Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings - So Easy - Recipe Winners (2024)

Prep: 20 minutes | Drying Time: 3-24 Hours | Ingredients: 7 | Serves: 4

Who doesn’t like chicken wings all crispy and golden on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside? Lightly seasoned and then dusted with a salt and pepper combo that just brings it all together. Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings have a couple of secrets that we’re going to share with you to ensure you achieve the crispiest juiciest wings.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are oven-baked so there’s no messy cleanup. They are so good on their own or dipped in your favourite sauce, once you’ve tried wings cooked this way there’ll be no going back to deep-frying!

At A Glance This Is What You Need To Make Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings

Secrets To Making The Best Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings

We’ve followed the brilliant J. Kenji Lopez Alt from Serious Eats who goes into a very lengthy scientific explanation of what occurs and why one would use baking powder on your chicken wings.

We’ve broken that down to the two main points being drying the chicken and using a small amount of baking powder to achieve a perfect golden and crispy chicken wing.

These Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are oven-baked rather than deep-fried and it’s almost impossible to tell that they haven’t been fried they’re that crispy.

There’s a couple of bonuses to baking and not frying. 1. Your home won’t smell of oil 2. you’re not left with the quandary of what to do with all of that expensive oil when you’ve finished 3. baking is also perfect for cooks who aren’t comfortable with deep frying. 😃 This is a win-win when you think about it, and don’t forget there’s no messy oil cleanup at the end.

Should You Dry Chicken Wings Before Cooking?

One of the keys to achieving crispy, oven-baked chicken wings is to make sure the skin is totally dry. Pat your chicken wing pieces with a cloth or paper towel so that they’re really dry and devoid of any moisture. Dust with the baking powder, salt, onion and garlic powder so the pieces are evenly coated.

Lay the pieces on a cake rack placed over a shallow baking tray lined with foil to lessen the clean up time. 🥰 Pop the tray in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours and take them straight from the fridge to the oven whenever you’re ready to cook them, or if you’re short on time try to give them at least a couple of hours in the fridge.

Drying Chicken Wings

Try to give your wings an overnight stay in the fridge as this helps them dry and crisp up faster when you bake them. Patience is the key here. It simply means that you need to be a little organised in your prep if you want the best crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. Ever!

Why Do You Put Baking Powder On Chicken Wings?

Baking powder is the magic ingredient to achieve crispy skin without adding extra oil. The trick of using baking powder is an old chef’s secret that’s out of the bag now. Using baking powder you’ll achieve the crispiest, crackliest bites of skin which let’s face it is just what we’re looking for. 👍

Baking Powder is a slightly alkaline mixture that raises the skins pH levels which allows proteins to break down more efficiently, giving you crisper, more evenly browned results. Who Knew!

How To Make Our Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings

1. use a sharp knife to joint the wings and discard the tips ( they’re perfect frozen and used to make a stock)
2. use a cloth or paper towel to dry the wings
3. in a small bowl combine the baking powder, some of the salt, onion and garlic powders
4. place the wings into a large bowl and dust the wings with some of the baking powder mixture, then mix with your hand andrepeat several times until the wings are evenly coated and all of the mixture has been used
5. place the wings onto a cake rake over a foil lined baking tray and refrigerate for at least several hours upto 24 hours to let the wings really dry and give the baking powder time to work it’s magic
6. cook until golden and crisp then finish with the remaining salt and black pepper – (optional top with finely sliced shallots and chilli to add a nice spice to the wings)

Hot Tip – Baking Powder vs Baking Soda

Don’t confuse baking powder with bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). Baking powder is a mixture of bicarbonate and a weak acid, such as cream of tartar, whereby bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is pure sodium bicarbonate with nothing else added.

Tossing The Chicken Wings With The Powders

Mix the onion, garlic and baking powder along with the salt. Sprinkle a little of the mixture over the wings and toss, then sprinkle and toss a couple more times so each wing has been coated evenly with the mixture.

Watch How To Make Our Super Crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken wings

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Air Fryer Chicken Wings With Baking Powder – A Must Try!

Air frying chicken wings make the most crispy and moist wings. If you’ve invested in one of these popular countertop wonders chances are you’ve already tried cooking chicken wings. The baking powder addition results in extra crispy chicken skin which let’s face it is exactly what we’re after. 👍

What To Serve With Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings?

These wings are fantastic on their own but feel free to serve your favourite chilli sauce, Homemade Whole Egg Mayonnaise, Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, Homemade Ranch Dressing or our Ginger and Shallot Dipping Sauce.

Don’t forget to rate this recipe and let us know what you thought when you make these fabulous Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings in the reviews below.

Yield: 4 serves

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Additional Time: 1 day

Total Time: 1 day 55 minutes

Who doesn’t like chicken wings all crispy and golden on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside? Lightly seasoned and then dusted with a salt and pepper combo that just brings it all together.Salt and Pepper Chicken Wingshave a couple of secrets that we’re going to share with you to ensure you achieve the crispiest juiciest wings.

Ingredients

• 1 kg (2 pounds) chicken wings, tips discarded and wing cut in half
• 2 teaspoon baking powder (make sure you don't use bicarb soda (baking soda)
• 1 teaspoon powdered onion
• 1 teaspoon powdered garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons finely milled Szechuan or black peppercorns
• 2 shallots (scallions) finely sliced - optional
• 1 red chill finely sliced - optional

Instructions

1. joint chicken wings, discarding the wing tips (freeze these for making stock)
2. use paper towel or a cloth to pat the wings until they are dry
3. mix together the onion, garlic and baking powder along with 1 teaspoon of the salt
4. place wings in a large bowl and sprinkle a little of the mixture over the wings and give them a toss before adding more mixture and tossing again (do this 3 or 4 times)
5. line a low sided baking tray with foil and place a cake rack on the tray
6. spread the chicken pieces over the rack and place in the refrigerator uncovered for 3-24 hours - see notes below
7. when you're ready to cook the wings preheat the oven to 210c (410f)
8. place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes turning halfway through
9. mix 1 teaspoon of salt with the pepper - see notes below
10. when wings are cooked, golden and crispy place in a bowl and sprinkle the salt and pepper along with the shallot and chilli if using
11. enjoy!

Notes

1. 1. you can skip the drying time if you're short on time, but the longer you dry them the crisper your wings will be.
2. all salts are not created equal, so a word of caution - use the salt sparingly, taste and add more if desired.
3. we used Maldon salt not a fine table salt

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 48Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 11mgSodium 1354mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 2g

Nutritional information provided here is only intended as a guide.

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