Whether you're serving them at your Super Bowl party or for a weeknight dinner, these Zesty Baked Chicken Wings are healthier chicken wings that are just as delicious as any fried wings could be!
(This recipe for Zesty Baked Chicken Wings was originally published in February 2010, but was updated with new photos in 2020).
After meeting Bethenny Frankel a couple weeks ago, I've been toying around with making of her recipes. While I don't necessarily fully believe in everything Bethenny promotes nutritionally, I do like her general philosophy.
And when Bethenny mentioned her healthy and totally delicious Zesty Baked Chicken Wings would be perfect for Super Bowl, I decided to give them a try for a small gathering we were having for the big game.
While the buffalo wings I grew up with actually aren't unhealthy (my parents always baked them instead of frying), I wanted to try something a bit different.
These zesty baked chicken wings are also the wings Bethenny made often for Denis Leary while working as his personal chef on the set of Rescue Me (and I'm a bit of a Denis Leary fan since he graduated from and taught at my grad school alma mater, Emerson College).
The recipe can also be found in Bethenny's cookbook The Skinnygirl Dish (affiliate link).
Why You'll Love This Recipe
If you love chicken wings, but want them to be a bit healthier than the typical wing while remaining absolutely delicious, this is the recipe for you!
Not only are these zesty chicken wings baked instead of fried, but they're also made with whole wheat bread crumbs. In addition, there's some hot sauce involved, plus lots of spices that add all kinds of flavors to this delicious wings!
You can make these for a family dinner or for your football watching parties and I have a feeling nobody will guess that they're healthy... They'll be too busy grabbing as many as they can!
Ingredients
These baked wings are super easy to prepare, especially once the chopping is out of the way. If you want to make them even easier, make sure you buy "party wings," so the wingette and drumette are already separated. I hate cutting up whole wings and think paying a little extra to have it already done is SO worth it.
I made a few changes to Bethenny's original recipe, including using hot sauce instead of cayenne. Frank's Red Hot just feels necessary to all chicken wing recipes!
Here's everything you need:
- Olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- Hot sauce (I recommend Frank's Red Hot)
- Minced garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon zest
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Chicken wings, halved at joint to separate wingette and drumette with tips removed (or just buy "party wings")
- Whole wheat breadcrumbs
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Chopped parsley
The baked chicken wings can be served on their own, but they're even more delicious when dipped in a yogurt sauce! Here's what you need for that:
- Fat-free yogurt
- Chopped parsley
- Lemon zest
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
- Worcestershire sauce
How to Make Zesty Baked Chicken Wings
Just a few simple steps and these wings will be ready for you to enjoy! To start, combine olive oil, dijon, hot sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
Pour the marinade over the wings in a large Ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
In a separate large bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and parsley.
Once your wings are done marinating, toss them in the bowl to coat in the breadcrumb mixture and place them on a pan lightly brushed with oil.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 30-30 minutes mins, rotating pan halfway through. Bake until they're golden and the juices run clear!
How to Make Yogurt Dip
While the wings are in the oven, whip up the yogurt dip. All you have to do is mix together all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to serve the dip.
There's nothing better than a baked chicken wing that's nice and golden and extra-crispy. Bethenny says the wings just won't dry out in the oven even if you over-bake them.
And you know, she's totally right! I think it must have something to do with that marinade.
Serve the zesty baked chicken wings along with the yogurt dip and let your football party guests dig in! Or dig in yourself. You'll likely have lots of leftovers if you're not sharing with friends, though I can't totally guarantee it.
I've made these chicken wings both as a party appetizer (most recently for the Super Bowl!) and as an entree with a side salad. One reason I love chicken wings is because there's no bad time to serve them. And when they're healthier chicken wings, you can feel good about serving them any time!
More Game Day Appetizers
If you're looking for more recipes for delicious chicken wings or other appetziers perfect for watching football games, check out some of my favorites:
- Spicy Ginger Honey Wings
- Apple Cider Chicken Wings
- Sizzling Garlic Chicken Wings
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Easy Taco Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- Bacon White Pizza Dip
- Clam Nachos
- Bourbon Peach BBQ Wings (from Spicy Southern Kitchen)
For my Super Bowl gathering this year, we served lots of snacky-type food like Chris's famous jalapeño poppers, which I need to have him do a guest post on really soon! They're to-die-for.
These zesty baked wings are perfect because they are ridiculously crispy on the outside and super duper tender on the inside. I couldn't believe how juicy they were!
Adding the Frank's Red Hot into the marinade really helped give the wings a bit of an extra kick, perfect for anyone who really loves buffalo wings but wants to try something new and doesn't want wings that are too spicy.
I'll definitely be making Bethenny Frankel's zesty baked chicken wings again soon. Perhaps for another gathering or maybe just for myself. Next time I might play around with some other spices to see what I can come up with.
Chicken wings I don't have to feel guilty about are always a win for me!
Zesty Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp hot sauce (I recommend Frank's Red Hot)
- 1 tsp minced garlic (from 1 garlic clove)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 16 chicken wings, halved at joint to separate wingette and drumette with tips removed
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
Yogurt Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup fat-free yogurt
- ½ tsp finely chopped parsley
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ⅛ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, dijon, hot sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and lemon zest and whisk until combined.
- Put the wings in a large Ziplock bag and pour the marinade over them. Let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and lightly spray a baking pan with cooking oil.
- In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and parsley.
- Once wings are done marinating, toss them in the bowl with the breadcrumb mixture to coat well and place on prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until wings are golden and juices are running clear.
- Serve wings with yogurt sauce and enjoy!
Yogurt Dipping Sauce
- In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until well combined. Keep yogurt dip in fridge until ready to serve.
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Nicole says
Hmmm! These look like the perfect hot appetizer for a party, pot luck dinner or even a holiday get together. Because really, who doesn't love wings (unless you're veggie)? These looked so tasty and I liked how they were baked, and not fried. I know I could probably eat the whole tray!
katelin says
oh these look delicious, and added to recipes i want to try!
The Duo Dishes says
Vanilla yogurt sauce, huh? Might not be so bad. 🙂 Good thing you noticed! This is a keeper for any party!
Sophie @ yumventures says
These look delicious, and I definitely support the use of Frank's instead of cayenne pepper! I haven't tried making my own wings, but now I'm inspired!
Scott says
Hi there, great looking wings. I'm a big fan of grilling chicken wings but seeing as how my patio is under snow and my charcoal grill is "turned off" for the winter, I'll have to give these a try. I like your use of yogurt for the dipping sauce too.
As for Lagunitas beer, have you tried their Cappuccino Stout? It's outstanding and available at the Publick House right now.
Betsy says
Great recipe, thanks!
Karena says
YUM! those just made me drool at my desk!! almost grabbed a lagunitas pilsner at the bar last night but they were out 🙁 🙁 i'm going to keep an eye out for the gnarlywine next time!
Culinary Cory says
I really like this recipe idea! I'm totally bookmarking it.
Chris says
This recipe looks good and easy for the most part. I liked how there wasn't any liquidy stuff on the baking sheet when it was done! I'm going to try this for Super Bowl snacks tomorrow! Thanks for posting the photos, they totally sold me on this recipe!