Fried Chicken Wings

The most hassle-free fried chicken wings recipe! Truly crispy on the outside and the juiciest meat in the middle, these wings cook up in no time at all!

If you’ve made our smoked or lemon pepper wings before, you know we cook chicken wings very well.

While baked or air fried chicken wings are a healthy way to cook them, sometimes we want the classic style that is extra crispy, juicy, and restaurant style. Enter fried chicken wings. 

Table of Contents

1. Why you’ll love this recipe
2. Ingredients needed
3. How to make crispy fried chicken wings
4. How to fry chicken wings without flour
5. Fried chicken wings cooking time
6. Flavor variations
7. Tips to make the best recipe
8. Storage instructions
9. More delicious chicken recipes to try
10. Frequently asked questions
11. Fried Chicken Wings (Truly Crispy!)

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Easy and quick. The fact that you need to dredge the chicken wings only in flour mixture makes the process of making this crispy appetizer so much easier and quicker. 
• Light breading. Consisting of flour, cornstarch, and spices, these chicken wings turn out light and crispy, never oily (like oven fried chicken!).
• Can be made gluten-free. Like with chicken cutlets or chicken nuggets, swapping regular white flour with gluten-free flour is the only change needed to make this recipe gluten-free. 

What we love about these wings is just how easy they are to customize. We like to keep things simple, but you can dredge them in your favorite sauces, add more spices (like in our turkey wings or garlic parmesan wings) or even double fry them. 

Ingredients needed

You most likely already have all these ingredients in your kitchen. Here is what you’ll need for this recipe:

• Chicken wings. Choose meaty chicken wings as they will hold onto the batter better. I like to use a mix of wingettes and drumettes. 
• Spices. The spices I use for my recipe are paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried parsley. 
• Salt. To taste. 
• Oil. Any vegetable oil with a high smoke point will work. 
• Flour. All-purpose flour. 
• Cornstarch. Mixed with flour, cornstarch makes the coating on the chicken wings crispier. 
• Baking powder. A small amount of baking powder added to the flour mixture helps draw out excess moisture and leaves the chicken wings extra crispy. 

How to make crispy fried chicken wings

This recipe is very simple and comes together in no time. Ready to whip some up? 

Step 1 – Coat the wings in flour mixture

Pat dry the chicken wings and separate the wing flats from the drumettes. Make the dry mixture by combining all spices with flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. 

Toss the wings in the flour mixture until they are fully coated, and shake off the excess. 

Step 2 – Deep fry the chicken wings

Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Start frying the flour-coated wings in small batches when the oil temperature reaches 350F degrees. Fry the chicken wings for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown on all sides. 

How to fry chicken wings without flour

Frying chicken wings without flour is easy. One way to do it is to fry the chicken in hot oil without any coating. Once the chicken wings are fried, you can coat them with your favorite sauce. 

If you are aiming for the crispiest results but don’t want to use any flour, coat the chicken wings with mustard and dredge them in a mixture of cornstarch and your favorite spices. Fry the chicken wings in hot oil. 

Fried chicken wings cooking time

Frying chicken wings takes 10 to 12 minutes so long as the oil is heated to 350-375F degrees. Check the doneness of the fried chicken wings by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the wings. The chicken wings are ready if their internal temperature is 165F degrees. 

Flavor variations

Like any good wing recipe, with a few tweaks, you can completely transform them to change up the flavors! Here are some ideas: 

• Add some cheese. Sprinkle the fried chicken wings with grated parmesan while they are hot. 
• Add sauce. Toss the fried chicken wings in buffalo sauce for buffalo wings or in some bulgogi sauce or Katsu sauce for an Asian twist. 
• Omit the spice. Skip the cayenne pepper if you are going to serve these chicken wings to kids or don’t want them to be spicy. 
• Herb it up. Don’t shy away from dried herbs. You can add dried rosemary, oregano, basil, and thyme to the spice mix (something we often do with armadillo eggs and grilled wings).

Tips to make the best recipe

• Check if the oil is hot enough. You should start frying the wings only when the oil is well-heated. Sprinkle some flour into the oil. If it sizzles, go ahead and add the chicken wings. 
• Don’t crowd the pan. Adding too many wings to the pan will cause the temperature of the oil to drop. As a result, the wings will take longer to crisp up and will soak up too much oil. 
• Turn the wings to fry them evenly. Use a fork or a pair of tongs to flip the wings halfway through the frying time to get them golden and crispy on all sides. 
• Cool the wings on a wire rack. While paper towels soak up the excess oil, they take away some of the crispiness of the freshly fried chicken wings. Transfer the chicken wings from the pan right onto the wire rack. 

Storage instructions

To store: Transfer fried chicken wing leftovers into an airtight container as soon as they have cooled completely. Fried chicken wings last 3 to 4 days in the fridge. 

To reheat: As the fridge causes the fried wings to lose their crispiness, reheat them in the oven preheated to 350F degrees for 10 to 20 minutes or until they reach a safe internal temperature.

To freeze: place the cooled wings in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

More delicious chicken recipes to try

• Cast iron chicken breast
• Air fryer chicken thighs
• Baked chicken legs
• Chicken schnitzel
• Baked chicken thighs
• Baked chicken breast
• Popcorn chicken

Frequently asked questions