Oven-Fried Old Bay Chicken Wings

Crispy, oven-fried chicken wings with a taste of the Maryland bay.

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated February 10, 2023
Two oven-fried Old Bay chicken wings with a tin of Old Bay blurred out in the top left corner of the image.

Serious Eats / Josh Bousel

Why It Works

  • Tossing the wings with baking powder, salt, and Old Bay seasoning before an overnight rest in the fridge produced incredibly crisp, well-seasoned wings.

I enjoy all varieties of chicken wings, but sometimes I get a real hankering for plain old Buffalo wings. Without big expectations, I picked a recipe for fairly normal hot wings, except they get a toss of Old Bay before being baked. It was especially fitting since I had a Maryland girl coming over to eat them with me. The result was so different from Buffalo wings, and so incredibly satisfying, I'd be doing a disservice not sharing them with my fellow SE'rs.

I took Kenji's oven-fried wings method and added some baking powder into the mix with the Old Bay and salt. After an overnight in the fridge, they cooked up incredibly crisp in the oven and were finished with a combination of equal parts butter, Frank's Red Hot, and Worcestershire.

That taste of the Maryland shore did wonders for the wings, which had only passing resemblance to hot wings. These are their own thing. The Worcestershire and Old Bay dominated, and it's a stellar combo. As I watched a Maryland native going from one wing to the next, with a finale of finger licking, I knew I had a winning recipe on my hands.

January 2011

Recipe Details

Oven-Fried Old Bay Chicken Wings Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 45 mins
Active 30 mins
Chilling Time 8 hrs
Total 8 hrs 50 mins
Serves 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 pounds chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flats

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

  • 2 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot sauce

  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together Old Bay, baking powder, and salt.

  2. Pat dry chicken wings with paper towels. Place wings in a large bowl and sprinkle in Old Bay mixture, tossing to evenly coat. Arrange wings in a single layer on wire rack set inside a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, leaving a little space between each wing. Place baking sheet with wings in refrigerator for 8 hours to overnight.

  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Move baking sheet with the wings to oven and cook until browned and crisp, about 30 to 45 minutes.

  4. Combine butter, hot sauce, and Worcestershire in large bowl. Place wings in the bowl with the sauce mixture and toss to thoroughly coat. Move wings to a platter and serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
804Calories
61gFat
25gCarbs
39gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories804
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 61g78%
Saturated Fat 23g116%
Cholesterol 201mg67%
Sodium 2275mg99%
Total Carbohydrate 25g9%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 39g
Vitamin C 12mg62%
Calcium 132mg10%
Iron 3mg19%
Potassium 478mg10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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