These honey garlic chicken wings are simply irresistible! Tender chicken wings are baked in the oven until they’re perfectly crispy, then tossed in a sweet and savoury sauce. Yep! You can have perfect crispy baked chicken wings, just like this, no frying involved.
Made with honey, soy sauce, and a handful of other aromatics, these honey garlic wings are wonderfully satisfying and taste amazing. This combination of honey and garlic hits the spot every time. Not only are they the perfect dish to serve for parties or gatherings as an appetizer, but they’re great for dinner too, maybe with some rice on the side.
You’ll love these honey soy wings too!
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Honey garlic wings ingredients
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Chicken Wings: You will, of course, need chicken wings to make this honey garlic baked chicken wings recipe. While you can leave them whole, I cut them at the joints and use the wing tips for making stock. The flats (or wingettes) and drumettes are where all the meat is.
- Baking Powder & Salt: Toss the raw chicken in a mixture of baking powder and salt before baking to make them extra crispy.
- Honey: The sweetness in my this sticky wings recipe comes from the addition of honey.
- Soy Sauce: Umami central! The combination of savoury soy sauce with the honey is classic and sublime.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: You could also use apple cider vinegar instead. Both will add a slight tang to the mix.
- Garlic: It wouldn’t be a recipe for honey garlic chicken wings without a healthy helping of garlic. Please use fresh garlic cloves for this. Jarred crushed garlic and dried garlic have much less flavour and add no freshness to the dish.
- Dried Chili Flakes: Also called red pepper flakes, this ingredient adds a bit of heat.
- Spring Onions: Also known as scallions or green onions, spring onions are lovely scattered over the top.
If you’re trying to avoid gluten, double check the baking powder is gluten-free and use tamari (check the label) in place of soy sauce. You can also use coconut aminos though it doesn’t have quite the boldness of soy.
If you’d like to give them a little more of an Asian flair add some fresh ginger to the mix and scatter over some toasted sesame seeds to finish.
How to make honey garlic chicken wings (step-by-step)
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Prep: Pat your chicken wings dry with a paper towel and then place them in the fridge for at least 3 hours (overnight is better) so that they dry out. Preheat your oven and prepare your baking sheet.
- Toss: In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings in baking powder and salt — make sure they’re evenly covered.
- Bake: Lay the wings on the prepared baking tray and bake for 45 minutes or until browned and crispy.
Sticky honey garlic sauce
While the chicken bakes you can get on with the sauce.
- Mix and simmer: Add all of the ingredients for your sauce into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow it to cook for about 5 minutes.
- Coat the baked wings: Once the chicken is nice and crispy, remove it from the oven and coat it in your honey glaze (rewarm it a little if it’s cold). Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve!
When are wings done?
The internal temperature of chicken when cooked through should register 74C / 165F on a meat thermometer. Luckily, by baking chicken wings over a long period like this, you know they’ll be done without having to test and you never needed to mess with hot oil.
Tips and tricks
- Dry out the wings overnight in the fridge — it really helps the skin get nice and crispy.
- Use a rack on your tray when baking so the honey garlic baked chicken wings get crisp all over. I use these baking sheets that come with a perfectly sized rack too. This is my all-time favourite baking sheet with wire rack and it’s the ones I use at home.
- Cover the tray with 1-2 layers of aluminum foil then a sheet of baking paper and you may not even have to wash the tray.
- If you see nice golden bits of crisp fat/flavour on the tray after baking, scrape those up and scatter them over the cooked wings. These yummy bits are called “fond” and are the proteins that come out of the fat and start to caramelise as your honey garlic wings bake. They are loaded with flavour, so don’t leave them behind.
- After mixing the wings with the sauce, make sure not to leave any of the flavour behind in the bowl — scrape out any remaining sauce and pour it onto the crispy honey garlic chicken wings.
- You can try the sauce on drumsticks or baked chicken thighs too.
What to serve with honey garlic baked chicken wings
These wings don’t need a sauce, but if you really want one, you could try a sweet and sour sauce or this gochujang mayonnaise. I think they’d also go well with a blue cheese sauce if you like that. This ranch dip and my yogurt dip are fantastic or just add a little sriracha sauce to some mayonnaise – delicious!
If you’re serving my honey glazed chicken wings for a meal, add some steamed rice or fried rice on the side and some steamed Asian veggies. Add this Asian slaw to the side or some simply sliced cucumber lovely too.
FAQs
As you may imagine, the honey garlic sauce for these baked wings recipe features honey and garlic. I also add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes). Be sure to refer to the recipe card below for specific quantities and instructions.
I have two secrets to getting the crispiest chicken wings ever. First, dry them out in the fridge for up to 24 hours (uncovered on a baking tray), then add a little baking powder right before baking. It reacts with the moisture left in the skin and you’ll be left with perfectly crispy honey garlic chicken wings.
Yes, you can. Heat them in an oven at 180C/350F for 10-12 minutes.
You can air-fry your wings if you prefer. Season the wings as per the recipe. Spray your air fryer basket with oil spray, then place the wing pieces in, in a single layer. Spray with oil over the top, then air fry for 15-20 minutes until cooked through (the internal temperature should read 74C/165F on a thermometer). The cooking time will vary depending on how big your wings are. Leave space for air to circulate around the wings but if you have a rack that allows you to add a second layer, you can use that. You’ll need to do a couple of batches to get them all cooked.
Yield and storage
These wings will serve 4-6 people depending on if it’s served for snacks or a meal.
While best served fresh, my honey garlic baked chicken wings can be chilled in an airtight container for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Just be sure to thaw them in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To reheat the wings place them on a rack on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 180C/350F for 10-12 minutes.
Keep food safety in mind, especially with chicken. It can attract bacteria at just above room temperature, so transfer your wings to an airtight container and chill within half an hour of taking them out of the oven. If you’re making these honey glazed chicken wings for a party, I recommend reheating them just before serving so that your guests can safely enjoy them.
Did you try this honey garlic chicken wings recipe?
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Ingredients
FOR THE WINGS
- 1 kg chicken wings (2.2lb)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp salt
FOR THE SAUCE
- ⅓ cup honey (80ml)
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (40ml) (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (20ml) (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon water (20ml) (notes 1)
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)
- Chopped spring onions (scallions) to serve
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large baking sheet with rack
- Large mixing bowl
- Small saucepan
Instructions
- FOR THE WINGS: Chop the chicken wings at the joint. Lay the pieces on some paper towel and lay more over the top, patting them dry all over. Place in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 3 hours or overnight (even better) to dry the skin out.
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) / 395F. Line a baking sheet with foil then a sheet of baking paper over the top (then you may not even need to wash the baking tray after).
- Take the wings out of the fridge and toss in a large bowl with the salt and baking powder. Give them a good mix around to make sure they are all coated and all the seasoning is adhering to them.
- Lay them out on the baking tray in a single layer then bake for 45 minutes or until the skin is golden and crispy.
- Prep any sides while they’re baking.
- FOR THE SAUCE: While the wings are cooking, put the ingredients for the sauce in small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low-medium heat and simmer for 5 mins stirring until reduced a little.
- When the chicken wings are cooked and crispy pour them and the sauce into a large bowl and turn to coat well.
- Tip out onto a platter and scatter over some chopped spring onions or sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons worldwide). Some countries use a 15ml tablespoons – check yours before measuring.
Nutrition Facts
Potato Fritters
Amount Per Serving
Calories 90Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Trans Fat 0.02g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 30mg10%
Sodium 340mg15%
Potassium 300mg9%
Carbohydrates 13g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 48IU1%
Vitamin C 6mg7%
Calcium 14mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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4 Comments on “Honey Garlic Chicken Wings”
Hi Marie the best chicken wings. I add some indian spices with baking powder so yummy
So happy you love them, Pamela and I love your tweak with the Indian spice. Yum 🙂
Thank you for the baking powder tip Marie. And the slaw looks great. Looking forward to trying these.
Can’t wait to hear what you think, Pamela.