These crispy baked BBQ chicken wings are sweet, spicy, and easy to make without a deep fryer! Juicy, tender chicken is rubbed with a smoky spice blend and smothered in a homemade honey barbecue sauce infused with sriracha.
Chicken wings are my family’s go-to game day food, and these easy baked BBQ chicken wings fly off the plate. After these wings crisp up in the oven, I slather them with semi-homemade honey BBQ sauce. There’s tanginess from the mustard, sweetness from honey, and a satisfying hint of heat from the sriracha sauce. Underneath all that sweet sauciness is tender, juicy chicken with the crispiest skin!
Why These BBQ Chicken Wings Deserve a Spot in Your Oven
- Crispy without deep frying. These wings are baked instead of fried. And thanks to my trusty cooking method, they’re still crispy as can be, without any baking soda, flour, or excess oil.
- Quick to make. It only takes 10 minutes to prepare the wings for the oven, and the sauce comes together in a snap while they bake.
- Semi-homemade sauce. Jazzing up my favorite store-bought BBQ sauce with honey, mustard, and fiery chili sauce is a quick and easy shortcut to loads of flavor. Of course, you can easily customize this recipe with your favorite chicken wing seasonings and sauces!
- A crowd favorite. These baked BBQ wings are always a massive hit on game day. They’re also great to make for parties, potlucks, and easy dinners during the week. So versatile!
What You’ll Need
It’s so nice to be able to know exactly what goes into your food, which is another reason why these homemade chicken wings are the way to go. To know the exact amounts you’ll need, scroll down to the recipe card. For now, here are some quick ingredient notes:
- Chicken Wings – I usually stick with classic bone-in wings. If you’re using boneless chicken wings, you may need to adjust the baking time.
- Canola Oil – Or a similar neutral-flavored cooking oil with a high smoke point. Avocado oil is another good choice.
- Seasonings – I make a simple chicken seasoning rub with garlic and onion powder, paprika (sweet or smoked), sea salt, and ground black pepper. Feel free to get creative with your own spice blend, like this spicy Buffalo chicken rub.
For the Honey BBQ Sauce
- BBQ Sauce – Use your favorite brand. I like Stubb’s. You could also use homemade BBQ sauce here, if you have it.
- Honey – I always try to use raw and unfiltered honey, but any kind goes. Pure maple syrup is a good substitute, or you can use brown sugar instead.
- Stone Ground Mustard – Or any mustard you’d like, such as Dijon, brown, or yellow mustard.
- Sriracha Sauce – Go ahead and add as much or as little as you’d like. If you don’t have sriracha chili sauce, swap in your choice of hot sauce, like Frank’s or Tabasco, cayenne pepper, or chili flakes. You can also skip the chili if you’re sensitive to spice.
Can I Use Frozen Chicken Wings?
I highly recommend buying fresh chicken wings, but if frozen ones are your only option, you can totally use those instead. Just be sure to thaw them out completely before you season and cook them. This helps the spices adhere to the meat and ensures juicy results.
How to Make Baked BBQ Chicken Wings
Follow this simple process for perfect, crispy baked chicken wings every time. For best results, bake your chicken wings on a wire rack set over a lined baking sheet. This way, the high heat of the oven can circulate the wings for maximum crispiness. And two, it’s easy to clean up afterward! Here we go:
- Prep. While the oven preheats to a hot 400°F, set a wire rack over a baking sheet. If you don’t have a rack, simply line the pan with foil.
- Season the chicken. Meanwhile, pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. Drizzle the wings with oil, then add the seasonings and toss evenly to coat.
- Bake the wings. Arrange the wings on your prepared baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, using tongs to flip them over halfway through.
- Make them crispy. Finally, switch the oven to broil on HIGH for 5-10 minutes, or until the chicken skins are crisped and browned. Keep a close eye on the chicken and don’t leave it unattended. Some broilers work more quickly than others!
- Prepare the BBQ sauce. While the chicken bakes, combine the BBQ sauce, honey, mustard, and sriracha in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring the mixture to a simmer, allowing it to heat through for 2 minutes. Afterward, take the sauce off the heat and set it aside.
- Make them saucy. When the chicken wings are out of the oven, add them to a large heat-proof bowl with the honey BBQ sauce. Use a pair of tongs to toss the wings in the sauce until they’re evenly coated. If your bowl or container has a tight-fitting lid, you can close it and give the wings a shake to coat instead.
- Enjoy! Garnish your baked BBQ chicken wings with chopped chives and serve them as-is, or with your favorite dipping sauce. See below for ideas.
Can I Make These In the Air Fryer?
Absolutely! To make these chicken wings in the air fryer, refer to the cooking directions for my honey BBQ air fryer chicken wings. Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF, and cook the chicken wings in a single layer for 14-16 minutes, flipping halfway through. You may need to cook in batches depending on the size of your fryer and the number of wings. You might also like my air fryer Buffalo chicken wings recipe.
Tips for the Best Baked Wings
- Season to taste. Feel free to fine-tune your sauce and spice rub to suit your tastes. If you’d like to crank up the heat without changing the sauce, add chili powder to the spice blend.
- Broil for extra crispiness. The secret to achieving crispy wings doesn’t involve coating the chicken in flour or baking soda, like some recipes would lead you to believe! It’s all about the broiling. Those 8-10 minutes under the broiler are essential for a crispy, crackly skin that soaks up all the BBQ sauce.
- Use Tongs to Handle Your Wings: It’s best to avoid touching things that just came out of a hot oven. That’s where the tongs come in. They’re also useful when you’re tossing the wings with the sauce.
Serving Suggestions
These crispy, flavorful wings will have you licking your fingers and your plate. Want to pair your wings with something equally tempting? Crispy, saucy BBQ chicken wings make a great addition to a game day charcuterie board. Or, take your pick of these easy sides:
- Easy appetizers. Fill your snack table with more delicious party foods like these Cajun shrimp bites, fully-loaded sheet pan steak nachos, and these baked fries with crave-worthy roasted garlic aioli sauce.
- Game day cocktails. My 5-minute frosé (frozen rosé) is the perfect way to cool down your mouth after a spicy wing. I also love a classic margarita or this skinny version.
- Make it a meal. Pair these wings with a cool and crunchy cucumber tomato salad, grilled corn on the cob, or potato salad for an easy, cookout-style summer dinner.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerate. Let your wings cool to room temperature before you transfer them to the fridge, but don’t leave them out for longer than 2 hours. Place any leftovers into an airtight container and refrigerate them for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Reheat the wings on a foil-lined baking sheet at 350°F. After 15-20 minutes, or once their internal temperature reaches 165°F, remove them from the oven and enjoy them.
- Freeze. You can freeze the baked wings for up to 1 month if you’d like. Place them into a freezer-safe container with parchment or wax paper in between layers if you have to stack them. Thaw out frozen wings in the fridge before you reheat them.
More Chicken Wing Recipes to Try
Baked BBQ Chicken Wings
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 35 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These crispy baked BBQ chicken wings are rubbed with a sweet and smoky spice blend and smothered in a homemade honey barbecue sauce infused with sriracha.
Ingredients
For the Chicken Wings
- 3lbs chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Honey BBQ Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups favorite BBQ sauce (I used Stubbs)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Add chicken to a large bowl. Pat chicken dry.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of canola oil, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, sea salt and pepper. Toss to coat all the chicken.
- Place chicken on a wire rack lined baking sheet. (if you don’t have a wire rack, use tin foil)
- Bake for 40 minutes, flipping the chicken after 20 minutes.
- Turn the Broiler on to HIGH.
- Place chicken under broiler for 8-10 minutes, until browned.
- In the meantime, heat a medium sauce pan to medium heat. Add BBQ sauce, honey, stone ground mustard and sriracha sauce. Stir and bring to a simmer, let simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Remove chicken from oven. Place in a large bowl, pour the Honey BBQ sauce over the chicken wings. Using a pair of tongs, toss the wings to coat all of them with the sauce.
- Serve.
- Optional: add chopped chives for garnish.
Notes
- Makes 30-40 wings.
- To Store & Reheat: Place any leftovers into an airtight container and transfer them to the fridge after they’ve cooled, but before 2 hours have passed. Enjoy them within 3 days, reheating the wings on a foil-lined baking sheet at 350°F until they’re baked through.
- To Freeze: Freeze cooled wings in a freezer-safe container with parchment or wax paper in between layers. Thaw out frozen wings in the fridge before you reheat them.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 wings + sauce
- Calories: 343
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 660 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 150 mg
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41 comments on “Baked BBQ Honey Wings”
Having gone thru culinary school, sitting on a kitchen counter. NO BUENO JUST SAYING. Recipe is amazing ,delicious wings ,thank you.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
Why suggest parchment paper and then broil it? This could cause an oven fire!
Yup, true story. I actually have since been using tin foil. I changed the directions.
Amazing chicken!! I added a lot more seasoning and the bbq sauce I used was Smoked mesquite Stubbs barbecue sauce. After I added the sauce I broiled it for a while. Turning out great. Thank you!
YUm! Love the additions, so glad it turned out great!
Hi, this recipe looks so great! I was wondering what you would recommend as a substitute to stone ground mustard
Dijon mustard is a smoother alternative to stone ground mustard, but it can still work in many of the same dishes.
Simple and great recipe. Thank you.
Today March 24,2020 i will be making your Crispy Honey BBQ Sauce with sriracha sauce. I cant wait to taste it . For now i would like to rate just the way your instructons and ingredients are so nice and easy to understand . I never have cooked anything most of my i never had a family meal growing up but now k have my own kids k learned that i love to eat , anything and everything now that its me rhat stays home with the kids and their mom works i really want to learn how to cook and learn how to enjoy life just being able to cook and really see my kids enjoy being home with me. LORD BUDDAH AND LORD JESUS CHRIST PLEASE LET TODAY BE THE DAY I SEE LIFE FOR EVERTHING THAT ITS WORTH . THANK YOU . DOEUN KENNY CHAN
Awe thank you so much! So glad you loved them as much as me! Heres to learning and getting better in the kitchen!
What kind of oven do you use? Gas or Electric? Convection or conventional? I’m always amazed that most recipes don’t reveal such critical details since all change cooking times. Also my manual for my oven states to cook chicken with the broiler on low. The first time I cooked these I put the broiler on hi and the wings began to be burnt after 5 minutes so I took it out. But now I put the broiler on low and the wings are great. But I leave out the honey because I want spicy bbq wings.
Hey Jesse, it’s an electric. And glad you were able to find out what worked for your oven. I’m with ya on the spicy sauce… if I had it my way everything would be spicy 🙂
Just made these for the Super Bowl and my whole family couldn’t stop saying how they were better than from a restaurant! My husband even fried up a few, but we thought the baked ones were the best. Definitely making these again!
woohoo!! So excited to hear that!
Best Wings Ever! Thank You! You Would Never Know they were baked! Eat them right out of the oven you would think you were at a restaurant! 🙂
These wings are finger licking good!
My family really really loves these. Im going to make them for our superbowl party but was hoping to make them a day in advance and heat in a low oven day of. Do you know if they would still be crispy?
Yes! I would just do the baking part first and then day off put them under the broiler. That will ensure you have cooked through AND crispy wings day of!
Currently first football games of the season and decided what better dinner than wings and fries tonight!!! When I got the stuff for the wings, I realized I wasn’t all that up to throwing them into a pan of oil to deep fry them, and this sounds like the perfect substitute for that. Got the oven pre-heating, the chicken wings thawing in a bowl of water (forgot to leave them in fridge last night and I’m starving) and then to try them out!!!
you’ll love them!
Hi Krista! Your recipes are absolutely awesome! I’ve never been a huge wing fan, but after making these for my fiancé I am officially a HUGE FAN!! These were so good and easy to make!! Thanks so much for sharing!
oh yeah I’m so glad to hear that! If you like spicy you’ll love my honey sriracha ones. I’m completely obsessed!
Love, love, love theses wings. Thank you so much for the recipe
We were having friends over to watch a basketball game so I thought wings would be perfect! I ran to the store and just looked for any recipe online.. ended up here, and so glad I did! These were a HIT! So flavorful and juicy. I thought we would leftovers but NONE were left. Delicious. Thank you! .. oh, and I didn’t have sriracha, but just used Crystal hot sauce. Still worked great!
These were an absolute hit with my family. My 12 year old daughter who eats very little (amount and variety of food) DEVOURED these. My husband said they were better than a local restaurant we go to with great wings. I loved how easy and not messy this recipe is. Definitely going to be a go to.
I hope they taste better than they look.
These wings are perfect for a game day this weekend!
These look AMAZING! That sauce on top looks incredible and so flavorful!
While these wings look amazing! My husband would love these
I love barbecue wings, and these look yummy! Definitely trying this out!
These wings look amazing. I love all things honey bbq!
I really liked these wings! You were so right about the baking and I couldn’t believe how crispy they got just with using the broiler! Not frying in my house again for wings! The sauce was an added bonus, and I must say the sriracha was a brilliant idea with the sweet sauce! Definitely a keeper!
My son will love these
I tried the honey BBQ wings and hey turned out perfectly. I did not have parchment paper so I sprayed Pam on aluminum foil and it worked well. Absolutely fantastic.
awesome, great way to improvise!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe ! I tried it today and though I didn’t have the mustard and I replaced the siracha sauce, with the siracha seasoning!!!
Everyone loved the sticky and yummy wings!
woohoo… these are definitely a crowd pleaser. Glad you were able to sub a few things and they still came out great!
I am curious — is the chicken frozen or defrosted when you put it in the oven? Thanks.
it is defrosted
My husband had friends over for Hawkeye football this past weekend, and I made these. They were an absolute hit!! The men just devoured these up. They were so juicy, the meat slid right off the bone. What I loved most was not having to stand over a hot stove frying over forty wings. Thank you so much for sharing this tasty and easy recipe!
Amen to that. Not have to worry about being splattered by oil is always a plus. I’m so glad that these wings were a hit Kate!