavours and hence this butter sauce with garlic, paprika and cayenne pepper.
Why do I use the spices in the sauce and not in the dredge? I find that if we put spices in the dredge, they lose intensity while baking. That’s why I decided to try a sauce that not only has the flavours of the spices I like to taste in crispy wings, but also enhances them.
You’ll see that I toss the wings into this sauce and this is because the flavour it brings is superb, I think it’s not really optional XD. But if you prefer, you can serve this garlic butter sauce on the side as a dip and dip the wings in it instead of eating them with the yoghurt dip.
Lemon Yoghurt Dip
The chicken wings with the butter sauce are already beyond amazing but… I think that a touch of freshness always goes well with spicy dishes and with fat ingredients (in this case the butter). Specifically, dairy, like yoghurt in this case, is perfect to offset the spiciness and lemon is the perfect pairing to balance the butter sauce.
If you don’t use this dip, I actually recommend that you add lemon to the butter sauce and/or that you serve the wings with lemon wedges so people can drizzle some lemon juice over them if they want to. I don’t add lemon to the sauce simply because I thought of this crispy garlic butter chicken wings recipe as a whole, wings and dip, which already contains lemon.
Other dip ideas
Can I Use Drumettes too, Not Just Flats?
Absolutely! In this recipe, you can use both the wingette – flat – and the drumette of a chicken wing. I use the flat, as you can see in the photos, just because this is what we like the most at home. We won’t be using the wing tips though, but DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY! Save them to make chicken stock.
On another note, if you use the whole chicken wing, I suggest that you separate the drummer from the wingette. This makes sure that the dredge and later on the butter sauce cover the wing better and makes the wings easier to eat.
Can I Make This Recipe in an Air-Fryer?
YES! But unfortunately, I don’t have one, so can’t suggest what’d be the ideal temperature or oven time. Cozy Cravings has a recipe for air-fryer wings that you can maybe use as a guide. Also, my friends that have one have told me that they usually come with an oven/air-fryer conversion guide that can be used to know the time and temperature required.
More Appetizers to Serve with These Crispy Garlic Butter Chicken Wings
If you make this Crispy Garlic Butter Chicken Wings recipe, be sure to leave a comment and rate it. Hearing from you is everything! Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
Crispy Garlic Butter Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Chicken Wings
- 1.25 kg chicken wings - wingettes and drumettes both work (discard the wing tip, but save it for stock)
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 4 tsp olive oil
Garlic Butter Sauce
- 50 g butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper - more or less to taste. See notes.
- 2 cloves of garlic - minced or grated
Yoghurt Dip
- 250 g Greek yoghurt
- Pinch of salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Fresh herbs - chives, parsley, cilantro… to garnish (optional)
Instructions
Chicken Wings
- Preheat the oven to 230ºC (210ºC fan assisted).
- Dry your chicken wings with paper towel and place them in a bowl. Toss them with corn starch, salt, black pepper and olive oil.
- Arrange the wings on a baking rack in a single layer and with a small gap in between, starting with the skin side up (with a tray underneath to collect the juices and to ensure we don't make a mess in the oven). Bake for 20 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crisp.
- While the wings are baking, prepare the rest.
Yoghurt Dip
- In a small bowl mix the yoghurt with the salt, lemon zest (it's better to directly zest the lemon over the bowl to collect all of its essential oils) and lemon juice. Set aside. See notes if you don't want to use this dip.
Garlic Butter Sauce
- 5 minutes before taking the wings out of the oven, prepare the butter sauce (we don't make it earlier because we want this sauce to be liquid). Melt the butter over low heat so it doesn't brown. Once liquid, add the paprika, the cayenne pepper and the garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes over low heat to release all the flavours. Set aside.
To Serve
- Remove the wings from the oven, let them rest for 1 minute and place them in a bowl with the released juices if you want to use them. Toss the butter sauce over the wings until fully coated.
- Finish with chopped fresh herbs if using them and serve with the yoghurt dip on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t like spicy, you can swap the cayenne pepper with more regular paprika or with smoked paprika even if you like a smokey touch.
- If you don’t use the yoghurt dip, I recommend that you add lemon to the butter sauce and/or that you serve the wings with lemon wedges so people can drizzle some lemon juice over them if they want to.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @paulasapron on Instagram and hashtag it #paulasapron.