For The Crispiest Oven-Baked Chicken Wings, Don't Forget The Butter

Let's set the record straight: Chicken wings don't have to be fried to be crispy and delicious. Deep fryers get all the love, but your oven can deliver golden, crunchy wings that rival the best pub platter if you know what you're doing. A common mistake made when baking wings is forgetting to add some sort of crisping agent. Our favorite ingredient for crispy baked wings is just a little bit of butter.

All you've got to do is give your wings a generous brush of melted butter before you pop 'em in the oven. Not only does this add that mouthwatering, rich flavor, but it also works wonders for crisping up the skin. The fat in the butter helps the skin brown evenly without frying. It's kind of like Gordon Ramsay's tip for crispy chicken cutlets: More fat equals more crisp.

When you fry wings in oil, the fat helps crisp up the chicken skin. The fat in butter works similarly here, but you're left with much less fat overall and a nice, buttery flavor. It's winner, winner, crispy chicken dinner!

A brush of butter on your wings is the perfect last step to achieving a great crisp. Aside from that, there are plenty of other tips to follow and mistakes to avoid when baking wings for those crunchy, restaurant-worthy results.

When it comes to the butter you'll use on your wings, opt for unsalted. This way, you have more control over the flavor and salt content. What about butter substitutes? It's hard to say. Margarine, for example, contains a similar water-to-fat ratio to butter, so it'll probably result in a similar crispiness, though you won't get that rich flavor.

In addition to butter, adding baking soda to baked wings brings plenty of crisp. Sprinkle a little on the wings before baking them. It breaks down the proteins in the chicken skin, setting the stage for fat-free crispiness. Another tip: don't overcrowd your baking sheet! Wings need space to breathe so the hot air can work its magic. A wire rack on top of the sheet pan ensures even heat circulation, and you won't have to flip the wings halfway through like a rookie.