Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

This isn’t your typical chicken wing recipe! These crispy wings are covered in a sticky honey garlic sauce making them a perfect weeknight dinner or party appetizer. These honey garlic chicken wings are oven baked and then topped with an easy to make honey garlic sauce.

When making large batches, it’s easiest to do it in the oven, but you could also make a smaller batch in the air fryer!

One of the most popular recipes on this blog is our Oven Baked Chicken Wings, and since this is a similar recipe, I know that you will love this recipe too! You’ll be amazed how easy it is to make honey garlic chicken wings.

Serve these garlic honey wings with Smashed Potatoes or a Simple Pear Salad With Pomegranate And Walnuts.

Simple Honey Garlic Sauce

These crispy wings are so easy to make but it’s the honey garlic sauce that really makes these wings stand out. Many honey garlic wings recipes will have you cook the wings in the sauce on the stovetop. While this does result in a delicious dish, it is one that needs to be eaten with a fork. Crispy wings make better appetizers!

The best way to achieve a crispy wing is to first bake the wings and then pour the sauce over the finished wings. When made this way, the wings stay crisp and you still get the delicious sticky sauce!

What is the Secret to Crispy Chicken Wings?

After years of making oven baked wings, we know how to make perfect oven baked crispy wings! Here are a few of the things we have discovered over the years:

• The wings MUST be dry. The easiest way to do this is to pat down the wings with paper towels before the wings are baked. If there is any moisture on the wings, it will take longer to get crispy. In some cases, pieces of the wings might start to burn before a nice crispy crust develops.
• Keep the skin on the chicken. Some recipes require the skin to be removed, but this is not one of them. The skin has a lot of natural oil that will be pulled out as it cooks. This helps to crisp up the chicken skin. To help with this process, you can also toss it in avocado or olive oil, but it isn’t required.
• Sprinkle with baking powder. In this recipe we don’t use baking powder because the wings don’t need to be extra crispy when you are adding a sauce over them. However, you can sprinkle baking powder on your wings before baking and it will react with the chicken skin to result in a crispy wing.

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

• 3-4 pounds raw Chicken Wings – Fresh or frozen chicken wings will work. If buying frozen wings, defrost them by leaving them in the fridge overnight or soaking them in cool water until they are fully defrosted. It is important that the wings are fully defrosted or they will splash in the oven and take longer to get crispy.
• Garlic Powder – Sprinkle the garlic powder on the wings prior to baking. Fresh garlic would also work, but garlic powder tends ot stick to the wings better. Save the fresh garlic for the sauce!
• Ginger powder – Garlic and ginger are amazing together, so a sprinkle of ginger powder takes these wings to the next level!
• Salt and Pepper

For the Sauce:

• Minced garlic – The recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic because I love garlic! Feel free to add more or less based on what you like!
• Honey – Honey is the sweetener in this recipe. Use your cheaper honey for this recipe since it will be heated which will remove the benefits of raw honey.
• Sriracha – (Optional) The sriracha adds a delicious ginger flavor to this dish. If you don’t have sriracha, you can omit it.
• Soy Sauce – For some salty deliciousness!
• Cornstarch – To thicken the sauce, use a slurry of cornstarch and water just before pouring it over the wings.

Optional garnishes: Green onions, Cilantro, sesame seeds, grated fresh ginger, dried chili pepper

Step by step photos for Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

How To Make Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

Making the sauce can be intimidating but once you get started, you’ll see that it’s really a simple recipe!

1. Place the chicken wings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Season the wings and bake at 450 degrees f for 10 minutes, using the convection setting (if you have it). Then drop the heat to 350 degrees f for 23-35 minutes or until wings are cooked through.
2. To make the sauce, add all of the sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch, to a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Then turn off the heat.
3. Mix together 1 tsp cornstarch with 1 tsp cold water and slowly whisk it into the sauce until it thickens.
4. Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour the sauce over the wings. toss the wings until they are evenly coated and the wings look like saucy goodness!

Important Teaching Tips

• Save time by preparing the sauce while the wings bake. If the sauce thickens too much while waiting on the wings, heat it over medium high heat, just until it is warm. Then pour it over the wings.
• For even crispier wings, bake the wings on a wire grate over a baking sheet. This will allow the oil to drip to the baking sheet and give you an even crispier wing. The only downside is having to clean the grate!
• The sauce is going to be VERY hot and dangerous. Always be extra cautious when heating sugar or honey because if it is heated and touches skin, it will stick and will burn. Just be cautious when working with the sauce.
• Along those same lines, the sauce will be very hot and sticky if it boils over. Keep an eye on the sauce at all times while it is on the heat. A tall pot will prevent it from boiling over.
• When making a slurry, it is very important that the water be very cold. This will keep the cornstarch from clumping when mixing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Chicken Wings

More Dinner Recipes You Might Enjoy:

• Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
• Oven Baked Ribs
• Korean Kalbi Short Ribs
• Smash Burgers
• Hot Pot at Home
• Curry Chicken and Rice casserole
• Homemade Chicken Nuggets – Gluten Free Recipe

Side Dishes That Pair Well With Wings

• Simple Pear Salad With Pomegranate And Walnuts
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes In The Convection Oven
• Accordion Potatoes in the Convection Oven
• Kabocha Squash Soup
• Homemade Pizza Pockets Recipe
• Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms