This recipe teaches you how to create super crispy chicken in the oven in the shortest time, with a scrumptious lemon sauce to perfect the dish.
I can never get enough chicken wings. After I discovered how to create super crispy wings in the oven, I suddenly realized that I cook better chicken wings than the fast food chains. And it’s way cheaper.
The only problem with my favorite crispy wing recipe is that the cooking process was slightly long for a weekday evening. When I was craving some wings, it just seemed like it took forever to get those wings ready.
That’s when I started to search for another route to crispy wings. I wanted to use minimal time and effort to create rich, flavorful, and crispy wings. Like these crispy salt and pepper baked wings.
Fast and crispy baked wings
I used the same ol’ trick from Asian cooking – baking powder. When you dust the meat with baking powder, it browns the surface much faster and creates a beautiful char. I also did a very brief brining session with soy sauce and sugar. It made the wings so flavorful that I could devour a whole plate of them, even without any sauce. It also kept the wings from drying out and added a beautiful color.
That’s it! The whole baking process takes just 30 minutes. You can either marinate the wings in the fridge overnight, or do a brief marinade while heating up the oven. The result is this: perfectly browned wings that are crispy on the surface and juicy inside. I made a simple lemon garlic sauce to go with the wings, to take the dish from delicious to perfect.
I baked 30 wings. Thomas and I finished them all within 20 minutes. And we were hungry for more!
To add an easy side, throw a batch of asparagus into the oven and cook it with the wings. It’ll be ready at the same time. It just makes the whole meal healthier, right? 😉
Quick tip – To serve the wings, I personally prefer to serve the sauce separately instead of tossing the wings with it. This way you can prevent the wings from getting soggy.
For different sauce ideas, you can also serve the wings with a Korean BBQ sauce, or a honey sriracha dip. Or read this roundup of 15 chicken wings for more inspiration!
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Chinese Lemon Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/2 pounds chicken wings (about 30 wings)
- Sea salt
Marinade
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup Japanese sake
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Lemon sauce
- 1 teaspoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 4 to 6 garlic cloves , grated
- 2 teaspoons ginger , minced
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon potato starch (or cornstarch)
- 2 pounds asparagus as side (Optional)
Instructions
- Combine chicken wings and all the ingredients for the marinade in a large ziplock bag. Massage a few times to cover the wings evenly with liquid. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Let marinate in room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or in the fridge overnight.
- Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a baking rack on top. Spray a thin layer of oil on the rack to prevent from sticking.
- Align wings on the rack, skin side up, with some space in between. Grind salt onto the wings. Flip and grind salt on the other side.
- (Optional) Line another baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with oil. Arrange asparagus on top. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place wings on the middle rack and the asparagus on the lower rack. Bake at 220 degrees C (450 F) for 20 minutes. Turn on broiler. Flip the wings and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the surface is charred.
- While baking the wings, prepare the lemon glaze.
- Heat oil in a small sauce pan until warm. Add garlic and ginger. Cook and stir until fragrant.
- Add lemon juice, cider vinegar, lemon zest, and honey. Cook until simmering.
- Whisk potato starch with 4 tablespoons water until fully dissolved. Swirl into the sauce. Stir to mix well and remove the saucepan from stove.
- When the chicken wings and asparagus are ready, remove them from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm with the lemon sauce.
Oooooh, yes! Crispy wings on a weeknight? I think I’m in chicken heaven.
Crispy chicken wings are proper for any day and any occasion 😉
Do you think corn starch would do the same as baking powder, to make them more brown and crisp. I have always heard that is a good way to crisp things up.
Hi Momo, yes I believe cornstarch will be as effective as well. But you need to adjust the amount (probably 1 tablespoon for this recipe). I need to test the recipe until I can give you an exact answer, but I think it should work.
I’m with you… I love a great chicken wing! But I don’t think I’ve ever had them with a lemon sauce – it sounds absolutely divine! And I love a citrus sauce with savory dishes – it just balances so perfectly! Beautiful.
The lemon sauce is a must try! Me too, love all kinds of citrus sauces 🙂
Your Chinese lemon chicken wings were the star of our recent dinner! I made it again the other night for my husband who requested it, and doubled up on the ginger, garlic, and lemon for the sauce because these are flavors we both love. It still turned out excellent. Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks for taking time and leaving a comment Rachel! I’m glad to hear you both enjoyed the wings 🙂
Have a great day!
Well hello. I am new to your site and this recipe for chicken wings sounds divine. I made your hoisin the other night and it was great as well.
Question: At what point do you dust the wings with baking powder. I am assuming after the marinate process, but I could be wrong.
Hi Regina, I’m glad to hear you like my hoisin sauce recipe!
To answer your question, you need to add the baking powder into the marinade first and then start the marinate process.
Happy cooking and hope the dish turns out great 🙂
Made these after a horrible experience at a Wing Stop franchise that opened in our neighborhood dispensing overly salty deep fried nuggets pretending to be chicken wings. Maggie’s recipe I made for Lemon Wings was a big hit. Could have used more garlic because I balked at the number of cloves in the recipe. All garlic cloves are not created equal. Suggest using specific amount like 2 Tbs minced garlic so all cloves will give their lives equally to a recipe.
My parents really enjoyed the sauce 🙂