Easy Baked Chicken Wings (Куриные Крылышки)

Roast chicken is a family dinner like no other. It is comforting, tasty and pretty simple to prepare. Here’s an easy weeknight dinner option, without having to roast the whole bird. This is another of my go-to recipes for the days that I’m working. I do the prep work and the cleanup ahead of time, and then just take out the chicken from the refrigerator and bake. With minimum fuss, the house is perfumed with the smell of roasting chicken, bringing the nostalgia of a family gathering around the table, enveloped in the warm feeling of home. What I especially love about this dinner is that you can prep it completely in advance, the night before or in the morning before you are planning to cook it. It really frees up your time during the hectic dinnertime, so all you have to do is get it in the oven.

These wings are a typical Russian meal. When I was about ten years old, our whole family would go to my aunt’s house almost every Sunday after church. Aunt Natalya, who I’m as close to as a sister, made these wings all the time and I can almost close my eyes and still remember the taste of them alongside some elbows pasta and a tomato salad. Yum!  

Marinating chicken tenderizes it and infuses it with flavor. As the wings bake, they baste in their own juices, creating moist meat. When the chicken is cooked through and starting to become golden, all the extra liquid is poured off and the chicken roasts just a bit more to crisp up the skin.  I wouldn’t use a sauce for these wings, since it might make the skin flabby and ruin that beautiful golden crispness that you achieve in the last few minutes of roasting. Whenever I want to serve wings with sauce, I make my other Crispy Chicken Wings.

What a filling and satisfying meal for a Wednesday night after work or on a weekend when you don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen. Toss these wings together, and whenever hunger strikes, you can start preheating the oven, since dinner is coming right up!

Yields: 24-30 wings

Ingredients:

12-15 whole chicken wings

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 Tablespoon poultry seasoning, or any other seasoning mix that you like

1/2 – 1 teaspoon paprika

3 Tablespoons plain yogurt or mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

4 garlic cloves, grated

Instructions:

The best chicken wings to use are whole wings, or you can use frozen wings. You will need to separate the whole wings. Separate the wings at the joint and discard the tip. You can save the tips to use the next time you make chicken broth. You will have a wing and a drumette. In a mixing bowl, combine the wings with all the other ingredients – salt, ground black pepper, spices, yogurt or mayonnaise,  lemon juice and garlic. Marinate for at least half an hour. I usually do this either overnight or mix it up in the morning after work, sleep for a few hours and make it for dinner.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil if you want less clean up later. Place the wings on the prepared baking sheet. Sometimes, I sprinkle some extra paprika on top of the wings. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes, on the top rack of your oven. If there is any liquid at the bottom of the baking sheet, pour it off. 
If you marinated the chicken wings in yogurt, sometimes the wings are not as crispy as when you use mayonnaise. You may want to brush the wings with a thin layer of mayonnaise and bake for another 10-15 minutes. If you’d rather not use mayonnaise, you can brush the wings with a thin layer of oil or butter instead, or leave it plain. Coating the chicken with mayonnaise creates a thin layer for the high heat to grab ahold of and create crispy skin on the chicken wings.
You can broil it to make it faster, just make sure to watch the oven closely, beacuse they can burn in the blink of an eye. Dinner is served:).

Easy Baked Chicken Wings (Куриные Крылышки)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer
Serves: 24-30 wings
Ingredients
  • 12-15 whole chicken wings
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ Tablespoon poultry seasoning, or any other seasoning mix that you like
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 3 Tablespoons yogurt or mayonnaise
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 4 garlic cloves, grated
Instructions
  1. The best chicken wings to use are whole wings, or you can use frozen wings. You will need to separate the whole wings. Separate the wings at the joint and discard the tip. You can save the tips to use the next time you make chicken broth. You will have a wing and a drumette.
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the wings with all the other ingredients - salt, ground black pepper, spices, yogurt or mayonnaise, lemon juice and garlic. Marinate for at least half an hour. I usually do this either overnight or mix it up in the morning after work, sleep for a few hours and make it for dinner.
  3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil if you want less clean up later. Place the wings on the prepared baking sheet.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes, on the top rack of your oven. If there is any liquid at the bottom of the baking sheet, pour it off.
  5. If you marinated the chicken wings in yogurt, sometimes the wings are not as crispy as when you use mayonnaise. You may want to brush the wings with a thin layer of mayonnaise and bake for another 10-15 minutes. If you'd rather not use mayonnaise, you can brush the wings with a thin layer of oil or butter instead, or leave it plain. Coating the chicken with mayonnaise creates a thin layer for the high heat to grab ahold of and create crispy skin on the chicken wings.
  6. You can broil it to make it faster, just make sure to watch the oven closely, beacuse they can burn in the blink of an eye. Dinner is served:).

28 Comments

  • Vera

    Olga thank you for sharing. I made these chicken wings today and they turned out really good. Can I do drumsticks like this too?

  • Mariya

    The wings are marinating:) I have a question my hubby loves when the meat is falling off the bone will that happen in 40 min? Or should I bake them under foil for a little bit first? Thank you, we love all your recipes. Also if the oven is buzy like for a party if u make these ahead of time and just reheat in oven will they still be crispy and as good? Thank you!

    • olgak7

      Mariya,
      The wings should be pretty tender in 40 minutes, but if you bake them covered with foil first and bake them for an hour or even an hour and a half, they will be falling off the bone tender:). My husband likes them that way too.
      You can definitely make them ahead of time and then reheat. If you reheat them in the oven, they will crisp up as they bake. However, if you use the microwave or in a pot on the stove top, the wings will not be crispy.

      • Mariya G

        They were really good! Everyone asked how I made them:) although I still have a whole bunch of recipes from your site that I haven’t gotten to I already have so many favorites:) my family friends and guests as well as I thank you!:)

        • olgak7

          Awesome! I’m so happy that you liked them. It’s always such a thrill for me when I hear that other families are enjoying our favorite meals too.

          • Mariya

            I make these wings all the time the only problem I have is wings sticking to the foil, any ideas why that’s happening?

  • Lena

    Wonderful, easy to make, quick to prepare, tasty! My husband much appreciated to see this on the table, knowing i had a sleepless night and a busy day with two munchkins! I used buttermilk instead of yogurt. I ve heard that chicken marinates well in buttermilk. Anyone else heard this too? Thank you, olichka, u r my inspiration!

  • Victoria Y

    Olga,
    I am new to the blog, but have tried several recipes, this one included.
    I am in Philadelphia area and it is frigid outside ( 10 ○ F ), so this was an easy dinner.
    The substitution was buttermilk instead of yogurt, since we did not have any. Thank you.

    • olgak7

      It’s definitely been cold lately, even in Florida, although I can’t even begin to complain, with the frigid temperatures that you guys are facing. I agree that this is a perfect meal on a cold winter day. It’s very cozy and comforting. Stay warm:).

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  • Olga

    Thank you for the recipe Olga, I enjoy picking up new ideas from your blog as well as simply stumbling upon long forgotten classics to bring more variety to my kitchen. Whenever I bake chicken wings, I baste them with drippings from the baking chicken at the end and that gives the same result as mayo or whatever else people add. I like it better this way because you don’t waste extra ingredients and still get the perfect result. Also, If you lay the chicken out so the pieces aren’t touching then you don’t even need to pour out the liquid. It evaporates on its own, and the remaining oil is used for basting. Just some tips from my factory;)

  • Liza

    I made these and loved them! My mother in-law had foot surgery and is unable to walk for a few weeks and I’ve been trying to make her things she likes and I knew she liked wings — and they were a hit! I tried the same with chicken legs the next day and it was quite good as well. Another great recipe! 🙂

  • Irina

    Any recommendations on how to make them spicy? Would it work if I mixed in sriracha into the marinade? Or should the wings be drizzled or tossed in it after baking a little? Thanks

    • olgak7

      You can do both, Irina. You can add sriracha or hot sauce to the marinade or later toss the wings in the sauce. You can also add some cayenne pepper to the marinade. However, if you toss the wings in sauce after you bake them, they will no longer be crispy, but the skin will bocce soft.

    • olgak7

      I haven’t tried this particular recipe in the Instant Pot.
      However, when I make other chicken wing in the Instant Pot, I cook them on Manual Pressure/High Heat for 5 minutes then crisp them up in the oven, 400F until golden brown.

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