Baked Buffalo Wings {with Blue Cheese Dip}

Published January 30, 2020

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Easy to make Buffalo Wings – crispy baked chicken wings are coated in an addictive, fiery hot buffalo wing sauce and served with a side of creamy, tangy blue cheese dip for dunking. This is how you do game day snacking!

Platter full of buffalo wings coated in a buffalo wing sauce served with a side of blue cheese sauce and celery sticks.

Spicy buffalo wings just like the restaurants serve! Here made in the comfort of home without the deep frying hassle and mess!

These oven baked buffalo chicken wings are the perfect party food! Who could resist?

They’re rich and buttery, lightly sweet with hints of honey and of course extra spicy. Because that’s the best thing about buffalo wings – that bold punch of heat and the taste of hot chilies.

And what’s the perfect thing to compliment them every time? Blue cheese dip. It’s just a simple, creamy sauce made up of minimal ingredients but it also packs a lot of flavor.

Together this tasty duo is sure to impress! What else can pack this much flavor in one little bite?

Buffalo wings

Ingredients Needed for Buffalo Wings and Buffalo Wing Sauce

  • Chicken wings – wondering which to buy? See notes below about chicken wings.
  • Baking powder – use aluminum-free baking powder or you’ll be left with a light metallic taste.
  • Salt and pepper
  • Unsalted butter – this helps mellow the sauce. If you want to make the sauce richer double up on the butter.
  • Hot sauce – I like to use the original Frank’s hot sauce here.
  • Cornstarch – this is optional if you want to thicken the sauce up, keep in mind this does also intensify the heat a little as you’ll end up with a thicker coating on the wings.
  • Honey – this balances the heat just a little and adds a nice faint sweetness. Feel free to up the amount if desired for sweet and spicy buffalo wings.

Ingredients shown here that are needed to make buffalo wings and sauce.

Ingredients Needed for Blue Cheese Dip

  • Sour cream – light sour cream could be substituted.
  • Mayonnaise – light mayonnaise can be substituted, it obviously just won’t be as rich.
  • Garlic and onion powder – if you’d like you could use fresh garlic just use 1/2 tsp minced.
  • Fresh parsley – for extra flavor you can add some chives as well (then omit the onion powder).
  • Blue cheese – I like to freshly crumble it up vs. buying pre-crumbled for best flavor.

Ingredients shown here that go into blue cheese dip for buffalo wings.

How to Make Buffalo Wings

  • Ready oven and baking sheet: Position oven racks to lower middle and upper middle positions. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil then set a large wire rack over baking sheet, spray rack with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Dry chicken, toss with baking powder mixture: Whisk together baking powder with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Dab chicken pieces dry with paper towels then place in a large bowl, sprinkle mixture over chicken. Toss well to evenly coat.
  • Place chicken on prepared wire rack, bake in lower portion of oven: Arrange chicken pieces on wire rack leaving space between each. Bake in preheated oven on lower middle rack 30 minutes.
  • Move wings up in oven, continue to bake: Move wings to upper middle rack, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue to bake until chicken is golden brown and crisp, rotating once halfway through, about 45 – 50 minutes longer.
  • Toss with sauce: Place wings in a large clean bowl and toss with desired amount of buffalo sauce.

Image showing all the steps to making buffalo wings and sauce.

How to Make Blue Cheese Dip

  1. Near the end of wings baking: Whisk together cornstarch with 1 Tbsp water until blended.

  2. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add hot sauce and honey, cover and bring to a light simmer.

  3. Add cornstarch mixture and cook and stir about 20 seconds, until lightly thickened. Remove from heat cover and keep warm.

Blue cheese dip shown before and after mixing ingredients in glass mixing bowl.

About Chicken Wings

So there are three portions of the chicken wing – the wing tip (or the flapper), the wingette, and the drumette. Here we only use the wingette and the drumette because there’s not really any meat on the wing tip.

To make buffalo wings you’ll need to 1) buy whole wings and separate each of the 3 portions yourself or 2) buy pre-cut chicken wing sections or party wings which are already ready to go.

How to Cut Chicken Wings into Portions

If you are wondering how to cut and separate each portion of the wing you can watch this video here. Basically you’ll just be cutting wings at the joints separating each into 3 pieces, then discarding the tips or save them for homemade chicken stock.

Buffalo wings dipped in blue cheese dip.

Tips for the Best Buffalo Wings

  • Dab wings dry before baking, so they can brown and crisp up better.
  • Toss with baking powder to help dry out the chicken skin, again for a crispier end result.
  • Add butter and honey to lightly tone and balance that heat of the hot sauce. Feel free to add more to taste.
  • Toss wings with a heated sauce. You don’t want to add cold from the fridge hot sauce to warm wings.
  • You don’t need to add all of the sauce. If you don’t want an overload of heat then just start with half of it, freeze the rest.
  • Serve coated wings right away for best results.

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Buffalo Wings
5 from 2 votes

Baked Buffalo Wings {with Blue Cheese Dip}

Crispy baked chicken wings are coated in an addictive, fiery hot buffalo wing sauce and served with a side of creamy, tangy blue cheese dip for dunking. This is how you do game day snacking!
Servings: 10
Prep25 minutes
Cook1 hour 15 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

Wings

Buffalo Sauce

Blue Cheese Dip {Optional}

Instructions

For the Wings

  • Arrange oven racks in upper middle and lower middle portion of the oven. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil then set a large wire rack over baking sheet, spray rack with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a small bowl whisk together baking powder with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.
  • Dab chicken pieces dry with paper towels then place in a large bowl, sprinkle baking powder mixture over chicken. Toss well to evenly coat.
  • Arrange chicken pieces on wire rack leaving space between each. Bake in preheated oven on lower middle rack 30 minutes.
  • Move wings to upper middle rack, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue to bake until chicken is golden brown and crisp, rotating pan once halfway through, about 45 - 50 minutes longer.
  • Place wings in a large clean bowl and toss with desired amount of buffalo sauce.

For the Sauce

  • Near the end of wings baking: Whisk together cornstarch with 1 Tbsp water until blended.
  • Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add hot sauce and honey, cover and bring to a light simmer.
  • Add cornstarch mixture and cook and stir about 20 seconds, until lightly thickened. Remove from heat cover and keep warm.

For the Blue Cheese Dip

  • Mix together all ingredients, season lightly with pepper and salt if needed. Preferably let rest at least 30 minutes in refrigerator.

Notes

  • *Buy pre-cut wings to save prep time. To cut whole wings, cut at joints and discard the wing tips. Here is a video tutorial.
  • **If you'd like you can double up on the butter for a richer sauce.
  • ***The cornstarch just helps thicken the sauce up a little, it can be omitted just omit the water too. Then just heat sauce until warmed.
  • Nutrition estimate is for wings only, does not include dip as it is optional.
  • Wings cooking method adapted from Cook's Country.
Nutrition Facts
Baked Buffalo Wings {with Blue Cheese Dip}
Amount Per Serving
Calories 259 Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 84mg28%
Sodium 940mg41%
Potassium 349mg10%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 18g36%
Vitamin A 288IU6%
Vitamin C 19mg23%
Calcium 84mg8%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

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12 Comments

  • Alice

    I made this recipe on Super Bowl Sunday. The wings were delicious! I used ranch dressing and seasoned the Buffalo Sauce to taste. The wings were crispy and the sauce stayed on the wings. These were much better than any that I have purchased in the supermarket.Thank you for sharing your recipe.

  • TimN

    Would love to try this recipe! I am confused about the cooking time. I understand “Bake in preheated oven on lower middle rack 30 minutes” but where I am getting lost is “…about 45 – 50 minutes longer.”

    Is that 45 – 50 minutes total cooking time or is that 45 – 50 minutes LONGER?

    Thanks!

      • tim neatrour

        Totally amazing!! They turned out restaurant quality! Wish I could post you a picture!

        • Jaclyn

          Jaclyn Bell

          I’m glad they were a success! Thanks for your feedback! Sorry I don’t have an option here for photos.

  • Houda

    Crispy and delicious! Didn’t separate wings to save time; and took them out of the oven a little early.

  • Lisa Best

    Can I use this recipe with an air fryer? Would I still use the baking powder on the wings?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I don’t own an air fryer so I couldn’t say for sure but I would imagine they should work well in an air fryer and I would probably still use the baking powder.

    • Cynthia Mayovsky

      Yes, Lisa Best! I’ve made these in the air fryer and they turn of awesome but must be done in batches. Baking powder is the key to crispy skin (no oil used at all in AF)! I’m looking forward to trying this oven method!