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Oven-Roasted Buffalo Wings

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"I first cooked chicken wings in bulk for a church dinner that happened to coincide with the Super Bowl. Disposable aluminum pans allowed me to get four batches into a hot oven at once, dressed with butter and Frank's RedHot hot pepper sauce. A kale salad with blue cheese dressing played the role of celery sticks and dip, and baked potatoes with a fixin's bar rounded out the roadhouse theme. I was worried at the outset that the wings wouldn't be crispy, as they are at a bar. This was a preposterous fear. Roasting at high heat tightens the skin of the wings and makes them a terrific simulacrum of the deep-fried original, particularly if you roast the chicken on top of wire racks that will allow the heated air of the oven to circulate around the wings. What follows will feed a crowd. Scale up the recipe at will."

List of Ingredients

For the Buffalo sauce:
â—¦ 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
â—¦ ½ cup hot pepper sauce (Frank's is the Buffalo original, though others will work), or to taste
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ Cayenne pepper

For the chicken:
â—¦ 5 pounds chicken wings, tips removed (save for stock)
â—¦ 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
â—¦ 1 tablespoon kosher salt
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper



Recipe

Heat the oven to 425° F. To make the Buffalo sauce, melt the butter in a small pot set over medium heat, then whisk in the hot pepper sauce and salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste. Keep warm.

Put the chicken into a large bowl and add the oil, salt, and black pepper to taste. Toss well to combine. Set two wire racks on top of two large rimmed baking sheets and spread the chicken out on top of them in equal portions, in single layers. Roast the wings in the oven until they are cooked through and the skin is decidedly crispy, 45 to 50 minutes.

Toss the chicken with the Buffalo sauce and serve, ideally with celery sticks and some blue cheese thinned out with sour cream, though kale salad and blue cheese dressing is also pretty great.