These crispy, baked salt & vinegar chicken wings taste exactly like the classic chips, just in wing form! Salty, tangy and finger lickin’ good, these wings are the ultimate game day grub!
Growing up I had a serious obsession with salt and vinegar chips.
Salty, tangy, lip puckering crispy chips.
Love. Them.
Kettle cooked, baked, fried, with ridges, without ridges, wavy, curved, thick cut, thin cut, stacked nice and neat, broken and strewn about… didn’t matter to me.
I’d put them in my sandwiches, eat them plain, dip them in ketchup (don’t judge), use them as a vessel for a more conventional dip, hide in a closet and inhale a ‘family’ size bag all to myself.
I couldn’t get enough.
Now that I’m older, I try my hardest to practice self-restraint, and only indulge once in a while.
Okay I lie, now I just buy the reduced fat kind. 🙂 Shhhhhh don’t tell.
I’ve been dying to make something for the blog, with one of my favorite flavors of chips.
I thought of crushing them and using them as a coating on chicken, sharing my favorite sandwich with you guys, and a couple other dishes (that I still may develop and post).
All of that thinking and pondering changed when I went to my local grocery store and one of their managers (and one of the nicest chicks you could ever meet) asked if I knew how to make salt n’ vinegar chicken wings.
She said her, and some of the other employees, were obsessed with the ones in their deli department, made fresh daily.
Right then and there, I knew I had to do her a solid and hop on that culinary development train.
So I did just that. And Amber, this recipe goes out to you.
Crispy Baked Salt & Vinegar Chicken Wings
Chicken wings with roasted, tender, juicy meat, crisp skin, and robust flavor.
These wings have the perfect combination, and balance, of salty and sour flavor found in the chips, just transformed to coat finger lickin’, delicious chiz-ickin’… wings.
Nice bite and tang from the duo of vinegars, well balanced salty flavor from the use of sea salt as opposed to kosher salt, and slight, very subtle sweetness on the back end from the touch of sugar and dry ranch mix.
These perfectly crispy, baked wings are highly addictive, and if you like salt and vinegar chips, I can guarantee you will love these wings.
Marinated baked salt & vinegar chicken wings?
I made these baked salt & vinegar chicken wings two different ways, depending on how strong of a salt and vinegar flavor you would like your wings to have.
If you want a potent, lip pucker inducing wing, I highly suggest you marinate the wings first. The marinade contains the same exact ingredients, and measurements, as the sauce.
All you need to do is double the sauce and pour half of it into a bag, or large bowl, with the wings to marinate.
Make sure you discard the marinade, because you will not be cooking the sauce and I don’t want you to give yourself salmonella.
That is No Bueno!
So, keep the marinade and the sauce separate.
If you want a more subtle, not so in your face, mild flavor of salt and vinegar wings, simply disregard the marinade and carry on with the recipe as instructed.
No harm, no foul!
Dipping sauce for chicken wings?
If you are like me, and absolutely must have some sort of sauce for dipping, I have a couple suggestions.
You can, obviously, use your favorite dressing.
I tried these baked salt & vinegar chicken wings with some chipotle ranch and they were good.
Then, I dipped some in a plain Sriracha, a few in Sriracha mayo, and gobbled them up. But, I’m biased because I can eat Sriracha off my finger tips and be happy.
However, my favorite was simply to make a little extra salt and vinegar sauce and dip the wings into that, for the ultimate, over the top, explosion of flavor, experience.
Oh! I almost forgot one of the best parts about these wings, aside from the sauce (duh!).
How to get baked chicken wings crispy?
These Baked Salt & Vinegar Chicken Wings are cooked TWICE.
First they get a steam bath, then tossed in seasoned baking powder, and rest overnight in the refrigerator, to help the skin get a lovely crispness.
The next day they get roasted in the oven to produce a healthier, crispy, sensational chicken wing.
And, since these wings are steamed/baked and not fried, you can indulge and not feel so guilty. Yay to that!!
So, what are you waiting for?
Get into the kitchen (or into your car, if you have to go to the grocery store first) and make these Baked Salt & Vinegar Chicken Wings!
Until next time, cheers and happy wing-gobbling!
XOXO
Cheyanne
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How to make Baked Salt & Vinegar Chicken Wings recipe at home 👇
These crispy, oven baked chicken wings mimic the taste of classic salt & vinegar chips! Salty, tangy and finger lickin' good, these chicken wings are the ultimate snack or game day appetizer!
- Wings:
- 2 – 2 ½ pounds Chicken Wings
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Accent Or, poultry seasoning
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- Marinade: (optional, for a more potent wing)
- 1/4 Cup + 1 TBS White Distilled Vinegar
- 2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3 tsp Kosher Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Dry Ranch Mix
- ½ tsp Granulated Sugar
- Sauce:
- 1/4 Cup + 1 TBS White Distilled Vinegar
- 2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3 tsp Kosher Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Dry Ranch Mix
- ½ tsp Granulated Sugar
- Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and place a wire rack insert on top. Set aside.
- Remove wing tips from chicken wings with a sharp chef’s knife, or kitchen shears, at the joint. (save tips for making stock or discard)
- Separate chicken drumettes from flats by cutting through the joint between the two. The joint is easy to find, bend the flat from the wing backwards, exposing joint.
- Optional, Marinate Chicken Wings: Combine all marinade ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, add chicken wings and marinate for 3-4 hours. Drain and discard marinade.
- To Cook Chicken Wings: Fill a large stockpot, with a steamer basket insert, with 1-1 ½’’ of water. Cover and bring the water to a boil over high heat.
- Add the wings to the steamer basket insert. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to medium and steam wings for 10 minutes.
- Remove the wings to a clean work surface lined with paper towel or a clean kitchen towel. Pat thoroughly dry. Place dried wings in a mixing bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the baking powder, salt, accent (or poultry seasoning if using) and garlic powder.
- Sprinkle baking powder mixture over wings, tossing to coat evenly.
- Transfer chicken wings to the sheet pan with rack insert, placing them in a single layer (do not overlap). Place sheet pan in the refrigerator, but do not wrap with plastic (you do not want condensation from wrapping them in plastic dripping on the wings.) Refrigerate the wings at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.**
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and arrange baking rack to middle position. Remove the wings from the refrigerator and allow them to sit on the counter, and come to room temperature, while the oven is preheating.
- Roast chicken wings for 20 minutes. Remove wings, flip over, and continue to roast wings for another 15-20 minutes, or until crispy, browned and cooked through.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sea salt and vinegar sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small container, with a tight fitting lid. Vigorously shake together all ingredients to dissolve salt, sugar, and ranch mix. Set aside.
- When wings are cooked, remove and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle wings with 2/3rds of the salt and vinegar sauce and toss together to completely coat the wings.
- Adjust oven temperature to High Broil.
- Transfer wings back to wire rack, and broil for 1-2 minutes. Flip and broil an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer wings back to mixing bowl. Drizzle and toss with remaining salt and vinegar sauce. Or serve remaining sauce on the side for dipping.
- Serve wings immediately.
1. Read recipe fully before preparing. These wings require an overnight, inactive time, in the refrigerator.
2. Make sure you cover the wings while they are in the refrigerator to avoid any chance of cross contamination as the wings are only partially cooked at this point. To avoid moisture building on the wings you just spent time drying out, allow them to cool completely on the counter, then place a piece of parchment paper over them in the fridge.. do not wrap with plastic wrap.
3. Make sure you are using KOSHER salt, if using table salt the wings will come out very salty!!
4. If you don't want to steam the chicken wings first, skip the marinade process. Instead, pat the wings dry, toss them with the baking powder mixture and follow these instructions:
- Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up and insert a wire rack on top. Lightly spray rack with non-stick cooking spray. Lay wings, skin side up, on the rack in a single layer (It’s okay if they fit snugly).
- Transfer wings to the oven on the lower-middle rack and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, transfer the wings to the upper-middle rack and increase the temperature to 425 degrees F. Continue to bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking.
- Follow the recipe as instructed by preparing the salt and vinegar sauce and tossing the wings in the sauce after they are cooked.
Diane says
March 1, 2019 at 2:44 pmNot many recipes confuse me but this one does and I’m dying to make them! My confusion is with the marinade/steaming and the order they are done. Do you marinate and then steam? Then, toss in powder, rest and bake? If so, don’t you lose a lot of flavor by steaming? This whole process seems like 2 days in the fridge. Help!
Cheyanne Bany says
March 1, 2019 at 5:14 pmHi Diane,
I’m sorry you find this recipe confusing, but I’m not sure how else I can word it to be any more straight forward.
You follow the instructions in the order they are written. Marinating the wings is OPTIONAL (step 4), followed by steaming the wings, then drying and tossing with baking powder. Between the marinating and drying, that would be 12 hours in the refrigerator, not 2 days.
As far as losing flavor by steaming, you wouldn’t lose any more flavor by steaming after marinating than you would any other cooking method – such as grilling, broiling or sautéing.
I hope I have cleared up your questions, as many people have made and loved these wings. All the best and cheers!
wicked says
January 15, 2019 at 8:20 pmhi how many per serving for nutritional value?
Cheyanne Bany says
January 15, 2019 at 9:18 pmThe nutritional information is based on 2 pounds of chicken wings and serves 4. I can’t tell you exactly how many chicken wings per serving, because it will depend on the number of wings in your 2 pounds (i.e. Some pounds of chicken wings have more, smaller wings and others less, larger wings). For the exact number of wings in a serving, you will need to take your 2 pounds of chicken wings and divide by 4. Hope that helps. Cheers!
Colleen says
December 24, 2018 at 9:07 amHi. Quick question: It’s 6 a.m. Christmas Eve and I’ve had these drying between clean thin towels in the fridge for 12 hours. It turns out I’ll be going out of town in 4 hours till midnight and so they’ll be Christmas day snacks ….
What would YOU do? Bake them fully this morning? Partially? Have someone bake them for me later while I’m away? Keep them in the fridge for ANOTHER 24 hours and cook before serving Christmas day? Something else??
Oh boy. I have 9 pounds of them in there … any suggestions will be happily embraced … And by the way: a berry Merry Christmas to all of you and yours.
Cheyanne Bany says
December 24, 2018 at 10:15 amHi Colleen! Merry Christmas eve!
I’m sorry to hear a monkey wrench got thrown into your Christmas plans!!
As for what I would do if I were in your shoes, I would go ahead and bake them FULLY today and then allow them to cool completely UNCOVERED (to prevent moisture). Then, cover the wings and refrigerate them until you are ready to have them as your Christmas day snack. To reheat them, spread the wings out on a baking sheet (skin side up), and bake at 400 F degrees (or 385 F if your oven runs hot) for 5-10 minutes, or until the skin is puffy and the wings are reheated. Then, toss them with the sauce and serve. Obviously there will be a slight difference in crispness as opposed to if you baked them fresh, but the difference should only be noticeable to a chicken wing aficionado.
I will try to be around today to answer any more questions you should have! Travel safely and have a wonderful holiday!!
Kielo says
October 11, 2018 at 3:42 pmThis recipe looks very good. We do a family wing contest every year and I may use part of your recipe for my wings. I’m not sure if I’m not reading it correctly or not, but for the marinade and sauce they both start off by saying
1/4 Cup + 1 TBS White Vinegar. Am I assuming the 1/4 cup is of water?
Cheyanne Bany says
October 11, 2018 at 3:52 pmHi Kielo!
I’m not sure where you are getting water from in the recipe? The 1/4 Cup + 1 TBS is the actual measurement of the vinegar, which is the equivalent of 5 tablespoons if that makes it simpler for you? Let me know if you have any other questions! I’m always here to help! Cheers! 🙂
kielo says
October 16, 2018 at 9:59 amOk, got it. That makes sense, I was reading it completely wrong. I read it as 1/4 cup of something else, plus 1 tbs of vinegar, instead of as you put it, 5 tablespoons of vinegar.
Turned out amazing, I did end up deep frying mine, pulled a close second place in our wing tournament! Will definitely make again, was perfect with some cold beers 🙂 .
Thanks
Bobby says
September 17, 2018 at 5:28 pmIm getting ready to grill these on my Traeger Smoker, wish me luck!
Cheyanne Bany says
September 17, 2018 at 5:59 pmGood luck!!!
Kourtney says
August 5, 2018 at 7:30 pmMy wings are steaming right now. I was wondering if it would affect the recipe too much to let them cool to room temp after riding and then baking them without the overnight part? Since the marinade is already completed I’m just unsure why there is a second wait step
Cheyanne Bany says
August 5, 2018 at 8:09 pmHi Kourtney! Honestly, I’ve only ever made them as specified in the recipe (or as specified in the notes section skipping the steaming completely). Since you are already mid-steam, I would make sure you completely dry the chicken wings before tossing them with baking powder. Again, in full disclosure, I have never made them that way, but that would probably be your best bet. Good luck!
Kourtney says
August 13, 2018 at 7:45 pmIt worked wonderfully! They were a bit dry but I blame myself for using all the max times, but it does work.
Amy says
March 28, 2018 at 1:13 amQuick question: making these right now and wondering if you (or other respondents) save the water left over from steaming and use it for a soup base? I like to not waste and I think it’d be a good base for a hot and sour soup. Any thoughts? Just want to make sure it’s safe…
Cheyanne Bany says
March 28, 2018 at 8:43 amHi Amy,
The reason for steaming the chicken wings in this recipe is to render some of the fat. So, the liquid after steaming the wings will basically just be water flavored with chicken wing fat, which is much different from a poaching liquid… meaning there are no aromatics, vegetables or anything of real flavor in the water. I would not save the water as it won’t make a good base for anything. Let me know if you have any other questions! Cheers!
Amy says
March 28, 2018 at 2:01 pmOh yes- I would if course be using it combined with chicken fat and pieces I keep in the freezer for stock…adding to the water with spices and salt, then adding vegetables and chicken.