Shockingly Crispy Whole 30 Buffalo Wings (In the Oven)

Our Whole 30 buffalo wings crisp up with an ingredient you may have never thought of. This crispifying trend is circulating through the interweb as people learn the magic/actual science of how to get wings so crispy in the oven that they taste deep-fried. I’ve experimented with about six rounds of wings to find that perfect crisp level and I was so blissed to find that right mix of time and crisp.

The trend must be attributed to Kenji unless there’s a currently unknown origin linked to a tribal culture that will be discovered years from now. The science behind the crisp is found in his article for the crispiest wings. Kenji recommends leaving the baking powder on overnight to air dry the chicken wings. I dried the wings with a paper towel and used a 5-minute rest and the overnight rest and found that overnight definitely led to crispier wings. If you want to save yourself some time and just let the wings rest with the Whole 30 baking powder substitute for five minutes and carry on you still get epically crispy wings. If you want extra crispy wings due to extra drying just stick the sheet pan in the fridge with the baking powder substitute for 8-24 hours and go to the next step. The fridge technique allows the wings to dry in the fridge and might tenderize the skin. The article goes into it more 😉

The main trick to getting the wings crispy is to rub the baking powder substitute onto the wings rather than using a bowl to toss the powder. Every time I used a bowl, no matter how much I dried the wings, some moisture got in and half the wings were powdered with the other half free of any powder.

The Flavor of Whole 30 Buffalo Wings

We keep these wings true to buffalo form. Which, for a little history: The flavor of buffalo sauce originated in Buffalo New York at Anchor Bar according to this article. “Teressa Bellissimo cooked leftover wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her son and his friends.  The guys liked them so much that the Bellissimos put them on the menu the next day.  Served with celery slices and bleu cheese sauce, “Buffalo Wings” were an instant hit.” Thank you Teressa for your brilliant contribution to life.

Our Whole 30 buffalo wings are sticking to the tradition of a combination of cayenne pepper sauce with butter. We’re just using ghee instead of butter to keep it dairy-free and because we’re losing those butter solids we simply increase the level of ghee. We tried doing a 1:1 ratio of pepper sauce to ghee and it just slid off the wings.

These wings are spicy, and we’ll let you know how to hit that 5 alarm spice hit with a little extra cayenne if you’re into that. I personally make sure there’s a lot o’ ranch around so I can diffuse the spice quickly. We have a recipe for ranch below that we’ve been tinkering with for a while now. We love ranch so we had to get that right level of vinegar and tang going before introducing it.

What is Whole 30?

Whole 30 is a reset where you eliminate common foods that people have allergies or bodily issues with. I love that this approach allows an individual opportunity to discover what works for you. No two bodies are the same. I have an identical twin and even we have different food preferences and troubles.

On Whole 30 you eliminate certain foods for 30 days and replace them with whole foods. Love how it’s all in the name. After 30 days you reintroduce the foods you eliminated one by one and see how you feel. Then you pause for two days and go back on Whole 30 and repeat. A Whole 30 can be a Whole 60 when it comes to re-introduction. Read more about my tips after finishing five rounds in this article: My Top 12 Whole 30 Tips for Surviving and Thriving.

Ingredients for Whole 30 Buffalo Chicken Wings

Chicken Wings – For Whole 30 buffalo chicken wings any wings will do. Check for any artificial additives or sugar. We used two pounds for our batch but you can go up to 3 pounds, just adjust the recipe.

Make your own Buffalo Sauce Ingredients – When making your own sauce you get a super buttery finish because it uses ghee. Go with a buttery tasting/caramelized tasting ghee for the richest butter flavor like we outline in this article where we tasted 12 different ghee brands. Ancient Organics and Amber & Gold both hit the mark.

Buffalo Sauce – We used New Primal buffalo sauce and it worked like a dream. The whole bottle can be used for about three batches since you only use 1/2 cup for two pounds of wings and it has 1.5 cups in the whole bottle. I usually recommend making your own but in this case, they’ve mastered the sauce so well it competes with making your own. This post isn’t sponsored, I just love their balance of flavors.

Note: Frank’s Red Hot is Whole 30 compliant but not the Frank’s Buffalo Sauce due to canola oil.

Baking Soda, Arrowroot Powder and Cream of Tartar – This brilliant human, Kenji Lopez, at Serious Eats did experiments to find the crispiest wings and it turns out baking powder is the key. Since baking powder has cornstarch in it we make our own baking powder with cream of tartar, arrowroot powder and baking soda.

Ranch – 1/2 Cup Ranch (Whole30 Brand or Tessemae’s Ranch Mayo are delicious- see notes). We have an epic recipe for ranch ourselves in the recipe card below. We’ve been testing this ranch for a looong time to get it Whole 30. The secret ingredient is pickle juice. You can also use kraut juice/the juice in sauerkraut.

We’ve tried three different ranch sauces and Tessemae’s mayo ranch and Whole30 brand’s ranch are both blissing lovely. You can see their textures in the photo above.

Baking Powder Substitute for Whole 30

Whole 30 eliminates corn and since corn starch is in baking powder we just do a combination of baking soda, cream of tartar, and arrowroot powder. The ratio for Whole 30 baking powder is as follows.

• 2 parts cream of tartar
• 1 part baking soda
• 1 part arrowroot powder

So if you’re making “fried” wings in the oven you use one teaspoon per pound of protein. So 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of arrowroot powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of cream of tartar =1 teaspoon. If you are using two pounds of wings double it so 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot powder 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and so on.

Step By Step Whole 30 Buffalo Wings

Let’s go ahead and preheat that oven to 475 degrees if not using the overnight method. While that beauty is heating go ahead and put your Whole 30 baking powder substitute in a small bowl. Combine your baking soda, cream of tartar, and arrowroot starch by mixing with your hands or a whisk.

Now, get out your wings, pop them onto a sheet pan with a wire rack with Silpat or aluminum foil underneath and give them a loving dry. The more dry you get those wings the crispier they will be in the oven.

Once the wings are as dry as you’re willing to get them then go ahead and sprinkle the wings with your baking powder substitute then rub in. If you run out then make more. Depending on the size of your wings/the surface area of the wings you could need more or less.

For extra crispy wings take the sheet pan with the wings and pop it into the fridge for 8 hours or overnight. You can also just let them rest for five minutes and then bake and they’ll still be super crispy. I recommend trying it both ways, depending on how into wings you are, to see which crispy level you like most.

Time to cook these beautiful wings. Line the wings back up on your wire rack with space between them. Bake the wings at 475 for 20 minutes. Flip the wings then cook them 10-20 minutes longer until their internal temp is 165 degrees F and they’re as crispy as you want them to be.

If making your own ranch go ahead and make it during the initial bake time for the wings since you’ll be making the sauce at the end.

When there are about ten minutes left make the buffalo sauce. If made too soon the ghee tends to solidify again. Combine the hot sauce, paprika and the ghee and heat until the ghee is melted then whisk. (1/3 cup of ghee to 1/4 cup of Frank’s Red Hot or Crystal hot sauce. If using Frank’s add 1/8 tsp paprika, if using Crystal use 1/4 tsp of paprika since there’s already paprika in Frank’s but not in Crystal).

Take your wings out of the oven and toss them in your sauce. If using store-bought Whole 30 buffalo sauce toss the wings in half a cup of the sauce.

Serve those epic Whole 30 buffalo wings with celery sticks and ranch.

These Whole 30 buffalo wings are also dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo and keto. Feel free to serve them at any party where people have dietary restrictions.

Looking for other Whole 30 Chicken Recipes?

Whole 30 Air Fryer Buffalo Wings (same as these but way faster to create)

Whole 30 BBQ Chicken Thighs (as a Texan BBQ was a must to create)

Finger Licking’ Good Whole 30 Air Fryer BBQ Chicken

Whole 30 Buffalo Wings

Whole 30 Buffalo Wings

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Serves: 2 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 1 Hour 1 Hour

Nutrition facts: 9 calories 9 fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

2 Pounds Chicken Wings

2 teaspoons Salt

2 teaspoons Whole 30 Baking Powder sub 

 

Whole 30 Baking Powder Substitute  -  (see notes)

1/2 tsp Arrowroot Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cream of Tartar

 

Whole 30 Buffalo Sauce: (DIY or store-bought)

1/2 cup Store-Bought Sauce (We use New Primal, it's addictively delicious)

 

Homemade Whole 30 Buffalo Sauce:

1/3 Cup Ghee - see notes

1/4 Cup Hot Sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Crystal Hot Sauce)

 Paprika- If using Crystal hot sauce add 1/4 tsp of paprika if using Frank's add 1/8 tsp of paprika since it already has some paprika in it

Pinch of cayenne if you want extra spice

Ranch

1/2 Cup Ranch (Whole30 Brand or Tessemae's Ranch Mayo are delicious- see notes)

 

Whole 30 Ranch Recipe

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons pickle juice or kraut juice (the juice you get from pickling or fermenting - this juice adds both salt and tang that gets some of that buttermilk flavor in the ranch without dairy)

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried chives

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon finely cracked pepper

freshly squeezed lemon juice (or vinegar) to taste approximately 1-3 teaspoons, adjust to taste

1 teaspoon  Ume Salt Vinegar (or ½ teaspoon salt or fish sauce- optional for umami boost)

Instructions

1.Preheat your oven to 475 degrees if you're not letting the wings rest overnight. ( see notes) 

2. Create your baking powder substitute by mixing cream of tartar, arrowroot, and baking soda together in a bowl.

3. Lay out a sheet pan with Silpat or foil underneath and a wire rack on the top of it. Lay the wings on the rack and dry them with a kitchen towel or paper towels. 

4. Rub the baking powder sub onto the wings to evenly coat them. If letting them rest for extra crispiness pop them into the fridge, still on the rack, for 8 hours to overnight.

5. Bake the wings for 35-40 minutes. Use tongs to flip them halfway through. 

7. While the wings are baking make your ranch by whisking all of the ranch ingredients together.

8. If making your own buffalo sauce melt the ghee and hot sauce together and whisk in paprika. 

9. Put 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce in a bowl and once all the wings are fried toss them in the sauce. 

10. Serve with celery sticks and ranch. Devour in bliss.

Equipment:

Silpat or Aluminum Foil - for easy cleanup

Silicone Tongs

Oven Sheet with Wire Rack- the rack allows for air to circulate under the meat

 

Notes

Notes on Baking Powder: If you run out then make more. Depending on the size of your wings/the surface area of the wings you could need more or less. You want enough to just coat both sides of the wings in a thin layer. 

Whole 30 eliminates corn and since corn starch is in baking powder we just do a combination of baking soda, cream of tartar, and arrowroot powder. The ratio for Whole 30 baking powder is as follows.

• 2 parts cream of tartar
• 1 part baking soda
• 1 part arrowroot powder

So if you're making "fried" wings in the oven you use one teaspoon per pound of protein. So 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of arrowroot powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of cream of tartar =1 teaspoon. If you are using two pounds of wings double it so 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot powder 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and so on.

Notes on Ghee: Use Ancient Organics or Amber & Gold for ghee with a high buttery/caramelized flavor. Check out the article where we tasted 12 ghee brands here for reference. Both are freaking delicious. We went with Amber & Gold because it’s cheaper and you do use a whole 1/3 cup of ghee for this recipe.

Notes on Ranch: Both are available through Thrive Market but Amazon does not carry the Whole30 brand ranch just yet.

Notes on Crispy Wings: The wings do get crispier if you let them rest overnight, but they are still very crispy if you just rub in the powder and cook them.