Health-Bent

No Fry Crispy Chicken Wings

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by

Megan Keatley
in

oven crispy chicken wings

There is no longer a need to go out and gorge on chicken wings at some seedy sports bar. This is the easiest way I have every cooked chicken in my entire life. Chicken wings are my idea of a perfect food. They require very little attention in the oven and don’t need lots of complicated flavors or marinating .

Ingredients

Method

Put your oven on high broil and place the rack in the middle of the oven.

Drizzle the wings with your F.O.C. and sprinkle, quite liberally, with salt and pepper. Place the chicken wings, skin side down, on a baking sheet. Place in the oven. Broil on the upside down side for about 12 minutes, then using some tongs, flip them over and continue to broil, about another 25 minutes. The goal is to get the skin very brown and crispy, if it’s not, they’re not done. Soggy chicken wing skin is not tasty, so do not under cook it!

Flavors

We’ve made these a few times and experimented with some different wing flavors. Whatever you decide to do with them, make sure to add the liquids to a big bowl and then add the crispy chicken wings, so you can effectively coat each wing. Please share if you’ve concocted anything you find particularly awesome.

  • 1/2 c balsamic vinegar, reduced on the stove so it’s a little sticky
  • 3 T fresh, chopped rosemary
  • 4 oz. melted butter
  • hot sauce, to taste (use a vinegary one like Frank’s or Tabasco)

Comments

27 responses to “No Fry Crispy Chicken Wings”

  1. Charles

    Great recipe!

    But is it okay to eat them, THEN go out to some seedy sports bar?

    Reply
    1. Brandon Keatley

      Ha, of course, but the seedy sports bar is now optional….as is the additional damaged PUFA in the wings.

      Reply
  2. Monica

    Sorry, two stupid questions: Do you marinade in the sauce first or does the sauce go on after broiling? At what level should the oven rack be? I tend to burn stuff under the broiler.

    They look amazing! Just want to make sure I get it right!

    Reply
    1. megan keatley

      those are not stupid questions. i should have mentioned this in the recipe!

      1. the sauce goes on after the broil.
      2. the rack should be in the middle of the oven.

      let us know how they turn out for you!

      Reply
      1. Kelly McCullough

        I am having these for my birthday 🙂 I cant wait! The time I had them they were AMAZING 🙂

        Reply
  3. Jessie

    I made these last night and they were incredible. Such an easy and delicious way to make chicken wings, which are usually one of my paleo downfalls. Thanks!!

    Reply
  4. megan keatley

    so glad you liked them! thanks jessie!

    Reply
  5. Casey

    Tried these, they were great. Would have been much easier if I had bought the wings already cut apart (but saved the tips for stock).

    Tried with a modified version of spicy garlic from: http://meemoskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/buffalo-wild-wings-and-buffalo-sauces.html

    but, modified walnut oil for veg oil (didn’t use a full half cup), used a bit less sugar…will try with none next time… and a bit of arrowroot in place of th 2 T of corn starch (not sure this was needed at all).

    Love the site by the way, thanks!

    Reply
    1. megan keatley

      oh man that recipe looks good. i love frank’s hot sauce. i’m a total sucker for a good wing.

      Reply
  6. Paul Cleary

    AWESOME!

    Yes, you should have the wings already cut first. I had 1.5 lbs of wingettes (already cut), and 1.5 lbs of full wings (not cut). The wingettes came out a lot better.

    I used Ghee for FOC.

    I will never buy wings again from anywhere else. The whole family loved them.

    Reply
  7. Brandon Keatley

    that’s an amazing compliment, thanks so much.

    Reply
  8. Em

    I dont know which is better the fact that they were crispy and delicious or that they were super easy to make. We used Franks hot sauce Yum!!! Thank you for sharing

    Reply
    1. megan keatley

      both! hehehehe. glad you enjoyed. thanks em!

      Reply
  9. Lauren

    What are some examples of Fats of Choice??

    Reply
    1. megan keatley

      bacon fat, coconut oil, palm oil or shortening, duck fat, butter/ghee

      Reply
  10. Charissa

    Oh man, duck fat….that is sinful (Yum!) I think I’ll try a combo of ghee and bacon fat. My little girl loves chicken wings! Thanks!

    Reply
    1. megan keatley

      you are very welcome charissa!

      Reply
  11. Madison

    Made these wings on a whim after my husband requested football food to enjoy while watching his game. They were fantastic! Made with your sauce and all my non paleo boys loved them including the 3 and 7 year olds! Thank you!

    Reply
  12. John

    Hello! I’m confused about the “sauce” part..? do you mix all the listed things together in a bowl, and after the wings have cooked and come out hot from the oven, put them in the bowl and move them around to coat them?

    Sorry, really really new to cooking!

    Also, with that in mind, the fat of choice.. when you say “drizzle” over them.. you mean like, pour a little over each wing? do you put any on the baking sheet first and spread it around? I’m confused as to how, if you didn’t, the wings wouldn’t just stick to the baking sheet…? Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    1. Health-Bent

      the sauce part is two separate suggestions. we wouldn’t recommend mixing all that together…perhaps we should have been more clear.

      idea 1: rosemary balsamic wings – reduce some balsamic vinegar until sticky and add chopped rosemary and toss in wings to coat

      idea 2: regular hot wings – melt butter and add hot sauce and toss wings to coat

      easiest way to coat with your FOC is to have the wings in a mixing bowl and pour the FOC over them while you toss with your other hand…same goes for seasoning with the S&P. get them all coated in your bowl and then place them on the sheet tray…ready to go.

      Reply
  13. Pat

    These were so dang good!!! (I only used the cooking method, not the sauce recipe this time)…I’ve never broiled anything in the middle of the oven…always try to get close to the element…and usually always burns…these were super crispy, just like they were fried. I put them on a drip rack, not sure if that made any difference or not…I’m wondering if this method works with other foods as well…aka french fries, regular chicken…

    Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
  14. Pia

    These are sooooo good!!!! They are on the weekly rotation now! Thank you for such a good recipe.

    Reply
  15. Marny

    I was super excited to try this method, and sadly for me, it completely failed 🙁 I don’t think it was the recipe’s fault though, I think it was a few things I should have considered before trying to broil something on high for 40+ minutes…

    1. I probably should have cleaned my oven first. I cook a lot of bacon in there and there is grease galore built up on the sides. Within minutes of the wings being in, my oven was pouring smoke and an awful smell with it :/ Good thing it’s summer and I could throw open every door and window in the house!

    2. Maybe this was just my experience, but I think the type of pan you use may matter. I generally prefer stoneware, but it’s a no-no under the broiler, so I opted to use my PFOA-free non-stick metal pans. Again within minutes under the high heat, they were warped so badly they were practically boat shaped, and I think this may have been where the awful burnt chemical smell was coming from :s

    So in the end, I ended up baking the wings at 350F for about 35 minutes and then broiling them on LOW for about 5 minutes per side. They did still end up crispy, but boy was it a fiasco to get them there, lol 😀 I would try this recipe again but I’ll have to see about taking care of the above problems beforehand. I thought I’d post my experience just in case anyone else needs to clean a grimy oven or consider what pan to use before attempting this otherwise awesome-sounding recipe!

    Reply
  16. Marykate

    This is the first health-bent recipe I have tried and it was a huge success! I love the simplicity of this recipe. I pretty much followed the directions exactly (12 min, flip, and cook another 20) and paired with some fresh watermelon! Superb! Nice and crispy!

    Reply
  17. Kayla

    Another tip for the sauce…thats a cheap and delicious choice is they now have a luisianna wing sauce (orange colored, looks like hooters sauce) at the dollar tree!!! Trying it out tonight for the super bowl party.

    Reply
  18. Elise

    If I use a dry rub, would I put it on before or after?

    Reply
  19. Leanne

    They make something similar to this in Japan, sprinkle the chicken wings with salt, pepper and dried basil leaves (not too much), toss and allow to stand for 15minutes and then grill/broil. No FOC needed. Kids scoff them down. Seriously good!

    Reply

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