8 wings with your choice of flavor — Hot, Mild, Lemon Pepper, Teriyaki, BBQ or Mango Habanero — served with fries.
Where this dish comes from
Buffalo wings were born in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when Teressa Bellissimo deep-fried leftover chicken wings and tossed them in a butter-hot sauce mixture. The format — fried wings, a tangy sauce, celery, and blue cheese — spread nationwide through sports bars in the 1980s and 1990s and is now the defining American bar snack, with regional sauce variations ranging from Carolina vinegar to Korean gochujang displacing the original.
2 lbs chicken wings, split into drums and flats, tips discarded
1 tbsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp black pepper
*Buffalo Sauce:**
⅓ cup Frank's RedHot (or similar cayenne hot sauce)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp white vinegar
*Fries & Sides:**
1 lb frozen French fries
3–4 celery stalks, cut into sticks
½ cup store-bought blue cheese or ranch dressing
Instructions
1
**Dry the wings:** Pat wings completely dry with paper towels. In a large bowl, toss with baking powder, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and pepper until evenly coated. For best results, place on a wire rack set over a sheet pan and refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour (or overnight) — this is the secret to crispy baked wings.
2
**Bake the wings:** Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange wings on a wire rack over a foil-lined sheet pan in a single layer. Bake 20 minutes, flip each wing, then bake another 20–25 minutes until deeply golden and crisp.
3
**Make the sauce:** Whisk together hot sauce, melted butter, and vinegar in a large bowl. Taste and adjust heat with more hot sauce or mellow with a touch of honey.
4
**Cook the fries:** While wings finish, cook frozen fries according to package directions (oven, air fryer, or deep fryer). Season with salt the moment they come out.
5
**Toss the wings:** Transfer hot wings directly into the sauce bowl and toss until every piece is glossy and coated.
6
**Plate and serve:** Pile wings on a platter, fries alongside, and set out celery sticks and dressing for dipping. Eat immediately — wings lose their crunch fast.